Out Of The Trap

“And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.” (Job 42:10 AV)

 

Job is a study of the emotional health of someone who has gone through great tragedy.  For too long, fundamentalists have turned their back on depression.  The word of God is not silent concerning this issue.  There are many reasons for depression.  Simply put, depression is a feeling of futility wrapped in ignorance or rebellion.  In Job’s case, his discourse with his three friends was his way of processing his emotional response to what had happened.  He lost his children, his wealth, and his health.  This happened very rapidly.  When it comes to depression, it is a mistake to divorce emotional health separately and apart from mental and physical health.  We are not a simple compilation of our parts.  We are complex.  This is where modern psychology has it wrong.  They misunderstand the spiritual by wrapping the mental and emotional together as if they are the same thing.  They are not.  All this is pertinent because the careful bible student will notice God turned the captivity of Job before He restored his health, wealth, and family.  Job’s captivity was not his circumstances.  His captivity was his response to his circumstances.  In particular, his captivity was his response defined in the context of a sovereign God.

What happened?  How did God turn the mental and emotional captivity of Job?  It wasn’t in the change of his circumstances.  This would come later.  What changed Job’s captivity was a discussion God had with Job.  Job willingly accepted his circumstances as from God, but chaffed at the missing motive for it all.  He could not make sense of why God would allow such adversity.  He and his three friends scoured Job’s life seeking some horrendous sin which would give cause for the loss he now suffered.  Some suggested it wasn’t a sin already committed, but rather, one yet to be done.  The suggestion was God’s hand of correction had fallen on Job because Job was planning a horrendous indiscretion that would be equal to what he was now enduring.  After many chapters of bantering back and forth, no answer was found.  How could it be?  The One who had the answer was never consulted.

When God spoke, he shocked Job out of his depression.  There were no words of consolation.  There were no soft words fitly spoken to drive away wrath.  The words that God spoke were blunt and a bit rough.  In a nutshell, God asked Job why Job felt he deserved an answer.  The point was that God, as the sovereign God, causes and allows all things for His purpose and glory and He is not obligated to explain Himself.  God can and does do what God can and will do.  We are nothing.  We are instruments in His had to turn as He will.  We have no standing to object or demand of God anything.  Much less an answer.  The captivity spoken of here is one which Job put himself into.  He needed to process what he felt and thought so he could accept his situation as one that made sense to him.  God doesn’t have to provide us with this answer.  In fact, as far as I can tell, until the book of Job was written, he may not have known it was Satan who did all that.  We are trapped in depression because we demand of God something to which we are not entitled.  Accepting the circumstances of life and God’s sovereign plan without any explanation from Him is the door that leads out of our dark world.  The reason ‘why’ should not be our objective.  Rather, how we should order our lives in the context of our circumstances.  Once God turned the emotional and mental captivity of Job, Job offered sacrifice for his friends and family.  So, if we are tormented, a change of circumstances is not going to change who and what we are.  Any time difficulty comes, right back into depression we go.  The answer is simple. Surrender to the hand of God without a need for Him to justify Himself and we will soon be on the road to emotional and mental health.

A Simple Prayer

“[That which] I see not teach thou me: if I have done iniquity, I will do no more.” (Job 34:32 AV)

Pretty simple and right to the point.  Elihu is speaking these words to Job and his three friends.  But as I thought about these words, I thought they might make a great prayer request.  This is not too hard to comprehend.  A simple prayer that doesn’t sugarcoat anything.  The prayer admits the possibility of sin or error; perhaps even assumes it; and promises when it is revealed, he will no longer think or do such a thing.  Coming from Elihu’s lips, these words are empty.  He was the youngest among them and spoke these words hastily and with an attitude.  He had no intention of admitting he was wrong.  In the mouth of the humble, these words are priceless.

The statement above is from a simple mind.  By that, I mean a mind free of presumption.  A mind that sees something as black and white.  No flowery words.  No eloquence to impress others.  No unsubstantiated claims.  Just a simple statement that if the way of error is revealed, he will do it no more.  What I see in these words are words of resolve.  Perhaps not for Elihu.  He was insincere.  Rather, if spoken by the humble saint to a loving God, the resolute nature of this statement would no doubt, bring results.  To sum up one’s walk with God down to this simple statement shows a great deal of maturity.  Perhaps maturity is born from many years of failure.  The saint that has come to the end of his rope because he or she has been trying to live for God in the flesh, will pray this prayer out of a heart of full surrender.  He or she will come to the end of the path he or she has been walking only to realize they have failed more than they have succeeded.  They will fall on their faces and pray this prayer, not because they are disappointed.  They have moved past that.  They will not pray this prayer because they are ashamed.  Forgiveness is theirs and the adversary has fled.  No, this prayer comes from the lips of a broken and ready heart.  These words come from a soul who has given up completely.  They have given up trying to do it all on their own and whatever lies before them, they will do.

