February 23, 2001
Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish.
In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction;
you have put all my sins behind your back.
Isaiah 38:17
This one verse has helped me get the correct perspective many times in my walk with God, especially through challenging moments. It reminds me that I can trust in God's absolute goodness... that Romans 8:28 is true.. God is working for the good even when the circumstances don't 'feel' so good. Hezekiah had been on his deathbed, he cried out to the lord and God gave him a addition 15 years. Through all of it he could see that God was working through his illness and the challenges to benefit him. He doesn't record how exactly but it reminds me in my own life that in the most difficult times God has done the most work on my heart and in my life. They are usually circumstances that I wouldn't want to relive, they aren't fun and enjoyable times but they are times that I am and have been drawn closer to God, my relationship with him deepens because I grow to understand my need for him in ways I hadn't before. In those times things David says about his relationship with God ring true for me... God is his strength, shield, rock, refuge, fortress, deliverer and salvation... if this is the only benefit that hard times, trials, challenges, anguish, suffering and sorrow bring to my life - then its worth it! Because in the end all that matter is my relationship with God....