She Has and Will do Good All Her Life

“She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.” (Pr 31:12 AV)

 

There are a lot of qualities listed for the godly wife of Proverbs chapter thirty-one.  In my humble opinion, the one quality above encapsulates the purpose God has for a wife.  She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.  The definition of the word ‘…good…’ is truly interesting.  The word means pleasant or agreeable.  But the interesting thing about this word is she is pleasant and agreeable in many aspects of her relationship with her husband.  Spiritually, physically, and intellectually, she is pleasant and agreeable.  I don’t think I can give you an adequate definition in English without writing an entire blog on it, so I will leave you to the investigation.  Suffice it to say, a wife is given to her husband to be his help, and meet for him, she will compliment him and his weaknesses in a way that is pleasant and agreeable.  In short, a godly wife is the perfect match for her husband and makes life the greatest gift outside of salvation that God could ever give someone.

The second thing I notice is the duration.  The godly wife will be this way her entire life.  It is a matter of character and disposition.   Someone who is like this is because the Spirit of God and the blood of Christ have made her that way.  Doing good is not limited to a personality type.  Doing good is a conviction.  She is like this even when her husband isn’t what he should be.  She will not cross a line of evil under any circumstance.  She cannot become someone God would be displeased with. She will honor her husband and meet his shortcomings with her charity, strength, forethought, compassion, and character.  She will look for circumstances and conditions when he needs her most.  She will pick up on his troubled days, his lack of patience, or his weariness and make it her mission to encourage him to continue to lead, protect, and provide.  The godly woman believes her husband is the perfect man for her.  She is not naïve.  She is not blind.  She knows what she has.  But instead of wishing for someone else or complaining about what he is not, she sees this as her mission.  She sees her part in this relationship to be what he is not so he can be what she is not.  Together, they go through life being one another's crutch.  A compliment to one another so both can be what God intended them to be.

When I think of  Proverbs 31 woman, no one is a better example of it than the saint God has given me to share the grace of life with.  I can honestly say she has done me good and not evil all of her life.  And I have no doubt she will continue for the rest of it.  I cannot begin to list all the ways in which I have been blessed with the helpmeet God gave me.  She is truly incredible.  She is not one in a million.  That implies there are others like her.  She is a one and only!  She is the virtuous woman of Proverbs 31.  In every way.  When I think of all the character traits listed in this chapter, the one above rises to the top.  Our life together is incredible.  We have had trouble and trials.  Every couple does.  But I can say, without any hint of exaggeration, there was never a time when life got us to the point where we began to take one another for granted, argued beyond quick reconciliation, or thought for one minute we would have been better off without the other.  When I think of all the possibilities, numerically speaking, of who my spouse might or could have been, I can say without reservation, God brought to me my perfect help meet.  She is a treasure second only to God Himself.  She is doing me good all the days of her life.  And she always will.

Impossible To Us Does Not Mean Impossible To Him

“Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith the LORD of hosts.” (Zec 8:6 AV)

 

There are two points to be made here.  One runs into the other.  But first, a little context.  Zechariah is speaking to the remnant still in captivity.  Their time of captivity has come to an end.  The seventy years spoken of by Jeremiah the prophet has been fulfilled.  Soon, by the leadership of Nehemiah, they will return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple and the walls of the city.  Most would have been born in captivity, never having seen Jerusalem.  Now, the prophet is telling them their situation will radically change.  They will regain their freedom and return to their native land.  Having never lived that way before, it would be hard to believe.  It would seem almost impossible.  That is the meaning of the phrase, “marvellous in the eye”.  The people would have seen freedom as impossible.  The question posed above is a simple one.  Just because the people may think it impossible, does that mean God must also think it impossible?  There are two truths I glean from this by the ministry of the Holy Spirit.  There is no demand that the people exercise faith here.  They are free to believe freedom is impossible.  Not that God wants the people to believe it is possible, but given their circumstances, they are not rebuked into doing so.  They have no reference point.  They have never seen it.  Second, just because we may think something is impossible does not limit what God can do.  God can do anything.  It doesn’t mean that He will, mind you.  It just means that He can.

