In Luke chapter seven, there is a story of a time the Lord was entering the city of Nain.
We are told that at the entrance of the city, the Lord and His entourage found a dead man being carried out.
He was the only son of a certain woman, who was a widow.
The Lord understood the dire straits in which this woman found herself.
The man being carried out had been her only means of earning a livelihood.
Now that he was gone, she faced an extremely bleak future.
"When the Lord saw her," we are told that "He had compassion on her and said to her: 'Do not weep' " (Luke 7:13).
The sequence of events in this passage is fascinating.
When the Lord told the widow not to weep, her son was still dead.
The Lord raised the man back to life after He had told his mother not to weep.
Would it not have been more understandable if the Lord had raised the man first and then said to his mother: 'There, you don't have to weep any more.
Here's your son, alive and well.
" Over the years, I have relied on this passage to remember that in my own personal circumstances, the reason I am not to weep is never that things are going my way, no.
It is rather that the Lord Jesus Christ is on the scene.
So long as He is there, I shall never need to be reduced to weeping in desperation.
So long as the Lord is there with me, there is more than adequate power to sort out whatever difficulty I am facing to my satisfaction.
Therefore I ought not to weep, whether things are going my way or not, provided that I am sure the Lord is on my scene.
My responsibility, therefore, is to always conduct myself in such a way that the Lord is always comfortable around me, that I am reasonably sure that the Lord can approve of the way I am living.
If that condition is in place, there will never be any need to worry.
If anyone had a good reason to worry and to weep, it must have been Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego.
They were threatened with instant roasting in a superheated furnace if they did not fall down and worship the image that kind Nebuchadnezzar had set up (Daniel 3:15).
But these young, Jewish exiles showed no trace of fear.
They were even bold enough to answer king Nebuchadnezzar back, as if they were not threatened in any way.
They were totally composed.
They even told the king that they had no need to answer him in this matter (Daniel 3:16).
Actually, that attitude was perfectly in order because God's word says that the righteous are as bold as a lion (Proverbs 28:1).
These young men did not need to be fearful because they were sure that God, who is greater than any circumstances, was with them.
They could be sure of this because they had conducted their lives in total obedience to God.
When they were finally cast into the furnace, they experienced such a great deliverance that king Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom were changed beyond recognition.
The young men were right.
Indeed there had been no reason to worry after all! You too should never be frightened in anything by your opponents.
God's word says that your boldness is a clear omen to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God (Philippians 1:28).
You must do whatever you can to avoid the kind of situation in which Samson found himself: After the hair on his head had been shaved off, he still thought he would free himself from the bonds of Delilah "as at other times" (Judges 16:20).
But nothing was the same anymore.
The rest of that verse must rank among the saddest words in the entire bible: "he did not know that the Lord had left him" (Judges 16:20).
It would appear that God can leave someone's life very quietly, and the person in question might be left thinking that God is still with him.
There are very serious consequences every time a person stops obeying God to follow their own desires; their relationship with God is affected very adversely and suffers a great deal of damage.
Please do not take such a risk in your own relationship with God.
Remain obedient to God under all circumstances, and then you can be confident that He is indeed with you whenever you face danger or adversity.
Read Daniel 3:1-18 and then answer the following questions: Were Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego doubtful that God cared about their personal safety? What kind of effort and resolve do you think these people might have put into their personal relationship with God?
We are told that at the entrance of the city, the Lord and His entourage found a dead man being carried out.
He was the only son of a certain woman, who was a widow.
The Lord understood the dire straits in which this woman found herself.
The man being carried out had been her only means of earning a livelihood.
Now that he was gone, she faced an extremely bleak future.
"When the Lord saw her," we are told that "He had compassion on her and said to her: 'Do not weep' " (Luke 7:13).
The sequence of events in this passage is fascinating.
When the Lord told the widow not to weep, her son was still dead.
The Lord raised the man back to life after He had told his mother not to weep.
Would it not have been more understandable if the Lord had raised the man first and then said to his mother: 'There, you don't have to weep any more.
Here's your son, alive and well.
" Over the years, I have relied on this passage to remember that in my own personal circumstances, the reason I am not to weep is never that things are going my way, no.
It is rather that the Lord Jesus Christ is on the scene.
So long as He is there, I shall never need to be reduced to weeping in desperation.
So long as the Lord is there with me, there is more than adequate power to sort out whatever difficulty I am facing to my satisfaction.
Therefore I ought not to weep, whether things are going my way or not, provided that I am sure the Lord is on my scene.
My responsibility, therefore, is to always conduct myself in such a way that the Lord is always comfortable around me, that I am reasonably sure that the Lord can approve of the way I am living.
If that condition is in place, there will never be any need to worry.
If anyone had a good reason to worry and to weep, it must have been Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego.
They were threatened with instant roasting in a superheated furnace if they did not fall down and worship the image that kind Nebuchadnezzar had set up (Daniel 3:15).
But these young, Jewish exiles showed no trace of fear.
They were even bold enough to answer king Nebuchadnezzar back, as if they were not threatened in any way.
They were totally composed.
They even told the king that they had no need to answer him in this matter (Daniel 3:16).
Actually, that attitude was perfectly in order because God's word says that the righteous are as bold as a lion (Proverbs 28:1).
These young men did not need to be fearful because they were sure that God, who is greater than any circumstances, was with them.
They could be sure of this because they had conducted their lives in total obedience to God.
When they were finally cast into the furnace, they experienced such a great deliverance that king Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom were changed beyond recognition.
The young men were right.
Indeed there had been no reason to worry after all! You too should never be frightened in anything by your opponents.
God's word says that your boldness is a clear omen to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God (Philippians 1:28).
You must do whatever you can to avoid the kind of situation in which Samson found himself: After the hair on his head had been shaved off, he still thought he would free himself from the bonds of Delilah "as at other times" (Judges 16:20).
But nothing was the same anymore.
The rest of that verse must rank among the saddest words in the entire bible: "he did not know that the Lord had left him" (Judges 16:20).
It would appear that God can leave someone's life very quietly, and the person in question might be left thinking that God is still with him.
There are very serious consequences every time a person stops obeying God to follow their own desires; their relationship with God is affected very adversely and suffers a great deal of damage.
Please do not take such a risk in your own relationship with God.
Remain obedient to God under all circumstances, and then you can be confident that He is indeed with you whenever you face danger or adversity.
Read Daniel 3:1-18 and then answer the following questions: Were Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego doubtful that God cared about their personal safety? What kind of effort and resolve do you think these people might have put into their personal relationship with God?
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