Passage of the Day: Job 24 … Linked for study …
My Journal for Today: Wow, to say the least, this chapter illustrates our occasional frustration when we see God’s plan unfolding in the circumstances of life. And like Job, we have trouble understanding why our God, Whom we love to see as always being loving and merciful; and why He would allow such pain and agony to prevail in the lives of His children, especially those, like Job, who have been so good.
We see it all the time. A really good person like Lou Gehrig or your child comes down with an incurable disease. Some lovely, but gullible, elderly widow is wiped out by an unscrupulous con-man. Or a staunch and Godly person prays and prays for a relief from pain; and God seems far away, obviously saying “NO” or “WAIT” to the prayers. Why does God allow such bad things to visit such good people?
We can’t answer that question with great certainty, can we? And the Bible is full of stories about men of faith, like Job, who came to a place in their lives when God’s plan, which was unfolding for them, seemed like craziness. Think of Moses in the presence of the burning bush, overwhelmed by God’s instructions to go and free His people. Or there was the mighty Prophet, Elijah, sitting under the broom tree, wishing he could die in such despair and confusion. And there was the Apostle, Paul, who prayed and prayed and prayed for relief from the “thorn” God had allowed Satan to give him; and the pain just wouldn’t go away.
As Swindoll states today in his devotional entry, sometimes, “… we cannot explain the inexplicable. We cannot fathom the unfathomable. So, let’s not try to unscrew the inscrutable.” Job is coming to the realization, in today’s focus chapter 24, that God’s plan is just flat too confusing to figure out. He’s coming to the realization of what God says in Isaiah 55: 8 – 9 …
8 “ For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.
9 “ For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
Wouldn’t Job had felt better hearing his three friends say something like, “Job, we just don’t have a clue what’s going on. And we just don’t understand why God is allowing all these things to happen to you; but we’re here for you … no matter what.” That would have been a lot easier to take than the feeble attempts of these three counselors to give him their OWN insights.
Sometimes, we’re at a loss to explain God’s plan; but, again, if we believe the truth of my own personal “hang-on” scriptures, some of which I’ve been using these past few days, we’ll come out okay in God’s long run. So, let me exhort you, if you’re reading this, to memorize and internalize a few key “strength” scriptures. I’ll not quote them here or link you to them. I want you to look them up, study them in context, memorize them, and then let God use His truth to give you comfort or strength when you need it like Job did.
Here are my hall-of-fame strength-giving passages which I turn to when I’m in the midst of some personal storm of circumstances. 2nd Tim. 3: 16-17 … Isaiah 26: 3 and 41: 10 … Romans 8: 28 … Phil. 4: 13 … 1st Cor. 10: 13 … 2nd Cor. 12: 9. And when I am grappling with my circumstances in life, totally confused, and down-in-the-dumps, I get to a quiet place and I begin reciting (aloud) these verses, which I have embedded deeply in my heart. And in between my verbal meditation, I pray such words as “Lord, I don’t understand what’s going on or why You’re leading me through this valley; but I know You love me and I know you are doing this for my good. Help me to see it, Lord; or help me even more to accept it.”
This faith exercise may not – and often doesn’t – make the bad stuff go away; but it ALWAYS quiets my heart and gives me God’s peace in the midst of my storm. I pray this little discipline will help someone else as much as it has me.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, thank You for giving me Your word to light my path, especially when things get really dark. Amen
Showing posts with label confused. Show all posts
Showing posts with label confused. Show all posts
Friday, September 11, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
2009 – Day 238.Aug 27 – Futile Search
Passage of the Day: Job 10 … Linked for study …
My Journal for Today: Well, here we are back again with Job who is still confused and reeling with the desire to understand and find clarity for his loss and pain. Chapter 10 is like a replay of Chapter 3, isn’t it? But in the intervening time, Job has received feedback from Eliphaz and Bildad … to no avail. These men, whom we’ve seen are really friends of Job; and they are men who earned the right, by their grieving with Job and spending time being at his side, to share their ideas with this beaten friend.
BUT (again, it’s a big “BUT”), what they shared didn’t help. And we need to learn a lesson from that. And the lesson is that no amount of human or worldly wisdom, … scientifically based, historically sound, or culturally accepted, is going to be of help when a Christian friend feels abandoned by God. Job needed understanding for his dilemma; and when no man, even a caring friend, could explain his dilemma, all he felt was further separation from God.
What Job needed was truth; and my friend, that can only come from God, … not from man; and most certainly not from our own self. Sure, it’s okay to listen to friends, … especially Godly friends you trust – as did Job. But don’t expect them to be able to tap into God’s mind, … UNLESS they are quoting or exposing the one, true source of God’s mind; and that is something we have in God’s word, but something which Job had no access. Oh, what an advantage we have over poor Job. We not only have God’s truth to lean on when life goes awry; but we have the Mediator Whom Job sought but had not been a part of Job’s belief system.
