Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,
On those who hope in His mercy,
To deliver their soul from death,
And to keep them alive in famine.
Our soul waits for the Lord;
He is our help and our shield. Psalms 33:18-20
Bless the Lord oh my soul for His mercies are new every morning! Can you lean Him in those dark and desperate times and places in your life? Have you ever experienced His tangible salvation? Have you seen His miracles of supply and escape when there seemed there was no other way? My wife and I have. The testimonies of His faithfulness to us is astounding.
When you trust Him in those places you have to let go of your expectations and constraints of how you think He should save you. His ways certainly are NOT our ways. His blessings and supply come in ways I can never predict. When in those places of desperation the instructions of the Holy Spirit can be very challenging. He may ask you to give away things that seem like your last hope and thread of supply. I often think of it as ‘cliff diving’. Being able to take that leap of faith in that desperate moment. Leaping into His arms off a perilously high cliff. CS Lewis actually uses the cliff diving as an example of a leap of faith at the beginning of his novel The Silver Chair / The Chronicles of Narnia. We must learn to trust in Him fully abandoning all other options.
I often think of examples from scripture of these kinds of desperate times, like 1 Kings 17 and Elijah, and 2 Kings 4 and Elisha. But then Jesus also provided in ways His disciples never expected like in Matthew 14, and Matthew 17:27. Oh how we limit Him in our minds with our narrow ways of thinking and lack of faith.
But I can say with everything that is in me — that He is worth it! No matter whether I die or not, He IS WORTHY! For I know deep in my heart and soul what He has promised me, and I SO so look forward to that day of celebration and reunion with Him!
I speak to the men now. You are to lead your family in this area of abandonment into Him, as the apostle Paul calls us to in Ephesians 5, giving ourselves as Christ did for the Church. Men you are to learn this discipline of complete faith in Him and be willing to die for our wives and family when the time comes, just as Jesus did. We must also be humble and be able to listen to the Holy Spirit in those times when chaos is storming everywhere around us. Always being grateful of everything He has provided and quickly repentant when the Holy Spirit points out our sin and faults. Men this is spiritual leadership, total abandonment and obedience to our King.
For Your steadfast love is great to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the clouds. Psalms 57:10
He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and buckler. Psalms 91:4
For Your steadfast love is great above the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Psalms 108:4
He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it. 1 Thessalonians 5:24