It takes quite a bit to get to this point.  Some think they are there.  They have great outward standards of separation.  They dress right.  They keep themselves from impurity.  They listen to the right kinds of music.  Yet, they struggle in other areas of the spirit.  Some think that because they are humble, then they are always right with God.  Not so.  Those who have come to the point of Elihu’s request as spoken before God are few and far between.  I have not met many.  However, I have met a few.  These people usually are broken people.  They have baggage in their past for which they are still suffering.  They know what the end of sin or poor judgment can bring.  They have lived their way.  They have paid the price for it.  Now, they kneel at the foot of the cross with a totally yielded heart.  They come to their church and the pastor and are willing to do whatever they think will bring glory to God.  They do not cause problems.  They are the best workers.  They give of themselves in any way they can.  They have prayed that prayer and are glad to do it.

Family Defense

“My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him that reproacheth me.” (Pr 27:11 AV)

It is a wonderful thing that your family is your defense against the accusations of others.  When those who criticize are put to silence when you point out the success of your children, it is a pleasure beyond words.  The real blessing comes when the words of the adversary are true words.  He may accuse you of a failure or two.  In response, you can point to the godly family God has provided as an adequate defense.  We may not be perfect.  But our children love the LORD and serve Him faithfully.  The adversary may be able to hurl his fiery darts, but they cannot stick within a shield of God’s blessing.  Our kids are not perfect.  They have their own issues.  Sin is a struggle with them, as well.  What the adversary cannot defeat is a family that has a pattern of loving God.  What a blessing!

The LORD has blessed me with three sons, three amazing daughters-in-law, and six wonderful grandchildren.  They serve the LORD faithfully in the church to which God called them.  Again, they are not perfect.  No one is.  I am sure they have made their fair share of mistakes.  They have probably fallen their fair share of times.  But there they are.  They bounce back and continue on.  Through my dark times, it was always my sons who shined the brightest.  When I am passed over for preacher fellowships because I am not from the right school, it is my sons who are my pleasure and joy.  When I am looked down on because I don’t pastor a prominent church, it is my sons and their families who shine the brightest.  When no one knows my name and is not aware of the sacrifices my wife and I have made, it is the testimony and service of my extended family that speaks louder than I ever could.

To say that preachers get discouraged is an understatement.  The adversary wants to take every failure we have ever done and magnify it to the point we become too ashamed to do anything for God.  Like Joshua the priest of Zechariah, Satan loves to point out our faults and make them so big that even God cannot overcome them.  His desire is to neutralize us.  He wants us to feel so ashamed of what we are or what we have done that, in our own eyes, we are incapable of bringing glory to God no matter what God does.  It is at these low times I can point to my family.  The devil may think I am a failure, and I might agree with him, but at least I did something right.  That is the blessing of a godly family.

As a child, you may not think your life has as much of an impact.  But to your father, it means all the world.  Your humility and faith are his defense against a merciless enemy that wants to destroy him.  No, you are not perfect.  You never will be on this side of glory.  But how you choose to live your life before the LORD could save your father from a bottomless pit of disappointment and self-loathing.  As Paul said of his spiritual children, “For what [is] our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? [Are] not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?” (1Th 2:19 AV)  So, thank you Nathan, Zack, and Joshua!  Thank you, Rebecca, Stephanie, and Emily.  Thank you, Kaitlyn, Titus, Remington, Chloe, Jude, and Kaymarie! You are my defense against the attacks of someone who seeks my downfall. Thank you!

Faith In The Future Dictates The Present

“Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:” (Heb 12:28 AV)

 How pertinent is this?  With wars all around us and a world that seems out of control, the knowledge our kingdom is not of this world and cannot be removed is extremely comforting.  This world is not our home.  We are just passing through.  We know eternity cannot be compared to what we are seeing today.  They are diametrically opposed.  The world is full of sin and wickedness.  The world is full of unregenerate people and saints who struggle with the old man.  There will always be problems until Jesus returns and transforms the creation into a place of absolute perfection.  Knowing this is our future, our beloved Apostle encourages us to have grace and serve God with reverence and godly fear.  When I read this, I was struck with the patience, grace, and faithfulness of the verse.  It all hinges on our perception of the future.  The more real eternity is to us, the more patience, grace, and fortitude we will have.

There have been times when knowing what the future held helped me get through very hard times.  The most recent is Lisa’s cancer.  When we received the initial diagnosis, our mind automatically went to the mortality rate of the diagnosis.  You read all you can about the disease and always think the worst.  Even though the doctors tried to encourage us, we simply did not hear their words.  We heard cancer and we heard incurable.  Many thoughts raced through my head.  Even today, when she has a symptom, it is always seen through the eyes of cancer.  When she has a cough, I cannot help but think the cancer has gone to her lungs.  When she has a backache, I cannot help but think the tumor on her intestine has come back.  When she rubs her tummy, I think the same.  This is utter foolishness!  None of these things are true. But the mind goes there anyway.  So, how do I cope?  The most helpful thought that comes to mind is eternity.  It is mind-blowing!  Do you realize that once we are in heaven, we can never be parted from those whom we love?  This, to me, is a truly amazing thought.  Lisa and I will be forever together.  Yes, I know; all you theologians.  We will no longer be husband and wife.  What we will have is a relationship that will last an eternity.  It is the knowledge that we will never be parted that gives me comfort through the possibilities that may await us.

