Let me lead with a question, "If you could be one person from the Bible (excluding Jesus), who would you choose?" The first choices that come to mind for me would be Paul I guess, maybe Solomon, David had his moments, possibly Zerubbabel just on the sake of his name alone. Way down on that list would be guys like Job and Jonah and Hosea because let's be honest, their lives had long moments of suckage. I'm talking about those moments that just make you look at the sky and ask God to just be merciful and end it, moments that seem to make no sense in the lives of those who follow God. The problem with that is that if you look at the afore mentioned guys like Paul and David and Solomon and even Jesus himself, it seems that their moments of suffering often outweighed their moments of peace and ease. It seems then that either God just likes to watch us suffer or maybe He understands something that we don't or that we wish were not true.
I was reminded of the necessity and the benefit of suffering and hardship as I read Job 42 this week. Job says in verse 42:5, " “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear;
But now my eye sees You" after God allowed everything to be taken from him and he experienced this miserable period of life. This man who God had bragged on earlier in the book says here to God, I thought I knew you before this pain and suffering, but I realize now looking back that I only knew a little. It was the suffering that forced Job to rely on God exclusively and by doing that to understand the true scope of God's love and compassion. I like to think of this idea like you would in working out, if there is not a good measure of resistance when you work out, then there is no real growth. In this life, we need resistance and pain, because it is in those moments that we are forced to recognize that our own strength is insufficient and that God himself must bear the weight of what we are facing.
I was reminded of this today in talking to Susan about some issues we are facing with our renters that to be honest just suck, but I also recognize that it is in these moments that our faith either grows or diminishes. We are unable to do any more than we already have, but we are trusting God through this resistance and in that He is growing our faith. It does hurt a little, but the pain is part of the growth. It is these moments of doubt and confusion that allow us to really see God and so I am thankful that He is working this out for us and that after it is over, we will be able to look back like Job and to say "I thought I knew you before, but I see you now beyond what I could back then."
God is with us and He is with you too. I hope you see Him.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Camera Out, Hip Out!
“Envy consists in seeing things never in themselves, but only in their relations. If you desire glory, you may envy Napoleon, but Napoleon envied Caesar, Caesar envied Alexander, and Alexander, I daresay, envied Hercules, who never existed.” - Bertrand Russell
If the title of this post makes no sense to you, then you are obviously not me, because I am laughing just thinking about it. If you know my daughter Rylee, and I'm sure you do since the only people who seem to read this blog are my relatives and RJ (thanks RJ for giving me a sense of validation), then you know that she is absolutely hilarious and will take attention when it's available and demand it when it's not. Susan posted a picture of her dressed for her first soccer game (yeah I know it's soccer, but she's a girl so that makes it acceptable) and she invariable went to her "go to" pose. That pose is, created all on her own, left hip thrust out and head tilted to the right. It screams "you are lucky to get to see me today". She lives life full speed and never meets a stranger, always has something to say, which I love about her (most of the time). It also scares me to death to think of her as a teenager (don't worry I am stocking up on ammunition, so we are good.) It made me think about how different she and Aiden are in some ways, he is much more reflective and laid back, but they both have such incredible potential and attributes already that will benefit them as they move through life. I am sure that there will be times in the future when we will be tempted to tell Rylee to tone it down and just relax like her brother or to tell Aiden to liven up just a little bit, but the recognition I want to have is that they are exactly who God created them to be and to do that is to demean God's creative spark that is ever present in their lives.
It also makes me think how often I find myself focusing on other people and the successes they seem to be having, honestly envying that, because I am not sharing what I think is success in that moment. Over the last two years I have had the opportunity to talk and counsel with a great number of people and the commonality that I have found in them and myself is the lack of contentment. We find ourselves focused on what is happening in the lives of others and not on what is taking place in our own lives. We lose sight of who we are in the pursuit of who we wish we were. As Russell says in the earlier quote, we are chasing and emulating people who don't even exist, except in our minds. I am convinced the best way to serve and honor God is to be you, to allow Him room to work in you and maximize the potential He planted within you. It is God who gives the increase in all things and He wants to yield a bumper crop in our lives. We can't water and tend to our lives though if we are constantly looking at the fields of those around us and fretting over why theirs looks better than ours at this moment. You are a marvel of God's creation, I pray that you find your "go to pose" and that you put it out there every chance you get.
P.S. - "But godliness with contentment is great gain." 1 Timothy 6:6
If the title of this post makes no sense to you, then you are obviously not me, because I am laughing just thinking about it. If you know my daughter Rylee, and I'm sure you do since the only people who seem to read this blog are my relatives and RJ (thanks RJ for giving me a sense of validation), then you know that she is absolutely hilarious and will take attention when it's available and demand it when it's not. Susan posted a picture of her dressed for her first soccer game (yeah I know it's soccer, but she's a girl so that makes it acceptable) and she invariable went to her "go to" pose. That pose is, created all on her own, left hip thrust out and head tilted to the right. It screams "you are lucky to get to see me today". She lives life full speed and never meets a stranger, always has something to say, which I love about her (most of the time). It also scares me to death to think of her as a teenager (don't worry I am stocking up on ammunition, so we are good.) It made me think about how different she and Aiden are in some ways, he is much more reflective and laid back, but they both have such incredible potential and attributes already that will benefit them as they move through life. I am sure that there will be times in the future when we will be tempted to tell Rylee to tone it down and just relax like her brother or to tell Aiden to liven up just a little bit, but the recognition I want to have is that they are exactly who God created them to be and to do that is to demean God's creative spark that is ever present in their lives.
It also makes me think how often I find myself focusing on other people and the successes they seem to be having, honestly envying that, because I am not sharing what I think is success in that moment. Over the last two years I have had the opportunity to talk and counsel with a great number of people and the commonality that I have found in them and myself is the lack of contentment. We find ourselves focused on what is happening in the lives of others and not on what is taking place in our own lives. We lose sight of who we are in the pursuit of who we wish we were. As Russell says in the earlier quote, we are chasing and emulating people who don't even exist, except in our minds. I am convinced the best way to serve and honor God is to be you, to allow Him room to work in you and maximize the potential He planted within you. It is God who gives the increase in all things and He wants to yield a bumper crop in our lives. We can't water and tend to our lives though if we are constantly looking at the fields of those around us and fretting over why theirs looks better than ours at this moment. You are a marvel of God's creation, I pray that you find your "go to pose" and that you put it out there every chance you get.
P.S. - "But godliness with contentment is great gain." 1 Timothy 6:6
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