Have you ever been between a rock and a hard place? Apostle Paul spent time there, and his experience helps me see my circumstances in perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I have worked much harder,\nbeen in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to\ndeath again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes\nminus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I\nwas shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly\non the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in\ndanger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city,\nin danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I have labored and toiled and\nhave often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often\ngone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face\ndaily the pressure of my concern for all the churches” (2 Corinthians\n11:23-28 NIV).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“In Damascus the governor…had\nthe city…guarded in order to arrest me. But I was lowered in a basket from a\nwindow in the wall and slipped through his hands” (2 Corinthians 11:32-33\nNIV).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’ve been in hard places but I\ncan’t top that. I have friends who can. What\u2019s your heartbreak? Lost your job\ndue to the economy and financially desperate? Lost your spouse through death or\ndesertion? Health failing\/awaiting test results? Grieving over a prodigal child?\nOverwhelmed with caregiving responsibilities?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many of us understand all too well the Psalmist\u2019s cry.\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSave me, O God, for the waters are come in unto my soul\u2026I\nam come into deep waters where the floods overflow me\u201d (Psalm 69:1-2). My translation: I\u2019m up to my neck and trying to keep my\nhead above water!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Paul understood hard things happened to him for a purpose\u2014furtherance\nof the gospel. In his circumstances the Lord was magnified and his own\ncharacter strengthened. He focused on the benefits. \u201cWe glory in tribulations\nalso: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and\nexperience, hope…\u201d (Romans 5:3-4).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember Paul\u2019s struggle with something he called a \u201cthorn\nin the flesh\u201d? He asked the Lord three times to remove it. The Lord said, \u201cMy\ngrace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness\u201d (see\n2 Corinthians 12:7-10). <\/p>\n\n\n\n One translation says, \u201cmy power shows up best in weak people.\u201d\nDon\u2019t you love that? My weakness gives God an opportunity to display his power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Paul didn\u2019t expect \u201cno\u201d for an answer. His response: \u201cMost gladly\ntherefore willI rather glory in my\ninfirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take\npleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in\ndistresses for Christ\u2019s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n God has a program for carefree living.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I discovered it while writing a book about for my lifelong\nfriend, Evangelist Walter St. Clair. He lived in Florida so I spent about 100\nhours on the phone interviewing him. He ended almost every conversation,\nsaying, \u201cLet me give you a verse.\u201d Repeatedly he quoted a familiar one, Psalm\n55:22.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCast thy burden upon the Lord and He shall sustain thee. He\nshall never suffer the righteous to be moved.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That promise became engraved on my heart. One day I ran into\na friend I hadn\u2019t seen since childhood. \nShe shared her heartbreak. Her husband had left her and she was working\ntwo jobs to make ends meet. I wanted to encourage her and promised to send her\none of my books. Signing the book, I wrote a note: \u201cRemembering carefree days.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Suddenly the Lord spoke in my heart. I still have a program for carefree living. Cast your burden upon the\nLord, and He will sustain you. He will\nnever suffer the righteous to be moved. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Casting every care on him is God\u2019s program for carefree living!\nOnce in a hard place, I cried out, \u201cOh, God this is out of my hands!\u201d He said:\nAnd you\u2019re crying because it\u2019s out of your feeble hands and into my Almighty\nhands?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n His Almighty hands\u2026the safe place for all my cares. But casting\nour cares on the Lord is not a once-forever event. Circumstances change. New\ncares disrupt our lives. So we keep casting them on Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Casting our burdens on him changes our mindset from desperation\nand anxiety to confident expectation. He can do something about our\ncircumstance. He has a reputation for doing the impossible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Are you between a rock and a hard place? Cast your cares on\nthe Lord and praise him!<\/p>\n\n\n\n I found my declaration of praise in Deuteronomy 32:3-4 NIV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I will proclaim the name of the Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Oh, praise the greatness of our God!<\/p>\n\n\n\n He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are\njust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He is the Rock! That means I’m between the Rock and a sweet place! <\/p>\n\n\n\n I’d love to know where you are. And please share this with friends who need to know they are between the Rock and a sweet place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a9 Dianne Barker 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Have you ever been between a rock and a hard place? Apostle Paul spent time there, and his experience helps me see my circumstances in perspective. “I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[269,268,9,104],"class_list":["post-829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-apostle-paul","tag-between-a-rock-and-a-hard-place","tag-dianne-barker","tag-difficult-circumstances"],"yoast_head":"\n