There is this puzzle I have challenged others to.  It seems impossible.  You are given a block of wood and seven nails.  The nails have heads on them.  You are challenged to balance all the nails atop one of them.  In retrospect, the block of wood is a clue, but not absolutely necessary.  As the poor subject is frustrated, you affirm it indeed can be done.  If you are one to wager, you place a large prize in front of them to motivate them.  Perhaps you offer them $50 if they can balance six nails on the head of the seventh.  Try as they may, they cannot do it.  So, the $50 remains on the table.  The challenge goes out again.  Still, no one seems to be able to balance six nails on the head of the seventh.  The one who knows the solution will not relent.  He knows it can be done.  He has seen it done.  He has done it himself.  Everyone in the room thinks it cannot be done.  They try to convince the one who knows it can be done that it cannot be done.  They even become agitated.  They insist the challenger is only having fun at their expense and the prize is not genuine because it cannot be done.  Then the challenger uses a hammer and strikes one nail into the block about a half-inch deep.  He lays one nail down.  Placing four nails with the head resting on the laid down nail with their heads at the shaft of the resting nail, two at the top and two at the bottom, he places the sixth nail in the opposite direction as the bottom nail so it looks like the letter “H”.  The heads of the nails exert equal force on one another and you place it on the nail in the block.  Viola!  What everyone else thought impossible, the one with the knowledge of the solution know all along it was possible.

This is what we do with God.  God can do anything He desires to do.  Nothing is impossible with God.  Again, just because He can do it doesn’t mean that He will.  Unfortunately, I have seen many saints become distraught because they ask God to do something miraculous and it is not in His perfect plan to do such a thing, even though He could physically do it.  However, I have seen an equal amount of people give up on God because they see something as impossible.  The point is simple.  God may want us to believe with all our hearts that something is possible, but even if we do not believe it to be possible, we shouldn’t expect God to feel the same way, too.  Who knows what God will do? What we cannot do is limit God because we cannot see the end from the beginning.  This is what Judah did when told to return to Israel.  They couldn’t see it.  But praise be to a gracious God who did marvelous things even when the people doubted.  That is who our gracious and merciful God is!

Maturing Is Lifelong

“When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” (1Co 13:11 AV)

 

Although Paul applies this verse slightly differently, the principle is still the same.  He applies this verse to immature desires, goals, and sin.  Point was, when the invitation to salvation came, he put away the childish sinful life he had and grew up into spiritual maturity by accepting Christ.  One would think this verse is for the young at heart only.  But not so.  One would assume this truth is for those who are transitioning from childhood and adulthood.  Not really.  One would assume there would come a time when we no longer need this verse.  Probably not.  In some way, no matter our age, there is an element of immaturity that needs to mature into reality.  It doesn’t matter how old we are, there are times when we think and feel as a child.  We can live in a state of naïveté.  But every day is not a play day.  Every day is not sunshine and roses.  Every day is not filled with nothing but blessings.  Sometimes, there are hardships of life to which we have to adjust.  Life is hard.  That is our burden to bear.  How we adjust to those times determines whether we mature or not.

We are childish when we think life will continue as it is.  We are immature to think life will never get any more difficult.  This is not so.  We know this, but we don’t want to admit that our lives will get more difficult.  When we see others go through the hardships of getting older and assuming more and more responsibility, we don’t think that will ever be us.  We think our lives will continue with little or no more hurdles to overcome.  When they do come, we are surprised and emotional.  We have to learn to adjust to them.  Why?  Because we understand as a child.  A child does not see reality.  He can play in a field and completely miss the storm that is about to descend.  A child can ride his bike like the wind and not notice the dangers of traffic all around him.  A child avoids that which would disrupt his perfect world.  A plate is set before him with bacon fried green beans and a cheeseburger.  He will eat the burger and leave those beans on the plate.  A child will see his game system sitting next to his homework.  He will use the former and avoid the latter.  But, there comes a time when those things he is trying to avoid become his unfortunate reality.   The storm will come.  Eating your vegetables becomes a matter of life or death.  And, unless he does his school work, he will repeat the grade and never get out of school.

We may not like the hardships of life, but that doesn’t make them go away.  Trying not to think about them doesn’t either.  They are still there.  When faced with trials of life, the best thing to do is mature into and through them.  God can and does do miracles.  But there are hard realities of life that are not going to change.  All the miracles Jesus did were only temporary.  Life still went on.  Have you ever wondered how some people can go through the trials of life with joy in their hearts?  I have.  I had the privilege of hosting a widow/widower’s luncheon once a month.  What a blessing.  These sweet people knew how to laugh and live.  How did they do that?  Their lives were harder than anyone else in the church.  How could they have so much joy?  Partly because they matured into and through their circumstances.  Mostly, though, because through these times, God becomes more real and closer than He ever was before.  They learned to live because they didn’t fight what God had planned for them, and they learned to lean on Him like never before.  Part of growing up is accepting the hardships of life as something from God which helps you in some way.  It is uncomfortable.  It is ugly.  But it is also an extension of God’s love.

