I Wonder What He Wants...

"The Lord knew all this would happen.  I wonder what He wants to say to you in all this?"

As my friend heard me share how our plans that had shifted and how this pandemic was interrupting our sense of normal, he responded with that wise yet invasive question.  What might God be wanting me to pay attention to? 

So this week I protected some time one morning and sat with that question.  These insights came to mind:  

"Slow isn't bad."  

"Letting go of control."  

These rang true but didn't ruffle my feathers too much.  Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. I felt the Lord saying, "Ben, you have many idols in your life.  Lay those at my feet."  Gulp.  It was one of those moments where conviction set in deep and fast.  

I felt prompted to make a list of some of the idols in my life -- comfort. possessions. people's praise. success at work. control.  It started to click together in my heart and mind that some of the discomfort and anxiety I've experienced in this past month is because I've drifted into looking for life in some of these things.  And they're no longer delivering.  The semblance of control, though false, is an old friend of mine.  The lines of aiming for excellence and success out of faithfulness or out of performance easily can blur.  Looking to be entertained and finding happiness in what I have is a habitual snare.  

Goodness, how easy it can be to get out of whack and to look to the wrong things to tell me who I am.  Following my list making of idols God reminded me of a wonderful verse we read as a family just the day before.  Isaiah 44:22 in the New Living Translation says this, "I have swept away your sins like a cloud.  I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist.  Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free.”  

Praise God!  Through faith in Jesus Christ we can find forgiveness for looking to idols to give us life.  God wants us to turn from them and to enjoy deep fellowship with him.  From here in Isaiah 44 I cross referenced my way through the Scriptures and soaked in God's truth about idolatry.  

• 1 Thessalonians 1:9 instructs us to turn from idols to and serve the living and true God.  

• 1 Corinthians 12 warns against being influenced and led astray by mute idols.  

• Jeremiah 10 helps frame idols for what they really are -- worthless, mute, powerless.  

• Jeremiah 14:22 shows just where to put our hope in, in the Lord!  

• 1 John 5:21 is short and sweet -- "Dear children, keep yourselves from idols."  

And then I ended up at the one that stopped me in my tracks, Jonah 2:8.  "Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs."  

Idols unchecked lead to destruction!  Sometimes it's abrupt and tragic.  Sometimes it's a slow and steady decline.  Either way, we must choose where we will look to for life.  Will it be the living God or an empty, lifeless idol?  We are in a covid opportunity to release our grip on the idols in our lives.  Friends, may you and I pause and consider where our affection may be misplaced and instead cling to the grace that IS ours in Christ Jesus.  

This Is Us - Job 38-40

“Then the LORD answered Job…” 

These are the powerful words that begin Chapter 38 in the book of Job. By this point in the book, you might be wondering, “How will God answer the question of Job’s suffering?” Or perhaps more personally you think to yourself, “How will God answer the question of my suffering?” If these are your questions, you are right where God wants you to be and here is what He has to say:

• Where were you when I established the earth? (38:4) 

• Who laid its cornerstone while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? (38:6-8) 

• Have you traveled to the sources of the sea or walked in the depths of the oceans? (38:16) 

• Can you fasten the chains of the Pleiades or loosen the belt of Orion? (38:31) 

• Who put wisdom in the heart or gave the mind understanding? (38:36) 

• Does the eagle soar at your command and make its nest on high? (39:27) 

• Have you an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like his? (40:9)

• Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook or press down his tongue with a cord? (41:1)

As a father can speak both sternly and yet out of love, God is here saying, “My power is beyond your comprehension and My plans are beyond your imagination. You are in no position to demand anything from Me.” 

Is this the answer you were expecting from God? Are you satisfied by God’s answer? I must admit that when I first studied Job, I struggled. Big time. I didn’t expect God’s answer and I wasn’t satisfied. But then one day I saw something that astounded me and still astounds me to this day: Job is satisfied. 

