His Word Fulfilled!

In thinking about Christmas this year and the birth of Christ, I was reminded of all the many prophecies that were fulfilled upon His birth.  How truly awesome is the Word of God!  It is true and never fails... it reminded me of His Word that I read this past summer while in the midst of excruciating pain and in the middle of a very deep and dark valley.  His Word gave me hope while I was in that valley, His Word gave me something specific to pray for, and His Word has been fulfilled in my life!  Praise His Name!!  So I wanted to share what He spoke to me through His written Word this summer.  No matter how deep and dark your valley is, make yourself get into His Word.  He will speak to you, He will give you hope, and He does fulfill His Word in His time...

It all started with Psalm 34:19:

"Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the LORD delivers him out of them all."

I definitely had some afflictions... how encouraging and very comforting to read that the LORD delivers the righteous out of all of their afflictions.  This led me to Psalm 71:20:

"Thou, who hast shown me many troubles and distresses, wilt revive me again, and wilt bring me up again from the depths of the earth."  (emphasis mine)

This in turn led me to Psalm 119:25:

"My soul cleaves to the dust; Revive me according to Thy Word."

And then to this, Psalm 138:7-8:

"Though I walk in the midst of trouble, Thou wilt revive me; Thou wilt stretch forth Thy hand against the wrath of my enemies, and Thy right hand will save me.  The Lord will accomplish what concerns me, Thy lovingkindness, O Lord, is everlasting; Do not forsake the works of Thy hands."

And it kept going, this was next, Hosea 6:1-3:

"Come, let us return to the LORD, For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us.  He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day that we may live before Him, So let us know, let us press on to know the Lord.  His going forth is as certain as the dawn; and He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain watering the earth."

Do you see the recurring theme the Lord was showing me?  Through His Word He was telling me that He would revive me again!  I looked up revive in the dictionary... I knew in my heart what it meant, but I wanted to see some physical words, to really grasp what my Lord was telling me.  Here is what the dictionary said:

revive - to bring back to life, consciousness, or activity; to make or become fresh or strong again; to bring back into use

Can I just tell you how much this encouraged me!?  You see, I felt physically, spiritually, and emotionally dead... I definitely did not feel fresh or strong, I felt all used up and weaker than I have ever felt, and I did not feel useful at all, not even as a wife or mother... I felt as if I were just existing.  So these words from His Word, and a fresh understanding of what revived truly meant gave me such hope!  I began reminding God daily as I prayed that He had promised me through His Word that He would revive me, I began to feel hope that one day my pain would be gone and God would once again use me as He saw fit, and I began to know that He would use the very pain I was experiencing somehow for His glory.  How I praise Him for His Word!


You know, if I had not already had an established habit of reading His Word, if I had not previously experienced how His Word could sustain me, encourage me, strengthen me and carry me through, I may not have reached for His Word while in this deep, dark pit.  I would like to think that I would have, but if I had never experienced the power of His Word in my life before I may have thought it would have been futile.  So I write all of this to encourage you... if you have never had the habit of daily reading and digging into His Word start NOW, it is so worth it!  If you already have that habit, don't let it go, don't let the business of life cause it to slip away... it is your lifeline!  And if you happen to be in a deep, dark pit, get your Bible, put it in the pit with you, and read... ask God to give you a Word that you can cling to and can pray back to Him.  He will, for He is faithful and true...