What a comforting verse the LORD has provided today!  There is no reason to be agitated.  There is no reason to be upset.  There is no reason peace should not reign in our hearts.  There is no reason we should give up hope and wait out the clock.  There is no reason we should be impatient with the Lost.  There is no reason we should pursue sin because Jesus is coming back and what difference would it make anyway?  Eternity will be here when God says it will.  It will be here quicker than we think.  Time is running out.  Time is limited.  Even if He tarries for a few more centuries, our lives are still but a vapor.  The clock will strike midnight quicker than we think.  It is with this in mind we need to be steadfast, full of grace, and fear God as though we could meet Him today.

Wisest Words We Need

“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver. As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear.” (Pr 25:11-12 AV)

We often use verse eleven as a stand-alone.  We encourage the wise use of the tongue.  There are helpful words.  There are neutral words.  There are hurtful words.  If the words are fit, they are like gold and silver.  Gold and silver are great to look at.  Especially when you have gold surrounded by pure silver.  But what really turns the head is the value one places on such a thing.  Beauty here is not merely in appearance, but value.  Words fitly spoken are held in great value to those who hear them.  Add to this truth the statement that follows, and the truth becomes even deeper.  The words spoken are specific ones.  They are not words of flattery or affirmation.  They are not words of encouragement or praise.  These words are words of reproof to the ear of someone who is willing to hear them.  Words of reproof may at first be uncomfortable.  Yet, for someone who wants to do the right thing and has the humility to match, words of reproof are like golden apples framed in pure silver.

Note also that the reprover has to be wise.  An unwise reprover will not choose his words wisely.  And unwise reprover will not consider his own faults.  An unwise reprover will not be sensitive to timing or environment.  He will be blunt and often at the worst time.  He will come off as condescending.  The unwise reprover will not think his words all the way through.  He will not weigh the harshness of the reproof against that which he is trying to accomplish.  Compassion and patience will not be his strength.  He will reprove dispassionately and only because he is in the right.  For the words of the reprover to be of great value, the one offering advice must do so wisely.

There have been special men in my life who were wise reprovers.  They invested their time in me so when these words came, compassion, love, and genuine concern were behind their words.  There were kind and honest words from men who had life experiences I did not have.  There were words of challenge when I needed to hear them.  There was one time a colleague of mine asked me a hard question.  He did so out of frustration with me.  But his words did not fall on deaf ears.  Those words changed the trajectory of my ministry and life.  Praise the LORD for men who are not afraid to say what needs to be said, but also have the wisdom to do it right. 

No, You're Not Fine

“Will he delight himself in the Almighty? will he always call upon God?” (Job 27:10 AV)

 Job is speaking here of the hypocrite.  His friends suggest that Job was one.  Yet, the proof that he isn’t a hypocrite would not call on God and cry in his bitterness to God if he lost everything.  In other words, a hypocrites relationship with God does not change even though life is adverse.  When we think of hypocrisy in terms of one’s relationship with God we usually think the opposite.  We think of a hypocrite going to the LORD only when he or she needs Him the most.  Yet this is not always true.  When we need Him the most, we are often at the point of repentance.  Or, we are in sire straights and cry out by faith for His intervention.  The hypocrite will remain consistent.  He or she will not change regardless of his or her situation.  If they do not regularly converse with God, hardship probably will not change that.  They give the impression they are close to God.  Yet, circumstances produce no change.  There is no depth there.  There is no connection.  This was Job’s point.  His friends accused him of hypocrisy because they believed he was tormented in the spirit even though they thought he was normally at ease in his sin.  To them, this made Job a hypocrite.  Just the opposite is true.

Have you ever met someone whose normal response to adversity is, “I’m fine”?  it doesn’t matter what has happened.  They will simply say, “I’m fine”.  “I’m fine, I’m fine”.  No, you’re not fine!  Pride is usually the problem.  Those who will not internalize their issues and cry out for help are too proud to do so.  It is one thing to tell other people that you are fine when you are not.  There may be reasons for doing so.  It is quite another to tell God that you are fine when you are not.  Others may tire of your complaints.  They may not know how to fix your issue.  They may not understand what it is like to go through your type of trial.  They may have too many trials of their own.  Continuously bringing it up to others may make you feel worse and not better.  So, we keep it in and never tell another.  God is different.  He can take as big a burden as you can bring.  He understands it all.  After all, He is the one who caused or allowed it to begin with.  To tell God you’re fine when you are not, or worse, never go to Him when you are not fine, is hypocrisy.  To pretend you are something when you are not that something is the very definition of hypocrisy.

