ASSURANCE
About five years ago I had a challenging health condition. I became ill and was admitted to the hospital. For six weeks I went through rehabilitation and various therapies. It was a long period of time to spend in the hospital. It felt like ages. While lying on my sickbed, I contemplated the happenings in my life. At that time I had been serving in ministry for 43 years; I had dedicated more than half my lifetime to God and His ministry. Humbly I would say that I have worked hard serving God and His church around the globe, enthusiastically sharing the gospel message as the manifestation of my passion for souls. I wanted to help accomplish Jesus’ great commission to go and make disciples. But then there I was, confined to a sickbed with an uncertain future because the physician told me that it would take a long time for me to recover. What a discouraging statement!
I had experienced a “big storm” in my life and was absolutely exhausted when all of a sudden I heard a voice whisper in my ears that God is the Author of the things that go wrong in my life. I heard the voice whisper continuously that it is appropriate to put the blame on God for what I had gone through. Thus, when my two eyes were looking up at the ceiling of my room, inaudibly I asked, “Why me, God? Why did this have to happen to me?” These questions sound condemning of God, but then immediately I came to my senses. I realized that the voice I was hearing was that of the devil, and he was totally wrong. It was not God who orchestrated suffering and hardship.
Friends, have you ever experienced a “big storm” in your life that hit you hard and resulted in your feeling dreadful rather than having ASSURANCE? Sometimes when we go through crises in life, ASSURANCE is not a commodity that seems to be present in the midst of the storms. We feel hopeless, helpless, and desperate—with no ASSURANCE of deliverance. Many people have experienced such an ordeal because they forgot something that is essential to be remembered: that real ASSURANCE can be found only in God.
The dictionary gives the meaning of “ASSURANCE” as a “positive declaration to give confidence.” It also means a promise, certainty, or a guarantee of one’s ability. Another meaning of “ASSURANCE” is the state of being assured, such as ASSURANCE of salvation. Isaiah was not looking to humans for ASSURANCE when he was facing a time during which nobody but the Lord could help. Isaiah 25:1 says, “Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago” (NIV). Isaiah was confident that only God is able to give him the ASSURANCE of deliverance. He was ASSURED that God was trustworthy and capable of fulfilling His promise.
In Malachi 3:10 God says to His people, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it” (NIV). This is a declaration and promise, the guarantee and the ASSURANCE from God. If you are faithfully bringing the tithe to the “storehouse,” God will open the floodgates of heaven and pour out the blessings in abundance. Ellen White wrote, “Recall all the mercies and blessings that the Lord has bestowed upon you, and consider that he has made you stewards of his goods: Then let each one examine himself and see if he is honoring the Lord with his substance.”—Signs of the Times, Sept. 27, 1883, par. 12.
True ASSURANCE is found only in Jesus. Find it, get it, have it, and dwell in it!
Hiskia Missah
Editor
