SURVIVING AN ORDEAL (3)

All through His Holy Book,God gave us a lot of promises of how He will see us through any bad situation. He was the same God who, in the book of Exodus, led the children of Israel out of Egypt by making a way in the sea. In chapter three of the book of Daniel, we read how Meshach, Shadrach,and Abennego relied on Him and were saved from the overheated furnace. And in chapter six, hungry lions were turned into Daniel's play friends when he put his trust in the Most High. What He did for them then, He can do for us now because He is the same God, a God who never changes. Suffering is the yardstick with which our faith is measured and, fire."When the Furnace of addiction" are like gold tried in to be called His chosen ones. On numerous occasions,as sudden change of events for the worse seemed to intimidate me, I had claimed God's promise in Isaiah 41:13: "For I am the Lord, your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, do not fear; I will help you." I refuse to look at my problems through the eyes of the spies whom Moses sent to survey the promised land. When they got there,even though the land was as rich as the Lord had promised, even though they saw how His mighty power had led them across the red Sea and drowned Pharaoh's army, yet ten of the twelve felt intimidated by the size of the inhabitants of the land-"giants" which made the Israelites seem like "grasshoppers" in comparison.(Numbers 13:33). Rather I borrow a leaf from 2Chronicles 20,where the faithful king Jehoshaphat of JUdah refused to fall for the grasshoppers disease. Instead, he reminded God that "power and might are in your hand and no one can withstand you." And he went on to ask God: "Did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Isreal and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend?" Then king Jehoshaphat boldly claimed with a strong faith: "If calamity comes upon us... we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your name and will cry to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us."