Feeling dismayed?

These all look to You to give them their food in due season.  When You give it to them, they gather it up; when You open Your hand, they are filled with good things.  When You hide Your face, they are dismayed…”  Ps. 104:27-29

Since Creation began there have been moments where the creation has felt like God has hidden His face from them.  All throughout the Pslams you can see the questions, posed, “Why do you hide Your face from me? Why are You so far from helping me?”

Before that, Job asked, “Why do you hide your face and consider me your enemy?” We even heard Jesus, from the cross, ask, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?”

Because we look to God for all things, it is in our moments of sorrow, pain, anxiousness, or uncertainty; it’s in the moments of silence that we sometimes feel as though He has hidden His face, and we are dismayed.

As we can see from the reaction of Jesus, and all throughout the Bible, it is a normal, human reaction.  We were created in God’s image, with emotions; and loneliness, uncertainty, grief, and pain are some of those emotions.

What can we do?  Keep looking for Him, seeking Him, and reminding ourselves of all He has done.  Job was looking for him in his darkest moments, when all he wanted to do was die, and he couldn’t find God to the right or the left–he kept seeking.

He spoke of all the works and wonders God had done in the past, and even as he wondered at first where God was, speaking of who God is built him up, and helped him keep close the One he needed all along.  Eventually he found his way back, not just to physical health, but to emotional and spiritual health, too.  This is how it works for us all.

I know there was a lot involved behind the scenes in Job’s story, but seeking God in the tough times the way Job did, praising, and reminding ourselves of God’s works and the things He has done in the past is the best way to find our way out.

We tend to pull away when we go through pain and crisis, and we feel like we can’t find God, but the truth is that the answer lies with Him alone.  He is the One.  He is the Salvation.  He is the Deliverance.  He is the Healing.  He is the Provision.  He is the Wisdom.  He is the Unity.  He is the Peace.  He is All in All, the Great I Am.

Every answer we need to fill the great gaping hole we feel inside is found in Him.  We just have to hold on and seek Him.   God said in Jeremiah 29:13, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”  This is still true today.

Grateful for a God who cares,

jamie

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Don’t understand?

Pr. 3:5:  “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.”

Last week I lost a friend to suicide.  How do you line that up with your faith?

Just like anything else.  Keep trusting in the Lord.  In this life we will have trials.  Although God’s plans for us are good, we live in a sin-cursed world where disease and sin have tainted things.  Sin brought in death and disease.  Sin brought in meanness, evil intentions, cruelty, and poison.  The life we live in this temporary place will have trials and pain, but God can turn every pain and trial around for good.

Joseph’s brother’s plotted to kill him, but instead threw him in a well and sold him into slavery.  He was falsely accused of attempted rape, imprisoned, forgotten.  But of all of the things that were meant for evil in his life, Joseph said, “God meant it for good to save many people.”  And he was right.

This morning I was reading about all the apostles of Christ that were mocked, scourged, homeless, sawed in half, tormented, etc.  (Heb. 11:32-40)  It was said that they did it that they may receive a better resurrection.  Paul, as well, was shipwrecked, snake-bitten, imprisoned, and had a thorn in his flesh that the Lord would not remove.  The Bible says he accepted that gladly for the promise of the power of Christ upon him.

How in the world can we accept suffering, pain, or trials?  How can we make it through these dark times in our lives?  By trusting in the Lord with all our hearts and leaning not on our own understanding.

It doesn’t make sense to us when the pain comes.  But the Word says that His ways are not our ways.  Perhaps, like Joseph, He is going to make something beautiful come from our pain.  Death and suffering don’t come naturally to us, but God has sent us the Comforter.  God supplies for our needs.  He comforts.  He gives joy and peace in the storms and trials of our lives.  When the storms come, He is the One in which we can take refuge.

The Lord is the One who provides the peace that surpasses all understanding which guards our hearts and minds when we pray to him in our times of anxiety.  The Lord is the One who shows Himself strong for us when we remain loyal to Him.  The Lord is the One whose strength is made perfect in our weakness.  It is the Lord in which we need to continue to trust.  He will be as faithful tomorrow as He was in the beginning.  He does not change.

Thank You, Lord, for Your faithfulness, in which we can place our trust and our hope!

jamie

Looking for an answer

Pr. 6:22:  “When you roam, they will lead you; when you sleep they will keep you; when you awake, they will speak with you.” 

This verse is talking about what will happen when you bind the commands of the father and the law of the mother on your heart, and tie them around your neck.

If you can bind the Father’s commands on your heart, and remember the truth you’ve been taught about Him over the years, then you won’t have to search for answers to every question.

Yesterday I watched an interview of someone who was searching for the answer to a question she was asking.  She said, “We prayed about it.  We weren’t sure if it was right.”  I feel certain she knew the answer before she prayed, because the question was about murder.

Having bound God’s commands on my heart, I know the answer from God would be no.  I feel certain she did, too; however, she went ahead and decided to do it, saying that they got comfortable with the idea after being around others who knew more about it.

When we need answers to our questions, other people are not the place to find them.  The Lord’s Word will lead us, keep us, and speak to us.  His Word has not changed.  He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  He is still as faithful to take care of us as He has ever been.

When we choose to trust Him enough to follow His commands…no matter what anyone else chooses…then we are allowing Him to prove Himself faithful, strong, and true in our lives.  He IS our Provider, our Shelter, our Deliverer, and our Savior, and He always will be.  He will take care of us.

We must not forget what we’ve learned, and we must keep learning day by day.  God is our Guide and our Answer!

Gratefully His,

jamie

The creativty of God!

Today upon my town The Lord has said to the snow, “Fall to the ground.”  (Job 37:6)  Watching the snow do just that, I started thinking about the treasury of snow.  (Job 38:22)

I went out and sat in a chair while my kids played.  Sitting still, I began noticing the shape of the snow.  It was interesting, so I took a picture:

Slivers

A few moments later, the snow grew in size and changed shape.  Wow.  “Cool!! I wonder how many shapes of snow you have stored up, God?”  So, I took another picture:

Balls of snow

Now that God had my attention, the next thing I saw was snow in the shape of these little stars:

Snow stars!

Seriously?  Stars!?  Unbelievable.  I always heard that no 2 snow flakes are alike, but seeing all these different shapes in the span of minutes just felt like a huge privilege, and vainly I still want to believe God was showing them off just for me.  He had my complete, undivided attention this morning with that snow, and I was stunned and in awe of His amazing creativity and majesty.  Only God can make such an amazing creation even more amazing!

Before going inside, there was 1 more shape.  This one was a bit more watery, and I was cold:

Time for me to go inside

Currently I see huge flakes falling.  There is no telling how many shapes He is capable of or interested in telling to fall today.  There is no end to God’s creativity and unbelievable might.  If He can do all of this with frozen water, how much more can He do with your life and your current situation?  As I said, there is no end to His creativity!

I pray that He can grab your attention with His might, as well.  He is just amazing!!!

Marveling at His greatness,

jamie