God's Hidden treasures

Isaiah 45:3 NLT

And I will give you treasures hidden in the darkness- secret riches. I will do this so you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, the One who calls you by name.

None of us relish going through dark times - times of trial, loss, illness or suffering of any kind.

We'd all rather sail through life merrily without a care in the world.

O what superficial people we would be, never knowing what it is to be sad or lonely, grieving or in pain.

There are God-given treasures that can only be found beneath the stones of trouble and trials.

When broken hearted we must go mining deep into the Scriptures to find comfort. Our prayers become deep cries of desperation and we switch on our spiritual torches to search for that hidden treasure only the Lord can supply.

Didn't James write:

James 1:2-3 NLT

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. [3] For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.

Yeah, right, James, how can I consider it a joy to go through hard circumstances? It definitely isn't joyful to hurt, to lose something or someone, is it?

But hear God's Voice spoken through Isaiah the prophet - God is saying when everything carnal is stripped away, then we can know God's divine deliverance, provision and understand the immense privilege of being called by name.

Our salvation is no huge blanket covering mankind, but an individually tailored one with our name written on it.

Just like the collar we put round our new puppy's neck - he has his name on it and a number to call should be ever be lost.

The Lord has to lead us via the darkness to show us the most valuable treasures in life - His love, His forgiveness, His compassion, His divine shelter and protection.

Remember that these dark times are only a "shadow" masking the "Son-shine" that will gloriously break through the gloom when Jesus returns!

As the old hymn says:

Some golden day break Jesus will come

Some golden daybreak battles all won

He'll shout the victory, break through the blue

Some golden daybreak for me for you

In the meantime fellow miners "drill, baby drill" into those Eternal Promises and find those treasures hidden in the darkness!