Job’s friends thought he was a ‘convenient saint’.  That is, he went to God only when it was convenient.  They thought his cries to God were a manifestation of hypocrisy.  They thought only a hypocrite goes to God when he needs Him the most.  Not so!  When the Holy Spirit convicted me of my sin and doom, I did not remain quiet.  I cried out.  When I was convicted of the horribleness of the sins of my youth, I sat at the bedside sobbing like a baby seeking a holy God’s forgiveness.  When my wife lay in a hospital bed and wanted nothing to do with me, I came home a cried in agony because I thought I had lost her.  Praise the LORD Job’s friends did not show up at my door that Saturday evening.  They would have called me a hypocrite because I rarely show that depth of emotion when praying to God.  What they didn’t understand was that depth of emotion is just the opposite.  I was not fine.  I was never fine.  When God pushes you to your limit and you are not fine, you are not being hypocritical to let it all out and leave it with God.  You are just the opposite.

Happy Thanksgiving

“Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.” (Ps 100:4-5 AV)

 You had to know this one was coming!  Happy Thanksgiving!  Today is the day in which we slow down enough to list our blessings from a loving and gracious God.  Something we should be doing all year.  God is good.  All the time.  He has showered us with blessings too numerous to count.  The biggest of all is salvation in Jesus Christ.  The blessing to have one’s sins absolved is something I will never get used to.  Divine forgiveness is something that makes no sense.  Not when one compares all that he or she has done and will do contrary to the holy law of a loving God.  We deserve the pits of hell for what we have done and will do.  Yet, in Christ, we have eternal forgiveness.  But, God’s blessings don’t end there.  Rather, that is from where all blessings flow.

Because Jesus saved me, I have a wife who loves Him and serves Him with every ounce she has in her bones.  She loves God with all her heart.  She prays faithfully for me, others, her family, and her church.  She is disciplined to stay in her Bible and listen to the Holy Spirit of God as she walks intimately with the Father.  She has been a perfect wife and mother to our three sons.  She is an amazing person with a sense of humor that vanquishes any semblance of a bad day.  She is brilliant.  She is the most perfect person God ever created.  And, for some reason, the LORD decided to bless me with her.

The LORD has given three amazing sons.  Each serves the LORD in the manner in which He has called them.  One serves as a Senior Pastor in Tennessee.  Another serves as a missionary in Brazil.  And the third works very hard as a caregiver to a very ill wife while battling his own serious illness.  These three men have married very godly wives who are a jewel in our crown.  They love the LORD and reflect that love back towards their families and friends.

The LORD has blessed me with six wonderful grandchildren.  They are starting to grow and several have made professions of faith in Christ.  What a privilege to watch Dad baptize their own child.  Something many families do not experience.  These young people will grow up to dedicate their lives to service for our King!

Space hinders me from thanking God for our church and her people.  I am thankful for my soul-winning partner who has taught me so much.  I am thankful for the ministry and all the challenges it brings.  The young men who serve with me are astounding.  My Associate Pastor is a godsend.  All the deacons with whom I have served over the years are the most godly of all men.  Their wives surpass even their husbands.

Most of all, I am thankful for the fellowship I can have with the Father through His Spirit and His word.  What an amazing ride I have had.  And it will only get better.  Praise the LORD for His goodness to the children of men.  What a wonderful Savior is Jesus Christ our LORD!

Bountiful Eye

“He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor.” (Pr 22:9 AV)

A great definition of a bountiful eye.  When we think of a bountiful eye, we generally think of someone who has amassed wealth.  We usually think of a bountiful eye as a vision of what one can accrue.  Solomon disagrees.  As the wealthiest of all sovereigns at the time, he defines a bountiful eye as the one who shares what he has with others.  Note also that he gives of, and not all of, his bread to the poor.  In other words, the one with a bountiful eye has limits on what he thinks he needs.  He gives from his bread because he knows he doesn’t need all that he has.  He shares with those who have much less and because his eye is bountiful, he is looking for an opportunity to do just that.  The bountiful eye is the eye that sees other’s needs before he sees an opportunity for profit.  The bountiful eye is the eye that knows he has been blessed and he is obligated to share what he has with those who have very little.

When I think of someone with a bountiful eye, I think of my mother and father-in-law.  The times we have gone out to eat and covered our check as well as theirs are very few.  Over thirty-six years of knowing them, it has to be less than a dozen times.  And, their generosity doesn’t stop with us.  I cannot count the times when the extended family met for one reason or another.  Weddings, funerals, family reunions, etc.  When we got together and ordered out, usually it was my in-laws that paid for it.  If we met at a restaurant, it was Larry who pulled out his wallet.  After my son was married, we sat at a Mexican restaurant.  There was my family of five, my son’s new in-laws and their best friend, my wife’s aunts and uncles, and there may have been one or two more.  We took up a room.  When the checks started to come, he took them all.  He paid several hundred dollars that day.  That is Larry.  The most generous person I know.  And, the LORD has blessed them for their generosity.  They are not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination.  Not even close.  They are the typical middle of middle-class people.  Both of them learned to grow up on very little, so when the LORD blessed them, it wasn’t hard to share.  They were used to it.  Being bountiful is their nature.

