The ‘Need to Know’ In Times of Trouble
Yet I know that you are most holy; it’s indisputable. You are God-Enthroned, surrounded with songs, living among the shouts of praise of your princely people (Psalm 22:3, TPT).
When I began my recent book, I focused on the subject of praise and worship for two important reasons: who it attracts and who it repels. The fact that God inhabits the praises of His people is a fundamental truth in Christianity. When you need to be in God’s presence, begin to worship Him. This is how I begin each day, because I know how much I need to be near Him. This is especially true if there is any trouble in my life. (Did I say “if”?)
We enter into His gates with thanksgiving and praise (Psalm 100:4).
Praise and worship are a significant part of our communion with God—our relationship with God. Think about Psalm 22:3 He lives among our praises. When we are in trouble, we first need to know that God is with us.
Hebrews 13:5 is another fundamental truth and can surely be depended on: “For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’” Can I risk being honest here and confess that I do not always feel His presence? I am sure we have all been there. Do you know that you do not have to stay there? When I find myself in that situation, I do what I learned when I was lying in the hospital with cancer: I press play. When I worship God out of a sincere heart He ALWAYS shows up. His Word says so.
I had a book by a popular Christian author and loved it until I read one thing that disturbed me. They said God will test your loyalty and devotion to Him by sometimes being silent and not ‘allowing’ you to feel His presence within you; that this was God’s way of causing you to become more mature and we all will face this from time to time on purpose.
They referenced two Old Testament examples: one of David speaking in the Psalms when he was discouraged (as in Psalm 13:1-2) and a discouraging moment in the testing of Job (chapter 23). This teaching jarred my spirit and made me feel sick. I went to God about it and will share what He taught me in case anyone tries to convince you of this very common, but very wrong idea.
First, let’s explore the Hebrew word in the Old Testament that is used to try and back up this idea. When you understand what the words used in the Bible mean, you will be set free, and no one can take it away from you. This word hide here is “sawthar” (Strong’s, Hebrew #5641).
When I looked up the meaning, I discovered that there are five words, all with the same root. The root seems to have different applications depending on the context. The basic definition includes to keep secret, keep hidden, to hide by covering, to keep close, conceal, to cover up in a good or bad way, protection, and to secretly place. [wherever Strong’s uses the negative absent, it prefaces with “figuratively”]. I am sure that if you are a Word person at all, your mind is going to many scriptures where God talks of hiding us. Let me remind you of a few:
Keep me as the apple of Your eye; Hide me under the shadow of Your wings (Psalm 17:8).
For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock (Psalm 27:5).
Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked, from the rebellion of the workers of iniquity (Psalm 64:2).
There are some instances where this word is used in a different context, like in Isaiah 45:15, but please note the context is talking about God’s enemies. I also want to comment that when David was crying out to God while feeling that God was hiding from him, it may have been only that—a feeling. Although there are many instances where David’s crying out to God in this manner is accurately recorded, it is important to see what he wrote in Psalm 31:22 (TPT):
I spoke hastily when I said, “The Lord has deserted me.”
For in truth, you did hear my prayer and came to rescue me.
We cannot build a doctrine on the accurate record of how a man was crying out to God during a bad day unless it agrees with solid teaching from God’s Word. This is also the man who cried out, “Kill them all, God.” David was a man after God’s own heart, but he was human and living under the Old Covenant. I am very glad it is recorded because I can relate without feeling condemned. If the man after God’s heart can have bad days, then I will too.
Since Jesus died and rose from the dead, we now are living in the New Covenant with God the Father. One of the best parts of that New Covenant is we have the Holy Spirit living inside us as a seal and a guarantee that we are God’s purchased possession; we are His children.
Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee (II Corinthians 1:21-22)
Old Testament saints did not have this privilege. Many were anointed and godly, but they did not have the Holy Spirit living inside them; the Holy Spirit came“upon” them at certain times. There is a huge difference and perhaps is the reason Jesus says in Matthew 11:11, “There has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”
Really think about this, because it will set you free. YOU, my friend, are being called one greater than John the Baptist. YOU have the Holy Spirit living inside you so naturally, His presence is always with you. You have the opportunity to have communion with God on a level no one in the Old Testament ever did, not even David. The Holy Spirit was sent to be our helper and comforter in every way. This is a loaded concept, but it’s not me saying so, it is God. God is not going to shut down His Spirit in you to test you. How could He? Then He would cease to be the guarantee and the seal. Look at this beautiful passage:
And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever (John 14:16).
