Finding Him

 "When you walk through the waters, I will be with you." Isaiah 43:2...."There's nothing more heavenly than finding Christ in your hell." Joni Eareckson Tada

Whenever I read her writings or listen to her speak, I am always humbled by the faith and witness of Joni Eareckson Tada. Those who are merely casual listeners tend to think she's a superhuman woman of God who has overcome all the mountains and giants in her life. Yet we so easily forget that what she has already walked through, she still walks through. Pain and extreme difficulty are daily companions in her life. Giving up is a temptation she deals with by the day. It is not herself that sees her through all of that. It's her Jesus. Her Lord and her Savior.

I think that we who are true followers of Jesus Christ, people created for an eternity in His Kingdom, find, in the midst of their suffering, some understanding of the awfulness of hell. Suffering comes upon both the unbeliever and believer alike. For the unbeliever the only outcome is despair, but for the one who belongs to Him, we can discover a great part of the beauty of heaven in the midst of it. How? Because He enters into it with us. He is within us, and at the same time beside us, above us, and beneath us. It is in those times when we feel that we are "going through hell" that His companionship is most rich, and also the place where He reveals ever deepening truths about Himself....and about ourselves as well.

Tada says that "Everyday, God is ready to reveal more about His Son Jesus Christ." Most often this happens in the darkness. In the fires and floods and losses of life. The pain is real, but if we will be looking for Him, He will be more real. 

The other day I watched an old video of a dear elderly and saintly woman. She said that she had been praying and worshiping Him but feeling so inadequate in the effort. She told Him, "Lord, in eternity we will worship you forever for who You are, yet here, I am out of things to praise and worship you for in 5 minutes." She said He then whispered into her spirit that heaven for her, for all who believe, would involve His revealing to her an infinite amount of knowledge as to who He was. An eternity of knowing Him more deeply. A never ending and glorious hope. Our valleys and floods are but a taste of that. May we not miss that taste. 

Thank you Father, that for the one who trusts and follows you, there is no end to the wonder of knowing you. In our present fires and floods, may we discover ever deeper precious truths about You. May Your heaven never cease to enter our journey here, even when the journey leads through hell.

Blessings,
Pastor O