(When nothing seems to work)
“…Rejoice not against me, my enemy; for if I fall, I shall arise; for if I sit in darkness, Jehovah shall be a light to me…” (Micah 7:8)
“I don’t know what is going on with my life. Nothing seems to be working. Everything around me seems to be collapsing. Whenever I try calling upon God it seems there is an imaginary ceiling and my prayers seem to be bouncing back on me like an echo. My debtors are out for my neck and I don’t have anything to sooth their demand. I can hardly sleep,” whimpered Nimrod over a cup of coffee one cold Tuesday evening.
It was tough for me finding some words of comfort for this dear friend and brother in Christ. All I could do was quote Isaiah 3:10 and pray with him that he may find comfort in the Lord. I perceived that what he needed was a concrete answer to his predicaments, not another sermon.
Nimrod was going through what I now know as death season. Many of us often wonder where God is at the darkest hour of their lives, and why He allows it to happen to them. They even start naming and fighting whatever spirit they can imagine that could be related to that ‘thing’ without realizing that it might be the hand of God they are fighting.
Personally, I asked God those questions and He answered in a way that proved how foolish it is to do that. He answered with some questions: Where do you think I was when my Son was being crucified? Where do you think I was when my faithful servant, Job, was going through tough times? You have chosen to follow Christ, voluntarily, but are you ready to follow through, every step of the way, up to the shameful death on the cross with Him?
That is where the phrase ‘death season’ came from. There comes a time in life of a believer when nothing seems to work, both spiritually and physically, and if anything seems to do, it works against him or her.
W e are the followers of Christ and we should be ready to walk with Him all the way, even to the cross of shame through to death and tomb (John 11:16). We have no option but to follow on, knowing that His plan is the best for us even when we don’t see the sense in it, especially when we compare it with Jeremiah 29:11.
Apostle Paul had embraced this truth when He scribbled to the saints in Galatia, “…I have been crucified with Christ, and I live; yet no longer I, but Christ lives in me…” (Galatians 2:20) that is why He was audacious enough to tell the elders from Ephesus: “…But none of these things move me, neither do I count my life dear to myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus Christ, to testify fully the gospel of the grace of God…” (Acts 20:24)
Well, I understand that the Gospel is the good news, but there comes a time when good news seems to be clothed in a sour shell. Time comes when, apparently there seems to be nothing good in the good news. At that moment in time it is prudent to understand and embrace the fact that The Lord is with you. The Lord told the people of Israel the reason why He took them through the wilderness for forty years from Egypt to Canaan, an eleven day trek thus: “…And you shall remember all the way which Jehovah your God led you these forty years in the wilderness in order to humble you, to prove you, to know what is in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not…“ (Deuteronomy 8:2) Understand that the Lord knew what was in their hearts, but He wanted to prove it (that which was in their hearts) so that they would know what was in their hearts through squeezing it out and laying it bare before their eyes.
In order to embrace it further and in a better way, picture it thus: A mother giving her sick child bitter medicine. The child kicks, screams and tries to spit out the strange tasting concoction in protest. The mother is evidently appalled by the child’s reaction, but because it is the only cure for the ailing and wailing little wonder in her arms, she is left with no option but to administer the medicine to the child. The longer the child protests the sicker he gets and the more it appalls his mother because she knows what is best for his quick recovery.
This may be one of the many ways to look at the death season in a positive way. Look at Micaiah (1 Kings 22 and 2 Chronicles 18). Why is he in prison? Why do you think he is slapped by Zedekiah? Isn’t God powerful? Why does He allow John the Baptist to be imprisoned and later beheaded for speaking what God has told Him to speak? Can words kill? Is the tongue of a prophet a sword that he suicidally wields against himself?
There are two different ways of looking at the aspect of the cross. One is active and the other is passive. The active one says: “since He is my Lord, and He demands that I follow Him, then, out of love, I should follow Him even if it is to the grave so that I may resurrect with Him in glory.” Those who follow this route have this as their maxim: No gory no glory, no pain no gain, no shame no fame.
On the other hand, there is the passive way. The passive one says: “He died my death. Because He died the curse of suffering is broken, and therefore I can live a full life in Christ. He loved me so much that He chose to die my death on my cross. Why then should I take up the cross? I should just live in worship and love for Him instead.” It gives its followers have these as their principles: His gory my glory, His pain my gain, His shame my fame.
When the first thesis is followed without love and grace the end result is legalism. On the other hand, if one takes the second argument without commitment it leads him or her to antinomianism. There is no extreme in the Christianity that is good, especially if it is used to prove a point or two against a certain portion of Scriptures and if the motive thereof is wrong. We should, instead be more eager to find a biblical consensus from the Word of God, and from the Spirit of the living God.
Back to the point, why do Christians go through tough times? I dare say this, and this is Jack: never ask God ‘why’. Job of old, in his miseries, was always eager to appear before God and present his petition to Him, but when God appeared and challenged him to stand like a man and answer some questions, all he could do was say “I have been hearing about You, but now my eyes have seen You” (Job 42:5). In my ignorance, I asked that question, and true to His nature He gave me five reasons from the Bible and asked me who between me and Him was wiser. You can be sure that I was left dumbfounded.
Death season can be a distressing and discouraging time, especially if one does not know how to deal with it. Let me share with you some of the nuggets that God has humbled me with.
