Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the sojourner suffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow are wronged in you. You have despised my holy things and profaned my Sabbaths.
Rather fitting description for what you watch on TV and experience in our culture. And if you fill your daily thoughts with that ... how sad the LORD must be trying to get through the mess of what is left of our minds. And if that is your actions ... be prepared for the smack down.
The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, behold, I am about to take the delight of your eyes away from you at a stroke; yet you shall not mourn or weep, nor shall your tears run down. Sigh, but not aloud; make no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban, and put your shoes on your feet; do not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.” So I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died. And on the next morning I did as I was commanded.
Many times the suffering of others has been to our grace. The powerful speaker at the front of the church is many times the person who has suffered greatly and came through the other side. And I can understand things without having to experience it by understanding those people that HAVE experienced it.
Yet, I can't imagine being told before hand that you are about to suffer as a lesson for others. It is one thing to be prepared that God may call you for that kind of suffering. But, to be told that you were going to lose what you love before it happens? That would be hard. Even Christ prayed that the cup would pass from him.
But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.
Suffering is suffering. It isn't that you should actually rather feel joy. You are suffering! But, intellectually we can understand we are sharing the same pain, the same loss, the same sufferings as Christ. And in that we can rejoice.
There is nothing wrong with being sad and in pain. There is nothing wrong in trying to see the LORD's good in it. It is a hope that can get you through some of the darkest hours of your life.
More in number than the hairs of my head are those who hate me without cause; mighty are those who would destroy me, those who attack me with lies.
When things go wrong it feels as if I'm isolated and against the whole world. That the things lined up on the other side far outnumber my side. The problems are so big and I'm so small.
But isn't that to my advantage?
I never ran faster in track when I didn't run harder. I never got stronger when I didn't lift more than I did before. I might have complained to the coach about doing a second set of 400meter sprints. But, I wouldn't get to finals without them.
So as we look out at our enemies.
They may seem numerous. The sky darker than you have ever seen. The wind stronger. And the air colder.
Look at your eternal Coach.
He wouldn't ask you to face this if He didn't know you could handle it. He will be beside you with what you need to finish. Encouragement. Nourishment. Comfort.
And a good solid yell for you to get moving at times.
Those four words from my youngest son taught me so much about the LORD. We were in the kitchen with him sitting on the counter top and me standing beside him making the snack. He was talking and I was doing the typical head nods and grunts of acknowledgment. But, I wasn't looking at him as he talked to me.
He reached up and grabbed my face with both hands. And turning my head to him he told me: "Daddy! Look at me!". I will remember that until the day I die.
And what an amazing God we have.
Where we can reach out, grab Him, and cry out: Daddy!
Prove me, O Lord, and try me; test my heart and my mind.
That is a hard thing to pray. To be put through the fire. There is a song I like to listen to to get pumped up: God Of Elijah by Disciple. One part of that song is ...
God of Elijah, send your fire Let it burn up inside me, melt me down
LORD ... melt me down as the fire melts down precious metals. I know we are precious to you and for that you bring us through the fire to refine who we are. Help me to stand within the flame and to know that it is for You that I am there.
For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
There are always two who know your sins. God and you.
People are interesting things when it comes to stories and ideas. We just can't keep a good idea to ourselves. They infect our minds in such a way that we almost become sick if we don't tell them to someone. We all have experienced that with a good joke or a story that really touched us. The corruption of that feeling is the making of a gossip.
But when it comes to the sin that we try to hide inside .... I can think of no better description than it feeling as if your very bones are wasting away. When we are in the wrong, we KNOW it. Down to our bones. Daily God will remind you of what you have not brought before Him to ask forgiveness of.
But, Oh what a blessed feeling of freedom when you finally present yourself before God to ask forgiveness. And to know you are forgiven!
Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.
At all times we are called to share the Truth. No matter if it is to be in times of ease or in times of great difficulty. Always share the good news.
And don't be too surprised when God brings people into your life at the right time for Him ( maybe the wrong time for your plans ). For in all things that happen ... The LORD will be praised.