Not Alone

“Then the angel of the LORD answered and said, O LORD of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years?” (Zec 1:12 AV)

 

I cannot prove it, but I think the angel here might be Michael the Archangel.  It may not be.  It may be another prophet or Zechariah himself.  Who the angel is, is not the point this morning.  Noticing Israel has someone other than themselves interceding before God for them is.  Israel has been in captivity for 70 years.  This timeline was revealed by Jeremiah.  Israel would be in captivity for one year for every Sabbath year they ignored since settling the land hundreds of years ago.  When God blessed them, they turned their back on Him and pursued their own interests.  They failed to let the land lay fallow once every seven years so God required the land to be at rest for 70 years while they served their sentence.  This is where we pick up the narrative.  The seventy years are up.  Now, we see an angel interceding with God for them.  What a privilege to have someone who loves you enough to go to the throne of God and seek your welfare on your behalf.  Especially someone who has God’s ear.  Israel and Michael.  But we have the LORD Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit!

One of the greatest privileges I have had in ministry was serving as a volunteer chaplain at our local hospital.  The duties of such are many.  Our first duty was to provide spiritual guidance and emotional support for the patients.  On a typical day, our rounds would primarily consist of prayer and scripture reading.  There were other tasks as well.  The medical team wanted us to help patients fill out advance directives.  If the patient did not have them on file, it was our responsibility to get the material to them and broach the uncomfortable topic of end-of-life decisions.  This was not easy.  Many patients do not have a Biblical world view so steering them into one was a challenge.  Every once in a while, we would have a dramatic case where we became a patient advocate.  Perhaps they needed something as simple as another pillow or help getting to the restroom.  Other times, it was a matter of life and death.  I have experienced a few cases like this.  One fella needed a heart transplant because he had only weeks to live.  I advocated for the transplant and attempted to move him further up the list.  Another was completely out of her mind and was in a dangerous situation.  I had to talk her out of it all the while getting the nurses staff to act.  Another was dying and her estranged daughter refused to talk to her.  We worked with the patient and her family toward reconciliation so the patient could die in peace.  The stories go on and on.  But one thing is certain.  When the patient feels all alone and helpless in their situation, knowing they have someone who will fight for them often makes a difference.

We have that someone.  We have Jesus Christ our LORD.  He stands before the throne of the Father making intercession for us.  It is His wounds that are proof we are worth the intercession.  Not by our merit, but by His!  He pleads before the Father when we are in need.  He covers our sin account with His blood and it is that love of sacrifice which drives His plea.  The Bible also tells us the Holy Spirit of God makes intercession for us with words that cannot be uttered.  Communication between the Godhead is a three-way conversation and we are the topic.  They have a divine conference call, so to speak, and their conversation is for our own good.  What a comforting thought!  As we pray, the Holy Spirit is on one side.  The LORD Jesus Christ on the other.  Both make the case for us that the Father may approve that which we seek.  We are not alone.  We have intercessors.  These intercessors love us more than we will ever understand.  We are not alone!

Accepting God's Justice

“Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD is at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests.” (Zep 1:7 AV)

 The sacrifice to which the prophet refers is the slaughter of God’s enemies at the battle of Armageddon.  The guests are the beast of the field and sky who will partake of the carrion left in the field of battle.  This will be a gruesome sight.  One that will be hard to forget.  Because of this, I wish to dwell on the first part of the verse.  It will be hard to hold one’s peace as we see the full measure of God’s wrath poured out on rebellious mankind.  We would expect the lost to wail.  Why wouldn’t they?  What do they have to lose?  They are oft to hell anyway.  In fact, the Bible tells us there will be weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth. The peace spoken of is for the rest of those who will witness it.  In particular, I think it will be for the tribulation saint who has yet to experience his or her glorification and has not come into the full knowledge of the LORD Jesus Christ.  The point is simple.  We do not like to see the wrath of God poured out.  We do not like to see the extreme judgment of God.  Our natural reaction would be to complain.  Or, at the very least, gasp in shock.  But we cannot.  As God does what He does, we have no place to express how we feel about it.

It is hard to see someone whom you love very deeply suffer because of their very bad choices.  I am trying to think of a particular incident in my childhood, but I am sure they are too numerous to remember any single event.  This is not to say my parents were cruel or unfair.  It is that they had eleven children and I am sure I witnessed a time or two when I thought my father was a bit too aggressive in his dealings with errant siblings.  Plus, when you are young, any punishment seems too severe.  If my father swatted the behind of my brother, I would think he brought him to the brink of death when all it was was a simple little swat.  In our immaturity, we do not have a sense of justice.  No matter the punishment, we always thought it was too much.  Never did we see grace when my father passed on punishment.  No matter what we did, we never thought it was worthy of the punishment doled out; large or small.  When Dad was truly angry, and he had a right to be, he acted decisively.  That was not pleasant to watch.  In our youth, we thought my dad was an unreasonable man.  It wasn’t until we matured and understood just how wrong that wrong can be that we began to appreciate the values our father had on chastening.

