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| Friday, May 29, 2009 |
| TAKEN ASIDE BY JESUS |
By : Lynn Mosher
Have you ever had a really deep, dark struggle in your life? I have. It sent me to my knees to truly seek the Lord. Out of that time of struggle came the Lord's peace and this piece, which I offer for the comfort of another. I pray the Lord will touch your heart in a positive way through my experience.
"He took him aside from the multitude" (Mark 7:33a NKJV).
Oh, from these bars of confinement that have shut me in, I cry out to God. From this darkness that surrounds me, it seems as though all is lost. Yet, I know all things are sifted through the loving fingers of my precious Lord. Wishing to commune with me, He allows this thing to touch my life right now.
As I feel the sting of heartache and loneliness, the restlessness of discontent and frustration, the anguish of defeat and helplessness, He withdraws me from the busyness of the world that I may be still before Him and wait.
Hidden from everyone's view, tears quietly stream down my cheeks, but the Lord sees my aching heart, and with His nail-scarred hand, He wipes away my tears. "Nearly all God's jewels are crystallized tears," someone once said.
Too many voices clamor for my attention. My ears, wearied from the noise of the world, impatiently wait for the comforting sound of His voice. All things fall by the wayside when the indescribable Still Small Voice whispers ever so quietly to my listening soul.
The Lord "takes me aside from the crowd [privately]" into absolute aloneness with Him, that I may listen only to Him. His words of love and comfort speak thunderously in this solitude. It is from here that I must search for His loving purpose.
The Lord's purpose in taking me aside is never immediately discerned. However, getting my attention and bringing me into a deeper relationship with Him is always His will in my blackest hours.
When the darkness and loneliness loom endlessly, they yet result in the richest and most rewarding of all spiritual experiences, for it is then that I see my darkness is but the overshadowing of the wings of the Lord. It is then I await the radiance of His glorious light to fall from heaven that I might behold my precious Savior.
As dew is quietly dispensed in the gloom of night, so the Holy Spirit comes to silently distill His peace and comfort. In waves of coolness, He breathes upon me like a refreshing wind.
Just as the countless grains of parched, desert sand crave rainfall, this dry and dusty mortal vessel yearns for those Living Waters provided only by the Lord. Then His peace pours forth as an endless river, rushing over me to cleanse away all that would obstruct my view of Him. As I go to the Well, I drink in His Life and I am revitalized.
When I sing of His wonders and tell of His glories, my walls of confinement fade into nothingness. The way opens before me. In the darkness, I see His brilliant, glistening footsteps on the path before me as if sprinkled with the glitter of heavenly dust, and only the light of praise brings them into focus.
Not all my questions are answered nor all my longings appeased, but His gracious mercy provides the path of recovery to soundness, to wholeness, to a larger place, to Himself.
Maybe out of my desert, rivers of blessings may be poured out to other parched souls. I pray that freedom for others may come out of my confinement, that light for blind eyes may come out of my darkness, and that comfort for the hurting may come out of my loneliness.
It is for this that I praise Him for "taking me aside."
"And the Lord shall guide you continually and satisfy you in drought and in dry places and make strong your bones. And you shall be like a watered garden and like a spring of water whose waters fail not" (Isaiah 58:11 AMP).
Father God, Come to my parched heart with the water of Your Spirit. Amen.
Questions: What is your painful struggle? How are you facing your pain? How can comfort come out of pain?Labels: Lynn Mosher
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