Devotions

In the last book of the Old Testament, the prophet Malachi spoke about something that had occurred and will happen again among God’s people in a season of spiritual decline. “Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another” (Malachi 3:16, NKJV). What were they speaking? Were they not speaking to each other before this moment in history? What was it about their speech that changed?

The Scriptures tell us that “anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad” (Proverbs 12:25). It also says, “A word spoken in due season, how good it is” (Proverbs 15:23) and instructs us to let our speech “always be with grace, seasoned with salt” (Colossians 4:6).

There is incredible power in confident, calm speech. You and I must encourage one another now! We do not need the fire or the earthquake or the wind. Those things are wonderful, and if God should choose to do that, then so be it. But there is something more powerful than all those put together, particularly in this hour. It is that still, small voice of confidence in God. It is the voice that says, “All is well. God is in control of your situation, my sister, my brother. God is still on the throne. Jesus is still the victor, and we are still more than conquerors.”

You have no idea how much power God is willing to pour through your life as you walk through your day — in your neighborhood, your workplace, or your home — simply speaking words of confidence in the goodness and faithfulness of God. Let us open our hearts to the Lord and begin to speak to one another in those still, small voices. We will discover the incredible privilege of being an ambassador of the power of God to this generation.

Carter Conlon joined the pastoral staff of Times Square Church in 1994 at the invitation of the founding pastor, David Wilkerson, and was appointed Senior Pastor in 2001. 

King David was known as a man who fully trusted God. He declared the theme of his own life when he wrote:

“The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him” (Psalm 28:7).

These weren’t just words for David. Scripture records event after event in David’s life when he showed great faith in impossible situations.

GREAT EXPLOITS

David did great things through faith in God:

• He killed a lion and a bear with his bare hands
• He killed the Philistine giant Goliath
• He escaped from Saul’s attempts to kill him
• He won great victories over all his enemies

Later, by faith and repentance, David was restored to the throne after his son Absalom attempted to kill him.

Through all these things, David boasted of the Lord:

“Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!” (Psalm 31:19).

It is no wonder Scripture calls David a man after God’s heart!

We also know from Scripture that this blessed man was overcome by temptation and he spent days, weeks, months in anguished pain over his failings and trials. David also suffered severe bouts of depression; in fact, he writes of his intense loneliness and of crying himself to sleep many nights. At times in his life he was so tormented and afflicted that he pleaded for death.

Yet, through those years of intensified afflictions, David never lost faith. Few people in Scripture were tested, tried and proven as David was. But he came out of it all with an ever-increasing faith.

I want to offer a special word to all who have come through many floods and fiery furnaces of affliction. I believe it is possible that your time of testing has nothing to do with chastening. Rather, it is something eternal—something having to do with your life in the new world to come.

The battle you are enduring now is not about this world, not about the flesh, not about the devil. This warfare is preparation for your eternal service in glory. You are being prepared for service on the other side.

DIVINE PREPARATION

Think about it: The very day you committed your life to trust God, He knew your present trial would come. He knew then that you would love Him through everything that comes at you and be an overcomer.

I am convinced that right now everything you are facing points to the New Jerusalem. The apostle John writes about that time to come:

• “There shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him” (Revelation 22:3).
• “There shall be no night there . . . and they shall reign forever and ever” (22:5).
• “[He[ hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth” (5:10).

All of this speaks of activity. It suggests God is preparing us now for what He wants to entrust to us in the new world. Simply put, He has plans for us beyond our comprehension.

Paul speaks of this when he says we will serve God continually, with all joy:

“He has raised us up together, and made us sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6–7, my italics).

In Genesis 22:2 God told Abraham, “Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering.”

You know the story. God spared Isaac, substituting a ram for the sacrifice. And the Lord told Abraham:

“Now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. . . . Because thou hast done this thing . . . I will bless thee. . . . Thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice” (Genesis 22:12, 16–18).

HE DID NOT HOLD BACK

God told Abraham, in effect, “I know now that you will never hold anything back from Me, even your precious son. And because you have proven this, Abraham, I am going to bless you.”

Hear what the Spirit is saying in this passage:

“Others may never learn about your many tests of faith. You may suffer in isolation, with no one to benefit from your testimony of endurance. In fact, you may be judged for your suffering, as others think, ‘Why is he going through all this? There seems to be no point to it. I wonder where he has failed in his life.’”

GOD BOTTLES OUR TEARS

Yet, you can know that the God who led you into your trial of faith knows what your trial means. All your tears have been bottled by Him, every pain felt in His heart. And the Lord assures you: “This will end in blessing. It will mightily impact those in your family.”

Abraham was already in glory when these promises were fulfilled by the Lord. But his family, the nation of Israel, and eventually all of humankind would benefit from his faith.

When we first read of Abraham, God is asking him to pack up his family and travel to an unnamed destination (see Genesis 12:1). This must have been an incredible test for Abraham, as well as for his loved ones. Yet, by faith, Abraham obeyed. He lived among strangers in strange lands—unharmed and blessed—and he was delivered from every crisis, through supernatural dreams and visions given by the Lord.

LOOK AT THE STARS

At one point, God told Abraham to behold the starry sky, saying: “Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them . . . So shall thy seed be” (Genesis 15:5). In other words: “Abraham, that’s how many children, grandchildren and descendants you are going to have. They will number as many as the stars.”

What a staggering promise! This word to Abraham was beyond the comprehension of any human being to grasp. And what was Abraham’s response to this promise? “He believed in the Lord” (15:6).

THE REWARD OF UNWAVERING TRUST

What was the result of Abraham’s faith? And what did his deep, abiding trust mean in God’s eyes? We find the answer in a single verse:

“He believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness” (Genesis 15:6, my italics).

Time after time Abraham put his faith in God, and he was considered righteous in the Lord’s eyes.

By the time Abraham turned 100 years old, he had endured a lifetime of tests and through everything, Scripture says, he had trusted God. And now the Lord said of this faithful, obedient man:

“I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment” (18:19).

Do you see what God Himself said of this man? He declared, “I trust Abraham. He has a proven faith.”