As I awakened one morning, the Holy Spirit spoke to me saying “Take My hand, My precious child.” For in Psalm 85:8*, it is stated “I will hear what God the Lord will speak, for He will speak peace to His people and to His saints; but let them not turn back to folly” (foolishness)
Tragically we, as His
children, have such a tendency (propensity) all too often to go our own way - walking
in the flesh (our own minds) as
opposed to walking in the (Holy) Spirit! And in so doing, we separate ourselves
from focusing on the LORD God Almighty thus, allowing ourselves to open the
door for Satan to direct our paths for the moment/day/week, etc. And therein the great possibility for
sorrow/grief to hover over us in our utmost inner being.
We cannot begin to
imagine the sorrow God experienced and experiences even now because people,
even Christians grieve/quench Him. . . let’s consider what the scriptures
declare concerning this.
We must keep in
mind the sorrow that began early on as we read beginning in Isaiah 14:12-21 the
story of how Satan, once an angel called Lucifer, “son of the morning or Light
Bearer” surely grieved the LORD Who had to evict him and send him to earth.
In Gen., chapter 3,
we see that it didn’t take Satan (the serpent) long to interfere in God’s plan
for His creation to live a bountiful and glorified life on earth. Satan truly
believed as he tempted Adam and Eve in the garden, that he had the upper hand at
this point…little did he know what was and is ahead for him and his minions,
because it is written that there will come a time when “the devil will be cast
into lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and
night forever and ever”. (Rev. 20:10)
In Gen. 3:16, we
read where the LORD is talking to Eve, “To the woman He said: I will greatly
multiply your sorrow….” Another example
where we create our own sorrow!
It is also written in
Gen. 6:5,6 “And the LORD was sorry that
the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continuously. And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.”
We read in Ephesians
4: “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by Whom you were sealed for the
day of redemption.” I would refer you to
verses 25-32 relating as to all the ways we indeed grieve the Holy Spirit, and
in 1 Thess. 5:18 it is also declared “Do not quench the (Holy) Spirit.”
Consider the 40
years the children of Israel spend in the “trial in the wilderness”. . .and the
LORD lamented in of Psalm 95:10 “For 40 years I was grieved with that generation, . . .”
Questions which must be asked at this point
are:
-
LORD, is there
anything in the past or the present where I am grieving You in that I haven’t
sought repentance? I would ask You, Holy
Spirit, to please reveal that which has grieved or quenched my LORD.
-
LORD, what am I
to learn from my sorrows?
-
Are there any unconfessed
sins or even confessed sins that I am still wrestling with that are allowing
sorrow into my life?
-
It is most
crucial to keep mind God’s faithful provisions/promises as we read in 1 John
1:7-10; 2:1-2 for our dealing with any and all sin in our lives:
Ø Vs. 7: “But if we walk in the light as He is in the
light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
Ø Vs. 8 “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,
and the truth is not in us.” and
Ø Vs. 9 is a powerful scripture for declaring immediately when a sin is committed “If
(a HUGE little word) we confess our
sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our
sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
This is an
appropriate time to share what was exclaimed in the powerful devotional STREAMS IN THE DESERT for January 18, concerning
sorrows. “Sorrows come to stretch out spaces in the heart for joy.” What an awesome
thought! Please keep in mind that we have the choice of continuing to walk in
the mind set of sorrow, which is in the flesh, or in the Spirit which is where
we find our joy, always remembering as it has been said, “the Word of God
transforms our minds”, thankfully! All this means is that we have choices of
where we focus – the flesh (mind/emotions) or the Spirit! It has been said that the “Battle begins in
the mind”!
In addition, there
is a constant battle between our feelings and God’s truths! The 64-dollar
question then must be “which are we going to pay attention to – fleshly feelings
or God’s truths?”
Tragically, too
many believers are their own worst enemies in that they allow sorrow to reign in their very being. “How so, you ask?” We know through
scriptures, that the LORD forgives our sins as stated above in 1 John 1:9 “IF
we confess our sins”, but the huge question becomes “do we forgive our own sins?” Sadly, too many of us are in such bondage in our not forgiving
ourselves in that we believe the lies of Satan who persistently deceives us
into thinking we don’t deserve to forgive ourselves!! It is imperative that we focus on the comforting
scripture which declares “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them,
(Satan who is the spirit of error and the world) because He who is in you is
greater than he who is in the world” (Satan who is the spirit of error) 1 John
4:4.
And as is written
in Jer. 8:18, “I would comfort myself in sorrow.” I could hear many of you declare “that is the
most ridiculous comment I have ever heard”! Remember, it is scripture! I challenge you to “think it through”! We will deal with this in Blog 4.
Consider what is stated in 2 Cor.
10:3-6:
“For
though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the
weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down
arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God,
bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ . . . .”
Also, please keep in mind that I am not minimizing sorrow in the least, but again it is how we approach it either in the flesh or in the Spirit and that makes all the difference in our lives!
Blog 4 will contain
strategies that we can use to assist us in
overcoming sorrows.
Be glorified Almighty God, be glorified
* All scriptures are
from the NEW SPIRIT-FILLED LIFE BIBLE (NKJV) Jack W. Hayford Executive Editor
