Going Through Spiritual Confusion

Jesus answered and said, ’You do not know what you ask’ —Matthew 20:22

There are times in your spiritual life when there is confusion, and the way out of it is not simply to say that you should not be confused. It is not a matter of right and wrong, but a matter of God taking you through a way that you temporarily do not understand. And it is only by going through the spiritual confusion that you will come to the understanding of what God wants for you.

The Shrouding of His Friendship (see Luke 11:5-8). Jesus gave the illustration here of a man who appears not to care for his friend. He was saying, in effect, that is how the heavenly Father will appear to you at times. You will think that He is an unkind friend, but remember?He is not. The time will come when everything will be explained. There seems to be a cloud on the friendship of the heart, and often even love itself has to wait in pain and tears for the blessing of fuller fellowship and oneness. When God appears to be completely shrouded, will you hang on with confidence in Him?

The Shadow on His Fatherhood (see Luke 11:11-13). Jesus said that there are times when your Father will appear as if He were an unnatural father?as if He were callous and indifferent— but remember, He is not. “Everyone who asks receives . . .” (Luke 11:10). If all you see is a shadow on the face of the Father right now, hang on to the fact that He will ultimately give you clear understanding and will fully justify Himself in everything that He has allowed into your life.

The Strangeness of His Faithfulness (see Luke 18:1-8). “When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). Will He find the kind of faith that counts on Him in spite of the confusion? Stand firm in faith, believing that what Jesus said is true, although in the meantime you do not understand what God is doing. He has bigger issues at stake than the particular things you are asking of Him right now.

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屬靈的困惑

你們不知道所求的是什麼。 （太二十22）

在屬靈生命中，有時會有困惑的時刻；若強說沒有是解決不了問題的。這不是對或不對的問題，而是神有時要領你走一條你不明白的路，只有經過了這一段困惑時期，你才知道神想要的是甚麼。

他的友情隱藏了（路十一5-8）。耶穌比喻中的那個人，好像對他的朋友漠不關心；有時候，在我們看來，天父也好像那個人。時候到了，一切都會明朗。心中的友情被雲層遮蔽，有時連愛本身也要在痛苦與眼淚中等待那更完全契合的福氣。當神似乎完全隱藏了，你能否依然因著對他的信心而堅持？

他的父愛在陰影裡（路十一11-13）。耶穌說，天父有時像一個不近人情的父親，冷漠不仁；要記住他不是這樣的。我已告訴你：[凡祈求的就得著。 ]若此刻他的臉被陰影遮蔽，要持守到底，因為至終他必向你清楚解明，叫你知道他所容許的事都有其用意。

他信實不比尋常（路十八1-8）。 [人子來的時候，遇得見世上有信德麼？ ]他能否找到在困惑中仍緊抓著他信心的人？要在信心中起步，知道耶穌所說的是可信的，雖然當時你不明白他所作的。在你所祈求的事以外，神還有更重大更危急的事。

祈禱◆噢，主啊，今天我將要奉你的名傳講你的資訊，但我至今仍沒有聖靈的感動。噢，因著耶穌基督的緣故，求你將你的思想傳達至我那靈性遲緩的腦袋中。