Do you see the words “abide with you forever”? God is not a man that He should lie. The definition of ‘forever’ is the same in English and original language. The word translated “helper” is comforter (“parakletos,” Strong’s #3875) and means “intercessor, consoler, and advocate.” The very definition implies that He will be with us in our hour of greatest need. When Jesus died and paid the price for our sins, the Bible says the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom by God. That means we now have access. Now we can come boldly before the throne of God. We are now sons, not servants. These things were unheard of up till that time. God wanted His children to have a whole new relationship with Him and to be inseparable from Him.
He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him (John 14:21).
Let us, therefore, come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16).
Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh (Hebrews 10:19).
In reading any of these verses do you see anything about approaching Him and receiving silence? No. This is His new way, His New Covenant. There is no such thing as, “Let’s see how you do on your own.” If there is, then what is the point? The Bible calls our own efforts “filthy rags” in Isaiah 64:6. Jesus paid too high a price to ever leave you on your own. God often describes His relationship with us as a sheep/shepherd or a father/child picture. A good shepherd would never leave a sheep to get through trouble on its own. Rather, he would pick it up and carry it out. As parents, would we ever just refuse to be there for our kids if they came to us and asked? I know I wouldn’t, and I do not think any would. Should we accuse God of this? I would never believe it. That is not the God I have come to know. I have already admitted that I do not always feel His presence, but when I honestly look at it, it is always my doing.
Let me give you an example. An older married couple was driving to a dinner date and the wife was thinking about times past when they were more romantic. She turned to her husband and asked, “Remember when we used to sit close in the car, and you always put your arm around me. Why don’t we do that anymore?” The husband looked at her and said, “I haven't moved.” This may not be a perfect example, but it makes the point. If there is a problem, we are the ones who moved out of position. He never moves away from us.
I am hitting this teaching hard because I believe that without this understanding, we will have trouble believing all of the seemingly outrageous promises God makes to us in His Word. If we do not know how much He loves us and that His presence is always with us, how could we believe Ephesians 3:20, which tells us He will do exceedingly above all we can ask or think? How could we believe that God will give us His very own kind of life as in Romans 8:11? How could we possibly believe that God will give us the very desires of our hearts as stated in Psalm 37:4? Most outrageous of all, how could we believe that by Jesus' stripes we have already been provided with healing for our bodies (I Peter 2:24)?
Without knowing the extravagant, passionate, unending love that God has for us we would not be able to believe it. We might think, like traditional “religion” teaches, that we deserved the trouble; that God might be teaching us a lesson.
I know when these “dry times” or “wilderness experiences” come, it is usually when I am going through severe trials. I expect that it is the same for most of us. Why would God be silent just when you need Him the most? That is not God’s character. It is inconsistent with what I see in His Word. Can I share with you what I have learned and observed? It is not in any way meant to be condemning, but an outside-the-box perspective that may help you avoid this.
Instead of saying that it must be God that’s pulled away from us, is it possible that we have allowed the trial to put us in a position or mindset that God cannot engage with? Let me explain. When I was facing stage four cancer and was being bombarded by every negative report imaginable (compounded by the enemies nattering), I could have responded in several ways. What if I had collapsed under fear? What if I had remained silent in my confession and began to believe the enemy? What if I had allowed unbelief to creep in? All of these are the opposite of faith and can quench the fellowship of God in our lives. God cannot engage actively with a person holding these non-faith attitudes. He is a faith God and responds to faith.
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).
Based on what I see in God’s Word, this is what I suspect is happening in these dry times. Let me encourage you that you do not need to stay there.
When we recognize the problem, we can begin to take steps to get back in His presence, to pull down the barrier that we allowed to form. Begin to worship Him. As He inhabits our worship—trust me—the fear, the unbelief, or whatever is nagging at us, will flee (James 4:7) and you will be back where you are supposed to be. We, as God’s children, are made for abiding in Him.
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me (John 15:4).
The word abide means, “To stay in a given place or state, to continue, dwell, endure, remain, be present and stand with” (“meno,” Strong’s #3306). This sounds very permanent to me. We are born again for abiding, relationship, and fellowship with God the Father through Jesus Christ His Son. I have found that the first step is always praise and worship. When I am facing a problem, if I am feeling discouraged, if I am hurt, angry, or feeling ill, I have learned to immediately press play. Worship is the quickest way into His presence and in His presence, I am safe, cared for, and loved.
Marion Grace
