Without belaboring the point with an extended word study, we do need to
underscore the word "WHEN." He did not say "IF," but "WHEN," for the path is
destined to take us by this route. Jesus Christ, "though He were a Son, yet
learned (experienced) He obedience by the things which He suffered." (Heb.
5:8). So now, "Hereunto were you called: because Christ also suffered for us,
leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps." (1 Peter 2:21). Being
apprehended to share His glory, to be conformed to His image, and to be a
partaker of His divine nature, it rightly follows that we shall come into that
ONENESS WITH HIM by this path that He marked out for us.
Thus it is not "IF you pass through the waters," but a "WHEN," for if you
haven't faced the waters yet, you will in due time. "It is a faithful saying:
for if we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him. If we suffer, we shall
also reign with Him." (2 Tim. 2:11-12). But the emphasis is not just on the
deep waters of testing, the fiery trials, the processings that leave you
reeling, for there is a definite truth connected to this "WHEN." The Hebrew word
for "when" is "hayah" meaning: to exist, to come to pass. WHEN the trial
overtakes you— as it is in the process of happening— RIGHT THEN He is there to
bring us through, "more than conquerors
through Him that loved us." (Rom. 8:37). That is the positiveness of the
message— for WHEN these things happen, "I WILL BE WITH YOU." You are not alone,
He is there, and you will not be defeated because HE is the Victor.
In our natural realm, prone to fret and worry and battle our fears, we are ready
to insist that we be deluged with power and blessing long before the trial
comes. We want to have "martyr's grace" long before we face the fire, or
whatever the processing might be. But the word is WHEN— as it comes to pass, I
WILL BE WITH YOU. Certainly He is with us all the time, for it is written, "I
will never leave you, nor forsake you.'' (Heb. 13:5). But the point before us
is not just the abiding omnipresence of the Lord— but as a word to strengthen
your faith, that specifically WHEN you pass through, HE IS there, the Source of
all that you need, the Guarantee of salvation.
"WHEN the enemy shall come in, like a flood the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up
a standard against him." (Isa. 59:19). Strange doctrines have evolved in
Christendom— a voodoo of demonology— as some suppose there is an omnipresent
devil everywhere dogging their heels, and ready to pounce on them at any given
moment. It is utter nonsense! The only Omnipresent Spirit is the SPIRIT OF
GOD, and He is WITH YOU. As for the cause of much of our negative experience
some days, it is simply the carnal nature of man rising up to demand its own
way— flesh warring against flesh. And many of the happenings are simply the law
of cause and effect. The flu virus invades your body, not as a demonic attack,
but because in your pursuits of the day you were exposed to it— and being
stressed out, over-tired, etc. you were susceptible to the virus. The devil did
not cause your car to break down, there were reasons which the mechanic can
explain and correct. We need not illustrate this at length, suffice it to say
"This is my Father's world," and Satan is not in control of it— GOD IS!
However, there are those rare occasions when the enemy does come in, and WHEN
that happens, "like a flood the Spirit of the Lord lifts up a standard against
him." God restricts the adversary— until he becomes a servant to the Most High.
Full well our God can make "the wrath of man (or demons) to praise Him," and the
remainder of wrath He restrains. (Psalm 76:10).
"What time I am afraid, I will trust in you." (Psalm 56:3). WHAT TIME, or we
could say WHEN— "When I am afraid ..." No doubt about it, we all have those
moments when fear crowds in— but that is WHEN our trust in the Lord needs to
kick in— become active. The noise pollution of negative voices is extreme these
days, and if you listen to them, their message becomes a fertile field for fear
to grow and entrap. But the Psalmist says, "WHEN (what time) I am afraid, I
will TRUST IN YOU." And in another place he states, "I sought the Lord, and He
heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. They looked unto Him, and were
radiant." (Ps. 34:4-5). Margin reads, "they flowed unto Him." What a beautiful
way to say that "they trusted in Him." You do not flow unto, commit yourself
unto the Lord, if you have no confidence or trust in Him. Therefore when fears
arise, that is the time to strengthen and focus your trust in the Lord, and know
that He remains in control of all that touches your life.
"Casting all your care upon Him; for He cares for you." (1 Peter 5:7).
It is
obvious that at one time or another you have cares to cast— and WHEN, AT WHAT
TIME I am beset with cares, worries, distracting problems, that is the time to
trust in the Lord, and cast it all upon Him. Interesting to note: YOU do the
casting, HE does the caring. Someone once wrote:
"It is God's will that I should
cast my cares on Him each day.