The saved of the millennium may be shocked to see the full measure of God’s wrath upon wicked mankind.  But as Paul tells us in Romans, God will be just before mankind.  We may not like seeing how He deals with others, but it really is none of our business.  How God chooses to deal with some as opposed to others is not under our jurisdiction.  God is always just in His doings.  He is always right.  His testimonies are always right.  God never overreacts to the wrong mankind does.  If anything, He shows way too much grace.  So, when the LORD deals with someone, or maybe even ourselves, we should learn to keep silent before the LORD.  It is His right!  It is His responsibility.  We have nothing to contribute.  We must accept how the LORD deals with any given situation because He is God and we are not.

Giving Up To Strength

“Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.” (Hab 3:18-19 AV)

 

There was much to which Habakkuk could have been discouraged.  He was a prophet to a failed nation.  In particular, his message was toward those who loved God as they were afflicted by the vast majority of those who did not.  His main theme is faith amid adversity.  The prophet was astounded at the lack of faith as found in chapter one and verse five.  Those who love the LORD will not believe what God will do to their adversaries, nor believe when it happens.  They are so distraught through the hardships of life, their faith is almost completely spent.  There is nothing left.  God’s people have failed them.  Their leadership has failed them.  The priests have failed them.  Now they sit in captivity (or will be) and feel as though despite their faithfulness to God, in some way, God has failed them.  Habakkuk reminds the faithful of some incontrovertible truths.  Above, Habakkuk testifies as to what God is to him and what He could be to them.  I have underlined part of our passage above because it spoke to my heart this morning.  It is a reminder that no matter what life may bring, God is always stronger.  But it goes deeper than that.  By stating this truth as he did, Habakkuk is also making an active statement of dependence on that strength.  This is not a simple assent to a truth.  But it is the application of that truth in real-time.

As kids, one year my brothers and I wove our own hammocks.  I forget why we did this.  It might have had something to do with Boy Scouts.  I remember one of my older brothers came home from something and thought sleeping in a hammock was the best experience he could ever have.  My son, who went to Venezuela on a missions trip discovered the same.  He came home with a woven hammock from his trip and we took down his bed and put a hammock in its place.  Anyway, I remember weaving a hammock out of clothesline cord.  We used two-by-fours at each end and worked the cord tying off knots at every intersection.  What we failed to do is soak the cord first so that when it dried, the knots would shrink on themselves and they wouldn’t move.  The thing about hammocks is they are tricky to get in and out of without falling.  There is a technique.  One must be fully committed.  If not, any apprehension meant flipping the hammock over and falling to the ground.  To get in successfully, one sits in the center.  Then he quickly pivots and commits all of his body to the hammock. Partial commitment means eating dirt.  Even when in the hammock, it takes a few seconds to relax and trust your full weight to the hammock.  My son’s hammock was so big, it wrapped inside like a cocoon with his head sticking out.  Trusting in the strength of a bed made of cloth or rope is not natural.  Especially when it is swinging from trees.  But when trusted, the napper can rest deeply knowing that surrendering to a force greater than himself relaxes the body and mind.

When Habakkuk shares his statement that God is his strength, he is not sharing it as mere academic truth.  He shares it as something he has learned and something he is presently experiencing.  We have to remember this.  It is not easy.  Our natural inclination is to go through life in our own strength.  It is what we trust the most.  We have been doing so for a very long time.  It is a life pattern.  There is nothing wrong with using our own strength, to a point.  Using it and being solely dependent upon it are two different things.  The prophet is encouraging the faithful Hebrews.  He is trying to make his faith contagious.  He wants his people to know that even though life is tough right now, God will enable them to endure.  Even though life was easier in the past, the present is not beyond God’s ability to help.  What I need to do is constantly remind myself of this truth so it becomes more and more my reality.  He is my strength.  For all of life.  Not just the trials we are presently going through, but all that we have yet to face.  God is my strength and He can be yours, too.  You just need to go all in and surrender the whole person.  Then feel the gentle rock as you find rest in your God.

