What I’ve Been Reading and Listening To + ”Streams In the Desert: September 8”
Download the What I’ve Been Reading and Listening To + ”Streams In the Desert: September 8” audio/episode here.
In this episode, Meg shares a little of what she has been listening to and reading, and shares a devotional read in her own devotional time: “Streams In the Desert: September 8.”
Apple Summer Classical Playlist
“Mercy” by Maverick City
“Worthy of My Song” by Phil Wickham and Maverick City
“Yes and Amen” by First Church Worship
“Wounded, but Still Wanted” by Pastor Joseph Hanthorn
“Releasing Joy” by Rev. Jeff Ralston
“At Your Best” by Carey Neuhoff
“Win the Day” by Mark Batterson
“Ordering Your Private World” by Gordon MacDonald
“Dare to Bloom” by Zim Flores
“When Ye Fast” by Joy Haney
“Streams in the Desert” by L. B. Cowman/Jim Reimann
Streams in the Desert: September 8.
This verse is one of the greatest testimonies ever written regarding the effectiveness of God’s work on our behalf during times of crisis. It is a statement of thanksgiving for having been set free not from suffering but rather through suffering. In stating, “Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress,” the psalmist is declaring that the sorrows of life have themselves been the source of life’s enlargement.
Haven’t each of us experienced this a thousand times and found it to be true? Someone once said of Joseph that when he was in the dungeon, “iron entered his soul.” And the strength of iron is exactly what he needed, for earlier he had only experienced the glitter of gold. He had been rejoicing in youthful dreams, and dreaming actually hardens the heart. Someone who sheds great tears over a simple romance will not be of much help in real crisis, for true sorrow will be too deep for him. We all need the iron in life to enlarge our character. The gold is simply a passing vision, whereas the iron is the true experience of life. The chain that is the most common bond uniting us to others must be one of iron. The common touch of humanity that gives the world true kinship is not joy but sorrow—gold is partial to only a few, but iron is universal.
Dear soul, if you want your sympathy for others to be enlarged, you must be willing to have your life narrowed by certain degrees of suffering. Joseph’s dungeon was the very road to his throne, and he would have been unable to lift the iron load of his brothers had he not experienced the iron in his own life. Your life will be enlarged in proportion to the amount of iron you have endured, for it is in the shadows of your life that you will find the actual fulfillment of your dreams of glory. So do not complain about the shadows of darkness—in reality, they are better than your dreams could ever be. Do not say that the darkness of your prison has shackled you for your shackles are wings—wings of flight into the heart and souls of humanity. And the gate of your prison is the gate into the heart of the universe. Go has enlarged you through the suffering of sorrow’s chain.
--George Matheson
“If Joseph had never been Egypt’s prisoner, he would have never been Egypt’s governor. The iron chain that bound his feet brought the golden chain around his neck.”
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Thank you for joining me for this journey!
Go grab your Bible and your journal!
I look forward to the power of this habit in your life. This is Unedited.