He also asks me not to cast my confidence away.
(Heb. 10:35).
But oh, how stupidly I act when taken unawares,
I cast away my confidence, and carry all my
cares."
The Psalmist also learned these things, and says, "Commit your way to the Lord—
roll and repose each care of your road on Him." (Ps. 37:5, Amp.) Or, "...Trust
also in Him, and He will bring it to pass." (NKJ). We sometimes use the
terminology that these truths need to be lived out right where "the rubber meets
the road." And it is in this daily journey that the cares of the road can beset
us, and we need to learn how to roll them all on Him, until we can, as Paul
writes, "Be careful for nothing." (Phil. 4:6)
Over the past several months I have found it a real exercise, right after going
to bed, or waking in the middle of the night, to control the thoughts that come
crowding in— and it requires a real effort to corral them, and SET THE MIND ON
CHRIST until all other thoughts fade away. "Be careful for nothing..." is truly
an exercise in casting all your cares upon Him.
"WHEN my spirit was overwhelmed within me, THEN You knew my path." (Psalm
142:3). How precious WHEN and THEN! The WHEN bespeaks of the time element for
the testing and trial to come into being, while the THEN bespeaks of the time
element when HIS involvement in our affairs is also happening. If the WHEN
seems to have negative connections, the THEN brings in the positive enablement
of our Redeemer, who is present to work all things together into our good, and
for His praise. often we thrill to the workings of God, the anointing of His
Spirit, and that surge of feeling victorious. We are ready to rise up and
declare "For by You I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over
a wall." (Ps. 18:29). In those moments the dark shadows hold no terror, for we
are energized by God to face whatever is before us. But then comes these other
occasions, "WHEN my spirit is overwhelmed within me." Ah, this, too, we identify
with.
Overwhelmed— the Hebrew word is "ataph" meaning: to show self feeble, or, to
languish, faint. There are times in our processing when it all sweeps over you,
draining your strength, leaving you feeling faint, spent. Psalm 107:5, reads,
"Hungry and thirsty, their soul FAINTED (was overwhelmed) in them." But the next
verses read, "THEN they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and HE delivered
them out of their distresses. And He led them forth by the right way..." Such
was the purpose of arranging circumstances until they were "hungry and thirsty,"
for WHEN this comes to pass, THEN we learn to cry unto the Lord. And truly,
"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall
be filled." (Matt. 5:6).
The Psalmist gives an interesting observation/confession. "In the day of my
trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night (literally, my hand was
stretched out as in prayer), and ceased not: and my soul refused to be
comforted. I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was
overwhelmed." (Ps. 77:2-3). Caught in the grip of a very negative mind battle,
he was mourning, complaining, questioning God, "why?" Nothing will drain your
strength any faster than negative thinking. We try to figure it all out in
ourselves, and find it too muddled and complicated. Questions arise that
momentarily seem to be unanswerable. He was brought to the point he admitted—
"And I said, This is my weakness." (v.10). Herein is my failing, to focus on my
troubles, rather than to keep my mind stayed upon my God.
WHEN this happened to the Psalmist, how did he rise above all the internal
tempest? THEN— when feeling so overwhelmed, "I will remember the years of the
right hand of the Most High." That was the time to "REMEMBER the works of the
Lord." To "meditate also of all Your work, and talk of Your doings," until he
could cry out, "Who is so great a God as our God?" (Ps. 77:11-13).
God has a LONG RECORD of coming to the aid of His people, of working all things
together into good. Remember HIS RIGHT HAND, and all the times He brought
deliverance to His people; how even in the smallest of details He revealed His
creativity, His power, His love for you. Getting his mind off of himself, and
his troubles, and remembering/meditating/talking of all the wonders of God's
workings, he was brought into a new dimension of peace and joy in the Lord.
"You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You: because he
trusts in You." (Isa. 26:3).
And we do well to remember what Paul declared so eloquently, "There has no
temptation (trial) taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful,
who will not suffer you to be tempted (tested) above that you are able; but will
with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it."
(1 Cor. 10:13). The Amplified reads: "He will always provide a way out— the
means of escape to a landing place— that you may be capable and strong and
powerful patiently to bear up under it." IN HIM THERE IS NO ESCAPISM, that is,
no evading the trial, but an OVERCOMING, and a going up out of it as Victor,
because of His enablement. Praise God.