Tomorrow, we will celebrate the goodness and faithfulness of God.  He has rained nourishment on the just and the unjust.  Showers of blessings are all around us regardless of how full our bank accounts are.  We are, of all people, the most blessed.  Being thankful is not limited to words spoken once a year.  True gratefulness shares what one has with those who have not.  The bountiful eye does not hoard.  It disperses.  The bountiful eye sees there are others who cannot be bountiful and gives of his excess.  May we learn to have a bountiful eye toward those who are less fortunate.  May we seek to be as much of a blessing to those who need it as the LORD has been to us.

Hope Is Inevitable

“For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.” (Job 14:7-9 AV)

 Here is another excited utterance from Job.  He doesn’t realize just how helpful these words are.  What follows these words are words of hopelessness.  If Job had stopped and listened to what he had just said, he could have begun the healing process from all the loss he suffered.  He observes a tree that is hewn down.  If enough stump is left, the tree can recover and grow even mightier than it was before.  This is exactly what happened with Job.  The LORD blessed him ten times over.  When the trial was over and Satan was defeated, God blessed Job for his faithfulness and integrity even though he was under great stress.  Job is making the point that it doesn’t take much.  All it does is take a scent of water and not a deluge for the hewn tree to show signs of life.  If he would only believe his own words!  Hope is important.  Hope is necessary.  Hope is the source that pumps life into a dire situation.  Without hope, there is no point.  A willingness to look for, recognize, and internalize hope is the key.  There is hope, but we have to be willing to see it and hang on to it.

So, to give a little sunshine to my wife, I planted a hydrangea bush in the front yard.  The first one was a gift from one of our members.  This member had lost his mother and treated my wife as his adopted mom.  So, one Mother’s Day, he got her a hydrangea plant.  We were able to keep it alive for several years and I got the idea to plant it outside.  Little did I know it wasn’t meant to last a winter.  However, even outside it lasted for a few years.  Then I couldn’t resurrect it anymore.  It gave up the ghost.  Or, at the very least, it wasn’t going to grow into a bush.  It wasn’t meant to.  So, this past spring I bought a larger bush.  It was about a foot high and a little more than a foot wide.  This summer was a very dry one.  My poor bush didn’t do well.  I couldn’t keep it watered enough.  The ground was as hard a cement and any water I poured in the poor creature never made it deep enough.  However, being the ignorant gardener that I am, never mulched it.  I learned that mulch will protect your plants and help the ground retain water.  This fall I mulched that pathetic little bush.  That seemed to help quite a bit and the leaves were not burning out from direct sunlight nearly as easily.  Now we are getting prepared for winter.  Having dumped mulch on the bush, I will wait it out.  But I am certain this little guy is going to make it.  He has survived the first year of his life with someone who was never born with a green thumb and he just might overcome!  At least that is the hope.

As long as God is on the throne, there is always hope.  Never doubt that!  Just like my bush outside, as long as it's in the ground and as long as I water it from time to time, there is hope.  This reminds me of “Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but [when] the desire cometh, [it is] a tree of life.” (Pr 13:12 AV)  Hope is a choice.  Just like faith.  The indications are always there.  God has never changed.  His love is never in doubt.  His wisdom and providence have never wavered.  We see circumstances differently.  We see them as something that happens to us.  In reality, circumstances are the manifestation of God’s plan for us and in that plan, He loves us, guides us, increases us, and will eventually call us home.  Hope is missing because the one who needs it is the one who defers it.  Meditate upon the person of God.  Look for His hand.  It is there.  Hope thou in God!

Obedience is Maintenance

“He that keepeth the commandment keepeth his own soul; but he that despiseth his ways shall die.” (Pr 19:16 AV)

Pretty simple to understand.   No mystery here.  Obedience is not hard to understand.  It is hard to do.  Obedience is our hardest challenge.  One would think faith would be the hardest.  But faith is often hoisted upon us without our choice in the matter.  Not always.  But very frequently.  We are diagnosed with a serious illness and there is nothing we can do but trust.  Job comes to mind.  A man whose life was turned upside down.  He had no choice but to trust.  When it comes to obedience, we are confronted with that choice a multitude of times on any given day.  From the time we awake until the time we lie down to slumber, our moments are filled with choices of right and wrong.  This free-will thing stinks!  We are tempted on every side.  We are commanded to make a choice.  We have no option but to choose between what God wants and what the flesh wants.  The world and the devil give their two cents.  They put a choice out there for us to make.  What a pain!  The thing is, obedience, among other things, should be considered as stewardship.  Hence the word ‘…keepeth…’ above.

