Darkest before dawn

"So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised." Hebrews 10:35-36

Maybe you've heard the saying, "it's always darkest before the dawn"? Contrary to popular belief, the quote is not in the bible. Thomas Fuller, an English theologian and historian in the late mid 1600's was the first person to commit it to print by saying: It is always darkest just before the Day dawneth. It was his way of encouraging people to have hope in the middle of dreadful circumstances. Regardless of its origin, the point is this - just before the light breaks, you will sometimes experience the greatest darkness of your life. This is particularly true when you are serving the Lord. The devil seldom has need of you when you're sitting at home reading the newspaper and minding your own business, but... plan to go evangelize and life as you know it can and will change in an instant.

Sadly, when this happens and trials come, too many Christians simply give up. Before the dawn breaks, before they experience the "great reward" of putting their "confident trust in the Lord." In my personal experiences (yes, many more than one), the harder the devil is trying to keep you away from something, the greater the reason to be there! The greatest reward for pressing on is seeing someone come to  Christ because of something you have said or done. Psalm 34:19 gives us this promise, "The righteous person faces many troubles, but the LORD comes to the rescue each time." and 2 Corinthians 9:8 says, "And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work."

I have yet to ever receive a golden invitation to spread God's word and neither will you. Unfortunately the world doesn't want us speaking about Christ. It will not always be easy but God's word assures us of this, "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it." No matter how dark it may get, the light will always shine through!! What a glorious dawn that will be.

Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us everything we need to serve You. What a privilege it is to do so. You could have chosen anyone and yet You chose us, sinners deserving of nothing less than death. Thank You for your mercy, grace and your gift of forgiveness. Give us strength, boldness and discernment as we go forth to spread the good news of the gospel. May we bring You glory in all we do. In your precious name we pray Jesus, Amen. 

Happy Running!!!

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Pushing back the dark - Josh Wilson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wyockRKo6Q