Why Do The Rebellious Seem To Prosper?

Why Do The Rebellious Seem To Prosper?

Reading:  Job 24 - 30
My Verse:  "“There are those who rebel against the light, who do not know its ways or stay in its paths. . . . Yet, God prolongs the life of the mighty by his power . . . He gives them security and they are supported . . . They are exalted a little while, then are gone . . ." (24: 13, 22- 24).

This is an especially poignant chapter.  Job cries out against those that deny You LORD God, those that deny You and yet  prosper and flourish!

I often wonder about this, LORD God.  I just watched the movie Valkyrie.  It was about this failed plot to assassinate Hitler.  The plotters wanted so much to stop the evil, and yet all died in the attempt.  There were 15 such attempts on Hitler's life and yet each failed and Hitler continued on with his evil regime.  He was mighty in power and it seems that You prolonged his life.  One can't help but wonder why?

Like Hitler we have seen many evil men and women throughout history live long lives during which they have done untold horrors to their fellow man.

We also see wealthy, powerful people deny You and yet appear secure and well supported by those that surround them.  They even appear to be "good" through their philanthropic activities.

And many of these people not only flourish but  are often exalted by others. Many aspire to be as "successful".

But, we need to ever keep in mind the words that follow  "a little while then are gone . . ."

All those that deny You LORD God will meet the same awful, despairing, never ending banishment from Your presence.  Yes, they may be having a "good" time while here on this earth but they will dearly pay.

They are "condemned!"  "but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God"  (John 3:18).

They will suffer Your wrath, LORD God Almighty!  " whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him" (John 3:36).

Those that deny You, LORD God may as well enjoy themselves as well as they might however empty their pursuits, for that is all the "happiness" they will ever know.  What they face in eternity is dreadful.

Our lives here are really so very short in comparison to eternity.  "Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow" (Psalm 144:4).

LORD God, help me to ever be reminded that I am an eternal being and I will stand before You once I pass from this place.  For when it comes right down to it, that is all that matters - how we respond to Jesus.

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

Crying Out To God!

A Plaintive Cry

Job 17 - 23
My Verse:  "Oh that I knew where I might find Him!  That I might come near to
 His seat" (23:3)!

Sometimes we do feel so very alone.  There are times when You, LORD God seem far away or just not there at all!  Job is in that place here.  He is crying out to his LORD and one hears the pain and agony in this plaintive cry.  We hear it because we recognize and know that great need Job expresses in his cry to You, LORD God!

Job then says, "Behold, I go forward, but he is not there, and backward, but I do not perceive him; on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him; he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him" (23:8,9).  We feel that we are trying all that we know to do to reach You, LORD God during these times of great struggle.  And yet, like Job we are unable to find You, we cannot see You, we do not feel Your presence!

And yet through all his misery; though the doubts plague him, the questions rise up, his friends badger him and he is miserable beyond measure - Job knows in the very depths of his heart that You are there.  He knows that You mean only good for him

"But He knows the way that I take; when He has tried me, I shall come out as gold.
My foot has held fast to His steps; I have kept His way and have not turned aside.
I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my portion of food.
But He is unchangeable, and who can turn Him back? What He desires, that He does.
For He will complete what He appoints for me, and many such things are in His mind" (23:10-14).

This brings to mind a news clip I saw on the ravages happening in Africa.  A little girl of about 7 was being questioned.  She was terribly distraught as she had lost her whole family.  But this little girl did an amazing thing.  Though the tears were flowing and her heart was breaking she burst into this prayer to You, LORD God.  She cried out to You that she knew You were always there and You, and You alone would take care of her.  The words she uttered were wise way beyond her years and they made me weep.  Her simple, steadfast and powerful cry to You was so incredibly moving!  Then with the tears still steaming down her face she smiled this most beautiful smile into the camera!

Oh Lord God to have that kind of grit!  The seeming silences are for Your purposes.  Though I may doubt and question I must ever look to You, for You are always there.

  "I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me" (Psalm 57:2).

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

Miserable Comforters!

Reading:  Job 8 - 16
My Verse: ""I have heard many such things; miserable comforters are you all" (16:2).

Job's friends started off correctly. First they came to him.  Then they sat with him silently for several days.  They were mourning with him.  They were showing they cared simply by being there with him.  They were quiet.  But then they decided they needed to attach blame somewhere for what had happened.  They decided that Job had to have done something terribly wrong for God to allow these awful tragedies to fall upon him.  They thought if they could convince Job to "confess" these wrongs God would stop the punishment.  They presumed, in their arrogance that they were being "helpful."

I read of a couple that suffered the tragic loss of a child.  They said the best thing people did was to simply show up to give them quiet condolences, quiet company.  They received many cards that expressed simple sorrow for the tragic loss and that their thoughts were with the couple.  No one tried to explain away the loss.  It was enough to know they cared.