When Jonah was in the midst of his most unusual happening, three days and three
nights in the belly of the great fish that God had prepared, he said, "When my
soul FAINTED (was overwhelmed) within me I remembered the Lord." (Jonah 2:7).
"All Your billows and Your waves passed over me. - Weeds were wrapped about my
head." This was not easy for the fish either, it had an internal guest that was
making it very uncomfortable, and it would dive deep into the sea, "I went down
to the bottom of the mountains." And finding no relief the fish came up again.
One can only imagine what a rollercoaster ride this might have been. BUT GOD
WAS IN TOTAL CONTROL, and when the proper degree of repentance had been worked
into Jonah, and he offered his prayer unto the Lord, "The Lord spoke to the
fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land." (v. 10). When in distress,
THEN I cried unto the Lord, seems to be the story of man over and over again,
yet little does man know that it is GOD ALL THE WAY, preparing the circumstances
for the trial, and always with that "nevertheless afterwards" in view when it
yields the peaceable fruit of His righteousness. How marvelous are all His
ways.
How beautiful is the promise, "For I will not contend for ever, neither will I
be always be angry: for the spirit should FAIL (be overwhelmed) before Me, and
the souls which I have made." (Isa. 57:16). Certainly there are times of
cleansing, purifying, disciplining, correction, judgments, use whatever term you
like best— YET GOD is ever cognizant of His creation, and knowing our propensity
for easily becoming overwhelmed, He measures out the correction according as we
are able to bear it. For HE is there in the midst of all of our conversion, and
development, saying, "I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him
also, and restore comforts unto him," (v. 18), that we might ultimately be found
to His praise and glory.
Returning to the verse, Ps. 142:3, "WHEN my spirit was overwhelmed within me,
THEN You knew my path." WHEN can get quite expressive of all the times our
spirit was overwhelmed within us— the weakness, the fainting, but that is
immediately connected to a beautiful THEN— right during those times of utter
frailty, deficiency, feebleness— right when we are certain that we cannot take
another step— RIGHT THEN He knows our path, and He is leading us in the right
way, for "He knows the path that I take: when He has tried me, I shall come
forth as gold." (Job 23:10).
Let us not becomes so self-exalted that we claim a spirituality beyond what we
actually possess— for there are times, when in the sifting process, as Peter
experienced, "Satan has desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat,"
(Luke 22:31), that we are not sure about anything— Is the message we have
believed really true? Is this walk really of God? In fact, are we really sure
that God exists in our day, undergirding our way? And the many whispered doubts
leave you crying out with the man who said to our Saviour, "Lord, I believe,
HELP my unbelief." (Mark 9:24). And it is THEN that He whispers within, "I KNOW
YOUR PATH," and "I have prayed for you, that Your faith does not fail." (Luke
22:32). It's enough to make you weep and worship before Him. HE knows all
about those days, those weary miles you walk, the heartbreak that sweeps over
you because there are things happening that you cannot help, and all you can do
is give yourself over to the Spirit to make "intercession for us with groanings
which cannot be uttered." (Rom. 8:26).
The disciples, crossing the sea in a ship, were "tossed with waves: for the wind
was contrary," and they saw Jesus walking on the sea. Then Peter asked the Lord
to bid him to come to Him, and Jesus said, "Come." So Peter began to walk on the
water toward Jesus, "But WHEN he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and
beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And IMMEDIATELY Jesus
stretched forth His hand, and caught him." (Matt. 14:3031). The record doesn't
give all the details, but boisterous winds make for turbulent water, and the
contrary conditions were a real testing arena. It is also easy to see that the
LORD was responsible for these "testing winds" for "WHEN they were come into the
ship, the wind ceased." (v. 32).
Our God knows exactly what conditions to
create for our processing, but let us not become so taken up with the trial that
we forget "WHEN you pass through the waters, I WILL BE WITH YOU." It is in this
"WITH YOU" that we find the grace to walk it out until He has accomplished His
purpose. In Peter's "WHEN" we have boisterous winds, and that horrible sinking
feeling— yet it also reads, "IMMEDIATELY JESUS STRETCHED FORTH HIS HAND."
Therein is the answer— to return our focus upon the Lord, not upon the temporary
circumstances. "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for
us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the
things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things
which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2
Cor. 4:17-18).
