“He looketh upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not; He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light.” (Job 33:27-28 AV)
What mercy! What grace! If we feel like we are in a pit, it is not God’s fault. Even in times of trial, we may be overwhelmed, but if we have lost hope, this is not on God. God is the God of mercy and hope. If we have neither, it is because there is something wrong on our end. In the above passage, Elihu is speaking primarily of the misery caused by our sin. In particular, I wish to meditate on that last phrase. Those who desire to see the light in life, need to walk with God in obedience and faith. Having said that, I wish to meditate more on the provision of it rather than the attaining of it. God delivers and gives hope. This is what I wish to ponder this morning.
One of the TV programs I watch when I was a child was Gilligan’s Island. It has almost a cult following now. Almost every episode has some form of escape that miraculously presented itself. One episode had a young native boy who was stranded on the same island. They built a hot air balloon and sailed him to the mainland only to have lost the note that accompanied hum. Still, another was sailing a small craft with information attached which sank in a storm. Still, another was a homing pigeon whose owner was a criminal in a prison that no one took seriously. Time and again the castaways were given a way out only to have their escape dashed. Mostly by the ineptitude of the title character, Gilligan. Programs like this can be popular. The storyline is the same. The characters are thrust into a difficult and impossible situation and the audience is emotionally committed to seeing them come out of it. The hope of victory amid adversity is a popular storyline. With the saint, it is not the storyline. It is the reality of our relationship with God. He will deliver and He does give hope. Always!
As long as there is God, there is light and hope. Of this, there is no doubt. The Bible is clear here. When it involves our sin, the LORD does not want us to go down into the pit of guilt, shame, and defeat. He wants to deliver and He wants to give hope. This is His heart. But the same can be said of our trials of faith. Yes, they are no fun. We wish they were over. We wish they would come to an end. The reasons they do not as soon as we would wish are many. Perhaps the LORD is using your hardship to reveal His greatness to others who do not know Him. Perhaps He is trying to grow your faith. Or, maybe there is something in your life that needs correcting. Maybe it is to learn to empathize with others who may eventually go through the same identical trial God is bringing you through. Whatever the reason, the end is still the same. There is light and there is hope. God has not given up on you. He hasn’t put you on a shelf. He hasn’t lost the ability to see you through it. As long as there is a God, there is hope and light. There truly is!
P.S. Just one day left and I have a $20 gift card burning a whole in my pocket! If you can convince the most new people to become followers of this blog, this gift card is yours. Have them click the 'follow' button to the right. If they are using a mobile browser, have them scroll to the bottom, click on 'view web version' and then do the same. To be eligible, your signees must leave a comment and mention your name. Winner will be announced Monday.
No comments:
Post a Comment