No Second Chances

“What do ye imagine against the LORD? he will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time.” (Na 1:9 AV)

 

This pronouncement is against Nineveh.  The same Nineveh who responded to the preaching of Jonah.  Nahum preached to Nineveh about 190 years after Jonah’s revival.  It didn’t take much. One a few generations and all that God did for them was completely lost.  God spared the city from complete destruction.  Rather than seeking the God of Israel and befriending God’s people, they turned against the LORD.  They invaded Israel’s east and north sides.  They took away all of their material wealth and removed the people to Assyria.  There, the people of God served their captors.  Eventually, the ten northern tribes were dispersed throughout the entire middle east and Europe.  This one act by the Nineveh doomed them forever.  When Nahum the prophet tells them that God will not rise up the second time, what he means is when the LORD brings judgment, it will be so thorough there will not be a second time needed.  All of it will be destroyed.

Mankind is so fragile and they do not even realize it.  They are busy trying to save the planet because they think if they outlaw all fossil fuels, somehow the human race will be saved.  Don’t let them fool you.  It isn’t about saving a cute furry little creature from extinction.  These people do not believe mankind can destroy creation.  They know better.  There is enough evidence that tells us God’s creation adapts.  Return to the location of a volcanic eruption a few decades later, and the observer will find a restored ecosystem.  No, they are not afraid that a cute little furry creature will become extinct.  What they are afraid of is the human race becoming extinct.  In particular, themselves.  If they only understood how right they were.  Not that your hairspray or your SUV is going to wipe out whole continents.  But there is a force greater than creation itself.  He is the Creator!

Paul instructs us that all we observe was created by God and kept by God. “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether [they be] thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” (Col 1:16-17 AV)   An honest scientist will tell you the atom should not be able to maintain its structural integrity.  It should fly apart.  There is too much mystery in the existence of the physical world to deny a power greater than it, keeps it together.  The Creator keeps it all under His sovereign control.  Because He is the Creator, He has the right to demand of His creation behavior suited to His pleasing.  Because it does not, He has the liberty to destroy it and start all over again.

When God does judge, He will not have to do so a second time.  His fire of purging will be so thorough there will be no need for a second flame.  Jesus is coming back!  He will return with all His saints.  He will come with the word of God and the sword of His mouth.  Proclaiming judgment upon rebellious mankind, no amount of electric cars or appliances can stop it!  All those who shake their fist at God will meet Him face to face.  They will have to give an account of all they did and why they rejected the free gift of salvation that cost His Son His life.  Once no answer is found, an eternal punishment awaits.  It will only happen once.  God will not have to speak a second time.  The only hope is repentance.  Repentance that comes immediately.  One eternity starts, there are no more second chances.  He will not speak a second time.

Another Odd Prayer Request

“Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.” (Mic 7:14 AV)

 

Seems like an odd request, doesn’t it?  Especially when we consider what the shepherd’s rod was used for.  With the shepherd’s rod, there is also the king’s rod and the father’s rod.  The rod was used for three things.  The hook at the end was used to gather a sheep back into the fold.  The straight end was used to prod the sheep along the path in which he was supposed to go.  In some cases, the straight end was also used to correct an errant sheep.  This rod was also used to dissuade predators from attacking the sheep.  This rod was not used as a source of comfort.  It was used for the governing of the sheep.  The king’s rod and the father’s rod were used for the same purpose.  The king’s rod was his scepter of authority.  The rod represented an unbending law that he would apply to those he governed.  A father’s rod was used for the chastening of the erring child.  In both of these cases, the rod was not used as a source of comfort.  Rather, it was used as a source of affliction.  So again, I ask you, kind of an odd request, isn’t it?  The request speaks to the maturity of the one seeking it.  A child would not ask to be guided, restrained, or corrected.  In their nature, they would wander as far from a rod as they could.  Only a mature sheep would seek that which is best for him even though affliction is part of it.

Over the years, I have met many who have enlisted for different reasons.  There is the young man or woman who needed a direction in life.  Going into the military was a way to learn a trade and get paid for it.  Often, these people used the GI Bill to advance their education so that when they were discharged, they had life skills and education to apply in life.  There were others who wanted what they thought was freedom.  Some were fleeing the oppressive nature of their homes.  An abusive parent or guardian was the influence they were escaping.  Still others were fleeing an authoritarian home; or at least one they perceived as such; to the military that wouldn’t have a whole lot of rules.  Did they ever get a wake-up call?  Some believed the commercial and joined the Navy to see the world.  Sometimes, there would be a recruit who signed up for purely patriotic reasons.  They love their country and were thrilled to serve her.  Then there was that odd individual who joined because they knew they needed more discipline.  One thing is common with most military.  Regardless of the motive for joining, they did appreciate the discipline they learned while serving.  This created life-long habits that carried well beyond their term of service.  The rod of discipline, training, and purpose served them in the civilian world like nothing else would.  And for that, are grateful.

