When The Heavens Are As Brass
Throughout the years of my life as a Christian I have experienced an ever deepening holy dissatisfaction with spiritual mediocrity and have continued in desire to draw closer to God’s majesty - yearning for more of His glory. But it hasn’t exactly been a ‘walk in the park’.
Tragic events, the effects of sickness and disease, and the death of loved ones in my life brought times of sensing terrible loneliness that cut to the very core of my being. Doubts have come, flooding my heart and mind like a raging storm that caused me to question my beliefs and faith in God. My daily walk has at times felt like I was treading water and going nowhere. The call of God on my life seemed like an ancient echo. There has been intense pain from the feelings of rejection, betrayal, fear, insecurity, and abandonment. God has sometimes seemed hidden and felt a billion miles away.
Even when things appeared to be going well there were times of puzzling darkness. Throughout my life it has often seemed as if a dark cloud hovered overhead and blocked out the warmth and light of His beauty. The Bible felt dry and the heavens were as brass. I had become disillusioned, discouraged, depressed, and frustrated. The prophet Amos spoke of this very thing: “Is not the day of the LORD darkness, and not light? Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it?”. (Amos 5:20 20 NKJV)
The Psalmist wrote about his own experience with this when he wrote “How long, O Lord ? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart?”. (Ps 13 KJV) These questions have perplexed the human heart for centuries. God can often seem hidden in times of trouble and pain.
Clouds Of Darkness
When a person finds their self in clouds of darkness, they shouldn’t be dismayed but rather, they should rejoice for they are nearing "the secret place of the Most High.” (Ps 91:1 KJV) Jesus said, "Seek and you will find." (Matt 7:7 KJV) God has promised that when a person seeks Him with “all” their “heart” they will find Him! (See Jer 29:13) The only way to miss finding Him is if they’re not looking for Him!
Where God dwells, “Clouds and darkness surround Him; Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.” (Ps 97:2 NKJV) The prophet Ezekiel described the glory as coming from within a storm “from the north, a great cloud with fire flashing forth continually and a bright light around it, and in it's midst something like glowing metal in the midst of the fire" (Ez 1:4 NIV).
The storms of life that twist and turn through the wilderness will lead a person to the secret place so that they can behold His beauty. God will draw near and His glory will completely overwhelm them just as the priests who “could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.” (1 Kings 8:10-11 NKJV)
The Wilderness
Prior to Jesus beginning His ministry He went to the river Jordan to be baptized. As Holy Spirit descended on Him the Father said, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased”. (Lk 3:22). THEN, the Father led Him into the wilderness! Too often desert experiences are thought of as punishment because of disobedience or personal sin. Yet the Father sent Jesus into the desert because He was pleased with Him! There are times He will do the same with a Christian because He is also pleased with them!
Jesus went 40 days without food for His flesh but He was satisfied with “living water” to drink. He spent His time in the desert in deep communion with the Father in preparation for His ministry. In the wilderness one finds that the true food which brings nourishment and satisfies the soul is the Word and His promises.
Periods of time spent in the desert are to bring a person to a deeper reliance and trust in Jesus because there are no distractions. A journey through the wilderness may be for 40 days or 40 years! God wants every Christian there because it is a place where deep romance - a holy honeymoon - exists between bride and Groom; "Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her.” (Hos 2:14 NIV)
The nourishment and strength for preparation always comes in the desert. John the beloved, while He was exiled to the prison island of Patmos, received His revelation. Revelation always comes in exile. When Jesus releases a person from the wilderness, they will be filled to minister with the power of the resurrection and the might of His majesty.
