Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Trusting God”
Our Bible verse for today: “In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three full weeks. I didn’t eat any rich food, no meat or wine entered my mouth, and I didn’t put any oil on my body until the three weeks were over.” Daniel 10:2-3 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “God is at work in your circumstances even when you don’t think He is.”
In his book, “Disappointment with God” author Philip Yancey writes about the problem of “the hiddenness of God.” He means that many times God seems to us to be hidden. Right at the time we need Him the most, there’s no sign of Him anywhere. It’s as if He has hidden Himself from us, and so we can become confused, disappointed, and maybe even resentful.
The classic Biblical example of “the hiddenness of God” is found in the book of Job. Job’s world fell apart for no apparent reason. Job was a good godly man who honored the Lord and treated others well. But suddenly his children were all tragically killed, he lost all of his wealth, and then he lost his health. Most of the book is a dialogue between Job and his three friends as they try to figure out why God would allow such things to happen.
What Job didn’t and couldn’t know was that behind the scenes, in the spiritual realm, there was a great cosmic drama playing out between God and Satan – and Job was in the center of it. Ultimately God used Job’s circumstances to bring about a tremendous victory over Satan and in the end, Job was honored and blessed by God for his faithfulness in the middle of what was eventually shown to be, a tremendous spiritual battle.
Daniel experienced something similar, but to a lesser degree. Daniel was greatly troubled. The people of God were suffering terribly in their captivity and Daniel was distraught and confused. For three weeks he prayed and fasted and begged God for understanding. But understanding didn’t come. Finally, on the twenty-fourth day, an angel arrived to advise Daniel that God had heard his prayers the moment he prayed them, but there was a great battle that had to be fought and won in the spiritual realm before Daniel could receive his answer. In time the battle was fought and won, and Daniel did receive the clarity he sought.
Have you ever experienced “the hiddenness of God”? Maybe your story reads a lot like Job’s or Daniel’s. Maybe that’s exactly what you’re going through right now. Well, just like in the cases of Job and Daniel, there is much happening behind the scenes, in the spiritual realm, that you simply aren’t aware of.
God may seem hidden to you right now, but He is aware of your situation and He’s not ignoring it. Things are happening. In His way and in His time answers will come, problems will be resolved, and you will know that God was there the whole time.
Trust Him.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 