When You are at Your Bottom
Deuteronomy 30:4 (NLT)
”Even though you are banished to the ends of the earth, the LORD your God will gather you from there and bring you back again” Deuteronomy 30:4 (NLT)
Pastor’s Blog
I have been to the bottom more than once. But I discovered the bottom was solid.
That last sentence comes from a story I heard about a local pastor. His wife had died suddenly and after the funeral he simply disappeared. He didn’t show up at home or at church, even on Sunday. No one knew where he was. Many looked for him, including police. A few weeks later he showed up in church and walked to the pulpit before anyone could speak with him. He simply went to the microphone and said, “I’ve been to the bottom, but the bottom is solid”.
In other words God was there.
I think that’s all there is to say sometimes. “I hit the bottom, but God was there”. I’m a person who wants to know details when I hear that. I want to know how he knew God was there, what the comforting word was, what it was specifically that carried him over the hump. However, having been to the bottom myself, I have no answers to these questions. I only know that through all the tears, hopelessness, loss and pain, God was there and because of that I could get back up again. The Lord gathered me up from there and brought me back again.
(to post your thoughts, anonymously if you wish, simply click on “comments” below)
What a beautiful example of God's faithfulness! He told His children of the abundant life that comes from obedience, He warned them of the devastation that follows disobedience. Knowing the huge cost of their disobedience would send them far from the land He gave to them He promised to bring them back again. In Isaiah He fleshed out this promise by saying He will lift up His hand to the Gentiles and have them carry back the exiled sons in their arms and the exiled daughters on their shoulders. The part of this promise that makes my heart leap for joy is in Ezekiel, He told the children of Israel that He would do it all for HIS NAME'S SAKE.He doesn't honor His promises because of anything we can ever do, He does it because of His faithfulness. He stakes His honor and the honor of His name on doing what He has promised. What a comfort to know that He, Himself, is the surety of His promises. Pastor Jeff, you mentioned the tears, the hopelessness, pain and loss, through the tears we read on a few chapters in Deuteronomy and see He promises to be our refuge and underneath are His everlasting arms.Would we even want to go on without knowing of His faithfulness? I don't think I would. Who wouldn't love such a God?
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if I've been to the bottom yet but I'm positive I've been very close many times. I say that because I've never been hopeless. Hope is my greatest gift and would be my last one to go in my greatest travail. In all the troubles that have been mine to face, friends and family invariably say, "How can such terrible things happen to you? You're such a nice, (sweet, kind, etc) person?" My answer is always the same: Christ said that it rains on the Just and the Unjust. By corollary, it also hails on the Just and the Unjust. He just promised I would never be alone when it hailed. And I never have been. Not once.
ReplyDeleteI have felt that I hit bottom a time or two in my life. These are times when I thought it would be better to die than to live. In these times, the evil thoughts of suicide enter my mind. How did I get through? God's grace. I pressed hard into the fact that I already gave my life up on the cross with my Savior Jesus Christ so I no longer have a life to take. Keeping my eyes focused on Jesus is hard, but is life saving. Secondly, I believe that God can use me regardless of the circumstance I am in. I drive hard into obedience giving me a sense of purpose, a reason to live, while hinging everything on the belief that He will heal me. So, at the bottome; there is really nothing left but God.
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