Worthy of Praise Always

Job received news that not only did he lose his physical wealth, but all of his children died, too. To humans it appeared to be several freak accidents all in one tragic day in the life of Job.

However, we receive a glimpse into heaven, something Job didn't have the privilege to possess.  We see that in the hands of the Lord permission had been granted for Satan to take it all from Job.

The treasure in this story is Job's immediate response.  Tearing his clothing in deep grief he says, "The Lord gives and the Lord takes.  Blessed be the name of the Lord." (Job 1:21).

The Lord entrusted the enemy with Job's character.  He allowed the enemy to inflict a deep physical pain on Job, too.  Job's friends comforted him at first, but suddenly they pointed fingers of condemnation in his direction. They determined some sin must be the cause of Job's suffering.

Like Job, we remain clueless to the reasons the Lord may allow our lives to be touched deeply with suffering. However, if like Job, we haven't sinned, may we like Job respond with trust and praise.  Whether the  Lord gives or takes away, He is worthy of our trust and praise.

Where We are At

We tend to come down hard on ourselves when we realize we have not arrived.  We want progress, but often times get caught up in our old habits and ways of responding to things.  We wonder at times if the Lord has just put up His hands and given up on us.

The story of Thomas (John 20:24-31) reminds us that the Lord is willing to meet us where we are at and stays with us in our some times snail walk forward.  The Lord could have forced Thomas to believe without seeing, but His tender heart toward Thomas and us, shows us that He was willing to meet Thomas where He was in his doubting.

Jesus made the second appearance when Thomas was present and invited Thomas to touch and see that indeed He had risen from the dead.  Oh sure, Jesus commends the one who believes without seeing, but he doesn't disregard the one who needs to see.

We must never forget that the Lord knows what we need.  He sees.  He will meet us where we are at and will journey with us to new levels of faith.  We must not give up because the Lord doesn't give up on us.

Need to be Quieted

Zephaniah 3:17 says that the Lord "quiets us with His love."  He invites us onto His lap.  He wraps His arms around us.  He sees the hurt.  Even when we are over-reacting, He doesn't push us away until we get a grip.  His desire is to be with us in those emotional states in order to bring the healing we need from whatever pains us.

Often times we don't recognize His presence with us in the dark times.  However, He is there.  We need to ask Him to open the eyes of our heart and help us recognize His open arms and invitation to quiet our hurting spirits with His love.

When Life is Hard

Often times when life gets difficult and we stress out from it, we find that the shoulder we need has disappeared.  The extent of our emotions and the drama that accompanies it causes people to flee.

When all others find it difficult to handle us in this type of state, Jesus invites us to Himself.  These times are when He wants us most.  He wants us to understand that no amount of emotion will keep Him away from us.  He wants to enable us to work through it and find Him in it all.

In fact, His promise to us in Matthew 11:28 is the opposite of what humans can handle.  He says, "Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest."  He doesn't want us to wait until we have our act together to be near us.  In the storm, He wants to walk with us.

Take a Step

The man was born blind.  He had no idea what it meant to see the faces of those he loved.  One day, while Jesus is passing his way, he is noticed by Jesus. Jesus puts mud on his eyes and tells him to go wash it off in the pool of Siloam.  The man does as he is instructed and receives his sight.  (John 9:1-11)

Do we miss out on what the Lord intends for us because we're unwilling to take the steps to the pool to wash the mud from our eyes? Let us wash the mud from our eyes so we can see!

Real Love

The religious leaders of the day believed they had it made, and yet they come to Jesus asking about inheriting eternal life and the greatest commandment.  After giving an answer to the two greatest commandments, the experts of the law ask Jesus about who is this neighbor they are to love like themselves.

The story Jesus tells has "religious" leaders in it.  It is the priest and a Levite who pass by a severely injured man on the road.  However, it's a Samaritan, the scum pond of the day, who sees the man and goes out of his way to help him.  His help is so extensive that he promises the innkeeper any amount of money needed when he returns from his journey for the injured man to receive the care for his full healing (Luke 10:25-37).

How do we respond to those hurting around us?  It may only take an encouraging word or a prayer that assures the hurting that they are noticed and someone cares.  We need to realize that if we behave like the priest and the Levite in this parable, then Jesus tells us we are without love.  We are not loving the God we cannot see if we cannot even love the people we can see.

Learn to Rest

While in the area, Jesus visited the home of His friends, Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus. He shared a deep love for these three.   While visiting, Martha works busily in the kitchen making meal preparations while Mary sat at Jesus' feet.  We don't know the internal workings of either of these woman, but we do know Martha approached Jesus regarding Mary's lack of help.  

An observation of both women we would believe Martha displays the gift of hospitality and service while Mary shows nothing but laziness.  Yet, when Martha makes a judgment of the situation Jesus tells her that Mary has chosen the better, and He will not take it away from her (Luke 10:42).

So often we get caught up in the doing that we actually forget what is important.  How often do we become like Martha where we become "worried and upset about many things" (Luke 10:41)?  We need to be aware that there will be times we need to be actively living our faith out before others.  Yet, there are other seasons in our life where we need to be resting at the feet of Jesus.  

Jesus will show us when we should be doing and when we should be resting.  We need to not let others distract us from what Jesus is calling us to do.