Maintenance is not my hobby.  I think it is boring and I learn nothing new.  It is kind of funny because that is one job I had for seven or so years.  I had a job as a maintenance mechanic for a small office building.  My employer later added two more buildings.  My job was basically a glorified janitor who made minor repairs to equipment and the buildings.  Simple plumbing and HVAC repairs were part of my job.  I prayed for a breakdown or two on any given day.  If these didn’t happen, it was cleaning restrooms, vacuuming carpet, and moping floors for me all day long.  Changing blown-out lightbulbs was also on the list of things to do.  One job that I despised was polishing the brass handrails.  It didn’t matter how much time you spent polishing the brass, within a few short minutes, it needed it again.  I hated it.  My boss would come around every now and again to inspect my work.  Invariably, he would look at the brass handrails.  Because one touch from a sweaty or oily hand marred the handrails, he was under the impression I never polished them.  I hated maintenance.  But maintenance is what kept the building functional and presentable.

Obedience is often the same thing.  Yes, obedience is the means by which we please the Master.  It is a way to reflect the holiness of the law by following it.  But obedience is also about stewardship.  The LORD has created us to be a certain way.  He has designed His creation to operate within certain parameters.  When we deviate from them, we cause harm to what He has created.  Therefore, conforming to the laws and commandments which govern His creation is an exercise in responsible stewardship.  Therefore, whoever keeps His commandments also keeps his own soul.  He maintains the life God intended for him or her to have.  To fail to keep His commandments means we fail to maintain the life and purpose which He has graciously granted.

No Win

“For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment.” (Job 9:32 AV)

You got that right, Job!  I know I have stated this before, but in dramatic times of stress, we tend to utter things that are very true and extremely pertinent, yet we do not realize what we have just said.  Just a few verses earlier, Job stated God is stronger than he so to go to Him and demand an answer would not work.  He also admitted God is infinitely wiser than he and to seek a defense from God would be to wrestle with an intellectual giant.  His suggested application in the verse above and the one to which I just referred is, God is God and there is nothing we can do about His sovereign plan.  He does not owe us an explanation and our best course of action is to give God the benefit of the doubt and yield to the circumstances of life which He deems best.

My father was a brilliant man.  He earned two Masters degrees and was close to earning a doctorate.  He literally was a rocket scientist for the US Army.  He and my brother completely rewrote the computer system for a major university’s school of dentistry.  My father subscribed to Time/Life magazine and had a significant library.  One of his collections was a DIY home repair and remodel collection.  They would send you a book every month or so.  These books covered everything from plumbing and electrical to landscaping and home remodeling.  It was by these books that he completely remodeled a 175-year-old farmhouse from top to bottom.  As a young college-aged man, he wanted to learn how to play the guitar.  He never took lessons.  He read some books and learned to play extremely proficiently.  He was no rock star, but he was a professional who was hired out for several gigs.  If there was such a thing, my father was a true Renaissance man.  There was little he could not do if he grabbed a book and read about it.  He was an accomplished outdoorsman, a stamp collector, and a bit of an artist.  He towered above us not because he was a particularly large or muscular man, but because he was a giant on the inside.

I share all this with you so that you can understand how futile it was to argue anything with him.  As a child or teenager; even as a young adult; trying to prove him wrong was a task greater than slaying Goliath.  He knew much about everything.  His reference point when approaching him for an intellectual duel was, “I’m right, you’re wrong.  What was it you wanted to talk about?”  As a young person, that was really frustrating.  Not because he was arrogant.  Rather, because his statement was a true one.  Trying to bout in the arena of wits with my father was not a smart move.  It was best to ask a question, hear the answer, and move on.

This is what happens when we lock horns with God.  We lose!  At least when I got older and smarter, I could hold my own with my Dad.  But never with God.  He is infinitely wiser and all-powerful.  The best thing we can do is humbly ask for insight while we also accept His perfect will.  Giving God the benefit of the doubt is the smartest tack here.  Demanding of God anything is a fool’s errand.  Job had to work out all his emotions.  So let’s take it easy on him.  He has more on his plate than most will ever have.  The statement above was the answer to his issue.  It just took him a while to accept that.  When he did, the LORD changed his situation.  May we learn to do the same.

Where Could I Go, Oh Where Could I Go?

“I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause: Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number:” (Job 5:8-9 AV)

 It matters not who or why these words were uttered.  They are true no matter the situation.  There is no promise implied.  Just because the speaker commits his cause unto our God who does unsearchable and marvelous things does not mean that in every situation He will.  The speaker is trying to encourage Job, albeit with the wrong application, to seek God’s face who can and often does marvelous and unsearchable things.  Implied in his statement is the promise of forgiveness and restoration if Job would simply confess his sin.  The problem was, that there was no sin for Job to confess.  This doesn’t change the truth stated above.  This is true throughout the Book of Job.  Much truth is wrongly applied.  The hope of the verse above is that God, who often does do unsearchable and marvelous things without number just may do that for you.  There really is no other place we can go.  To God, we must go with all of our troubles and all of our needs.  He alone can intervene when nothing else helps.