The first thing, and this is very critical, is to make sure that you are on the right books with God. Righteousness cannot be over- emphasized. It will give you boldness to face whatever is thrown at your face without flinching or batting an eye with the knowledge and faith that the Lord is with you on this matter (Proverbs 28:1). The moment you start getting offended at the Lord’s dealing, you give the devil a landing beach from which he can conquer the rest of your spiritual life.
That brings me to the second point, which is: keep your heart. The Scriptures teach us to keep our hearts (Proverbs 4:23). We ought to keep our hearts from offences especially when we perceive the dealings of the Lord to be unfair or unjustified, lest we become like Naomi, (whose name means pleasant , beautiful or comely) who chose to change her name to Mara (meaning bitter or bitterness) because she thought that God had dealt with her bitterly enough to remind Him always with her name (Ruth 1:20). Remember the name represents the character of the person bearing that name.
Open sea swimmers and surfers know that as long as you keep your head above the waters, chances of drowning are minimal. Likewise as long as you keep your head chances of depression are minimal.
Three of the prophets in the Bible suffered depression. They looked at existence and devalued what God had entrusted them with and desired that God may take their lives. Moses (Numbers 11:15), Elijah (1 Kings 19:4) and Jonah (Jonah 4:3) were their names. Hence the reason why I am stressing that we keep our heads afloat in the times of storm. Your head might be the only head that is sane in the world you are living. So keep it.
Then, of paramount significance, keep the hope alive. Job 23:8-10 shows something that we should embrace. It reads: “… Behold, I go forward, but He is not there; and backward, but I cannot see Him; on the left hand, where He works, but I cannot behold Him. He turns to the right, but I do not see Him. But He knows the way that I take; when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold…” This righteous man from the east is in a dilemma. All his friends have deserted him, and the few who have been left are busy talking him into admitting that he has sinned so that they have something to explain away the painful season that Job is going through as punishment from God.
In the Scriptures above he is saying that He can’t find God. It is pitch dark in the soul of a man or woman who confesses that He cannot find God. But he refuses to throw in the towel because there is something he knows, and that gives him hope to carry on. He knows that omniscient God knows his path. And that path will lead to glory and splendid beauty like that which emanates from gold.
Also, and this is very refreshing to some, it is always expedient to be with people who love you unconditionally. I call them encouragers. Everyone needs a Barnabas, especially in times when he/she is weak, to encourage and strengthen him or her with words of comfort. You will understand that such people are very instrumental though they may not be public figures. Ministry goes beyond preaching in public. It can be done through a whisper of “God loves and cares about you, and so do I,” or something like a smile. If you are an encourager, may God’s love be abundant to an overflowing level so that you will be as pivotal as you can be in times when someone is going through things that he or she cannot understand. If you are in difficult season may you find comfort from the Lord of all comfort and also a shoulder to lean on from your fellow believers.
What if even those whom you thought to be your encouragers desert you? Sometimes it is difficult for them to accept the situations you are in. Remember that these are people, not angels. They have their own fears, and can, out of insecurity or ignorance or any other reason that human beings possess decide they have had enough of your woes. The question comes: how do you deal with desertion at the time when the warmth of your brethren is needed badly?
The first thing is to make sure that you have the right attitude towards them. They don’t desert you because they were not really there for you but because they have limits. Remember that they can go with you thus far; and not farther.
Then at least go a notch farther and learn to trust in the Lord your God alone. “And they that know Your name will put their trust in You; for You Lord has not forsaken those who seek You.” (Psalm 9:10)
God has all along in the history of mankind proved to be the trusted friend, especially in times when one is in such darkness that he/she cannot tell between an eye and a nose. Job of old said, “Though He slays me, yet I will trust in Him: but I will maintain my ways before Him.” (Job 13:15 KJV.)
And, in His time He sends someone to come to your rescue. Let us look at what happened to Jeremiah when he prophesied as the Lord had commanded. In Jeremiah 38:1-13, he was arrested and thrown in a dungeon by some chaps with the consent of Zedekiah the king. Then Ebedmelech, one of the king’s servants saw the mischievous deed and sought the permission of the king to have Jeremiah out of the dungeon, owing to the fact that it was cold and there was no much food in Jerusalem. His request was granted, and together with thirty soldiers they rescued Jeremiah.
Jeremiah was rescued using worn out clothes and ropes by putting them under his arm pits so that he could be pulled out of the soggy pit. The ropes are the bands of love and cords of man (Hosea 11:4) which are used to pull him, and the rags which are used to support the man of God are the eon proven doctrines of the Word of God.
I have, for a long time, believed that ministry is not just preaching; rather it is the releasing or sharing of the abundant life of Christ in us through a channel called love. Hence Ebedmelech and his troop of thirty soldiers give us anatomy of what ministry is all about.
There will be an Ebedmelech appointed for your rescue from the dungeon of troubles. He may be the most unexpected person to come forth with such a burden for your rescue (Ebedmelech was a mere eunuch in the service of Zedekiah the king in the palace), but God’s ways often confuse our expectation, anyway (1 Cor 1:18-21).
Conclusively, whatever comes, in times when you can’t see any flickering hope, there is only one way to go. Hope against hope like Abraham.
There is no way you are going to remain in the death season forever. There is resurrection for you. Since we are following the footsteps of Christ to death, then the same way He resurrected we shall resurrect with Him (Romans 6:5-8). Seasons are never permanent. Don’t settle in the death season. There is resurrection for you and glory in Him, you who has chosen to die with Jesus (John 11:16).
…For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall rise on the earth at the last; and even if they corrupt my skin, yet this: in my flesh I shall see God… (Job 19:25, 26)
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