0524 絕望的喜樂
我一看見他，就撲倒在他腳前，像死了一樣。 《啟示錄1:17》
也許你像使徒約翰一樣，非常親密地認識耶穌基督。然而，當祂突然以完全陌生的特徵出現在你面前時，你唯一能做的，「就仆倒在祂腳前，像死了一樣。」有時，神無法以任何其他方式顯現自己，除了以祂的威嚴顯現出來，正是這種令人敬畏的異象把你帶到絕望的喜悅中。你在絕望中體驗到這種喜樂，意識到如果你要被高舉起來，就必須憑藉神的手。
「他用右手按着我…」（啟示錄 1:17）。在這令人敬畏中，一種觸摸來了，你知道那是耶穌基督的右手。你知道那不是管束、糾正或責罰之手，而是永在之父的右手。每當祂的手按在你身上時，它給予你難以表達的平安和安慰，以及「在你以下是永久的膀臂」（申命記 33:27）的感覺，充滿支持、供應、安慰和力量。一旦祂的觸摸降臨，就沒有什麼能讓你再次陷入恐懼。在祂升天的榮耀之中，主耶穌來對一個微不足道的門徒說：「不要害怕」（啟示錄1:17）。祂的溫柔是無法形容的甜蜜。我認識祂像那樣嗎？
看看一些引起絕望的事情，有一種絕望是沒有高興，沒有任何極限，也沒有任何更光明的盼望。但當「我知道在我裡頭，就是我肉體之中，沒有良善…」（羅馬書 7:18）時，絕望的喜樂就會到來。我很高興知道，當神向我顯現祂自己時，我裡面有一些東西必須俯伏在祂面前，而且我也很高興知道，如果我要被舉起來，那一定是藉助神的手。直到我認識到人類可能的極限，允許神去做那不可能的事之前，神不能為我做任何事。
來自章伯斯的智慧
沒有一種生活狀態是我們不能住在耶穌里的。無論我們身在何處，我們都必須學習住在祂裡面。《我們輝煌的遺產》
0524 The Delight of Despair
When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. —Revelation 1:17
It may be that, like the apostle John, you know Jesus Christ intimately. Yet when He suddenly appears to you with totally unfamiliar characteristics, the only thing you can do is fall “at His feet as dead.” There are times when God cannot reveal Himself in any other way than in His majesty, and it is the awesomeness of the vision which brings you to the delight of despair. You experience this joy in hopelessness, realizing that if you are ever to be raised up it must be by the hand of God.
“He laid His right hand on me…” (Revelation 1:17). In the midst of the awesomeness, a touch comes, and you know it is the right hand of Jesus Christ. You know it is not the hand of restraint, correction, nor chastisement, but the right hand of the Everlasting Father. Whenever His hand is laid upon you, it gives inexpressible peace and comfort, and the sense that “underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27), full of support, provision, comfort, and strength. And once His touch comes, nothing at all can throw you into fear again. In the midst of all His ascended glory, the Lord Jesus comes to speak to an insignificant disciple, saying, “Do not be afraid” (Revelation 1:17). His tenderness is inexpressibly sweet. Do I know Him like that?
Take a look at some of the things that cause despair. There is despair which has no delight, no limits whatsoever, and no hope of anything brighter. But the delight of despair comes when “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells…” (Romans 7:18). I delight in knowing that there is something in me which must fall prostrate before God when He reveals Himself to me, and also in knowing that if I am ever to be raised up it must be by the hand of God. God can do nothing for me until I recognize the limits of what is humanly possible, allowing Him to do the impossible.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
There is no condition of life in which we cannot abide in Jesus. We have to learn to abide in Him wherever we are placed. — Our Brilliant Heritage, 946 R