The Christians who enjoy the Lord's blessings through tribulation

“You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.  …  LORD, they came to you in their distress; when you disciplined them, they could barely whisper a prayer” (Isaiah 26:3, 16).

                When we encounter tribulation on our life's journey, we need to ask ourselves three questions: (1) Isn’t there any sin that I didn’t repent to God?  (2) What blessing is God going to give me through this tribulation? (If I have tribulation even though I have no unrepentant sins)  (3) Do I believe that God will deliver me in this tribulation?  Or do I trust God completely?

                In Isaiah 26:16, the discipline of the Lord came upon the people of Israel.  That was why the Israelites were in distress.  And their distress was the Babylon's invasion, which means that the Israelites would be taken captive by Babylon.  Why did this distress come upon the Israelites?  The reason was because they have sinned against God.  In other words, the Israelites suffered in distress for their unrepentant sins.  But their suffering in distress was a blessing to the Israelites.  And that blessing was that they were taken captive to Babylon and there they sought the Lord (v. 16).  In other words, the Israelites eagerly sought the Lord during the time of distress.  Look at Isaiah 26:8-9a: “Indeed, while following the way of Your judgments, O LORD, We have waited for You eagerly; Your name, even Your memory, is the desire of our souls.  At night my soul longs for You, Indeed, my spirit within me seeks You diligently ….”  The Israelites who sinned in Jerusalem, Judah, eagerly sought the Lord in Babylon, a foreign nation where they were taken captive.  How amazing was God's providence, grace, and blessing?  Although the environment was so difficult, in tribulation and suffering in captivity, how blessed it was to find the Lord eagerly because of it.  In addition, the Israelites came to trust in the Lord (v. 3).  In other words, they depended only on the Lord (v. 13).  How great was God's blessing that the proud and self-reliant Israelites were humbled through tribulation and suffering to trust in the Lord alone?  As a result, the mind of the Israelites became steadfast (v. 3).  In other words, their hearts have been changed to those who put their full trust in God.  How great was this blessing?  And God gave perfect peace to the hearts of those who put their full trust in Him (v. 3).  Because the Lord, who is the everlasting Rock (v. 4), protected the Israelites, they could enjoy perfect peace.  Furthermore, the Lord's blessing has made the way of the righteous smooth (v. 7).  Although the road of tribulation and suffering, which had to be walked because of the sins, was never a smooth path in the eyes of man, the Lord enabled the Israelites to repent their sins and thus gave them perfect peace in their hearts.  And the Lord made the road to Zion in their hearts.  Not only that, God also had smoothen the path of God's people who put their full trust in Him.  And the Lord performed for them all their works and established peace for them (v. 12).  The Lord eventually increased the nation and gained glory for Himself (v. 15).  In other words, the Lord caused a true revival in the nation of Israel (Park).

                We are Christians who believe in Jesus.  If we are true Christians, then we must trust in the Lord in peace and in tribulation.  Therefore, we must be able to enjoy the blessings of the Lord even through the tribulation that is His discipline for our sins.  We must not only enjoy the blessing of true repentance, but also the blessing of the restoration of our true soul who yearns for the Lord.  And we must enjoy the blessing of the perfect peace that God gives by relying on Him with a faithful heart, even through tribulation.  May the Lord, who smoothes our way, do all our work for us, so that we may earnestly pray in the name of Jesus that we may be filled with the blessings of His true revival among us.