Endurance for the Journey, Featured

Where or to Whom do You Turn?

“Affliction, difficulty, sadness,
pain and suffering
may become for any one of us
the source of discontent, of depression,
of anger, of isolation –
unless they drive us to God
and to His Word.”

ALISTAR BEGG, TRUTH FOR LIFE



Where or to whom do you turn to when you experience affliction, difficulty, sadness, pain and suffering? I know for me at the initial onslaught of affliction and suffering I turned to my own resources and strengths which had always worked and relieved my pain in the past BUT.. it only drove me to depression and isolation. It was only when I came to the complete end of myself that I turned to the tangible Word of God out of my desperation for comfort and direction.


My comfort came from the Word of God just as it did for the writer of Psalm 119 …



My comfort in my suffering is this;
Your promise preserves my life.
PSALM 119:50 (NIV)


I learned as the Psalmist did …


It was good for me to be afflicted
so that I might learn your decrees.
PSALM 119:71 (NIV)

Your commands make me wiser
than my enemies, for they are ever with me.
I have more insight than all my teachers,
for I meditate on your statutes.
PSALM 119:98-99

I gain understanding from your precepts;
therefore I hate every wrong path.
Your Word is a lamp to my feet
and a light for my path.
PSALM 119:104-105 (NIV)


In reflecting back, I realized …


If your law had not been my delight,
I would have perished in my affliction.
PSALM 119:92 (NIV)


I am so thankful that during a season when I could not feel or sense God’s presence, that I had the tangible Word of God that I could turn to in my desperation. I am also thankful that God’s presence is not dependent upon my feelings – He is there regardless – always comforting and always directing if we choose to turn to Him.


On the journey with you,
Jan Dravecky