But, when I think about being in the dark about the future, and all the uncertainties of it, this thing comes into my head of "God dwells in the thick darkness" so, I finally looked up some verses, and this is what I found...
Exodus 20:21
And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.
And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.
I Kings 8:12
Then spake Solomon, The LORD said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.
Then spake Solomon, The LORD said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.
Maybe when God sends these trials, He's bringing us into that thick darkness, so we can be near Him?
If He dwells in the thick darkness, then why should we be afraid of it?
If everything is going "good" for us, then we tend to forget God, and do our own thing. But, when things aren't going so "good" we run to God for help.
Things going "good" for us, really aren't. We think if there are no troubles, then things are good. If things were good when there are no trials, God would leave us there; but He sends the trials so we can be one with Him.
William Wallace had everything going "good" for him... he was newly married, had a baby on the way, and was secluded from the world; all he had to do was be happy.
William Wallace had everything going "good" for him... he was newly married, had a baby on the way, and was secluded from the world; all he had to do was be happy.
Wallace did everything in his power to obey God. He served Him with everything in him, and never let anything get in his way of serving Christ.
The English had killed his parents. But Wallace had Christ, and his new, up and coming family.
Suddenly, for no apparent reason God allowed Hesselrigge to come and kill Marion. (Wallace's wife)
She had done nothing wrong; nothing to deserve death. She too, had been serving God with her life.
Why did God take her from a husband that loved her above everything else; and leave Wallace desolate?
Because He wanted to do a work in him; that couldn't be done without that trial.
Wallace could have done like anyone else would have done; he could have gone into hiding, and felt sorry for himself, that all this had happened to him.
He could have blamed it all on God, and turned his back on Christ. But he didn't. He knew God has a reason for every trial, and he knew God was going to use this one for His glory.
Wallace's faith, never once, wavered. He knew his God, and he knew there had to be a reason, because God is not a cruel God.
He sought God's face. He went to the throne room of God, and dedicated his life to Christ's service, and glory; and to serve his country.
God in turn, gave Wallace such a peace; such a oneness with Himself, that in-spite of all the trials he would face in the future; he would never depart from the will of God. And God blessed that.
God brought Wallace into that thick darkness, so he could know God more fully.
This quote from Wallace really hit me the other day.
The Abthanes of Scotland, (or the chiefs, Lords and nobles) have just taken Wallace to trial for treason, after he has freed the country 3 times. And they, being ungrateful, and jealous, have falsely accused him of treason.
Wallace has just beaten the English army for something like the 6th time, and Edward (King of England) is offering terms of peace. Dishonorable terms. This is the dialogue that took place between Baron Hilton of the English army, and Sir William Wallace. An excerpt from the book.
"Hilton said that King Edward, more than ever impressed with the wondrous talents of Sir William Wallace, and solicitous to make a friend of so heroic an enemy, had sent him an offer of grace, which, if he contemned, must be the last. He offered him a theatre whereon he might display his peerless endowments to the admiration of the world, --- the kingdom of Ireland, with it's yet unreaped fields of glory, and all the ample riches of it's abundant provinces, should be his! Edward only require, in return for his royal gift, that he should abandon the cause of Scotland, swear fealty to him for Ireland, and resign into his hands one whom he had proscribed as the most ungrateful of traitors. (speaking of Bruce, the rightful King of Scotland, and Wallace's best friend) In double acknowledgment for the latter sacrifice, Wallace need only send to England a list of those Scottish lords against whom he bore resentment, and their fates should be ordered according to his dictates.
Edward concluded his offers by inviting him immediately to London, to be invested with his new sovereignty; and Hilton ended his address by showing him the madness of abiding in a country where almost every chief, secretly or openly, carried a dagger against his life; and therefore he exhorted him no longer to contend for a nation so unworthy the freedom, that it bore with impatience the only man who had the courage to maintain it's independence by virtue alone.