As I was listening to these verses one thing came to mind: What a monster I am.
Why are not times of judgment kept by the Almighty, and why do those who know him never see his days?
Some move landmarks; they seize flocks and pasture them. They drive away the donkey of the fatherless; they take the widow's ox for a pledge. They thrust the poor off the road; the poor of the earth all hide themselves.
Behold, like wild donkeys in the desert the poor go out to their toil, seeking game; the wasteland yields food for their children. They gather their fodder in the field, and they glean the vineyard of the wicked man.
They lie all night naked, without clothing, and have no covering in the cold. They are wet with the rain of the mountains and cling to the rock for lack of shelter. There are those who snatch the fatherless child from the breast, and they take a pledge against the poor.
They go about naked, without clothing; Hungry, they carry the sheaves; Among the olive rows of the wicked they make oil; They tread the winepresses, but suffer thirst.
From out of the city the dying groan, and the soul of the wounded cries for help; yet God charges no one with wrong.
In your minds eye do you not see those in this world who are suffering? I see and I am shamed. Because I see and I do not act.
I listened to this as I was driving and I wanted to pull over and weep. Weep for those in pain and weep in anger against myself. I dwell over dollars I want to spend on myself for things I don't need. While I do not spend nearly enough of my own self in service of others.
As I listened it wasn't about "Where is God?" ... it was about "Where am I?"
I don't know if it is sad or telling that Job didn't know that he had somewhat answered his own question of "Where is God?". He probably couldn't see through his own pain to truly listen to the words that the LORD gave him to speak.
Where is God for the fatherless? For the widows? For the poor? For the suffering?
I delivered the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to help him. The blessing of him who was about to perish came upon me, and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.
I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy, and I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know. I broke the fangs of the unrighteous and made him drop his prey from his teeth.
If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant, when they brought a complaint against me, what then shall I do when God rises up? When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him? Did not he who made me in the womb make him? And did not one fashion us in the womb?
If I have withheld anything that the poor desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, or have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless has not eaten of it (for from my youth the fatherless grew up with me as with a father, and from my mother's womb I guided the widow)
If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, or the needy without covering, if his body has not blessed me, and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep, if I have raised my hand against the fatherless, because I saw my help in the gate.
Then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder, and let my arm be broken from its socket. For I was in terror of calamity from God, and I could not have faced his majesty.
Job acted. And why did he act? For the LORD. When the cry goes out "Where is the LORD?" the answer should have those that suffer pointing their fingers at a Christian and saying "The LORD is in you! For I see Him and feel Him!"
And what a list Job has given me. Have I ...
... delivered the poor? ... helped those that had no help? ... made their heart sing for joy? ... become eyes to the blind? ... become feet to the lame? ... been father to the fatherless? ... searched out the cause of him whom I did not know? ... broken the fangs of the unrighteous?
If I do not act what then?
As Mordecai told Esther, “For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
They have hope in God. Deliverance and justice will come, if not now then in the age to come. But, God has put this before me NOW.
O LORD and Heavenly Father ... help me to be as Job.
Get up ... Dress ... Put on sandals ... Wrap your cloak ... Follow me.
Peter was sitting in jail waiting for his death. If God wanted He could have just moved him from the jail and into his friends home. Why not?
As we sit in the darkness of our lives. As we sit in chains beside the people who are against us and who inflict pain beyond measure. As the night comes ... and still we suffer ... and still we pray for deliverance.
We pray that God will 'poof', make it go away.
That would be nice. But, that isn't what builds up a stronger man or woman. Even Peter had to get up to get out of the prison. And as we struggle we need to do likewise.
Get up. Stand and look upon the LORD.
Dress. Get your body, mind, and soul ready for what God will have in store for you.
Put on your sandals. Prepare yourself for the walk. A walk in LORD.
Wrap your cloak. Wrap yourself in the Word of the LORD. In the people that he will bring into your life. Reach out and let them wrap their arms around you.
