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Welcome to Faith Reflections! Faith Reflections is dedicated to those who seek to grow closer to God through literature. Thank you for visiting. Please take a look around and let us know what you think.
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In the name of God, The Father, |
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Faith Reflections is pleased to welcome Jason Abston to our family of writers. Jason enjoys using his writing talents to serve the Lord. He writes for his local paper in Edmonton, Kentucky and works in the technology field as well. |
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Comfort for the weary soul By Jason Abston
Each of us at some point in our lives has someone close to us, or is ourself faced with a serious illness. When we face heavy trials in life, we often ask a prominent question, “WHY.” It is a question that seems not to have an answer, and when we are offered one, it is often very superficial and gives little or no comfort. It is easy to say that God has His purpose, and that He didn’t intend for us to live in this cruel world forever, but we find that it is harder to say anything that really comforts, and are usually left fumbling for words. The people that seem to offer the most comfort are those that have suffered themselves. Not because of their great use of words, but because of their simple honesty. A very well known figure that suffered as bad as anyone was Job. He lost his family, property, and his very health. He was able to face his trials with a courage that surpasses all understanding because his hope wasn’t in his great wealth, or his large family, but in the Living God. He boldly proclaimed before his critics, “Though He slays me yet will I trust in Him.” Often we think that it is God’s judgment and wonder what we have done that could have upset Him. Job had friends that came to this same conclusion. It is possible to be faced with serious trials, and be in the will of God. In John 9: 1-3, Jesus was asked about a blind man, “Who did sin, this man, or his parents that he was born blind?” The answer that the Lord gave was shocking to many that were present. He said, “Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents, but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.” All of the people around the man knew that he was blind, and when the Lord Jesus gave him his sight many believed on the Lord. When a child is taken to the doctor for a shot, the child doesn’t see the overall benefits of the medicine. The only thing that he sees is the intimidation of the needle, and feels the sting of it piercing his skin. We often act as that child when faced with certain trials. All we see is the intimidation, and feel the sting of the trials we face without understanding what God’s purpose is. Isaiah 55:8-9, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways My ways saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth so are My ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” In all honesty I would have to say that I don’t understand what trials you may be going through in life, and you don’t understand mine. The trials that each of us face are often different, but there is one that understands all, and if Jesus Christ is in the boat of our lives, then when the time comes that we must sail on stormy seas, we can go to Him. He didn’t say that we wouldn’t have storms in our lives, but He did say that He would be there with us. When the time is right He will cry out to those huge waves and strong winds, “Peace, be still” and then will our souls be comforted and we will rejoice when we arrive at the destination that He has set for us. “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable,” exclaimed the Apostle Paul. He new, as all Christians should, that there is a better world to come, where there is no more sickness and death, no more grief or sorrow and where the Lord Jesus Himself wipes away all tears. Rejoice in the Lord, and again I say rejoice.
Copyright Jason Abston, 2004
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