We are all faced with giants.  Some of our own making.  Some of the devil’s.  Some from the mind of God with the intent to build our faith or character.  Some of these giants seem insurmountable.  We are overwhelmed because we cannot see the way out.  We are asked to go through things we do not think are possible.  That is certainly how Job felt.  He wished the LORD would take his life.  He could not figure out why the LORD would cause or allow what had happened to him.  He wanted peace of soul and he knew eternity was the only way he could get it.  Or, at least that is what he thought.  Eliaphaz uttered words of truth without knowing just how right he was.  When the trial was over, God blessed Job ten times over.  God granted Job ten more children plus his daughters who survived the severe weather.  His material wealth was ten times what it was before the invasion.  God did unsearchable and marvelous things without number.  Even without Job confessing a thing.

The point to be made here is not that if we seek God, we are guaranteed He will do marvelous and unsearchable things without number in a way that we hope for.  Rather, He is capable of doing such a thing if it is part of His perfect will.  I have been doing this pastoring thing for quite some time and I have noticed a trend among those who are very ill.  We all pray that God would remove the disease entirely.  Which He is more than capable of doing.  But more times than not, He doesn’t.  He may prolong someone’s life and reduce the suffering that would be normal for such a case, but He may not remove it completely.  Paul can testify to this truth.  He prayed three times that a thorn in the flesh be removed, but God did not.  What does happen is exactly what Paul observed.  It was in his weakness he discovered just how strong God is.  God may not remove completely that which ails you.  But He is far more capable of carrying you through it so that you may know the God whom you claim to love much more intimately.  To whom are we going to go to if not God?  He alone does marvelous and unsearchable things.  And that without number.  We may not be able to see it all.  Perhaps we will never know just how much God does for us.  But He does.  And, He is worthy to be sought after and to whom we should praise.

One Has To Wonder

“Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.” (Job 1:10 AV)

One wonders how much of a hedge the LORD has around us and how our lives would be if it wasn’t there.  Mind you, Job was the greatest man in the East.  He was a man who feared God and eschewed evil.  If anyone deserved a hedge, it was Job.  This explains Job’s reaction to his trials.  He simply could not find a cause so great as to give reason for what he suffered.  When I read this, I was struck with the thought that God does hedge us in.  If we are saved then we are a child of His and He grants a layer of protection to those whom He loves.  Even the Apostle Paul tells us that we will not suffer above what we are able.  God will make a way of escape that we might be able to bear it.  That means things could be to a point that we couldn’t bear it.  God does build a hedge around all of us.  Until it is removed, we may not even notice it.  Job certainly didn’t.

Hedges as spoken of in the word of God were thorny hedges.  They were designed to be a deterrent to predators or pests which might enter a vineyard or pasture.  The thorns were meant to inflict pain so the rodent or fox would not invade.  A hedge was also designed to keep in that which needed protection.  The thorns that inflicted pain on the threat also inflicted pain on the one seeking to escape.  This hedge is for our benefit.  This hedge is also a huge blessing.  Many years ago, we lived in an inner-city neighborhood.  The apartment we rented came with a fenced-in yard.  This fenced-in yard had privacy stripping installed.  My sons could not look out and anyone outside of the fence could not look in.  It was funny.  You would think my sons would be angry at having to play in a fenced-in yard.  You would think they would have complained about the lack of freedom to explore the neighborhood on their bikes.  But they never complained one time.  It was a very large yard.  There was plenty of room to play a little football, chip-and-putt, or a whole host of things.  As long as they were inside the fence, they were safe.  They knew it and never complained.  The thing was, they trusted their parent’s judgment.  They did not need to see every threat to believe our intentions were prudent, honorable, and motivated by love.  They were seldom aware of specific threats and they didn’t need to be.  They were so accustomed to the fence that they hardly noticed the restrictions it placed on them.

I cannot imagine what my son’s adolescence would have been like if that fence came down.  With the drug dealers, strange women, and drunks that made our neighborhood their home, only the LORD knows what their lives might have been without that hedge.  They certainly never knew.  This begs the question which we asked at the beginning.  How much does the LORD protect us from which we are completely unaware?   Just because we cannot see what lurks out there does not suggest a hedge is not there.  It is.  The LORD has protected us from things which our minds cannot comprehend.  The proper response would be gratitude.  We should be thankful for the hedge God has provided and not test the limits of it.  We should not take for granted the wall of protection and provision that the LORD provides and seek to stay well within its limits.  Praise the LORD for His lovingkindness that provides a blanket of protection, provision, and providence.  Praise be to Him who watches over us with paternal love which cannot be fully understood!  Praise be to God our Father.

He Took It All

“They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.” (Mt 27:34 AV)

When offered relief, the LORD would not take it.  He refused the vinegar for two reasons.  The Hebrews were not permitted by Old Testament law to partake of the vine of the Gentiles, especially if it was alcoholic.  Secondly, vinegar with bitter herbs was a pain killer.  The Roman soldiers carried this drink with them.  It was part of their compensation and equipment allotment.  If they were wounded in battle, they had this drink to ease their suffering.  It was bitter lest they drank it recreationally.  The herbs also helped with inflammation.  Jesus was offered this battle-proven drink by the Roman soldiers as a natural act of compassion.  Some writers suggest they offered this drink to Jesus to prolong His life and thus add to His suffering.  Not so.  They had compassion and offered Jesus a bit of a respite from the pain that He was suffering.  That pain was the object of the wrath of God on His Son for the sins of mankind.  In other words, even in dying, Jesus would have no part in easing that suffering for to do so would be to ease the wrath from the Father which we deserved.  In short, even in dying, the love of Christ welcomed the full wrath of the Father while refusing any and all relief.

