“Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life” Psalm 128:7
[The Hebrew of this verse means literally to “go on in the center of trouble.”]
My Lord, You allowed me to enter in to Your presence this morning as You opened my eyes in a new revelation of an old truth.
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| KATHY BEARD |
Two words, which God seems to have already been working into my consciousness, were defined in a whole new light. For the past several weeks I have been hearing God speak to me of His power to heal, to create something out of nothing, to bring life out of death. In Romans 4 which I have been reading every day, He is imprinting this truth into me; like a brand upon my consciousness He is searing it onto me so that I will never forget it. In the overwhelming hurricane-like storm that entered into my family’s life a year and a half ago, it seemed that there was nothing but destruction, and like a runaway train careening down upon us, we were helpless to defend ourselves against it. The enemy seemed to be standing over us, sneering, taunting—“This thing is done, it will destroy everything in its path and there is nothing you can do to stop it.”
We have called on God during this time of trouble, pleaded His promise of deliverance but not received it, and we continued to be oppressed by the enemy until we were in the very thick of the battle—the center of trouble.
Though His answer seemed so long in coming and we continued to walk in the midst of trouble, recently, the parts of this passage of Scripture which we had not experienced, was in reality exactly what He was doing: Preserving us in the midst of trouble. “The center of trouble is the place where He preserves us, not the place where He fails us. The times we continue to walk in seemingly utter hopelessness are the very times He will stretch out His hand against the anger of our foes.” (Streams in the Desert April 23). He will cause the enemy’s attacks to cease and to fail.
Though for so many months it seemed as if the “false prophecy” of the enemy had come true, God did something miraculous in me and in my family member who had been most devastated by this thing. He seemed to hover over us, enveloping us in a supernatural peace with a promise that He had won this battle (Colossians 2:15 “When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him”(NASB).
We both knew at the same moment it seems that the enemy had been defeated. The oppression lifted. Our minds cleared, the promise was true, and we were brought out into a “spacious place” (Psalm 31:8 “You have not handed me over to the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place.” NIV). We both agreed in awe that we hadn’t done anything different or performed any great acts of faith, God just did it. His timing was perfect. The storm around us continues to rage, but in the center of the hurricane is perfect calm. The energy of the hurricane is in the center. God seemed to stretched out His hand against the anger of our foes and pulled us into the center of the storm.
The word which God seems to have been bringing back to my thoughts again and again are from Romans 4:17b (NLT) “This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing.”
He brings life out of death. He creates something out of nothing.
Beth Moore’s Bible study “Believing God” brings light to some old truths.
Genesis 1:27 says “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
“Created” in this passage is from the Hebrew Bara which means to create something out of nothing.
Genesis 2:7 says “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”
“Formed” in this passage is from the Hebrew Yatsar, which means to create something from something already in existence.
In the first passage, God creates man’s spirit out of nothing. In the second passage, God creates man’s physical fleshly body out of something already in existence—dust. Then He “breathes” the spirit into man.
Most of us have learned this as there are many sermons and writings explaining the difference between these two words. But here is something amazing that God revealed to me this morning: In Psalms 51:10, David asks God to “create” in him a clean heart. David is asking God to “Bara” to create something out of nothing in his heart. “Clean” means pure. If Jeremiah 17:9 tells us that the “heart” is deceitful and desperately wicked, then we must have God create something out of nothing—“pure” cannot be created out of something deceitful and desperately wicked. It must be recreated out of nothing else but God.
“Renew” means to rebuild, renew, repair. David is asking God to rebuild and repair his spirit, not out of the stuff that is already there—but out of nothing—supernatural creation—the same creation that God performed in Genesis 1:27.
So is it true that God can take even the most hardened, deceitful, desperately wicked heart and create His Spirit in its place? It is true. God creates clean hearts from nothing (bara). God does not form (yatsar) clean hearts in us with the existing materials of our righteous acts and self-disciplines. God creates pure hearts from nothing in response to our sincerest repentance and desire to be pure before Him.
My God can create something out of nothing. He can bring dead things to life. He can create in my family member who has strayed far from Him, something new, and He can bring life from death—even the death of faith. Even the death of love. Even the death of commitment. Even the death of truth.
I believe God.
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