Temptation and Grace

It is truly an amazing thing when you are under heavy assault from the enemy, and you feel so crushed that there is no way at all to go forward; and then Jesus sends his word to in effect raise you from the dead. I'm not even talking about crying out to the Lord for his help. I'm talking about when you are so smashed by the assault of Satan's forces that you CAN'T cry out, and then God raises you out of it anyway, purely by his grace. David knew exactly what I'm talking about: "I will extol thee, O Lord; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.... O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit" (Psm. 30:1,3). And this: "This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me" (Psm. 119:50). There are simply times when we may be so under affliction that there is nothing left in sight but to "go down to the pit," meaning to die, as David painfully expressed. As I have said already, it is nothing but God's amazing grace that will reach down and lift us up out of such a state, especially when we are too overwhelmed to even ask. This has happened to me several times while trying to pray when I've been so crushed that I just faded off to sleep for a half hour or so. While I was sleeping the hand of the Lord touched me, and I woke up renewed and able to pray for a good while. Elijah is a prime example of what I am talking about here. After his showdown with the prophets of Baal at Mt. Carmel, Jezebel the wicked wife of King Ahab was determined to kill him because he put all of her god's prophets to death with the sword: "And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets [of Baal] with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time. And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there...

But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers. And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat. And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again. And the angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee. And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God" (I Kin. 19:1-8). So Elijah was being oppressed by natural enemies, and was visited by an angel of the Lord and given natural meat to strengthen him for the natural journey. With me, I've been every bit as assaulted and pursued by spiritual enemies who have targeted me for death. I say that because it has actually been revealed through prophetic messages, dreams, and visions; where these enemies have been identified and exposed as having a specific assignment to kill me. So Elijah was sleeping, and death was all he could see; to the point in fact that he actually requested death for himself. Then while he slept, God in his mercy sent a messenger from heaven to give Elijah strength where there was no strength left. I won't say here just how close that scenario is to the one I have dealt with, but what I WILL say is that the same loving and caring God sent a messenger to touch me while I slept, and gave me spiritual meat for my soul where there was no strength left; so that I could continue the spiritual journey that the Lord has mapped out for me.

This also goes to the famous words inked by the great apostle Paul, which were derived from his own personal experience: "And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong" (II Cor. 12:7-10). Going back to our verses from David, where he said that God raised up his soul from the grave, Paul identified with that malady as well: "For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us" (II Cor. 1:8-10). David, Elijah, and Paul are certainly three of the highest top tier men of faith in the history of the world; yet they suffered such affliction that death appeared to be all that was left. But when they were drained of all strength, "the God of all comfort" sent his word and quickened them by his mighty power, and by his amazing grace (II Cor. 1:3). I have counseled many people through the years who felt they could go no further, and I told them that when you come to that just hope in God's mercy in your heart; and remember that he is seeing your heart, and will answer you according to your hope, even if you have no strength to pray.

In January 2008 my father died suddenly, and he and I had been close for many years. I had just had a good visit with him in fact, the night before. I was crushed by the abruptness and magnitude of the loss, and a couple nights later I was in my room trying to pray. However I was so heavily burdened that I was unable to even whisper my prayers. It was extremely difficult but I summoned everything I had within myself, and began to barely pray in the Spirit. Within just a couple of minutes God answered my much crippled efforts with a mighty move of his glorious power. I felt the power of God go down to the bottom of my being and literally lift my inner man over a huge hump. I was totally and instantly healed of all my pain and heartache, and my faith was enhanced for weeks by means of this powerful experience. In fact I conducted my father's funeral the next day and preached with great joy and power as a result of this quickening experience of the manifest power of God toward me. It's just another testimony to the magnificent grace and mercy of God, reaching down to one of his own and imparting great strength in a time of extreme weakness and crippling spiritual fatigue. I can tell you this much, I know by ongoing personal experience, as did the men mentioned in this article; that I have only one to hope in, and I have only one who can take me where neither myself or anyone living can take me, both here and hereafter. There's nothing left to say other than to return to the prayers of David, a man after God's own heart who knew the tender mercies of the Lord as well as any who have ever lived: "Lord, how are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me. Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. Selah. But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head" (Psm. 3:1-3). Wow! I can say AMEN to that so heartily!