No one will deny that all of this is "easier said, than done." The words flow in
a heart-warming stream, we confess the truth of His Word, but then to LIVE IT
OUT day by day— that is where we have to rely fully on His "WITH US." Herein we
find some precious truths. WITH speaks of communion, of togetherness, at the
same time, and often implies that aid is given, as when Abimelech said to
Abraham, "God is with you..." (Gen. 21:22). This is more than just a being
there, but actively supporting, helping us. When God is WITH you, all His
resources are there to be given as He works out His will and purpose. Such
WITH-NESS is almost beyond our comprehension.
WITH also speaks of fellowship in action— He is a participator in all of our
way. Furthermore, it speaks of an alliance for our good, as contrasted by that
which is "against" us. And truly, "If God be FOR US, who can be against us."
(Rom. 8:31).
The Psalmist declared, "When I cry unto You, then shall my enemies turn back:
THIS I KNOW; BECAUSE GOD IS FOR ME." (Ps. 56:9). How marvelous, in the heat of
the battle we cry unto the Lord, and in this WHEN, crying/praying, seeking God,
RIGHT THEN HE who is WITH/FOR us turns the enemy back, and we begin to see the
light of a new day.
Abimelech, and some of his men, came to Isaac and desired a peace-covenant with
him, and Isaac asked them Why?, since they hated him, "And they said, We saw
certainly that the Lord was WITH You..." (Gen. 26:28). To deal with Isaac was
one thing, but to have to deal with the GOD WITH HIM, that was an entirely
different matter. So much of what happens to us is GOD SETTING THE STAGE SO
THAT OTHERS CAN SEE THAT HE IS WITH US.
WITH— also speaks of nearness and vicinity. Through it all He is WITH YOU! This
is the unique characteristic of our God. His with-ness with His people. The
Lord said to Moses, "My presence shall go with you." (Ex. 33:14). And the mark
of distinction that was upon Israel was that their God was WITH THEM. "Is it
not in that You go WITH us?" (v. 16). Thus Moses desperately counted on this
with-ness of God, for without Him there could be no progressive movement. Yet
how quickly we forget that HE is there, WITH US, as we pass through the waters,
the floods, the fires, etc.
Ezekiel closes his book, (48:35) with the triumphant pronouncement, "And the
name of the city from that day shall be, THE LORD IS THERE." Or, as the Hebrew
reads, "Jehovah-shammah." God dwelling with man, redeemed, restored into perfect
communion— fellowship far beyond description. But this STATE OF BEING is not
just a sudden happening— we do not giant leap into a togetherness with God in
full spiritual maturity. Indeed, it has been a daily learning that "WHEN you
pass through the waters, I will be with you." If we cannot come to KNOW HIM, and
embrace Him in the moment by moment trials of the day, we surely will not be
prepared to KNOW HIM in a full expression of His glory.
So often our experience has been comparable to that of Jacob, when he was
fleeing from his brother Esau, and came to a place where he tarried for the
night, and while he slept he dreamt of the angels ascending and descending upon
a ladder, "And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in
this place; and I knew it not." (Gen. 28:16). God has been/and IS in all of our
afflictions, testings, trials, circumstances, situations, and we knew it not
until afterwards, as we looked back and saw how He used it— worked it for our
good, and for His praise.
One of the beautiful truths we learn from the compound names of Jehovah, is the
FACT that HE IS THERE. We are not always conscious of His presence being with
us, and so we have to walk on in the KNOWLEDGE that it is so. But His name also
holds the promise of that fulfillment of REALITY, when forever we will be
conscious that HE IS THERE— with us, and we with Him. It is a truth, HE IS WITH
US now, where we are, having condescended to our low estate, but the purpose is
that being WITH US NOW in all our afflictions, that ultimately we might BE WITH
HIM WHERE HE IS, sharing in the fulness of His life and victory.
Jacob said, "Surely the Lord is IN THIS PLACE..." And might we say the same
thing today? Surely the Lord is in these contrary winds, boisterous and
threatening. Surely the Lord is with us as we pass through the waters, the
floods, the fires. WITH US to be our SAVIOUR. We cannot rescue ourselves, we
cannot change ourselves, but we can daily cast ourselves upon His mercies, and
know that our life is secure in Him— Lord and Redeemer!
And one final thought— He said, "When you pass THROUGH..." We are not to stay in
the waters, but to pass THROUGH them, and come INTO HIM! Amen!
_________________________________________________
(1) Prinzing, Ray and Doris "Letters of Truth"
Boise, Idaho 83705, P.O. Box 5822
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