Job’s God never left him or forsook him; but Job didn’t have that truth from Deut. 31: 6. Nor did he have the tradition of Joshua 1: 5 to lean on. And most certainly the concept of a coming Redeemer, “a Messiah,” was not part of his conscious belief as yet. So, all Job had was three friends with very human, and very imperfect, ideas about WHY all this was happening. Therefore, Job returns to God and he re-voices his confusion and angst here in Chapter 10. And therein lies a second lesson, we can learn from Job’s dilemma; and that is to keep going back to God when there is confusion or pain which we simply cannot understand from our human hearts/minds.
If you’ve been following along with this study in Job, we’ve seen Job persistently going to the one – and only – place he knows to go, in faith, for answers; and that is to God. And here in this Chapter we see our downtrodden hero doing just that - AGAIN. So, we learn that if – or I really should said WHEN – we are in a place of utter confusion and even doubting God’s presence or power, we must GO TO HIM. And we must keep going to Him to get answers. And yes, prayer is one way; but I’ve found that the best way is to go deeper and deeper into the word of God, and finding God’s promises and His perfect insights to lift us up when we feel separated from God due to our feelings.
Feelings are so very fickle, my friend. Don’t trust them for a moment! Don’t rely on them at all!! The only answers we’ll ever get to explain things or lift us up are found in The Bible. The only place we can go with our feelings is to God. And when we do, we’ll find what is promised in the Bible and what our relationship with God will produce … and that is to trust Him – in faith – with the truth of passages like Deut. 31: 8 … Joshua 1: 8 … Proverbs 3: 5, 6 … Romans 8: 28 … 1st Cor. 10: 13 … or Phil. 4: 13. And all of those are truths which just bubbled up into my mind from my heart/mind as I was sitting here writing this. I hope you know them – and others as well; and I hope that you lean on those truths when God has led you into “the valley of the shadow of death.”
My Prayer for Today: Lord, You are with me always; and Your truths, they do comfort me. Amen
My Journal for Today: Well, here we are back again with Job who is still confused and reeling with the desire to understand and find clarity for his loss and pain. Chapter 10 is like a replay of Chapter 3, isn’t it? But in the intervening time, Job has received feedback from Eliphaz and Bildad … to no avail. These men, whom we’ve seen are really friends of Job; and they are men who earned the right, by their grieving with Job and spending time being at his side, to share their ideas with this beaten friend.
BUT (again, it’s a big “BUT”), what they shared didn’t help. And we need to learn a lesson from that. And the lesson is that no amount of human or worldly wisdom, … scientifically based, historically sound, or culturally accepted, is going to be of help when a Christian friend feels abandoned by God. Job needed understanding for his dilemma; and when no man, even a caring friend, could explain his dilemma, all he felt was further separation from God.
What Job needed was truth; and my friend, that can only come from God, … not from man; and most certainly not from our own self. Sure, it’s okay to listen to friends, … especially Godly friends you trust – as did Job. But don’t expect them to be able to tap into God’s mind, … UNLESS they are quoting or exposing the one, true source of God’s mind; and that is something we have in God’s word, but something which Job had no access. Oh, what an advantage we have over poor Job. We not only have God’s truth to lean on when life goes awry; but we have the Mediator Whom Job sought but had not been a part of Job’s belief system.
Job’s God never left him or forsook him; but Job didn’t have that truth from Deut. 31: 6. Nor did he have the tradition of Joshua 1: 5 to lean on. And most certainly the concept of a coming Redeemer, “a Messiah,” was not part of his conscious belief as yet. So, all Job had was three friends with very human, and very imperfect, ideas about WHY all this was happening. Therefore, Job returns to God and he re-voices his confusion and angst here in Chapter 10. And therein lies a second lesson, we can learn from Job’s dilemma; and that is to keep going back to God when there is confusion or pain which we simply cannot understand from our human hearts/minds.
If you’ve been following along with this study in Job, we’ve seen Job persistently going to the one – and only – place he knows to go, in faith, for answers; and that is to God. And here in this Chapter we see our downtrodden hero doing just that - AGAIN. So, we learn that if – or I really should said WHEN – we are in a place of utter confusion and even doubting God’s presence or power, we must GO TO HIM. And we must keep going to Him to get answers. And yes, prayer is one way; but I’ve found that the best way is to go deeper and deeper into the word of God, and finding God’s promises and His perfect insights to lift us up when we feel separated from God due to our feelings.
Feelings are so very fickle, my friend. Don’t trust them for a moment! Don’t rely on them at all!! The only answers we’ll ever get to explain things or lift us up are found in The Bible. The only place we can go with our feelings is to God. And when we do, we’ll find what is promised in the Bible and what our relationship with God will produce … and that is to trust Him – in faith – with the truth of passages like Deut. 31: 8 … Joshua 1: 8 … Proverbs 3: 5, 6 … Romans 8: 28 … 1st Cor. 10: 13 … or Phil. 4: 13. And all of those are truths which just bubbled up into my mind from my heart/mind as I was sitting here writing this. I hope you know them – and others as well; and I hope that you lean on those truths when God has led you into “the valley of the shadow of death.”