Hidden In Plain Sight
Sometimes there are periods of time when the Lord will hide Himself. One example is when the religious got angry over His healing people and wanted to kill Him because He offended their pride and arrogance. Jesus left and “hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.” (John 8:59 NIV)
There are also episodes in life when He appears hidden because a person just isn’t paying any attention to Him. God spoke to the Prophet Samuel several times and yet Samuel didn’t notice Him. Jacob exclaimed on one occasion; "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it." (Gen 28:16 NIV)
Most often however, there are those times of darkness, doubt, and uncertainty when Jesus seems to be hiding from a person. Just after the resurrection Jesus was hidden from Mary Magdalene at the Tomb. She mistook Him for the gardener. The disciples also had trouble seeing Jesus after the resurrection. On another occasion, Jesus appeared on the shore of the sea but they didn’t recognize Him until their fishing nets were full. (See John 21:4)
There was another occasion some of the disciples didn’t recognize Him while they were traveling on the road to Emmaus. As they walked along the road they talked about all the things that had happened, and Jesus “Himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.” (Luke 24:13-16 NKJV) They didn’t realize it was Jesus until later when they had supper together and there eyes were opened as He broke the bread.
All of theses examples have one thing in common - each person was so distracted and absorbed by their personal circumstances they couldn’t recognize Jesus even when He was present with them! They felt abandoned, broken and beaten. Their world had come crashing down around them. Their emotions were fried and numbed by the pain of His crucifixion. They were reeling from shattered dreams and the fear of the future without Him.
They were focused only upon self. Their sadness, sorrow, and circumstances kept them from seeing Jesus even through He was right by their side, hidden in plain sight. When Jesus did something that caused them to look away from self their eyes were opened and they recognized it was Him.
Sink or Swim
One day after Jesus finished a time of teaching He directed the Disciples to get into a boat and cross the Lake of Gennesareth, a distance of about ten miles, and head to Capernaum and Bethsaida. He told them that He would catch up with them later.
As they were about half way across the lake, sometime late in the night between the hours of 3:00 AM and 6:00 AM, the disciples saw Jesus walking towards them on the water and “they were terrified."…"It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." (Matt 14:25-33 NIV)
The Apostle Peter was so overjoyed to hear His voice and see Jesus that he was willing to do anything to be with Him. "Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water." Jesus said to him, "Come."
As He gazed upon Jesus nothing else mattered. Peter was able to do the impossible; he broke the natural law of gravity and “got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus”. But then logic began to take over and Peter started to think about himself and his “senses” kicked in as he “felt” the force of the wind and the tossing of the waves against his feet. “..He was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.” (Matt 14:31 NIV)
The fear of the unknown had overwhelmed him. The turbulent waves and stormy winds of the world had caused him to lose focus. Jesus said, "You of little faith,"… "why did you doubt?" Peter’s circumstances had caused him to forget that the gentle voice of the Master could calm any storm. Jesus took hold of Peter and they climbed together into the boat. This event so amazed the other Disciples that they worshipped Jesus saying, "Truly you are the Son of God." (Matt 14:25-33 NIV)
Doubting Thomas
The Disciple Thomas wouldn’t believe that Jesus was alive even after the other Disciples told him they had seen Him. He said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it." (John 20:24b NIV)
For seven days Thomas doubted their eyewitness accounts until one day “Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
Thomas was living in the sensory, soulish realm of empirical certainty, relying on feelings and personal experiences in order to believe. Jesus chastised him for walking by sight, not by faith, and said "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (John 20:24-29 NIV)
The Mystery Revealed
God’s hiddenness is really about mankind’s failure to recognize Him. His actual presence may not correspond with one’s awareness of His presence. When the storms of life rise up and begin pulling a person under, when the winds of trial and tribulation begin to blow, gaze upon the beauty of Jesus and His hands will “keep you from falling.” (Jude 24 NIV) Listen for His gentle voice and remember that He is “with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matt 28:20 NIV)
This was once a great unsolved mystery that no eye could see, no ear could hear, and no mind could conceive. (1 Cor 2:9-10 NIV). He did this so “that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being.” The great mystery has now “been revealed by the Spirit”. (Acts 17:27-28 NIV
Every Christian is an heir of God, a member “together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.” (Eph 3:4-6 NIV). They are His hiding place! Their life is “hid with Christ in God”. (Eph 3:5 NIV) He will “never leave you nor forsake you”! (Heb 13:5)
Jesus said that He will be with them "always, to the very end of the age." (Matt 28:20 NIV) In those times spent in the desert Christians must “eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed". They don’t need to worry about lacking any “spiritual gift” (1 Cor 1:5-7 NIV) because He has taken up permanent residence within!
