THE HANDLING OF A CRISIS There is a sense in which the people of God are never without Him. "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness" (Isa 41:10). "I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the LORD" (Jer 15:20). " . . . for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Heb 13:5). -- Tomorrow:
"And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain. Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the king's guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon: He answered and said to Arioch the king's captain, Why is the decree so hasty from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel. Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would show the king the interpretation. Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon." (Daniel 2:13-18)
Devotion 3 of 28
Faith depends upon the presence and support of the Lord. It approaches life with the presence of the Lord in mind, knowing He has committed Himself to be with those who trust in Him. However, faith is put to the test in the crucible of conflict and opposition – and this circumstance is by design. The trusting soul must fight to keep the faith – to maintain a hold on the exceeding great and precious promises of God. This is called "the good fight of faith" (1 Tim 6:12). It is "good" because of the results it yields. It is a "fight" because it calls for extensive effort in the facing of aggressive opposition.
In all of this, there are times when the believer must approach God for special wisdom and protection. Because of the nature of life in "this present evil world" (Gal 14), times arise when special and singular grace is required. The life of faith does not run on automatic pilot. That is why a religion that leaves men detached from the Lord and unaware of His presence is so lethal. While men may imagine such a religion to be satisfactory during the more pleasant normalities of life, it utterly fails them in the hour of crisis, temptation, and trial.
This is the greatest single reason for the fall of Christian people, including their leaders. They have sought to live apart from their faith, supposing that Divine benefits can be realized without the involvement of the minds, hearts, and spirits of the people. When the hour of trial comes, whether it is the temptation to do evil, or the testing of the fabric of their faith, they fail miserably. They have not lived by faith, and thus they could not survive the testing of that faith.
However, when we draw nigh to God, He WILL draw nigh to us (James 4:8). That is never more true than in the hour of trial. Those who draw nigh to God in the hour of trial, have been drawing near to Him before they were tried, as the Spirit exhorts us to do (Heb 10:22). That is why they quickly resort to the Lord when they feel the heat of the furnace, and the wind of the storm. Closeness to God is not intended for times and seasons, but is to be the constant posture of the child of God.
CHASTENING DOES NOT MEAN ABANDONMENT
No person who is chastened by God finds the experience pleasant. Indeed, chastening is not intended to be a time of rich fellowship and joy. Thus it is written, "Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous" (Heb 12:11). Keep in mind, Daniel was living during a time when God was chastening the nation of Israel. That chastening was not ordinary in any sense of the word. It was the Babylonian captivity that lasted for seventy long years. Yet, Daniel and his friends did not throw up their hands in despair. They sensed in their hearts that chastening was not Divine abandonment, but holy correction.
The Lord does not reject the cries and resolves of those who are chastened, for "whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth" (Heb 12:6). This is particularly true when He is chastening a body of people, like Israel in the Babylonian captivity. In this case, Daniel was not personally being chastened, but was among a body of people who were being corrected. He therefore relied on his personal acquaintance with the Lord, as well as his formal affiliation with Him as a seed of Abraham. His circumstance was similar to that of Joshua and Caleb, who had to endure forty years in the wilderness because of the unbelief of those with whom they were traveling.
If God's people live in a time of governmental collapse due to Divine chastening, or the correction of the church for its failure to walk in the light, they must not despair. There are even whole segments of time in which the chastening hand of the Lord is dominate, as in the days prophesied by Amos. "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: and they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it" (Amos 8:11-12). Even then, the Lord is still accessible to those who believe, even if they are in the minority among those who are called by His name.
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank You for Your constancy, and for the power of faith to take hold of Your promises in times of great difficulty.