Christian Living

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Psalm 119.132

From extreme to extremity

“Turn to me and be gracious to me, after Your manner with those who love Your name” [Psalm 119.132 NASB]

The Lord is a very present help in a time of trouble. For the afflicted and troubled believer, God’s impartiality is always a steady source of blessing and encouragement.

No matter what our upbringing has been, God accepts us by His grace and He also treats and handles us as one of His most prized possessions.

Now, this is where, as His children, we often engage the enemy when we encounter confusing and illogical problems.

We often think that if we had anything, which the world regards as valuable, then we would have it cocooned, able to be looked at and admired, but not touched by unclean hands.

Not so with God. We are to Him, as precious and beloved as the Lord Jesus is, and yet He deliberately puts us out, alone, into a wild environment, where wicked men and evil beasts roam free, and where our lives are in constant threat of danger and death.

Do you feel that you have been called to walk a difficult path and no matter, which way you turn; you will always meet trouble and increasing sorrow?

In this context, we may need to pay very close attention to what the writer of the Hebrews says regarding Jesus’ life while on earth [Hebrews 5.7-8]

When I was a child, every Monday was a wash day and we would take all our dirty clothes to the wash house, which was situated at the other end of the concrete garden.

In that grey building, there were two very deep sinks and what we called a mangle or a wringer, through which every item had every drop of water squeezed out until there was apparently none left, and then they were laid out to dry.

Do you feel that God is wringing and manhandling you more and more, and yet, when you look again, you see an implement, an individual, or an opportunity, which will stretch you even further.

How are you handling it? Or are you? There are four very important words to notice about Jesus’ relationship with God in these two verses, He prayed and He pleaded with loud cries and tears.

You need to know that not only are you beyond price, but your experiences, which you may view differently from God, are especially designed and manufactured by Him to bring you to the point of complete submission and maximum obedience.

This is why, when you endeavour to relate to other believers what your life is currently like, they are, not unwilling, but are unable to fully empathise with you.

Not only are you coming to the apparent end of the measure of your faith, you are also reaching, very fast, the limit of your Christian experience, never before have you felt like this, and to cap everything else, God is asking you to trust and obey Him.

When you pray, plead, shout and cry, the Spirit replies, “Jesus learned obedience through what He suffered”. You, my friend, are being fully conformed to His image. [David McArdle]

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