God, Where Are You?

“In all their distress he too was distressed,” (Isaiah 63:9 NIV).

When bad things happen we may never understand the why. God tells us, ‘’For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the LORD. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts’” (Isaiah 55:8-9).

Dr. James Dobson said: “Trying to analyze His [God’s] omnipotence is like an amoeba attempting to comprehend the behavior of man.”  It’s simply not possible. But there is one thing we can be sure of. “All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful,” (Psalm 25:10) whether we understand them or not.

When we encounter difficulties, it is easy to jump to conclusions. We may think God is mad at us or He is punishing us. We wonder if God is not blessing us because we’ve disappointed Him in some way.

But all through the Bible we see that some of God’s closest friends experienced the darkest nights.

Why Is Life So Much Harder for Some People Than Others?

CHRISTY FITZWATER

 

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(http://www.stockfreeimages.com)

Why does one woman suffer with diabetes her entire life while another is healthy?

Why does one woman lose her house in a fire while another woman’s house stands?

Why does one woman wait longingly to see one positive pregnancy strip while another woman drives a van full of kids?

I made a discovery in the Bible recently that helped to answer this question for me.

Eyes On the Conductor

Oops! Alexandra started before the conductor gave the signal. He looked at my granddaughter and she immediately stopped. Not a good beginning, but she is learning. Timing is important and beginning too soon was not ideal. The rest of the concert went well, no more glitches. I must say that the seventh and eighth graders played extremely well and the music was beautiful. I am an extremely proud grandma. 

I began to reflect on the fact that Alex began on a wrong note, even though her violin playing had improved. These reflections allowed God to teach me some new lessons and to relearn forgotten ones.

Practice is important. We don’t play our notes well or at the right moment if we don’t practice. Alex’s playing had improved with practice. The first time you share the gospel may not work so well. Keep at it, keep practicing. We all need to practice kindness, faithfulness, prayer, and witnessing. The list can go on and on. Watch a small child or a new believer pray. Often they don’t know how to begin or what to even pray for. 

Hezekiah : The Man Who Asked for Added Years

Hezekiah [Hĕze kī'ah] — jehovah is strength or a strong support is jehovah. Also given as Hizkiah, Hizkijah, Ezekias.1. Son and successor of Ahaz as king of Judah (2 Kings 16:20). He is referred to in well over one hundred references in 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Jeremiah, Hosea and Micah.

The Man Who Asked for Added Years

Hezekiah was one of the best kings who ever sat upon the throne of Judah, and is distinguished as the greatest in faith of all Judah’s kings (2 Kings 18:5). Sincere and devout, he was not a perfect man by any means, nor outstanding because of any brilliant gifts he possessed. This good king, however, is to be admired when one remembers his family background. Having such a wicked, apostate father as Ahaz, the wonder is that his son became the noble king he did. He had no pious training, but only a heritage of weakness in his moral fibre, for which God graciously made all fair allowance.

The Overflowing Cup

Dear Reader: Happy Passover! For the next eight days, we celebrate Pesach (Passover), offering you devotional reflection tied to this very special observance as well as Torah readings for each day. Since no work is done on the holiest of these days, these devotions were prepared in advance for you.

"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery." —Exodus 20:2

Today is Day 4 of the eight-day Passover celebration. The Torah reading for today is from Exodus 22:24–23:19.

Are you a pessimist or an optimist? Believe it or not, one day, according to Jewish tradition, God will want to know.

The Sages teach that there are a series of questions each person is asked when his or her time on Earth has come to an end. Among those questions are "were you an honest person?" and "did you make time to study God’s Word?" One of them is also "did you anticipate salvation?" In other words, were you an optimist? Did you anticipate that things could get better and that God would help you?

Faith Through Trials

Written by Charles Spurgeon

“… for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith —of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire— may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” 1 Peter 1:6b-7

Untested faith may be real faith, but it is sure to be immature faith. It is likely to remain immature as long as it never faces difficulties.

When all things seem against it, faith often prospers. Storms are faith’s illuminators. When a calm reigns on the sea, spreading a ship’s sails is futile because the ship will never leave its harbor. 

The Wise Know God is Constantly With Them

by Rick Warren

“God is always on the alert, constantly on the lookout for people who are totally committed to him.” (2 Chronicles 16:9 MSG)

When God gives you a mission, you can be sure you’ll run into delays, difficulties, detours, and dead ends along the way. They are a natural part of life. But you can be ready for them.

For example, if anybody had a right to be discouraged, it was Noah. Do you know how long it took Noah to build the ark? 120 years. Could you go 120 years on a project without one word of encouragement from anybody else in society?

Noah trusted God. And when he heard God's warning about the future, Noah believed him, even though there was no sign of a flood. I bet there were many days that Noah didn't feel like going to work, but for 43,800 days, he went to the same place, and he worked. He never gave up.

Don't give up on your dream, either. Don't give up on your marriage. Don't give up on your health. Don't, don't, don't give up. God is in control. You haven’t read the final chapter of your life. God's already written it, but you haven't read it yet.

The Bible says, “God is always on the alert, constantly on the lookout for people who are totally committed to him” (2 Chronicles 16:9 MSG). God is looking for people that he can bless.

Talk About It -

• What is the God-size dream you’ve been ready to give up on because of difficulties and delays?

• How do you want God to bless you as you commit your life fully to him?

Rick Warren is the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., one of America's largest and most influential churches. Rick is author of the New York Times bestseller "The Purpose Driven Life." His book, "The Purpose Driven Church," was named one of the 100 Christian books that changed the 20th century. He is also the founder of Pastors.com, a global Internet community for pastors.

Riding Out Life's Difficulties

"He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed." - Psalm 107:29 NIV

If you're past the age of 10, you've probably already figured out that life is not free of challenges. Difficulties, pain in relationships, and even tragedies are part of every day life. As a matter of fact, Jesus told His disciples, "Take courage. There are many storms in this life. (Here's the good part...my emphasis added). But take heart, I have overcome the world." Wow. Now, that's a scripture to hang your hat on!

Whenever you face a storm, your first urge may be to scream, "Why?" Certain storms do come into our lives because of our own sin, but many challenges occur when we're right in the middle of God's will. We're not doing anything wrong. We're doing what God wants us to do. Certainly, that was the case for the disciples. Jesus told them to get into the boat and row across the Sea of Galilee. They were obeying Jesus when they suddenly found themselves in a horrific storm. It was so bad, they didn't even know if they'd survive. But here is the important message from that event - they did survive. With the help of Jesus, they survived.

Disappointment - A disguise for blessing

Disappointment is delayed appointment. Disappointment will strengthen but will never destroy. When disappointment travels towards you, you must be determined to meet it with courage. Never give in to disappointment, hopelessness or despair. 

When you overcome disappointment, you acquire the strength to change your disappointment and turn it into an appointment. 

Finding Joy in Difficulties?

Gail Rodgers
Are you confused and not sure what to do or where to turn?

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

I have always been a bit uneasy with James 1:2 where Jesus followers are encouraged to “consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds”. When I find things in God’s word that are hard to understand I “camp” on them for a time and ask God to reveal His wisdom.

Recently I taught four sessions at a weekend women’s retreat. One of the sessions included the wise counsel of 2 Corinthians 12: 9 & 10 where Paul tells us the words the Lord spoke to him when he asked about something that was deeply challenging him in his life. The Lord’s reply was, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.”

Paul goes on to say that because of God’s promise to be his strength right in the midst of his weakness, he can “delight in difficulties”!