I distinctly remember my reaction to the behavior of a pastor when we lost my brother and sister.  I was standing there looking at their bodies in a kind of shock as they lay there on the ground after having been pulled from the bottom of the lake.  Pastor Don came over, he knelt down on the ground by them and simply wept. I remember being somewhat astonished.  It was not until years later that I understood his behavior.  He did not try to explain away the tragedy.  He just wept at the awfulness of it for it was an awful thing.

Oh, LORD God, there is so very little that we understand.  Job, in the deepest depths of misery would hang onto his faith in You, " Though He slay me, yet will I have faith in Him!" (13:15).

I ran across an article on this famous lady.  She spoke of why she married her husband.  She said she saw in him that he had what she called "stick to it grit."  She said she knew he would stick with her come what may.  This is definitely the kind of "grit" Job has!

"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.." (Isaiah 55:9).

"The LORD Almighty has sworn, "Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will happen" (Isaiah 14:24).

"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known"(1 Corinthians 13:12).

I cannot presume to know the why of great sorrow.  I can only, like Job, hold onto the surety of Your great love , LORD God.  Help me to do that.

I pray for wisdom to be humble and  empathetic when comforting someone during a tragedy.

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

Why Me?

Reading:  Job 4 - 7
My Verse:  "What is man that You should magnify him and think him important?  And that You should set Your Mind upon him?  And that You should visit him every morning and try him every moment?" (7:17,18).

That is the question!  Why, LORD do You bother with me?  I am but one amongst the millions of people on this earth.  And yet, I know that you attend to me.  Why me?

I knew even as a very little girl that You were there.  I sensed You.  I knew there was so much more to my world than what I saw with my eyes, what I touched with my hands, and what I heard with my ears.  As I grew  that sense only became heightened as I observed the people around me, especially the adults.  I often wondered why people behaved the way that they did?  All these questions crowded my mind.  Who are we?  What are we?  What is this world that we are in?

When I first started hearing Your Word my inner self immediately recognized this as truth.  It was like this was what I had been vaguely aware of - You, LORD God.  You the Creator God.  You the "Watcher and Keeper" of me!  Wow!

The thing about being in severe circumstances, as Job was here, we are forced to ask the very hard questions.  We are forced to take a good hard look at ourselves.  And this You tell us to do.  "Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD" (Lamentations 3:40).

Thank You, LORD God for this lesson.  Thank You that You are a personal God.  Thank You that You do not let us wander in complete oblivion and ignorance without trying to bring us to You.  Even  those that continually ignore Your reaching out, still, as long as they have life, they have that chance to turn to You.

Oh, I pray for those many that still need You.  I pray they would know that wonderful relief - of  coming home to You!

Thank You LORD for - setting Your mind upon each and every person, visiting each and every one every morning, and for trying each of us every moment!

Who am I?  I am one that You pursued!
Why me?  Because You love each and every human born upon this earth!

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

Despair

Reading:  Job 3
My Verse:  "Why is light [of life] given to him who is in misery, and life to the bitter in soul" (3:20)?

Despair is so utterly dark, deep, discouraging and destructive.  Few people escape the experience of this awful emotion at some time in their life.

The Bible tells of us others besides Job who grappled with despair and depression.
     "Cursed be the day on which I was born!" (Jeremiah 20:14)
     "How long will You forget me, O LORD?  Forever?  How long will You hide Your face from me?" (Psalm 13:1)
     "Why are you cast down, Oh my inner self? And why should you moan over me and be disquieted within me?" (Psalm 42:5)

Many great men and women of our recent history suffered depression.  Greats such as Sir Isaac Newton! Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain, . . .
     "I am now the most miserable man living" (Abraham Lincoln)
     "Everyone is a moon and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody." (Mark Twain)

An anonymous quote states.
     "People can live weeks without food, days without water, minutes without oxygen, but not a moment without hope."

And this is the very thing You, LORD God, tell us, You are our Hope!

"When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit" (Psalm 34:17).

"We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed" (2 Corinthians 4:8-9).

"No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it" (2 Corinthians 10:13)

"When I thought, “My foot slips,” your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up. When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul" (Psalm 94:18-19)

This awful emotion was not meant to be.  It is not a good thing that was to be part of Your creation, for all that You created was good.  It is part of the brokenness of our fallen nature.

Thank You, LORD God, for the Hope that You are. (Jeremiah 29:11)
Thank You for Job who shows us that You only are the answer to despair.

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!





   

A Parent's Job Is Never Done!

Reading:  Job 1,2
My Verse:  "And when the days of their feasting were over, Job sent for them to purify and hallow them, and rose up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all.  For Job said , It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed or disowned God in their hearts! Thus did Job at all [such] times" (1:5).

Parenting is such an amazingly wonderful, fulfilling, challenging, enriching, frustrating and yes, painful experience!  Oh, LORD God, I thank You for granting me the gift of parenting, for a gift it truly is!

