Something That Needs to be Said....

I just looked at one of my friend's blogs and something she said really has put something on my heart to tell. God has been so good to me and sometimes I wonder why I forget it. I suppose it's because of my carnal mind. So many times when things are going well, I fail to give him thanks. It's those times when things get tough that I remember him. It's rather strange that to he that is my best and most dependent friend, I go to when I need help and fail to talk to him or thank him when things are going well. It's a fault that I've had ever since he came into my life.

It was in high school that I endured one of the hardest trials I've ever experienced. Now that I look back, I realize what a state I was in before that trial began. I was very haughty and all I wanted to do is please my peers; I wanted to be popular. That was what I put my stock in, not Christ, not the church, but man. At the time it was very difficult for me, but now I know why he did it. He took away that very thing that I cherished and coveted above all else. He took those friends away, those in school that I strove to please, those that I tried to be like. It was the exact opposite of what I should have done. I should have strove to please the Lord and strove to be more like Him!

When he took them away, I realized I was all alone. My friends deserted me and all that I put my stock in came crashing down. The very friends I had claimed to be my best threatened to kill me and constantly attacked me verbally. You see, when you put your stock in man and things of this world, you are going to lose! If you were buying stock, would you buy stocks in something you knew that wasn't going to last? Would you buy stock in a record company or would you buy stock in gas? Would you put your trust and all that you hold dear in this world when you know it's not going to last? Well my friends, that's what I did and you know what? That's exactly what He took away. He took it away to show me that I could not stand on earthly things that shall pass away.

Throughout the trial, he slowly began to show me where to place my trust and showed me someone who would never leave me or forsake me, someone who loved me so much that he stooped low enough to come to earth and die for my sins. Now why would he do that? I don't know! What did I do to deserve such love?

It was a tough lesson to learn, but looking back I know it was for the best. I was all alone. I had nobody, but through the darkness of so great a trial, I saw the Lord. He came to me with open arms and showed me the greatest love that can be bestowed upon a man. He wrapped his arms around me and whispered in my ear, "I'll never leave you nor forsake you. I'll never throw things at you, I'll never spit at you, I'll never threaten to kill you. When the whole world turns against you and no one is there to comfort you, I will be there."

It is truly this kind of love that is beyond comprehension. I got to experience firsthand the love of God. After that ordeal, I could truly sing with feeling and understanding:

The love of God is greater far than tongue nor pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star and reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair bowed down with care, God gave his son to win;
His erring child he reconciled and pardoned from his sin.

Could we with ink the oceans fill, and were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry.
Nor could the scroll contain the whole, Though stretched from sky to sky.

Oh love of God, how rich and pure! How measureless and strong!
It shall forever more endure, the saints' and angels' song.