Israel would have learned a great deal before they asked for the rod.  They would have learned their way didn’t work.  They would have learned God was right all along.  They would have learned there are consequences for sin and the cost of doing right is always less.  They would have learned the emptiness that came with compromise.  The friends they thought they had in their heathen neighbors became their enemies.  Like the prodigal, they would have come to the end of themselves and realized the rod of God isn’t all that bad.  They would have concluded even though the rod of God can be difficult at times, the alternative was far worse.  Most of all, they would have concluded the rod of God was how God would bring them up.  A desire for maturity is what drives this request.  Until we come to the conclusion remaining a child is not satisfying, we will not seek the rod of God.  Only when we see what we are and desire what God wants us to be, we will never seek the rod of God.  What we seek reveals where we are.  So, seek the rod of God and grow into the child of God He wants you to be.

Limiting God

“O thou that art named the house of Jacob, is the spirit of the LORD straitened? are these his doings? do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly?” (Mic 2:7 AV)

 

A bit of a difficult verse to understand.  Israel had gotten to the point they did not believe the word of God or the prophets could do anything productive for them.  They either attempted to shut the prophets down, or they ignored the word of God because they did not see any value in it.  In short, they ceased to believe in the hand of God.  This reminds me of similar passages.  “Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:” (Isa 59:1 AV)  The people of God did not see immediate results from their faith and therefore gave up on trusting God by walking in obedience.  This is the same group that reasoned worshipping the queen of heaven was the right thing to do because things seemed to be better when they did.  Now, we may not be that far off, but let us ask ourselves the same question as above.  Is the Spirit of the LORD limited?  That is what straitened means.  It means the Spirit of the LORD is limited in what He can do like a road is limited by how strait it is.  The more the road can adapt to the terrain, the more of the terrain the traveler will see.  The more a road winds around, the more options there are of where one might find rest.  The more a road diverts here and there, the more physical ground the driver can cover.  One wonders how many conditions we put on the Spirit of God that He cannot address our character or cannot meet our needs for comfort, faith, and obedience.

Yesterday, my wife and I were running errands.  We had to go to a store to pick up some clothes she had ordered.  We needed to stop at a grocery store for a few more food items.  Off to the pharmacy to pick up our scripts.  And, we stopped by the hardware store to look at exhaust fans.  Seeing as how we are in the middle of the road construction season, navigating from one point to the other was not as direct as it used to be.  My wife has learned that I seem to know the roads a bit more than she does.  She mentioned the route I would normally take was under construction and since she has a knack for direction without a map or GPS, she thought I was at a disadvantage.  She is so directionally acclimated, you could drop her in the middle of an unknown city, and she could find her way out in a heartbeat.  I, on the other hand, am too much a creature of habit.  If I go a certain way to get to a certain place, I am befuddled if I have to change course.  I seem to take the worst way possible.  At least from my wife’s point of view.  Not yesterday!  I am learning.  There was no doubling back.  I took the shortest way from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’ as I could.  And she had no clue where we were!  God is so good!  She was stunned.  Her mouth agape, she wondered what happened to her husband. Typically, I would have gone a mile or two out of the way to get where I was going because I was more familiar with the roads.  Not anymore.  I knew the path that I needed to take to get there in the shortest distance possible and she was thoroughly impressed.  What was the difference?  I didn’t limit my choices to what I was familiar with.  I didn’t restrict myself to the comfortable.

Too many times we limit what God can do because we are either disobedient or lack the faith to trust.  The hand of God can do more than we ask or think if we only learn to trust the LORD.  The Spirit can do wonders in our lives and hearts if we simply remove the bearers of His ability to work.  God will not force His hand upon us.  Unless He is correcting us, that is.  He will not give us a miracle and tell us to deal with it.  He will not force His benevolence on a hardhearted or disbelieving soul.  God can do much if we simply believe He can.  Israel limited the Holy One of Israel.  They put roadblocks so that He could not do what He wanted to do.  We can read of this pattern all through the Old Testament.  Just because we are New Testament saints and have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit does not mean we are any different from the Old Testament saint.  We limit the Spirit of God just as much as they did.  So, the question still stands.  Is the Spirit of the LORD straightened?  Only if we want Him to be.

