God is with us all the time
By: Elias Bejjani*

July 19/2010

"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life". John 6.68

Only God knows what is in store for us, especially when our future seems bleak, or when we become prey for misery, despair, depression, hopelessness, helplessness, anger, conflicts, hostilities, grudges, hatred and fall into the Satan's temptation.

At all times in sadness or happiness, bad or good, we definitely should trust that God's word is true and that He is with us in every part of our lives. God never ever abandons those righteous who trust in Him and call for His help.

Do you need help with the heavy burdens that you are carrying?
Do you need conciliation, support and rest?
Be fully aware of the promises made by Jesus when we surrender our lives to him and take on His new life—we will find a refreshing rest for our souls. The Lord offers us a trade. As we take on his yoke, which is easy and light, Jesus lifts our burden by carrying upon himself the burdens of our sins. "Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28–30

We have to be sure that God is working out a plan for each and every one of us because we are His beloved children and He is our caring and loving Father. His plan includes a bright hope for our future in all domains and on all levels and at the time. Jeremiah 29:11: "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope".

God wishes us all that is good and wants us to be good so we can be qualified to return back to Him where He has prepared a dimension (dwelling) for every one of us. But He expects us to assume our ethical-moral-spiritual roles in being actually righteous and to apply His virtues and acts of mercy, forgiveness, love, humbleness, honesty, faith and hope in all that we say, do and think.

All what we have to do when in trouble or in need for any thing is to ask Him and He always is responsive, generous, forgiving and attentive: "Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened".

Is your heart broken today?
Is your spirit crushed?
Are you sad and in deep sorrow?
Have you lost a beloved person?
Do you feel that you are abandoned?
Are you lonely and persecuted?
Are you in pain?

Be sure that you are not alone, no not at all. Have faith and hope, open your heart, mind and spirit. Have trust in Almighty God and ask Jesus to shower on you his graces, perseverance and the strength to face courageously and with no fear or hesitation all kinds of hardships. "The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit". Psalm 34:18

The Lord is very near to you when facing overwhelming troubles. In fact, the Lord is right there, present with you in the sorrow, in the heartache. He is walking right through it with you. And you can lean on him for comfort, because he too knows what it feels like to be crushed and broken.

God expects us to utilize and invest wisely the talents that were granted to each one of us. He wants us to deal with each other as a one family and help those are in need physically, emotionally, spiritually and materialistically.

We are expected to not only do what is righteous, but also to stand strongly against anything that is not righteous and to take clear and cut stances in evil and Godly matters. We can be neutral, we can be lukewarm, but either hot or cold. "I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth." Rev. 3:15-16

Our hope is to be welcomed in heaven on the Judgment Day and not to be thrown out like the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

We must work hard in investing our Godly talents so on Judgment Day we hear the Lord saying us: "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord." Matthew 25:23

And most importantly God cautions us not under any given circumstances to assume His role in judging others no matter what their wrongdoings might be: "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." Matthew 7:1-5

In conclusion our soul and life are a grant from God and He is the one who decides when to take them back, therefore we are ought to be ready all the time for that moment like the wise virgins who took oil in their vessels with their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. "Watch therefore, for you don’t know the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming" Matthew 25:13

*Elias Bejjani
*Canadian-Lebanese Human Rights activist, journalist and political commentator
*Email phoenicia@hotmail.com
*Web sites http://www.10452lccc.com & http://www.clhrf.com
*Mailing phoenicia group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Phoenicia/