Sometimes the circumstances of life make us feel like we're being held in a vise. A vise that crushes us on both sides, and all we feel is the endless pain that is ours in that place. It's not a part of popular preaching these days, but for those whose lives are fully surrendered to Him, such places will be theirs. In one form or another, one way or another, "the vise" comes to us all.
I'm not sure I've ever shared this particular event before. It was in the first few months after the collapse of my marriage and ministry. I was working for a Coca-Cola distribution center, working on a delivery truck. We had gone into a convenience store to deliver their order, when I saw a little blonde haired and blue eyed girl. She could have been my daughter. I was completely unprepared for that, and so moved by my emotions that I had to step outside the store and find a secluded place to just.....cry. Such was the pain. I was already feeling a great depth of hopelessness due to the circumstances that made for my present life. Seeing that little girl was a fresh piercing of my heart and mind, reminding me of all that I had lost and the seeming impossibility of ever finding my way back from that place. Still, I composed myself, went back to the store, and got back to work.
It was not immediate, for sometimes the pain and heartache can be so great that it is all we can "see" or know, but the truth and promise of Psalm 45:3 did find its way to my heart and spirit. I realized that I had a choice. I could just give up, just lay down and "die," and believe me, the desire to do just that was overwhelming, or, I could choose to hope. I had been walking with Him now for 10 years. I had experienced His deliverances in a number of ways before, and though I couldn't understand why and how this present state had been allowed, I chose to not only trust Him, but to hope in and upon Him. I took Sheets' step toward healing.
Right now, in our fellowship alone, so many are suffering from every kind of loss, sickness, and brokenness. Perhaps you are as well. Perhaps you too find yourself in the vise. If so, my prayer for you is that you refuse to "die" there. Hope in Him. I, no, He guarantees you that you will not remain there. That store I write about was found in Charlottesville, Virginia. He didn't leave me there, but instead led me on a journey of new life and new experiences in Him, and now, in my old age, that journey leads ever onward to the ending of this time and the beginning of my eternity with Him. All of it founded upon hope in Him. Hope in the power, love, and life of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I am not held in the vise-grip of suffering, but in the grip of His love. I always have been...even in my suffering. You are as well. Cling to your hope in Him. As His Word promises, it will not disappoint. The grip of the vise can never withstand the grip of His love.
Blessings,
Pastor O
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