Singapore, 2:54pm
“And should it be Your blessed will with crushing grief my soul to fill, press harder still”
However this may sound to any person, I can not refuse to question what faith could bring about such submissive will and obedience to ask God to press harder still.
L.B. Cowman penned the quotes in italics above. I have been reading her devotional book Streams in the Desert, long before I get to know its true meaning in my life. But this is one author who knows best when it comes to living in a barren wilderness. Long ago she discovered a fountain that sustained her and she shared it with the world through her writings. And thankful to God for the grace of having the ability to read and comprehend, I found myself immersed in her collection of prayers and meditations.
Her book was first published in 1925. That was some 51 years before I was born. And yet the power of the Holy Spirit which sustained her remains to touch the heart and soul of different people who in the same manner had a glimpse of that barren wilderness.
It is really evident that a man can give in to pain forwhatever he would believed in. I saw on Discovery channel, Asian Enigma. It is a hair raising experience to witness what man can do as he is lead to believe that the power of a certain god has given him different abilities. I saw this Snake Manu, there is nothing extra ordinary to what he is doing except that he puts a live snake in his nostrils and then the snake would pass through his mouth. Argh! I can’t make cotton buds enter my nostrils when I was a young kid. How much more a live snake, wait its not just any ordinary snake, it’s a venomous cobra.
Ok enough of Mr. Snake Manu.
Going back to different practices of faith, it is an overwhelming privilege to be part of a family who believes in the risen Christ. Before His Sovereign power to save and lift us up from the place of despair, pain plays a great role in all of this.
As His words lead us from dry desolate places to the waters of the River of Life. There is no better companion than pain. For it is there we find constant need of a Savior, between surrendering to defeat and a victorious attitude to rise up, we see the straight arrow of hope pointing to where Jesus is. And along the way, as we seek to go near Him, we have in our heart these spoken words of trust and obedience to God uttered by Jesus Himself in His most painful moment
“Father if You are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will but Your will be done” Luke 22:42
The next time you feel pain, stay still and let the Potter shape you in whatever way He pleases.
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