The truth that Jesus lives within every Christian - and not in some galaxy far, far away - is the foundation of walking with Him. Desert experiences are to draw people into His intimate presence. Someone once described intimacy as "in-to-me-see" because, as a person turns more inward in times of prayer and meditation to focus on Him, He will reveal more and of Himself to them and His thoughts will become their thoughts.
The Valley Of Humiliation
The times spent traveling through desert valleys in life are used by God to help take ones focus away from relying on things of the flesh and turning their focus on Jesus - getting to know the intimate Lover of their being. He will withdraw food for the flesh but He will provide living water for them to drink as their thirst increases for Him.
It is while they are in the desert He teaches them how to live by “faith and not by sight”. (2 Cor 5:7 KJV) He doesn’t want the Christian’s walk to be an emotional roller coaster of chasing experiences, needing constant visitations, living from glory to glory. He wants them living in between, trusting Him. Once they understand the purpose of the wilderness they will never want to leave.
Oswald Chambers brilliantly explains the Valley Of Humiliation in My Utmost For His Highest,
“After every time of exaltation, we are brought down with a sudden rush into things as they really are, where it is neither beautiful, poetic, nor thrilling. The height of the mountaintop is measured by the dismal drudgery of the valley, but it is in the valley that we have to live for the glory of God. We see His glory on the mountain, but we never live for His glory there. It is in the place of humiliation that we find our true worth to God—that is where our faithfulness is revealed. Most of us can do things if we are always at some heroic level of intensity, simply because of the natural selfishness of our own hearts. But God wants us to be at the drab everyday level, where we live in the valley according to our personal relationship with Him. Peter thought it would be a wonderful thing for them to remain on the mountain, but Jesus Christ took the disciples down from the mountain and into the valley, where the true meaning of the vision was explained.
It takes the valley of humiliation to remove the skepticism from us. Look back at your own experience and you will find that until you learned who Jesus really was, you were a skillful skeptic about His power. When you were on the mountain top you could believe anything, but what about when you were faced with the facts of the valley? You may be able to give a testimony regarding your sanctification, but what about the thing that is a humiliation to you right now? The last time you were on the mountain with God, you saw that all the power in heaven and on earth belonged to Jesus - will you be skeptical now, simply because you are in the valley of humiliation?”
Desert valleys will move a person from the sensory realm of the flesh to the Beauty Realm of the Spirit. Jesus remained hidden for 30 years. John the Baptist had to go to the wilderness to find his voice. (See Matt 3:1-3) The wilderness is a place of one-on-one with God. It took the children of Israel forty years to journey to the Promised Land. No one will ever see the blessings of their inheritance if they don’t travel through the wilderness. The desert is the best place to be to prepare for God to minister through the Christian.
Jesus said that that there is a “small”…gate and a “narrow” road “that leads to life and only a few find it.” (Matt 7:14 NIV) This narrow road is the heavenly highway of God and it passes through the wilderness. God loves to travel on this desert path because it is from here that the “glory of the LORD shall be revealed” (Isa 40:3-5 NKJV), “like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all the merchant's fragrant powders?” (Song 3:6 NKJV)
If a person chooses to live their life in the power of the resurrection they must travel this narrow road through the barren desert valleys with all its harsh weather - twists and turns - and mountains and valleys. As they travel “through the valley of the shadow of death,” there is nothing to fear because His “rod” of correction and “staff” of direction will “comfort” you. (Ps 23:4 NIV) The Beautiful God will never lead them where He hasn’t already been.
