Monday April 27, 2009 LIFE DIFFICULT?
Then Job answered the LORD, "I know that you can do everything and that your plans are unstoppable. "You said, 'Who is this that belittles my advice without having any knowledge about it?' Yes, I have stated things I didn't understand, things too mysterious for me to know. "You said, 'Listen now, and I will speak. I will ask you, and you will teach me.' I had heard about you with my own ears, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. That is why I take back what I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show that I am sorry." Job 42:2-6 At last, Job and his acquaintances reached the end of their arguments and God appeared. He asked them some really hard questions beginning with, "'Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me if you have such insight.'" (Every time I read this conversation between God and Job I feel guilty. (Job 38:4) How can we even think to question God and the way He works? How can I even think that I can interpret His Word? His thoughts and His ways are truly beyond my comprehension. The opening verses in the first chapter of Proverbs help a little, "The proverbs of Solomon, David's son who was king of Israel, given grasp wisdom and discipline, to understand deep thoughts,acquire the discipline of wise behavior - righteousness and justice and fairness." (1-3) So, God's Word is written in this light; He wants us to understand the way He works in our lives. Charles Stanley wrote something that stuck with me, something I needed desperately at that time and now; in his comments on James 1:1-12, "Don't be drawn off course by the criticism or lack of support of others. God is your greatest encourager." In verses 1:2-4, we find words that are hard to understand, "My brothers and sisters, be very happy when you are tested in different ways. You know that such testing of your faith produces endurance. Endure until your testing is over. Then you will be mature and complete, and you won't need anything." There are truly seasons in our lives when storms are so dark we think Spring will never come and the people we care about no longer want to be in our presence. God, through James, is telling us to be happy, laugh, count it all joy! Yeah, okay, right, uh-huh, you know that's right - I sure will laugh in the face of my child running away from home or dying, my spouse or even myself dying of cancer - sure. We can't imagine doing that can we? Yet, one day in retrospect we will look back on the hardest times of our lives and see that through that adversity we found God, just as Job did. By faith, we go from the point of knowing about God to actually seeing His hand working in our lives. We really know Him! At that point patience or faith in Him multiplies and we can believe that God will turn our woes to wows. We may also realize as Oswald Chambers writes that, "[I]f God can accomplish His purposes in this world through a broken heart, then why not thank Him for breaking yours?" He truly stands waiting for your permission to use your deepest pain for His glory and gain. Let all of us purpose and promise to give it all to Jesus! ******************************************* O. Addison Gethers e-mail address : [email protected] or [email protected] window live messenger: [email protected] aim: durangoadd64 skype: cowboys62 yahoo messenger: OADDISONGETHERS --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Deaf-Blind Inspirational Life Group" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/DBILG?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
