Ecclesiastes 3: 1 - 8 NKJV
There will be one more empty seat at our table tommorow morning when we gather for our weekly get together. Absent will be our friend, brother and leader Dennis who will be home with family during this season. For along with a time of celebration for he and his wife Shirley came a time of loss as well. For 51 years, definately a season of celebration, Dennis and Shirley have shared their lives together. If there one thing that I am certain, is that in this christian life of ours, that we certainly are not immune from those times of hurt, pain or anguish. For we are told in Ecclesiastes 3 that there will indeed be a season for everything our Lord provides for us. We are not immune in some way from the trials which life will visit upon us. The trouble is, more than a few times when these seasons come we find oursleves asking, "Why, God?" This is nothing more than our human side reacting to the situations we face. We do well to remember that our heavenly Father has created each and every aspect of our being, along with those emotions which at times overtake us. After my mother passed this past year, I found myself asking many of these questions. Why didn't God heal her? Why did He take her from those who loved her? Eventually we may come to the realization, as I did, that our Lords ways are not always our ways and that for everything there is a season. Yes, my mother was a much loved woman who loved Jesus and touched many people, but she was also in pain in her final years. In our Lords loving timing, He relieved her of that discomfort. Who am I to question Gods motives? For it is God who allows the sun to rise on the innocent and the wicked alike.
1Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said: 2“Who is this who darkens counsel By words without knowledge? 3Now aprepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me. 4“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. 5Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the bline upon it? 6To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, 7When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy? 8“Or who shut in the sea with doors, When it burst forth and issued from the womb; 9When I made the clouds its garment, And thick darkness its swaddling band; 10When I fixed My limit for it, And set bars and doors; 11When I said, ‘This far you may come, but no farther, And here your proud waves must stop!’
Job 38: 1 - 11 NKJV
Gods servant Job had lost everything he owned. This man lost his home, wealth and family all in a short span of time. Why? Because satan approached God and challanged Gods support and love for His servant. Why wouldn't Job love and worship his Lord if God had provided such wealth and prosperity for him. Satans thinking that if Jobs prosperity was taken from him that he would curse God to his face turned out to be in error. For despite his condition and circumstances, Job refused to cling to the emotion that God had somehow turned His back on him. Despite Jobs friends playing the devils advocate and questioning Gods decision, Job remained faithful. I look at the story of Job and I see the inner workings of our Lords decision. Now, God could have told satan to pound sand, instead He offered the spirit of error a lesson. Have you considered my servant Job? As satan comes before Gods presence, God offers Job as a example of worship and faithfulness. Of course, satan seeks to put a wedge between God and Job. In the end, our heavenly Father has a lesson for each and every one of us who have encountered lifes seasons and asked, "Why, God?" Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Who am I to question the plans of He who created all which I have or ever will see? Our human emotions may bubble up in times of trial or loss, but the everlasting promises of our heavenly Father will never change. He has promised to NEVER leave nor forsake his children. He has promised that despite our sin condition, that He loved us enough to save us. I cling to these promises.
3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any atrouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
2 Corinthians 1: 3 - 4 NKJV
~Scott~
~Stand strong in HIm my brother~
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