Praising God in the midst of all things

Job 1:21 (NIV)
²¹  and (Job) said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised."


Praising God in the midst of pain and grief, must be one of the most difficult things to do, but oh, the rewards.  We find similar statements in the book of James. "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds..." (James 1:2). How many of us think to consider the valley we are wading through, pure joy?  What does it take for us to praise God in all things?

It takes faith, and a mature understanding that God can work all things for good.  "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." (Genesis 50:20) Illness, death, broken families and relationships, we can praise God through all these situations.

Can you think of a situation that is breaking your heart, or has you questioning, "Why, God?" Turn that plea into a praise and thank God for His presence in your life. Thank Him for teaching you to turn to Him for healing and help in those times of trouble.

This may be one of the most difficult poses to take before God, one of humility and faith and love, while feeling trapped in our pain and heartache. But, what blessings will come from submission like this. Praise God from whom all blessings flow...


Job 1:18-22

A Spiritual Upgrade

”When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his fellow Israelites. He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not.” Acts 7:23-25

(To see today’s Bible reading, Acts 7:17-34, click here.)

Sometimes I think we relinquish to God our “what” much more quickly than our “how” and our “when.” We see what God wants and agree that it is good ... only to “take it from there” in a way that seems best to us. And as surely as adding two negatives results in a greater negative, our ways plus our timing equals disaster.

It seems that, even as a younger man, Moses had some sense of God's purpose for his life: to deliver Israel. But killing an Egyptian at age 40 was neither God's way nor his timing. No, he would take another 40 years to develop an older, wiser, less self-reliant Moses, an upgraded “Moses v80.0” who would hear God, trust God and obey God. And when it was God's time to lead his people out of captivity, he called Moses and led him down Exodus paths so amazing that they are still being retold to this day.

Submitting our “how” and “when” to God requires patience and trust. We tend to view patience as an ability to control our emotions – even if begrudgingly – until we get our way or at least a reasonably acceptable turn of events. But the older I get, the more I see patience as trusting, embracing and actually celebrating the wisdom of God’s timing ... even as it unfolds. For when we look back over our lives, we have to admit that God’s plan has always been better than ours, and his results much grander. Where we envision a stick figure, God always paints a masterpiece.

God has his plans and he delights in involving us in them. It is comforting to know that, even as God works around us, he also at work within us, equipping us, upgrading us and syncing us to his “what” ... his “how” ... and his “when.” And it’s always worth the wait.

Once we “get” that deep within our souls, we can be content, confident and joyful, trusting that God will always be as faithful as he has always been.

Ephesians 5:22-33

I began to read the text for today and immediately my thoughts went negative on me.  "Not again, why do I have to read the submission text again?  Why do I have to write about submission yet one more time?"  Do you know what I mean here?  I am such a control enthusiast (I am avoiding the word freak), that even the term, s-u-b-m-i-s-s-i-o-n causes me to take a deep breath.

I know what you are going to say, "But it's not about allowing someone to take advantage, it's about letting God be in control and honoring our spouses and those in authority."  Yes, I understand and your comments are true.  It is just that the word submission touches a nerve.  I know there is a reason for that.  Do you have the same issue?  I suspect I am not the only one who does.

What it boils down to is submitting to God; living as if God knows everything and has only my best interests in mind.  Cause He does.  I need to learn to bend my knees more often, submit to Him in prayer.  Submitting is another form of humility.  Now we are getting down to the nitty-gritty.  Humility isn't always my strong suit.  God is doing a job here and I am going to do my best to learn quickly with as little pain as possible.

Read all the Ephesians 5:22-33 text here.

Love's Recipe, 1 Corinthians 1:1-7

"The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife."

I'm sharing something a little different for me today.  I wrote this poem a couple years ago for my husband around Valentines Day.  Our scripture passage today talks about how when we are married we submit our bodies to our spouse. I think that submission goes beyond just our bodies too.  In the good and bad of a marriage their is always two sides to every story.  There has to be give and take.

This poem talks about how a marriage is about remembering, forgetting, accepting, loving, forgiving and admitting.

Remembering

sacrifices that,
he always makes
for me.

Forgetting

if my deeds,
sometimes go
unseen.

Accepting
he loves,
parts of me
I don't.

Loving
parts of him,
other people
won't.

Forgiving
the words,
he's spoken
just to hurt.

Admitting
my words,to
coerce, conceal--
divert.

Neither one is blameless,
each one plays a part.
Love must be an action
coming from our heart.

Read today's passage at Biblegateway 1 Corinthians 7:1-7

Who's The Boss, Romans 13:1-7

A few weeks ago my husband came home for lunch and as we were eating, we noticed our four-year-olds feet kicking our dog under the table. Steve told him to stop and Evan did, until Steve and I were distracted again in our conversation. Again my husband said stop. Again Evan obeyed until we started talking. A third time Steve looked at Evan and said, “If you don’t stop kicking Bo you will go to time out.” Without hesitation Evan looked at his father and said, “But dad, it’s no big deal.”

Do you treat those in authority the same way? I know I do. I push the speed limit thinking, “eight is great but nine your mine”. When did I become in charge? I have also been known to sneak food into the movie theater justifying it because of the over-priced snacks the theater tries to sell me. It’s no big deal; they make plenty of money off the ten dollars I paid to see the movie.

Reading today’s scripture we see that subverting authority, authority of any kind, is a big deal to God. He clearly says. “Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.” Ouch! That smarts. But remember the promises in this verse, “Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God's servant to do you good.”

Read today passage on Biblegateway Romans 13:1-7