The bible sheds light on the fact that all who come into this world will have some dark days.

I am convinced that one of the reasons why the bible
has remained, and
will continue to remain, an enduring book throughout
history is not just
because it is the word of God, but also because it
always speaks to the
human condition.

The word of God deals with things
that not only
happened thousands of years ago but it continues to
deal with and speak
to issues that we face everyday.

A recurring theme in the bible is despair and
trials, not because the
bible just wants to be a book of gloom, but because
the fact is, all of
us encounter despair and trials.

But thanks be to God, the bible isn't just about despair,
it is always ultimately about the movement from despair to deliverance.
But, we can be certain that before deliverance, there will be despair.

The bible sheds light on the fact that all who come
into this world will
have some dark days.

And, the bible helps us to
understand that
sometimes, we are the ones responsible for the
darkness, and at other
times, we are not.



Sometimes it is dark because we refused to pay the
light bill; other
times, there's a breakdown at the power plant beyond
our control.

In either case, there is a darkness, a heavy weight of
despair to be
experienced by every man, woman, boy and girl.
Saints and sinners alike,
invariably live in a land of deep darkness, in which
there is gloom and
anguish.

But, the bible never denies the fact that not all of
our days are dark
and troubling. Consider ancient Israel, a nation
blessed and loved by
God.

The people of Israel experienced the fullness
of the human
condition. They knew joy.



They knew the happiness of holding a newborn baby.
They, no doubt, had
many sunlit strolls on sandy beaches.

Ancient Israel, being acquainted
with life, had days, like you and I, which were
filled with fond
memories that brought smiles to their faces.

Once upon a time, life was sweet and living was
easy. But, as is the
case with everyone, the wheels of life turned,
bringing a drastic
change. Time and circumstances brought Israel into a
land of deep
darkness.

Why, one might ask, did God either send his beloved
people into the
valley of trouble and despair or, why did God allow
his chosen ones to
have all joy sucked out of their lives?

We would do well to see how our fore parents in the
faith found
themselves no longer basking in the beautiful rays
of bountiful
blessings and abundant joy.

If we were to read the early chapters of
Isaiah, we would see that the people of God had set
themselves up for a
setback.

In the land, there was a spirit of arrogance. Many
of the people began
to live like they no longer needed God, arrogance.

There were many who
acted as if they were the master of their destiny
and the captain of
their souls, disregarding the fact that it was God
who made them and
sustained them.

Furthermore, there were those who claimed to love
God, whom they had not
seen, but they didn't have any love for their
neighbors next door. Many,
there were, who talked right, but walked all wrong.

Because of Israel's actions, and inaction, there
arose an enemy,
Assyria, on the outside.

And, having turned their backs on God and on the ways of God,
the Israelites had nothing on the
inside to help them
survive the attacks from the outside.
Therefore, the once bright sun of safety and joy
burned out, leaving
nothing but a darkened land of fear, loneliness, and
emptiness.

Sad, but true , when people are in the valley of the
shadow of death,
when people are living, day-by-day, in the midst of
struggles and
burdens on every hand, spiritual insanity begins to
creep in, even in
the souls of the children of almighty God.

In the book of Ecclesiastes, it is written that
there is no new thing
under the sun. And, if we were to read the bible, we
would see how
Israel of old, and the people of God today, handled
the dark days of
sadness and sorrow in much the same way.

In the eighth chapter of Isaiah, with danger on the
outside and
emptiness on the inside, the people of God began
looking for deliverance
and security in all the wrong places.

Being in great distress and despair, some of the
people, who once were
so strong in their faith in God, began to seek some
comforting word or
hopeful sign by calling on dead folk and
astrologers, just looking for
some positive sign that troubles may soon be passing
over.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.
How often today,
people who are hurting, who have lost a loved one
tragically, those who
are going through life with an unshakeable sadness,
how often they
consult astrology, medians, horoscopes and tea
leaves, trying to find
out when the darkness covering their lives might
finally leave them
alone.

In so many ways, when sunlight is hidden from view
and life doesn't seem
to be going our way, how often we turn our back on
God.

Perhaps we don't blatantly reject God and openly abandon God.
But, our actions, which
speak far louder than words, often reveal that the
people of God have
abandoned God.

Yet, God has never and will never abandon his
people. Even when we are
unfaithful, God remains ever faithful.

In spite of us, the Lord remains committed to us. In
spite of us, and in
spite of the reason for our walking in darkness, God
desires to take us
from despair to deliverance.