The whole experience has been one of great wonder.  I have relished every moment of the journey - a journey that will never end while I am on this earth.

It is interesting how this relationship occurs over and over, and yet the experience is so very unique and special for each and every child and parent.  I was ever in total awe as I watched my son develop and grow.  It changed me in so many ways.

Mostly it made me so much more appreciative of You, LORD God!  I realized how much I needed You to guide me through this role of parenting.  The responsibility is so great, so vastly important!

I like this verse because it shows that Job took his role as a parent very seriously.  Even after his children were grown and had households of their own, he felt responsible for them. His concern for their welfare never stopped.

If he thought they may have done wrong "It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed or disowned God in their hearts" he would actually send for them.  He would have them come to his house so he could pray over them, offer up sacrifices for each one.

And he never stopped doing this.  "Thus did job at all [such] times." His children had a tradition of celebrating their birthdays at one another's homes.  It sounds like it was quite a celebration.  "His sons used to go and feast in the house of each on his day (birthday) in turn, and they invited their three sisters to eat and drink with them. And when the days of their feasting were over . . ." (1:4,5).  Seven sons meant this occurred at least seven times throughout the year.
And yet Job sent for them after each event, to pray over them.

Thank You, LORD God for this wonderful example of parenting.  Thank You for showing how very important parenting is and how our role as parents never ends.

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

Exquisitely Beautiful!

Exquisitely Beautiful!

Reading:  Esther 1 - 10
My Verse:  "There were white cotton curtains and violet hangings fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rods and marble pillars, and also couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl and precious stones" (1:6).

The detail here is fascinating!  So many dismiss the Bible, Your Word, LORD God as old archaic literature.  And yet every word is included for our edification.  When I am reading and  something like this speaks to me I wonder, "What am I to learn from this?"  "White cotton curtains and violet hangings . . ." sounds like an exquisitely beautiful room.

I often get upset with myself when shopping as I will be drawn to the very expensive beautiful things.  They just draw me.  I look at the price and am disappointed, because there is no way I can afford that.  Then I am unable to find anything similar of  lesser value that has that quality or beauty!  I can find nothing else that will do!

Oh LORD God, so it should be with all of life.  Being Your child I only want the best and most beautiful of the world.  You, of course, are that most beautiful and exquisite of all that there is!  I would not want to " settle" for anything less than YOU!   No other god or religion will do!

You, the creator God, created this world to be a beautiful thing.  All the creatures, including man were beautiful and "good."  You, LORD God state in the Genesis account six times that Your creation was "good."  In Genesis 1:31 You state this again.  "And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good."

"He has made everything beautiful in its time" (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

"Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth" (Psalm 50:2)

So, You, LORD God are the source of all that is beautiful and fine and wonderful and good!  I need not regret that I like fine things.  I need not regret that I am drawn to that which is beautiful and of high quality because that is who You are!  I can look forward to the day when I will not be sad that I cannot afford something that is very beautiful.  For I will be in Your most holy and beautiful presence!

"One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple" (Psalm 27:4).

Thank You, LORD God for this lesson.  Thank You for telling me that it is okay to be drawn to that which is exquisitely beautiful!

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!

Missing the Mark!

Reading: Nehemiah 7 - 13
My Verse:  " “Did not Solomon king of Israel act treacherously against God and miss the mark on account of such women? Among many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel; yet strange women even caused him to sin [when he was old he turned treacherously away from the Lord to other gods, and God rent his kingdom from him]" (13:26 AMP.)


It was huge what Nehemiah and Ezra were attempting to do in the rebuilding of Jerusalem.  It was not just the physical structures they had to work with but the people themselves.  They had gone so far astray.  They had forgotten Your precepts, LORD God because they quit reading Your Word, they quit holding worship services, and so they were terribly lost!  Like King Solomon they had gone so far astray that they were  missing the mark of what life is truly about!

Oh, LORD God this is so easy to do.  It is so easy to get caught up in our day to day living.  We become enslaved by the "tyranny of the urgent!"  We forget to look up and simply wallow in our self made misery - crying "Woe is me!"

This is not what You want for us!  You tell us over and over to turn to You.

"Draw near to God and he will draw near to you" (James 4:8).
"Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out" (Acts 3:19 ESV).

"Therefore, . . . let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,  looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith" (Hebrews 12:1,2)

You do not expect us to do this blindly.  We are to seek truth, and if we do so You will lead us into Your truth!

"And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart"(NASB) (Jeremiah 29:13).

"Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you" (NASB) (Matthew 7:7).


 "Jesus therefore was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you abide in My word . . . you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:31-32NASB).

Yes, we need to seek and we will find truth and the peace only Your truth can give us.  I pray for those that, like King Solomon and the Israelites that Nehemiah was working with, are missing the mark of Your truth, LORD God!

Ditat Deus - God Enriches!