Wallace replied calmly, and without hesitation: 'To this message an honest man can make but one reply. As well might your sovereign exact of me to dethrone the angles of heaven, as to require me to subscribe to his proposals. They do but mock me; and aware of my rejection, they are thus delivered, to throw the whole blame of this cruelly-persecuting war upon me. Edward knows that as a knight, a true Scot, and a man, I should dishonor myself to accept even life, ay, or the lives of all my kindred, upon these terms.'
Hilton interrupted him by declaring the sincerity of Edward; and, contrasting it with the ingratitude of the people whom he had served, he conjured him, with every persuasive of rhetoric, every entreaty dictated by a mind that revered the very firmness he strove to shake, to relinquish his faithless country, and become the friend of a king ready to receive him with open arms. Wallace shook his head; and with an incredulous smile which spoke his thoughts of Edward, while his eyes beamed kindness upon Hilton, he answered; 'Can the man who would bribe me to betray a friend, be faithful in his friendship? But that is not the weight with me. I was not brought up in those schools, my good baron, which teach that sound policy or true self-interest can be separated from virtue. When I was a boy, my father often repeated to me this proverb; --- ''Know of a certainty that virtue, the best of possessions, never can exist under the bond of servility.''
'I learned it then; I have since made it the standard of my actions, and I answer your monarch in a word. Were all my countrymen to resign their claims to the liberty which is their right, I alone would declare the independence of my country, and by God's assistance, while I live, acknowledge no other master but the laws of St. David (King David I of Scotland) and the legitimate heir of his blood!' The glow of resolute patriotism which overspread his countenance while he spoke, was reflected by the fluctuating color on that of Hilton. 'Noble chief!' cried he; 'I admire while I regret, I revere the virtue which I am even now constrained to denounce. These principals, bravest of men, might have suited the simple ages of Greece and Rome; a Phocion or a Fabricus might have uttered the like, and compelled the homage of their enemies; but in these days, such magnanimity is considered frenzy, and ruin is it's consequence.' --- 'And shall a Christian,' cried Wallace, reddening with the flush of honest shame, 'deem the virtue which even heathens practised with veneration, of too pure a nature to be exercised by men taught by Christ himself? There is blasphemy in the idea, and I can bear no more.'
Hilton, in some confusion, excused his argument by declaring that it proceeded from his observations on the conduct of men. 'And shall we,' replied Wallace, 'follow a multitude to do evil? I act to one Being alone. Edward must acknowledge His supremacy, and by that know that my soul is above all price!' --- 'Am I answered?' said Hilton, and then hastily interrupting himself, ha added, in a voice even of supplication. 'Your fate rests on your reply! Oh! noblest of warriors consider only for a day!' --- 'Not for a moment,' said Wallace; 'I am sensible to your kindness; but my answer to Edward has been pronounced.' "
Edward concluded his offers by inviting him immediately to London, to be invested with his new sovereignty; and Hilton ended his address by showing him the madness of abiding in a country where almost every chief, secretly or openly, carried a dagger against his life; and therefore he exhorted him no longer to contend for a nation so unworthy the freedom, that it bore with impatience the only man who had the courage to maintain it's independence by virtue alone.
Wallace replied calmly, and without hesitation: 'To this message an honest man can make but one reply. As well might your sovereign exact of me to dethrone the angles of heaven, as to require me to subscribe to his proposals. They do but mock me; and aware of my rejection, they are thus delivered, to throw the whole blame of this cruelly-persecuting war upon me. Edward knows that as a knight, a true Scot, and a man, I should dishonor myself to accept even life, ay, or the lives of all my kindred, upon these terms.'
