[Worship] A Testimony of God's Faithfulness

["Kevin H. Dougherty" <khdmedic@capital.net>]

The past two weeks have been and continue to be the most painful and
difficult time I have ever experienced. I have never faced a time of
such deep desperation and despair as now. It has truly been a "Dark
Night of the Soul". But I am here to tell you, that our God is well
able, and oh so very faithful. He has been here in my time of greatest
need to minister peace when I needed peace, strength when I needed
strength. He has sent beloved brothers and sisters with the right words
at the proper time. Without getting into the gory details, it has been a
time of seeing hopes and dreams crumble, a time of stripping away, and
surrender. The Lord has required me to surrender a number of things to
Him, including my hopes of marriage to a very special woman. It was not,
is not easy. It was and is painful.

I don't know why this has been required of me, perhaps a test, perhaps I
was wrong about God's will. But I do know that He would not require this
of me unless He had something better to replace it with.

Now for the good part....

In the past week, I have had some of the most intense times of worship I
have ever experienced. I have felt the Lord's presence more intensely
than I ever have. At the very lowest point, as I was pouring out my
heart to God, something began to well up from deep inside me. In an
instant, I understood how Job felt, how David felt, how all the saints
and heroes of the bible felt when in times of trouble they began to
worship God. I understood this as with tears streaming down my face I
cried out "I WILL WORSHIP YOU LORD!!!!"

In that moment, I realized that no matter what happened, that if I spent
the rest of my life in torment and anguish, my God would still be more
than worthy of my worship and adoration. He is worthy not only for the
wonderful gift He presented us on Calvary, but for who_He_is.

This has also been the most prolific time of writing I have ever
experienced, It seems every time I sit down, the Lord begins to speak to
me. In the last week, I have filled over 50 hand written pages. I
wondered to the Lord why, and He seemed to say that it was so other
would be able to read and know they were not alone, they were not the
only ones. Well, I have already been able to use some of the writings to
share with a sister ministering to someone going through similar
circumstances.

It is my hope that these words will encourage others who may be having
some rough times. I am there, I have walked in these shoes, and I stand
here to tell you to lift up your eyes. Fix them on Jesus, worship Him,
and like Peter, you will walk with Him in the midst of the tempest. He
will always be faithful to lift you out of the storm. Yes, things will
still hurt, but they will be seen in perspective, and He will give you
the strength to face what lies before you.

Be Blessed
==================================================================

I'm a fool for Jesus, whose fool are you?

Kevin
Makin' a Joyful Noise Unto the Lord!

http://www.angelfire.com/ny/tech6207/index.html

There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, "Thy will be done,"

and those to whom God says, "All right, then, have it your way." - C.S.
Lewis

=======================================================================

"That's the whole problem with science.  You've got a bunch of
empiricists trying to describe things of unimaginable wonder."    -
Calvin (& Hobbes) 8<{)




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