JVI-873 SeptOct'03 PT Mag - Jack Van Impe Ministries

you imagine the shock, pain, fear,
and dread that sweeps over him
(or her)? How awful to be hurt
and lost, not knowing which
way to go. Worse still, to be
injured and disabled, not able to
move, not knowing who is out
there … or approaching!
What great comfort it must be
when someone comes to that
fallen soldier and says simply,
“Hold on — help is on the way!”
Understand, the person who
delivers that message may not be
the one who can actually help
the sufferer. Perhaps it’s a fellow
soldier or a civilian onlooker —
not the medic who administers
drugs for pain, starts an IV, and
calls for transport to a hospital.
Yet how welcome — how vital
— the gift of the messenger who
simply assures the suffering
soldier that help is on the way.
Blessed assurance
Too often we discover that
our own world is a frightening,
confusing place of adversity and
conflict, and we can find ourselves
in trouble, stricken with
grief, unable to save ourselves.
How good it is to know that we
have promises from God in
heaven that assure us we are not
alone and that help is coming.
Psalm 46:1 says, God is our
refuge and strength, a very
present help in trouble.
When we have a covenant
blessing like that, we can appropriate
it without feeling any kind
of apprehension — divine protection,
strength, and deliverance
is assured. When we are in trouble
or stricken with grief, we
have more than just a friendly
encouragement that aid is
coming. We know that our Best
Friend is on the way to help us,
and it is none other than Jesus!
That’s what the songwriter was
talking about when she penned
the words,“Blessed assurance,
Jesus is mine! Oh, what a foretaste
of glory divine!”
The psalmist surely was keenly
aware of the divine resource that
is ours when he looked to heaven
in the midst of a trying time and
cried out, Help, Lord (Psalm
12:1). I believe that he expected
God to come to his aid.
One of the worst forms of suffering
people endure is the icy
fear of the unknown — the paralyzing
anxiety over what might
happen. Have you ever experienced
that unsettling uncertainty
that shatters your composure
and ruins your peace of mind?
We don’t
have to heal
the fallen or solve their
problems, but simply
point them to the One
who can — a powerful
God, a powerful Savior,
a powerful
Holy Spirit.
Sometimes people are so hurt,
so fearful, so anxious that in the
long, dark night of the soul, they
lose all hope. Not knowing
where to turn for solace and
help, they sink into the desperate
quagmire of despair.Without
anything to hold on to, people
can literally become so lost that
they die.
In both the above cases, the
ministry of the messenger who
simply reports that help is on
the way can actually make the
difference between life and
death. “Don’t give up! You’re not
alone! Help is coming” can be a
light in the darkness of fear and
a beacon of hope to someone
deep in the abyss of desolation.
How remarkable that the messenger
may
not be able
to solve the
crisis, but what
a valuable gift
he shares
simply by
dispelling
apprehension
and restoring
hope. Could
you do
something
as simple as By Rexella Van Impe
being a voice
of encouragement to those
around you who may have fallen
from an enemy attack?
That is what we try to do every
week on our television program,
“Jack Van Impe Presents.”We keep
reaching out to those who are
hurting and afraid with a message
of hope and encouragement that
the help they need is available …
pointing them unto him that is
able to keep (them) from falling,
and to present (them) faultless
before the presence of his glory
with exceeding joy (Jude 24).
Trouble and tribulations
You see, Christians sometimes
labor under the illusion that
when they accept the Lord,
they’ll never have a heartbreak
or disappointment, never have a
broken friendship or financial
setback, never falter or go astray,
but that’s not true. Jesus said, In
the world ye shall have tribulation
(John 16:33). Have you
found this to be true? Do you
know what it is to have trials,
temptations, and trouble?
I thought so. We are not
immune to the bad things that
can infect our lives. But while
Jesus acknowledged the world
of tribulation we live in, He didn’t
stop there. He went on to
declare, but be of good cheer;
I have overcome the world.
And Psalm 34:19 declares,
Jack Van Impe Ministries January/February 2004
Rexella Van Impe 19