 Let Job’s responses soak in as you read them:

• Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth (40:4)

•  I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know…I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes. (Job 42: 3b, 5-6)

Job, the very one who experienced such intense suffering, who lamented, who protested, and who demanded answers is humbled, is silenced, and is satisfied. How is this possible? Why doesn’t he protest still? How can Job be satisfied without ever getting his “why”? It is because Job realized something when God came in power: Job realized that God being with him in his suffering is better than God giving him an answer to why he is suffering. God’s might and majesty were enough for Job, is it enough for you? This is our a final lesson we learn from Job: We need God with us in our suffering more than we need God’s answer to why we are suffering.

The reality is that even if God told us every reason for “why,” that doesn’t mean we would accept it.  Knowing why your world is falling apart does no good if you are falling apart with it. Job didn’t get the answer he first wanted, but he got the answer he needed: closeness with God. That is what we all need.  Right now, if you repent and believe in Jesus Christ, you enjoy closeness with God. All barriers have been broken down by the saving work of Jesus Christ. He died on the cross to pay for your sins and He rose again from the dead that you may receive, by faith, new life that can begin now and continue into eternity. 

Jesus says in John 16:33, “You will have suffering in this world, but take heart! I have overcome the world." This side of eternity you will have suffering and you may not know why, but in your suffering, God gives you all that you need: He gives you Himself.

This Is Us - Job 36 - ONE DAY

DeShawn took a deep breath.  He knew this situation was messed up.  He had been waiting for others closer to Mr. Johnson to speak up.  And a few had already gone to him.  But it seemed like Mr. Johnson didn't budge an inch.  DeShawn was so surprised!  He had always known him to be a kind man.  A man who took his faith seriously and seemed to have a close relationship with God.  But since the district had passed over Mr. Johnson for the superintendent job for reasons unknown, things had been off.  DeShawn took another deep breath and began the two hundred foot walk from homeroom to his principal's office.  

As he looked down at the worn tile floors of Mount Moriah High School, his mind flashed back to a few years earlier in middle school youth group.  Mr. Robinson always had something encouraging to say.  DeShawn smiled to himself remembering the glint in Mr. Robinson's eyes and the kindness on his face as the slim, gray-haired grandfather came each week with an activity to help connect the Bible to what was going on in the lives of DeShawn and his friends.  He recalled how each week Mr. Robinson would conclude the time by quoting 1 Timothy 4:12, "Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity."  And how he truly believed in DeShawn and the others and encouraged them with a hope rooted in the person of Jesus Christ.  

Sure, DeShawn was only a senior in high school and Mr. Johnson was three times his age.  But recalling Paul's encouragement to Timothy to not shrink back just because he is young, DeShawn took heart that he had a posture of respect and love for his principal.  So mustering the courage, he opened the door to the front office and was greeted by Mr. Johnson himself.  "Hi DeShawn, what brings you to my office this afternoon?"

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In the latter chapters of Job we are introduced to another friend named Elihu.  He is a younger man than Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar and so he waits for them to share first out of respect for his elders.  His response exalts who God is, it addresses these three friends, and it shows Job the error in his thinking.  Elihu focuses on God's greatness and his being just.  The claim of a mere man to be without sin in the presence of the magnificent almighty is not something Elihu can just sit idly by during.  So, with respect and with candor, this young man spoke up and exhorted his suffering friend towards the truth, towards the great God Almighty!  

What about you and me?  What are the things in our life that we tend to say to ourselves, "One day".  One day I'll make that change.  One day I'll speak up for the injustice I see.  One day I'll be more equipped and I'll make an impact.  But so often this sort of thinking leads us to inaction and the days and years roll by and "One day" never happens.   Like Elihu and like DeShawn, let us not allow age or experience to be barriers to doing the good God has for us today.  But, may we take a deep breath, muster the courage the Spirit provides, and move forward declaring, "How great is God—beyond our understanding!" (Job 36:26a)