Praise the LORD He Repeats Himself

“And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying,” (Jon 3:1 AV)

 

I don’t know about you, but I am glad the word of the LORD comes to me more than once.  He sends His word a second time, a third time, a fourth time, and many more times.  The LORD doesn’t have to do that.  Once would be sufficient.  He would be justified in His saying if He warned or instructed only once.  That is not the God we serve.  Jonah had every reason to believe God was done with him.  He had an attitude regarding the people to whom God sent him.  This prejudice never abated.  The Ninevites victimized the Jewish people, especially those on the east of the Jordan River.  Jonah was a prophet to the northern ten tribes of Israel of whom two-and-a-half were those on the eastern side of the Jordan.  Jonah was from the tribe of Zebulon and would not have had direct contact with the Assyrians, but as he ministered in the north, would have met those of the tribe of Manasseh, who in turn, would have related the atrocities done to their families across the river.  The bias was the driving factor for Jonah to flee westward to Tarshish.  The last thing he wanted to do is to go preach to a people who violently victimized his fellow Jewish brethren and who were as pagan as a nation could be.  His desire was God’s judgment on them.  But in his heart, he knew they would respond and God would show grace.  His bias evolved to hatred and didn’t want to see revival come to his enemies.  Jonah rejected the call of God out of spite.  This spite continued through his preaching and grew as he saw revival come.

Our all-knowing God knew this from eternity past.  He could have used someone else.  He could have tapped someone who would have had a heart for the Assyrian people.  He could have called someone far more gracious who knew what forgiveness meant.  God could have called someone who went to Nineveh with the right attitude and would have complimented his preaching.  Yet, He chose a prophet with a bad attitude.  To fix the attitude, God prepared a whale to swallow Jonah and teach him a lesson in humility by spending three days and nights in the stomach of the beast.  For the moment, Jonah did get an attitude adjustment.  He recommitted to his calling and vowed to preach to the Ninevites.  Once upon dry ground, the word of God came to Jonah a second time.  That is where we pick up the account.  Once on the shore of Nineveh, the word of God came to Jonah a second time.  What grace!

All of us are like my son.  He seldom did what he was told the first time.  We had a nickname for him.  Tell-Me-Twice ______.  I finally had to devise a way for him to learn immediate obedience.  Every time I told him after the first time, that was the amount I would swat his backside.  He learned pretty quickly to pay attention and obey the voice of his father.  That is exactly how we are.  Rarely do we obey the LORD the first time.  We ignore Him.  We think about it and think better of it.  We assume His instruction is optional.  We make arguments as to why we have the right of self-determination and in the present situation, we are exercising it.  There are many reasons why we allow the first instruction to pass without conforming.  It is when He sends His word the second, third, fourth, etc time we realize just how loving and gracious He is.  God is so patient with us.  He is so understanding.  For God to give infinite chances should motivate us to strive harder in faith and obedience.  We have all spent our time in the belly of the whale.  More than once.  And when it is over, the word of God comes again.  Praise be to His name!

Overthrown by God

“The righteous man wisely considereth the house of the wicked: but God overthroweth the wicked for their wickedness.” (Pr 21:12 AV)

 

The righteous one will wisely consider if the house of the wicked can be overthrown.  He wisely looks at it to see if it is a battle he can win.  The suggestion is, the battle is too big for him to win, but not too big for God to win.  Solomon, as king, could have fought innumerable battles.  He was surrounded by God-hating pagans.  He has Syria to the north and Egypt to the south.  He has the Assyrians to the east.  The only escape he has was to the sea on the west.  If he picked a battle with the house of the wicked which he could not win, then he would lose everything.  Solomon is teaching his son; soon to be king; the better part of wisdom is to allow God to deal with the enemy.  We can stand in awe of a threat and wonder if we will ever survive.  It doesn’t need to be mankind.  It can be anything.  It could be a health issue, a financial crisis, or a relationship issue.  They loom large and daunting.  We wonder if we can ever overcome it or beat it back.  We cannot.  But God can.  This is the lesson of our proverb.  We all face monsters.  Sometimes those monsters are external.  Sometimes they are internal.  Sometimes our monsters involve others.  Sometimes they involve a maturity or character issue.  But we all have them.  Trying to beat them on our own is utter foolishness.

This proverb reminds me of the first time Joshua went against AI.  He took the minimal compliment he thought he needed to conquer the city.  He tried twice and each time was beaten back by a much smaller compliment.  What he didn’t know was Achan took of the accursed thing from the victory at Jericho and God was not blessing their effort at AI.  When Joshua looked up at AI, he saw a very small city without much defense.  In his own logic and reasoning, he figured easy peasy.  Not a problem.  But when he was beaten back twice, he had a newfound respect for the adversary.  He looked up at the house of the wicked and concluded they could not be beaten.  This account is one of the times God tells someone to stop praying.   The answer was right in front of him.  There was sin in the camp.  The house of the wicked was impenetrable because there was sin in the camp and because God was not with them.  It did take much.  All they had to do is deal with Achan and pray.  God answered and AI fell.