Back in the old days, an orphaned boy was caught stealing several apples from the grocer’s front display.  In those days, the punishment for theft was rather severe.  Back in those days, there was no consideration for a person’s age or constitution.  The punishment for theft was the stocks for three days without food or water, and flogging for thirty minutes each day.  This young boy was not even in his teens.  The law did not bend.  The judge, no matter his feelings, was forced by law to sentence this very young boy to a lashing that even some adults would not survive.  This young boy’s brother stepped in.  He stood before the judge and townsfolk and pleaded for his brother’s life.  They agreed the law could not be broken.  No matter how much he begged, they would not bend.  Then, he offered himself as the object of their justice.  The shop owner was consulted.  He agreed.  His only stipulation is the full sentence be carried out and his younger brother be required to witness such justice.  The sentence commenced.  The first day went by and this boy took the sentence like a strong adult man would do.  The second day came and it was much harder.  But, he was able to endure.  When the third day came, he was barely conscious.  At the conclusion of the sentence, they readied the lashes.  As the executioner raised the lash, the shop owner cried out, “It is enough!  It is enough!”  The judge asked if he was sure.  He confirmed he was.  But then the boy spoke up. “No!  Please take the thirty minutes lashing the law demands.  I will not accept anything else.”  They pleaded with the boy.  He refused.  So, within an inch of his life, he received the full sentence.  They asked him why he did not take the relief offered.  To which he said, “I didn’t want anyone to come back and say we went too easy on him.  I needed the shop owner, the judge, and all the people to be satisfied the full extent of the law was fulfilled.”

This is what Jesus did for us.  He was offered a pain reliever.  He was offered respite.  He was offered a drop of comfort amid a cruel death.  But He refused.  Why?  Because the full wrath of the Father had to rest upon Him.  If it had not, there would still remain wrath for the sinner.  Not even a droplet of wrath exists for the sinner who repents because Jesus took it all!  Every last bit of it.  There is no more eternal wrath stored up to any degree for the child of God.  When offered a small breather, Jesus said no.  He did this because He loves those who love Him.  He did this in His infinite compassion for all those who deserve to suffer at the hand of a righteous judge.  Praise be to our Savior who took it all that we might have eternal peace with the Father.

No Doze

“And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?” (Mt 26:40 AV)

One hour is not a long time.  It seems the LORD is a bit upset with His three closest disciples because they could not stay awake for one hour while Jesus went apart to pray.  We can criticize these men, but before we do, we should consider if the same would happen to us.  They had shared a large Passover meal.  They hiked out from their meeting place to the garden of Gethsemane.  That would have been several miles.  It was late at night.  Personally, I have a hard time staying awake later than about 9:30.  If the LORD asked me to stay awake for one hour while attempting silent prayer that late at night, I don’t think I could do it.  Regardless of what we think the disciples were capable of doing, the LORD expected them to stay awake for at least one hour in prayer with and for Him.  Considering what was about to happen, this doesn’t seem unreasonable to say the least.

When we were children, my mother had this tradition that still brings back fond memories.  On New Year's Eve, we would go to be at our normal time.  While we slept, my mom would put out chips, pretzels, dip, and soda.  Those of us in high school would stay up until midnight.  But those of us younger would be in our beds, sleeping.  Then at about fifteen minutes before midnight, my Mom would come wake us all up.  It didn’t take long for the cobwebs to clear.  We dove into the snack table.  We grabbed a cup of orange soda and a plate of chips and dip.  Then we sat around the T.V. to watch the ball drop in Times Square.  We could stay up after midnight for about thirty minutes, then off to bed we went.  If we were particularly crafty, we would take our time eating our plates and stay up a bit longer.  The thing was, if we wanted to stay up, sleep was not an issue.  It was my mom who made us go to bed.  As children, we wanted to conquer the necessity for sleep.  We were big kids if we could stay up all night.  We will stay up for that which we deem important.

The point is not so much a lack of sleep as a dedication which the LORD has every right to expect.  Weariness is no excuse.  At least it wasn’t for Jesus.  We succumb too quickly to the demands of the flesh.  We quit way too early.  We get a bit fatigued and we think we cannot go on any longer.  If we only knew how much gas was still in the tank.  Jesus did not rebuke them for being tired.  In fact, the third time He returns and finds them sleeping, He tells them to sleep on.  Resting is necessary.  The older I get, the less energy I have.  The older I get, the less I can accomplish.  But I can stay awake.  I can do all that I can do.  There is no excuse for living a saintly life with the gas peddle only slightly depressed.  Jesus wants us to stay awake.  He wants us to labor regardless of how tired we may feel.  If we do not, then we must expect a rebuke from His holy lips.