"When Sorrows Like Sea Billows Roll..."

From Charles Spurgeon:

There is not a place which a believer walks in--which is free from snares. Behind every tree--is the tempter with his barbed arrow! Behind every bush--is the roaring lion, the Devil, your great enemy, prowling around, looking for some victim to devour! Under every piece of grass--hides the deadly adder!

This present world is the battlefield; Heaven is a place of complete victory and glorious triumph.

This present world is the land of the sword and the spear; Heaven is the land of the wreath and the crown.

This present world is the land of the garment rolled in blood and the dust of the fight; Heaven is the land of the trumpet's joyful sound--the place of the white robe and of the shout of conquest.

Oh, what a thrill of joy shall shoot through the hearts of all the redeemed, when their conquests shall be complete; when death itself, the last of foes, shall be slain; when Satan shall be dragged captive at the chariot wheels of Christ; when He shall have overthrown sin and trampled corruption as the mire of the streets; when the great shout of universal victory shall rise from the hearts of all the redeemed!

"He will remove all of their sorrows, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. For the old world and its evils are gone forever!"
Revelation 21:4

From Theodore Cuyler:

"As your days--so shall your strength be."
Deuteronomy 33:25

Sufficient to each day are the duties
to be done--and the trials to be endured.

God never built a Christian strong enough to
carry today's duties and tomorrow's anxieties
piled on the top of them.

"So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow
will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is
enough for today."
Matthew 6:34

Ah, how this world can weigh down the most joyous of hearts! With a mere twist of the imagination here and a temptation of wickedness there, we find ourselves on the brink of despair. Yet hope remains. With a heavy heart, a burdensome load, we look heavenward to a beautiful inheritance above! Our toil and striving, our trials and pains, seem so near when the glory of our eternity seems so far. "How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?"

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" cried our Lord. With the entire load of sin and despair weighing down the most heavenly of hearts, the edge of despair loomed nearer to him than the reward he would soon receive. Yet the reality of God's plan of redemption was by no means dependent on anyone's current mood or circumstance, even Jesus'. This too, even for Jesus, was only a temporary and light affliction (albeit infinitely more burdensome and painful than anything any other man would ever or will ever endure) compared to the vast riches that would await him next to his Father in heaven.

Hebrews 12:1-2
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Romans 5:1-5
1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

All is well until something changes. And sometimes the converse is true: when something changes, all becomes well. Sounds simple, and it is. But sometimes the change isn't so simple. For me, living overseas in an Islamic country was a massive change. And it was a complicated change: geographically, emotionally, spiritually, and culturally, among others. Coming back to the U.S. was also a drastic change after being overseas for two years. Getting married was a change. And parenthood, thus far, has proven to be the most complex, difficult change in my life. Not only was my wife's pregnancy and delivery extremely difficult, but learning how to be a good father and husband at the same time is a great challenge. It cannot be overstated how significant it is for a man to be a real father and a woman to be a real mother. The book of Proverbs has an abundance of advice on this matter, indicating that without solid parents, children will lead lives of strife and heartache, if not total destruction. And, far too often it seems, bad parents beget bad parents.

Lately especially, I have been praising God for being such a great Father to me. Even though my dad and I have a great relationship these days, it wasn't always that way. When he ruined his marriage with my mom, he sealed his fate as one of those absentee fathers whose boys would likely end up having severe commitment issues, usually involving a lot of anger and resentment. Apart from the sovereign grace of God, both my earthly father and I would have become mere insignificant statistics in a world in which broken families are more common than healthy ones. But the reality is, God has saved us both from that, and has been showing me and teaching me many things lately about being a good father, and a good husband to my wonderful, irreplaceable wife.

It's been really hard lately, but I'm thankful that God has replaced my heart of stone with a malleable heart of flesh that can be teachable and willing to obey his counsel. May the Fruit of the Spirit grow bountifully in my life, replacing the deeds of my flesh that once ruled me as a slave:

Galatians 5:16-25
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

So for those of us who are called to endure, let us take heart and do so, by the grace of God. Not all are called to such an honor. Some are simply breathing to death, awaiting their burial in some vacant plot of land with a forgotten headstone. But others have been secured as a prize possession to suffer as their Savior did so that they may also reign as he does. Blessed be the name of the Lord, and blessed are the saints in the land, who by his sovereign hand have been called out of darkness into light so that they may shine brightly in the darkness and in the midst of great suffering and pain; they are the excellent ones in whom is all God's delight. May we continue to persevere in the grace of God, to the praise of his magnificent name!