Always looking for smooth sailing, is often times, just wishful thinking. A strong wind is going to come up, sooner or later. I truly don’t feel like trying to be philosophical, but we are never going to know how to ride out the storm and manage the helm, unless we’ve gone through a real gale. It really is too bad, that we cannot confide in each other and trust one another. There is so much we could learn from sharing our journey; our triumphs, as well as our mistakes. I read again recently, that our society, frowns on mistakes; but our society, has a lot to learn.

I was reminded of something a couple of days ago. I was thinking about the time when I has going through a real test; a test that I thought I had already gone through, and passed before. I remember asking God, why do I have to go through this test again; I’ve already taken it before. Now, I tell you for sure, if I ever heard the voice of the Lord, He spoke right back to me; clear as could be. He said, “Well, then you should make a better grade on it this time, then you did the last time….” Ruffled my feathers for a bit, but I got the message. Maybe if I pass it again, we can move on to other things.

Some of us have been over some pretty rough bumps lately. At times, it has seemed that it was never going to end. Frankly, I’m big enough to say it; it wasn’t fun; but again, it wasn’t supposed to be. A trial, is not supposed to be easy; if it was, it wouldn’t be a trial.

What good is an easy test? You are not really taxed taking it; and it doesn’t let you know, how much you have learned, or how far you have come. See, I don’t like pain, and I also don’t care for bumpy roads; but, like it or not, it’s part of the journey. I want to ask some of you something; you don’t need to answer out loud. Do you think we are at least somewhat stronger, than we were before? Can we take licks and bumps in stride, at least a little easier than we once could?

The days ahead are going to be rough; and it’s getting crazier and wilder, as the moments pass. I believe that God, has been trying to tell me that it is going to take some real patience and endurance. You know, our people here could have just repented over a lot of things and maybe saved our selves a whole lot of shaking. There are forces at work; if we can’t see that, we are already blind and deceived. Weak saints are going to be in some big trouble. Those who have not exercised their senses in the Spirit, are in for a rough go. I don’t speak rudely or sharply, but some folk, need to stop playing church, and paint the blood of Jesus Christ over the doorpost like God’s children did once before. Just drifting along, will leave us all wanting.

Some of us, have been pressed out of measure; we’ve had more that we could take. You see, not quoting all of a scripture, is as bad as misquoting it. As long as we can carry our own weight, we don’t need a supernatural intervention from the Spirit. As long as we can bear it, we won’t know what it’s like, when we can’t carry it anymore, and He has to carry it and us too.

I don’t usually do this, but all of us need to go back and get that old song by Andrae Crouch, “Through it All.” We’ve had to go through it; every last step of it; to learn to trust in God. He wrote, that our trials, were only meant to make us strong. Tears and sorrows, questions about tomorrow, not always knowing right, from wrong. Ever learning, to depend upon His Word.

Robert Blackburn