Samuel D. High
sdhigh@aristotle.net
-----Original Message-----
From: Apostle Tom <pressingon@hotmail.com>
Sent: Mon, 2 Jun 2008 19:53:59 -0500
To: <pressingon@hotmail.com>
Subject: Morning Manna (June 3); BP: Job 1; RBTTY: Jn. 13:21-38; II Chron.
June 3 “Back to the Basics”
“Then satan answered the Lord and said, ‘Does Job fear God for naught’?”
Job 1:9
Trials have a way of revealing what’s there, while trust helps transform us by His grace.
Why do you trust God, Pilgrim? In what are you trusting? That’s basically what was going on in today’s Manna in this intriguing (and perplexing) dialogue between satan and God. None of us can understand who these “sons of God” (1:6; 2:1) were; neither can we grasp why God would engage in such a conversation and type of spiritual chess game with the “accuser of the brethren” (Rev. 12:9-10) who’d already been cast out of Heaven. In fact, dwelling too long on these will leave us bewildered and almost at the point of despair.
That’s why we must rest in the sovereignty of God in the matters of suffering and evil—always saying “God is good” as someone else echoes, “All the time.” In reality, our real struggle here is “Why God allows suffering—particularly when we’re doing our best to love Him and further His Kingdom.” And, that’s where simple trust in a loving Heavenly Father comes in; otherwise, our minds which are by nature hostile toward Him (Rom. 8:7), will soon be joining in with the evil one in accusations and indictments against Him and others.
Just as gold is purified in a fiery furnace, so is our faith moved toward 24-karat status by the things that we suffer (I Pet. 1:6-7). As someone said, “All you have to do to find out what’s within is squeeze it.” Simply put, trials and tribulations have a way of stripping away the veneer of pretense, revealing what really lies beneath the surface. Remember: Even a termite-eaten board looks solid on the outside while being hollow within.
So, let’s ask ourselves the question the father of lies asked God:
“Do I serve God for no reason at all other than my love for Him? Is my trust in Him dependent upon how well things are going. . .the amount of money I have in my checking and savings account. . .how well I’m treated by others. . .or is it ‘fair-weathered faith’ that wants to head for the hills when difficulties come?”
Job was a Godly man who “feared God and avoided evil” (1:1, 8:2:3). Likewise, he was a strong family man who was concerned over his children’s spiritual conditions (1:5). Yet, after everything was taken away from him and his body was racked by boils (1:13-19; 2:7), he spoke out of his great agony of soul, wondering aloud why he’d not died at birth (3:11-12); at least then he “would have been at rest” (3:13).
His words in 3:25—“For the thing which I greatly feared has come upon me and that which I was afraid of has come unto me”—speak volumes, showing that this was definitely a time of testing for him. But, thankfully, he continued to rely on faith, not feelings, and continued to worship the Lord by giving thanks and refusing to recant his faith (1:21-22; 2:10). May the Spirit help us to do the same today.
No comments:
Post a Comment