We may have a Goliath in our lives.  It might be an AI.  Solomon has his share of enemies.  His son would too.  The point is to not admire the wicked for their strength, allowing them to defeat you even before you approach the situation.  They may seem as though they are blessed, but God is far bigger and He has the ultimate say.  Our monster may not be the Wicked.  Perhaps it is a more personal challenge that seems to be allowed to advance unabated.  We can admire our adversary and their success at inflicting harm.  But God has the ultimate move.  Whatever we face, and no matter how big it may seem, God is always bigger.  He is always in control.  He will deal with that to which we stand in awe.  He will deal with our troubles and trials.  They will not last forever and God has it all planned in the light of eternity.  We may look up at the tower that is before us and feel as though we can never escape its shadow, but the one providing the sun which causes the shadow is far greater!  God can, and does, work on behalf of His children.  He is mightier.  You will prevail.  Just put Your faith in Him for a much smoother ride on your way to eternal life.

Our Season

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:” (Ec 3:1 AV)

 

We have had the privilege of enjoying the preaching of Bro Justyn Smith the last few nights.  Last night was no exception.  The above verse was his main passage and it spoke to me dearly.  I will not re-preach his sermon, but I will say it was a much-needed and practical truth we all needed.  Especially me and my wife at this time.  In fact,  I cannot think of another meeting that has so directly and appropriately met my needs in a very pointed and specific way.  The point of his message was the facts of seasons and our response to them.  Every individual, couple, family, church, society, nation, etc goes through seasons.  Sometimes they are enjoyable.  Other times, not so much.  We are thrilled with spring and summer arrive.  We welcome the Christmas season.  We even enjoy the crisp clean air of the fall.  But when winter comes and there are no holidays to break it up, we get a bit downcast.  The same is true of life.  There are good times and not-so-good times.  There are times we know are coming and we look forward to them.  There are times we know are coming and we put them out of our minds and think if we do not dwell on them, they will never come.  We were reminded of several things last night.  First, the seasons are from God that we might grow and mature.  Second, there is always a purpose for whatever season comes.  Third, God has made everything beautiful in His time.  Forth, our response to our seasons of life is what matters.

As many know, my wife has been diagnosed with stage IV metastatic neuroendocrine tumor cancer.  NET cancer for short.  Having ministered to people with far worse cancers and helped many graduate into heaven, one would think when this intruder entered our lives, I would have been far more prepared for it.  Maybe I was.  Maybe I was not.  The one thought I continue to have is this uninvited guest came into our lives way too early.  We have enjoyed our empty-nest years for the last five years.  I was planning on a few decades of this precious season of life.  It is awesome!  It is like picking up where we left off thirty-five years ago.  Every moment is like we are dating all over again.  Those who cling to their extended families rather than their spouses don’t know what they are missing.  Every small trip we take is like a romantic getaway.  Last fall we went up north to Door County, WI for three days.  Just walking and driving along the shores of Lake Michigan was like we were in our early twenties and enjoying one another’s company unencumbered by crying babies who need attention.  I expected this awesome season of life to be a long one.  Now, our weeks are filled with doctors' appointments, treatments, and tests.  Cancer is like a horrible third person on a date.  It is always there, clamoring for attention.  It wants to be the most important thing in the room.  It is a rude intruder who never gives you a moment's peace.  Just when life is good, it rears its ugly head to remind you life indeed, is not perfect.

But this is our season.  I know that we are no different than anyone else who faces the same trial.  I know that in the grand scheme of things, God will meet us amid this season and bear us up so that we might be able to get through with joy and faith.  I realize there are predictable stages one goes through is accepting and adjusting to this season of life.  I know based on my experience of seeing others go through similar things that given time and the ministry of the Holy Spirit, we will come through this with confidence and joy.  This season, like many are hard to travel.  We wish it never would have come.  But now that we are in it, we understand the hand of the LORD in all of it and take the passage above, plus others Bro. Smith used, to navigate through this for the glory of God.  Believe it or not, our biggest prayer is that God can use this experience as strength for someone else.  My greatest fear is not the threat cancer may pose.  Rather, it is my reaction to it as others are watching.  They expect the pastor to be an example of faith and strength. Little do they know he feels what they feel but fears to show it.  As Paul said, “But I determined this with myself, that I would not come again to you in heaviness. For if I make you sorry, who is he then that maketh me glad, but the same which is made sorry by me?” (2Co 2:1-2 AV)  So, let us bear one another up in prayer and encouragement.  We don’t have to go through our seasons alone.  God is always there.  He knows the season because He determined them.  He did so out of a heart of love.