Thursday, December 4, 2008 8:53 PM CST
CLERGY VIEW: There is hope when it looks hopeless
By Rev. Dr. Andrew Robinson, Christ Ministries Inc., Charleston
“Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.” — Psalm 42:7.
The Spirit of God moved over and in the waters of our wayward souls. He again said, “Let there be light!” and we were miraculously transformed. We became the children of light. The moment we were born again, the covering was removed. He restored us to our rightful place of inheritance.
We received the mind of Christ, illuminating our minds with Word-knowledge and Spirit-revelation. Begotten of the Word of life, we continually emerge in Christ (the anointed word), our wonderful and glorious inheritance. From this deep initial experience sprang forth an incessant flow of the pure water of life.
The deep in God is the incessant wooing of the hovering Holy Spirit that still broods daily over every born again “well of living waters” as if to echo the song of Israel: “Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it” (Numbers 21:17).
The deep in every child of God is the inward and upward surge of worship, trust, pleading and longing that often surfaces and overflows, especially when we fall to our knees or lift our hands to pray. This gives birth to Spirit-filled praise and adoration and anointed prayer utterances.
We who have been born again can boldly claim such an inheritance for this is our calling and character: We have inherited God’s desire; we are vessels of His emotions; we are containers of “the deep”; we are his waterspouts.
This God-given title, “waterspouts,” for His children speaks of the life of God, indwelling and eternal; but also speaks of an indescribable and unfathomable longing, as expressed by the Psalmist (42:1-2) “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?”
We reach far beyond this surface dust of humanity into His Presence. An irresistible pull draws us closer and closer to the bosom of our Heavenly Father. Paul expressed this eternal call to the church in Galatians 4:19: “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you.”
Deity and divinity blossoming in the lives of believers is the “deep calling unto the deep…” urging us to come forth in His image. He bids us to come. “O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker” (Psalm 95:6).
Each encounter in His Presence draws us closer. All circumstances in our lives are working together for good to bring forth this eternal purpose in us.
Though “billows and waves” of tribulations and trials crash over our lives, we can still be full of faith in knowing this: “Yet the Lord will command his loving kindness in the day time, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life” (Psalm 42:8).
Our most painful experiences can be ultimately beneficial: “For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills.” (Deuteronomy 8:7).
In the valley, we learn how to thirst. In the valley we learn how to trust. In the valley, we learn how to believe. In the valley, we learn how to love. In the valley, we learn how to pray.
Consequently, we ask this question from Psalm 42:11 “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.”
We can hope when it looks hopeless: “Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil” (Hebrews 6:19).
We place our confidence in this fact: “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (II Corinthians 4:17).
Finally, our hearts reach the culminating crescendo echoing the psalmist, “I shall yet praise him!” (Psalm 42:11).
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medic57 wrote on Dec 6, 2008 9:28 PM:
I have been a christian most of my
life, but I have no idea what you just said. "