Hilton interrupted him by declaring the sincerity of Edward; and, contrasting it with the ingratitude of the people whom he had served, he conjured him, with every persuasive of rhetoric, every entreaty dictated by a mind that revered the very firmness he strove to shake, to relinquish his faithless country, and become the friend of a king ready to receive him with open arms. Wallace shook his head; and with an incredulous smile which spoke his thoughts of Edward, while his eyes beamed kindness upon Hilton, he answered; 'Can the man who would bribe me to betray a friend, be faithful in his friendship? But that is not the weight with me. I was not brought up in those schools, my good baron, which teach that sound policy or true self-interest can be separated from virtue. When I was a boy, my father often repeated to me this proverb; --- ''Know of a certainty that virtue, the best of possessions, never can exist under the bond of servility.''
'I learned it then; I have since made it the standard of my actions, and I answer your monarch in a word. Were all my countrymen to resign their claims to the liberty which is their right, I alone would declare the independence of my country, and by God's assistance, while I live, acknowledge no other master but the laws of St. David (King David I of Scotland) and the legitimate heir of his blood!' The glow of resolute patriotism which overspread his countenance while he spoke, was reflected by the fluctuating color on that of Hilton. 'Noble chief!' cried he; 'I admire while I regret, I revere the virtue which I am even now constrained to denounce. These principals, bravest of men, might have suited the simple ages of Greece and Rome; a Phocion or a Fabricus might have uttered the like, and compelled the homage of their enemies; but in these days, such magnanimity is considered frenzy, and ruin is it's consequence.' --- 'And shall a Christian,' cried Wallace, reddening with the flush of honest shame, 'deem the virtue which even heathens practised with veneration, of too pure a nature to be exercised by men taught by Christ himself? There is blasphemy in the idea, and I can bear no more.'
Hilton, in some confusion, excused his argument by declaring that it proceeded from his observations on the conduct of men. 'And shall we,' replied Wallace, 'follow a multitude to do evil? I act to one Being alone. Edward must acknowledge His supremacy, and by that know that my soul is above all price!' --- 'Am I answered?' said Hilton, and then hastily interrupting himself, ha added, in a voice even of supplication. 'Your fate rests on your reply! Oh! noblest of warriors consider only for a day!' --- 'Not for a moment,' said Wallace; 'I am sensible to your kindness; but my answer to Edward has been pronounced.' "
How many of us could say that in the like situation? Wallace was executed a few weeks later.
He could have bought his life, by accepting those terms.
But he loved God and country SO much, that he willingly, and without hesitation gave his life for them. He knew that's what he was doing. But God was calling him into the thick darkness; and he obeyed the call.
It's always darkest just before the dawn. Wallace went into that thick darkness, just before the dawn of his life in Heaven, with his God, and family.
Now, please don't take this as we're all going to die from these trials.... we won't unless God says so.
But we are to die to ourselves through them. God is calling us to come into the thick darkness, where He is.... are we going to answer without complaint?
When I read the entire account of Wallace's life, and see the work God did through him; and how he went through more trials; more, bigger, trials then I could ever imagine; without complaint. How can I complain, and wonder if God still cares, because He is letting this happen to me?
It's now my daily prayer, that God will give me more trials... more darkness... because He lives there. I want to know God, even if it means physical death; because the life that comes after is so much more then it's said to be!
I want to be like Christ. He suffered; He went through all kinds of hardships... and as Wallace said ~
"Did I believe it my Fathers will that I should die, at every pore I would submit, for so his immaculate Son laid down His life for a rebellious world. And is a servant greater than his master, that I should say, Exempt me from this trial? No! I await His summons, but he strengthens my soul by an assurance I feel here." (laying his hand on his heart)
Oh! to have the faith that Wallace had! to go, even to the grave, without a complaint, because I know it's God's will for me, and His way is always best.
Psalms 39:9
I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it.
I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it.
How can we ever doubt the goodness of God? If He is sending these trials, it's because He loves us enough to do a work in us. He loves us the way we are; but He loves us too much to leave us here.
Psalm 27:8
When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.
When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.
Posted on Google+ May 25th 2012
In the service of my Father
Hallie
In the service of my Father
Hallie
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