Whether we live in a land of darkness because we
refused to pay the
light bill, or there was a breakdown at that power
plant, God's grace
and mercy yet proves to be sufficient for our dark
despair.

Once upon a time, those who were right and those who
were wrong, lived
in darkness. They lived with the darkness of
unemployment. They lived
with the darkness of substance abuse. They lived
with the darkness of
spousal abuse. They lived with the heavy darkness of
depression. The
righteous and the unrighteous lived in darkness.

But, the Lord our God is full of mercy and tender
love. Those who lived
in a land of great darkness have had a light to
shine upon them. Notice,
if you will, the word didn't say that somebody
discovered fire or
learned how to make a light to shine in the
darkness.

There was a light that shined on those in darkness,
but it shined on
them from outside of themselves. No doubt, they had
to position
themselves to see the light.

No doubt, they had to have eyes open, expecting that
there just might
still be something worth living for and looking for.
But, still, this
light was shined upon them from outside of them.

The people of God who once lived life in deep
darkness, and that
includes you and me, the people who once sat in
great darkness saw a
great light breaking in on the gloom and pain that
was suffocating them.

When the bible speaks of light, often it is speaking
of the presence of
God. So it was that the light, the presence of God
was seen in the
darkest of times. The presence, the reality of God,
was made clear when
life was at its worst.

But, there is more to the story than that. Oh, it's
a good thing to see
the presence of God. It's good to know that God is
wherever we may be,
whether on the mountaintop of great joy or down in
the valley of
sickness and distress, it's good to know that God is
there.

It's good to see God when you're going through a
tough time. It's good
to see God when you can't see anybody else.

But, be ever mindful, that wherever there is the
presence of God, there
is also the power of God. So, while God's people of
old, saw a great
light and those who live in a land of deep darkness
today, had a light
to shine upon them that is not all that happened.
Don't you know; the Lord our God is an ever present
help in a time of
trouble? With the presence of God, is always the
power of God, the very
power that is able to bear every burden, move every
mountain and open
doors we can't even see.

Isaiah said that once, there was a heavy yoke, a
great burden on the
people. The people had to bear some burdens they
could no longer handle.
But, the power of God broke the yoke of the burden.
The power of God set
the captives free.

The fierce rod of the oppressor cannot long endure
in the face of the
power of God. Whatever form oppression takes, God is
able to overcome
it.

The oppression of depression is broken by the power
of the God who
promised to never leave us nor forsake us. The
oppression of fear and
doubt is broken by the power of the God who walks
with us every step of
the way, day-by-day.

Because of what God has done, the only proper
response is to rejoice.
Because of what God is doing and shall yet do, the
only appropriate
response is to rejoice always.

But, we dare not rejoice because of the pain of our
past, but we rejoice
because the Lord has brought us through the painful
past. We cannot
rejoice because we've lost some loved ones, but we
rejoice because
through it all, the Lord has sustained us.

The Lord our God has met us in the dark despair of
difficult days, and
he has taken us from despair to deliverance.
Therefore, it is altogether
reasonable to lift up holy hands and to make a
joyful noise unto the
Lord, the God of our salvation and our sanity.

Everything that hath breath ought to praise the
Lord, for if it had not
been for the Lord on our side, all would be lost. If
it had not been for
the Lord on our side when troubles came out of
nowhere, we would have
surely failed. If it had not been for the Lord on
our side, when we
stumbled and fell, we never would have gotten back
up.

When we walk in the light of God's presence,
everyday is a day of
thanksgiving, for the Lord our God has brought us a
mighty long way.

The Lord our God has brought us through many dangers,
toils and snares. The
Lord our God has brought us, from despair to
deliverance.

All these blessings, all this joy, all this
strength, all this hope and
all this power is ours, not because we deserve it.
It's not ours because
we are so good and holy. It's not ours because we've
earned it.

We have joy, we have deliverance and we have hope,
because God has
smiled on us.

Therefore, let everything; let
everyone that hath breath
praise the Lord. Let the redeemed, let the blessed,
let the delivered
declare that yes, "God has smiled on me. He has set
me free! God has
smiled on me. He's been good to me!"



JESUS IS LORD.
"Let The Praise Begin"

Min. Nina
"It was His "LOVE" that kept me strong"
Proverbs 31 Virtuous Woman..

http://www.authorsden.com/minninaclark
http://www.geocities.com/soprecious2see/ninaclarkministries.html

The Will of God will never take you to where the Grace of God will not protect you.
Don't miss out on your BLESSING just because it's not in the package you was expecting...