20060221

How often am I this man

Job 40:6-9 esv Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: “Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be in the right? Have you an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like his? How often have I been like Job? I will complain about something so trivial as to not even be on the same plain as the trials Job experienced - but I will shake my fist at some one who cuts me off in traffic. Or I have to wait an extra 30 seconds to have my food warmed up. Or maybe the budget is a little tight this month and I worry about my bank accounts. When I complain like that am I not questioning God? There are times when I am being sinned against, or being mistreated. Even then who am I to say, "why"? If my trust is indeed in the God of heaven and earth, and I profess that the Bible is His word and is true - then there is nothing I need to fear. "Though he slay me, I will hope in him..." (Job 13:15a) His Word shows me that He knew me from before the foundation of the Earth was laid. He has forseen all my days. God is not surprised by the car breaking down or by my argument with my wife. And yet He has reached down to touch my heart. He has taken a keen intrest and knows everything about me. And after all of this, I will be able to stand around His throne and enjoy His perfect peace and presence for all eternity. No more pain, no more crying. This is what I look forward to. "That which does not kill us, makes us stronger", is at the core true. Everything we experience here in this life does indeed make us stronger. God is using it to conform us to the likeness of His Son (Romans 8:26-30). And if the trial does indeed slay this earthly vessel - well then it has given us the ultimate gift - to be in His presence. So many side thoughts are flying around my brain right now. I miss my mother who died in December 2000. I wonder if she truly accepted Christ's work on the cross. I wonder about my father and step-mother, what about my sister and brother? All of them have rejected Christ's message (so far) - and I do worry about them. But in the end I am not responsible for their decisions. But God's Word tells me that I will no longer cry - so I still come back to His word. And look forward to the day when this world will seem like such a fleeting memory. My vereses for today: Job 42:1-6 esv Then Job answered the Lord and said: “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. ‘Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you make it known to me. I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” Revelations 7:9-12 esv After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

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