My Prayer for Today: Lord, You are with me always; and Your truths, they do comfort me. Amen
Monday, February 23, 2009
2009 - Day 53.Feb.23 - Sit Down
2009 – Day 53.Feb.23 – Sit Down!
NOTE: I've not been posting my devotionals during the weeks I was on our pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Be assured that I was blessed by continuing to do them daily. My challenge in posting was inconsistent internet access while traveling. So, I decided to wait and interrupt my posting here while on this pilgrimage. If anyone wants the "missing blogs" here, you can email me @ billb13@bellsouth.net and I will be happy to send you these journal entries not posted here. But let me get today's return entry posted to begin my daily entries int his place again >>>
Passage of the Day: Exodus 2: 11 – 15 … 11 Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. 12 So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 And when he went out the second day, behold, two Hebrew men were fighting, and he said to the one who did the wrong, “Why are you striking your companion?”
14 Then he said, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” So Moses feared and said, “Surely this thing is known!” 15 When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well.
My Journal for Today: Swindoll makes a great point, inspired by today’s repeated text.
Have you ever been, or are you now, driven to where fear or desperation has taken you to a dry, barren place in your life; and maybe, like Moses, you’ve been, or are, forced to sit down, maybe even in agony and frustration, and ponder where you are and what brought you to this place? I sure remember a time in April of 1983 when I had been running from myself and seeking spiritual strength, but finding nothing in my own efforts or in empty religious teachings. I was dry and in desperate need of a long, cool drink of living water.
And that’s where Moses was in this passage. But he finally sat down, not even recognizing that God had led him to a well where he could drink and be refreshed and renewed. That’s where I was on April 13, 1983, when I finally surrendered to receive God’s graceful drink of living water; and from that moment of acknowledgment of my dry sinfulness and my willingness to take the living water of life available in my meager moment of faith, I was shown the step-by-step path to restoration and renewal … to the living waters of life.
That’s what happened to Moses; and it took a full 40 more years of stopping, sitting, and living in the dry lands where God had led Moses for this humbled man to recognize that searching for and receiving God’s living waters was the only way to live in faith for His God. And that’s where we need to come to realize that running, hiding, and seeking only leads to a place where we must sit down, reflect, and be willing to take a drink from God’s well of life.
I pray that you’ve discovered this life-renewing truth for yourself. So, if you’re feeling pretty dry and desperate now. STOP! SIT DOWN! LOOK UP! And take a long, renewing drink from God’s free offering of His living waters.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, I thank You for giving me Your living waters daily. Amen
NOTE: I've not been posting my devotionals during the weeks I was on our pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Be assured that I was blessed by continuing to do them daily. My challenge in posting was inconsistent internet access while traveling. So, I decided to wait and interrupt my posting here while on this pilgrimage. If anyone wants the "missing blogs" here, you can email me @ billb13@bellsouth.net and I will be happy to send you these journal entries not posted here. But let me get today's return entry posted to begin my daily entries int his place again >>>
Passage of the Day: Exodus 2: 11 – 15 … 11 Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. 12 So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 And when he went out the second day, behold, two Hebrew men were fighting, and he said to the one who did the wrong, “Why are you striking your companion?”
14 Then he said, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” So Moses feared and said, “Surely this thing is known!” 15 When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well.
My Journal for Today: Swindoll makes a great point, inspired by today’s repeated text.
Have you ever been, or are you now, driven to where fear or desperation has taken you to a dry, barren place in your life; and maybe, like Moses, you’ve been, or are, forced to sit down, maybe even in agony and frustration, and ponder where you are and what brought you to this place? I sure remember a time in April of 1983 when I had been running from myself and seeking spiritual strength, but finding nothing in my own efforts or in empty religious teachings. I was dry and in desperate need of a long, cool drink of living water.
And that’s where Moses was in this passage. But he finally sat down, not even recognizing that God had led him to a well where he could drink and be refreshed and renewed. That’s where I was on April 13, 1983, when I finally surrendered to receive God’s graceful drink of living water; and from that moment of acknowledgment of my dry sinfulness and my willingness to take the living water of life available in my meager moment of faith, I was shown the step-by-step path to restoration and renewal … to the living waters of life.
That’s what happened to Moses; and it took a full 40 more years of stopping, sitting, and living in the dry lands where God had led Moses for this humbled man to recognize that searching for and receiving God’s living waters was the only way to live in faith for His God. And that’s where we need to come to realize that running, hiding, and seeking only leads to a place where we must sit down, reflect, and be willing to take a drink from God’s well of life.
I pray that you’ve discovered this life-renewing truth for yourself. So, if you’re feeling pretty dry and desperate now. STOP! SIT DOWN! LOOK UP! And take a long, renewing drink from God’s free offering of His living waters.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, I thank You for giving me Your living waters daily. Amen
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