Nakwon EM

"Blessed are those whose strength is in You,

who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.

As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs;

the autumn rains also cover it with pools.

They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion." - Psalm 84: 5-7

I believe these verses speak one message: "God will give you the strength to seek Him, if you will do so with all of your heart." It makes the intentions of the believer so clear: he has set his desire on God, and he will follow through with this journey by the grace of God. Even when they pass through a place of dryness and tribulation, by the time they are through, it will be a blessing. But what I love the most is verse 7: to go from strength to strength... it doesn't say from strength to weakness to strength to weakness again, repeat.... It says strength to strength. I sure don't feel like I go from strength to strength all the time... yet the Bible contradicts that, which means only one thing: the things that I perceive to be stumbles and weaknesses are being used by God to be made into strengths. But it's not just for the sake of being strong. These things are happening because God is making sure that I will appear before Him in Zion; not only when I die and am taken to heaven, but in this life. This is my confirmation that God is working everything out in such a way that when I look back, I will see a series of quickenings and disciplines that led me to see Jesus in the here and now.

Let's be "confident of this: "[We] will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living." (Psalm 27:13)