The Desert Road Made Straight
God promises “Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth.” (Isa 40:4 NKJV)
The Hebrew word for “make straight” is “Yashar” and means to be straight, right, upright, pleasing, prosperous, and good. It is the same word used when God promises to direct ones path when they “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding” and "in all your ways acknowledge Him”. (Prov 3:5, 6 NKJV)
If a person tries to travel this road with their own understanding their travel will be full of striving and frustration. The desert road is intended for their good to prosper them. God will be with them, step by step, leading them patiently and kindly as He teaches them to walk in faith. He will use this time to bring down the worldly “mountains” of pride, self-reliance and ambition that have grown around them for protection from those people and things that have brought pain. He will exalt “every valley”, smooth out and straighten the “crooked” and “rough” places of painful experiences and shattered dreams as they pass through them trusting the Faithful One who proves moment by moment, breath by breath, how trustworthy He is.
A heart that is clouded with the cares of the world will not see God in the wilderness. Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” (Mat 5:8 NIV) God is ever present in ones surroundings. It is when a person focuses their thoughts and feelings in trusting-faith during times of darkness that they will be able to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord.
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?”… “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 8:35, 36, 38, 39 NIV)
The Glory Behind The Veil
When a person first gives their life to Jesus everything in life seems wonderful. (See John 3:1-21) The sun seems brighter. The grass seems greener. The weight of sin is replaced with the lightness of His glory. There is joy and ecstasy beyond compare. However, things inevitably start to go the way they always went and the new life begins to feel more like the old life.
The joy and freedom that is found through forgiveness comes as a result of giving ones life to God. The problems begin because people start taking their life back - piece by piece - problem by problem - worry by worry - and the joy slowly disappears as the ecstasy turns to drudgery.
By taking ones life back, they are in effect, mending and re-hanging the veil that covered the Holy of Holies - the dwelling place of God - which was torn at the moment of Jesus death. The veil represents the sinful flesh and is what kept man for seeing God. The veil of flesh will block the view of God because of sin that needs to be dealt with. There are also those times when it is used by God to block a persons view so that they will earnestly seek His face in faith and not through the senses.
I remember someone saying that many Christians want to be “blessed in the flesh rather than be renewed afresh.” Sadly, many often seek after the blessings of His manifestation rather than the beauty of His majesty. Jesus will hide behind the veil because a person is steeped in the flesh. They start looking outward at their problems rather than looking inward to the dwelling place of God.
Sorrow, despair, anger, and leaning on their own understanding will cause them to lose sight of Jesus. They must learn to take control of their eyes and focus them on the Beautiful God, no matter what they feel, or what circumstance they are in, or whatever problem they are facing. The veil of the flesh can only be torn by God.
Christians are supposed to trust and wait for the fresh anointing. The breakthrough comes through the blood of Jesus. He will reveal the revelation of Himself to them in His time and for His purposes. In periods of desperation they must seek Him with great expectation and then they will have visitation. When they look for the good report they will enter in the Promised Land.
The Agony Of Gethsemane
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus spent a night of great agony over the burden of the Cross He would soon have to bear. He prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.’ An angel from heaven appeared to Him and strengthened Him. And being in anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” (Luke 22:44 NIV)
Jesus knew throughout eternity past what He must do to prove His love to mankind. There was no fear of dying and death in Him. He would soon take upon Himself the sins of the world, literally becoming sin! God cannot look upon sin. His character and nature forbid it. The curse of sin caused the Father to turn His back on the Son! The Cross was the place where, for the first time in all of eternity past, present, and future, Jesus would be separated from the Father.
The reality of this was so intense, so overwhelming that it caused blood to burst through the pores of His skin as He prayed. Yet, Jesus willingly went to the Cross so that every human being might have the way to be reconciled to their heavenly Father. His agony would pay for the joy of salvation. His stripes would pay for healing. His pain would pay for the “peace... which passes all understanding.” (Phil 4:7 NKJV) Oh, how great is the love of the Beautiful God that He would be willing to suffer such fear and torment!
There may be those times when prayers seem ignored, when it feels as if God has walked away. A person may cry out in great agony and pain over their circumstances wondering why He seems so far away. They may even feel that the burden of life is too great to bear. The secret truth is that one must go through the Garden of Gethsemane, as they travel the wilderness road, if they want to experience the power of the Resurrection. However, no one will ever have to share in its torment because the Beautiful God will never turn His back on them!
