The Good Things That Are Coming

THE GOOD THINGS THAT ARE COMING!

Isaiah 30:
20 Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” 22 Then you will desecrate your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, “Away with you!”

Duet 16v3:
Do not eat it with bread made with yeast, but for seven days eat unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left Egypt in haste--so that all the days of your life you may remember the time of your departure from Egypt.

Numbers 11v1:
Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the LORD, and when he heard them his anger was aroused.

Often the thing we want least in our lives, is that very thing the Lord gives us so that we can gain the best thing for our lives. The Lord will allow His people to go through great affliction in the future, but this will bring us good things. One, it will mean that those that are really true teachers of the Word, who share truth as it really is, will be made 100% clearly known to His people. No more will there be great doubt and tossing to and fro with many winds of doctrine, because only the truth can stand in the fire. When people really suffer, then they come to understand what is true and what is not, because what is true sustains people through hard times, but what doesn't sustain is easily shown to be false because there's no real life and substance to it. Nothing but Jesus, who is the true bread of life, will be able to sustain His people in the days to come, and so all the doctrines of men and all those things which are mere hype, will die a quick and sudden death, and only the good stuff will remain!

Two, we as Christians will hear the voice of the Lord clearer and more intimately than we have ever heard it before! Is 30v21... says that, 'whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you...' The Lord's presence will be more real to us than ever before, for we will need such a thing. Before the apostle John witnessed the suffering of the Lord at the cross, the Lord first took him to a mountain to see His glory and to hear the voice of the Father, and so to will the people of God experience manifestations of His presence that will be exceedingly great (Jon 14v21+23), in order to encourage and strengthen us in our faith for the time ahead.

The manifestations of His presence and His voice will not only encourage, but will give us clear direction, namely, to LISTEN to the Son. In verse 23 of Is it says that this voice will say, "This is the way; walk in it." Both when the Spirit came down upon Jesus and heaven was opened, and when Peter and John were on the mountain with Him before his crucifixion, the Father said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well please, listen to Him!" His people will once again be encouraged to give their full attention to the Son and His Word, as we will need to train our spiritual ears to hear like never before. This will bring great fruit, as the Lord will tell us exactly the way to go in the time ahead. This will not just be a general thing, but a very specific thing. This is one of the prime ways the Lord will protect His people, even in every day circumstances, and on a continual and very specific level in their lives, because that's exactly what will be needed many times to keep His people safe in His will. God will not abandon His people, but will be as good and caring a Shepherd in the future as He is now, but we will often see it more clearly and more evidently!

Three, those things that we have made idols in our lives will be done away with, because we ourselves will want to do away with them! Is 30v22 Then you will desecrate your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, “Away with you!” We will have such great evidence of His presence, His care and His glory, that we will have hatred for anything that would offend the Lord and take our hearts away from Him. We will hear His voice and know His presence more keenly than in the past, and these things will all the more serve to endeavour our hearts and minds to Him. The Lord will create fervent and passionate hearts for Him!

We may immediately be tempted to complain about our hardships to the Lord in the days to come, but we must realise that the affliction that is coming is designed by the Lord to bring about good things in our hearts and lives, and so if we know this, we'll bear the afflictions patiently, knowing the good intentions of the Lord. We may eat of the good things the Lord has for us in the days to come in the midst of trouble and affliction, but it will be worth it!