Tag: Joy

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When God Intervenes

When God intervenes. There are days when I am overwhelmed with activity. Over the next few weeks, I have two trips, one overseas, three speeches, a grant donor meeting, a couple of Board meetings, a paper to write, and organizational issues to resolve. I get overwhelmed with activity. I know it is seasonal, but it happens. It makes my prayer life difficult because I have so many blessings that lamenting self-inflicted wounds seems hypocritical. By the way, my boss is a slave driver. He insists that I complete any new activity immediately to not interfere with the existing schedule. Plan your work; work your plan.

“Self-reliance limits us to what we can do. But reliance on God enables us to attain more; through what He can do.” – Gift Gugu Mona.

When God intervenes.

It is not a shout but a whisper; it is a conviction. God’s intervention is an unsettling conversation concerning ego, priority, and commitment. It forces me to admit who my boss is; is it the task or God? Is what I am doing an extension of how I want to work within God’s plan for me, or how God wants me to work within His plan for Himself? Do I accept that God is sovereign over all things, or do I believe He needs me to achieve His goals?

What I am working on is all good stuff. It is not an issue that God does not think I should be doing it. The issue is that He wants to be involved throughout the process, not just when I finish or in trouble. God wants me to relax and enjoy the journey as God helps me navigate the process. He wants me to know that He works with me throughout the process, not just grades the result. He reminds me that this is a partnership.

Isaiah 41:10 “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

I had a Springer Spaniel, named Gracie, who was a beautiful dog. Gracie was a joy to be around. She always wanted to lead when we went on walks, even when she had no idea where we were going. Gracie would run ahead, stop, look back to see if we were following, correct her course when we were not, and run ahead to repeat the process. I think, at times, I am God’s Springer Spaniel. God decides to take a walk with me; I tear off ahead at lightning speed, stopping to see if I’m going the right way.

“It is the condition of the heart that will determine the direction and destination of our lives.” – William F. Kumuyi.

James 4:10, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

God Opens Doors

God opens the door; I am so busy trying to impress Him that I don’t stop to think about Him. He opened the door for a reason. The reason most likely didn’t have anything to do with me impressing Him. He knows me intimately; I can’t impress Him. God knows when my obedience is more about ego than stewardship. He sees when I try to be independent of Him rather than reliant on Him.

Jeremiah 17:7-8, “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

I grew up in a North American culture that respects hard work, independence, and drive. The term “all gas and no brakes” comes to mind. We teach this to our children, honor it throughout their education, and demand it to succeed in life—the idea that the world is full of great ideas but few accomplishments. I am not saying that drive and ambition are wrong; I’m saying that it is not an individual sport. God has to be your partner. Don’t get Him involved when you are in the ditch; get Him involved before you start and throughout the process.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus..”

Hands and Feet

Regi Campbell stated in his book “Radical Wisdom,” I can’t be the hands and feet of Christ if my feet are always running and my hands are always full of things, to-do lists, and calendar events He’s not involved in.”

He does care about the small things in your life. He cares about your dreams and passion. God wants you to enjoy the life He has given you. That is why He wants to help you live it. God wants you to relax a little bit more, laugh a little bit more, and enjoy the company of those He has put in your path. God is sovereign over all things. You can’t impress Him; He knows you better than you know yourself. Take his hand and allow Him to guide you. Still your mind and heart, allow Him into your situation.

Listen when God intervenes.

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
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The Great Hunger

The bushman of the Kalahari Desert in southern Africa talks about “the two hungers.” There is the great hunger and the little hunger. The little hunger yearns for food, while the great hunger, the greatest of all, is the hunger for meaning. Comfort for the soul is more significant than happiness or unhappiness; it is a meaningful life.

Search for Meaning

There are callings and passions to be chased. Truths to be found. Mountains to be climbed. But all of it leaves us wanting if it does not have meaning. I was talking to a friend I had not seen in some time. He was young and still chasing his moment in the sun. He talked about his impatience and the opportunities that hadn’t panned out, stolen moments that seemed to rob him of his potential. You could hear the subtone of anger; with all his success, he was not content. He even thought of himself as a victim of his own life.  

“I believe if you keep your faith, you keep your trust, you keep the right attitude, if you’re grateful, you’ll see God open up new doors.” – Joel Osteen.

The best I could share with him was when he retired, all that he had accomplished up to this point would become meaningless. In retirement, no one wants to hear about your exploits as a working person any more than they want to hear about your exploits as a high school athlete. Life changes, perspectives change, and you have no future if you are still reliving your past.

Matthew 6:19 “Do not accumulate for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.”

Most of the dysfunction we see in life results from people accepting more and more abnormal behavior in a quest for meaning. They believe that for their life to be whole, they must matter. And to matter means to stand for something, possess something, or achieve something. If what we know does not create the internal contentment we yearn for, we create a new distraction hoping it will be the answer. For most of us, it is a movement, a job, a relationship, a house, a car, a title, or inclusion in a group.

Genesis of Meaning

What is the genesis of true meaning? It is love. It is the love of life, self, and others. Love is the catalyst of all heroics. Living a life based on love overcomes the worldly fears that constrain us to mediocracy. We find freedom in endeavors that spring out of love. Love, by its very nature, is people-focused, not things.

Of all man’s inborn dispositions, there is none more heroic than the love in him. Everything else accepts defeat and dies, but love will fight no-love every inch of the way. – Laurens van der Post

1 John 4:8, “Anyone who does not love does not know God because God is love.”

What is the genesis of love? The need to love and be loved is one of the most important gifts from God. Those in life who are genuinely evil feel betrayed by love; it is not the key to meaning but a weapon of control and abuse. The rest of us wander in a forest filled with love but are distracted from seeing any of it. Our worldly endeavors distract us from the people involved in those endeavors. Our drive steamrolls the opportunity to love and be loved. If we can achieve the perfect life, there will be time to sit back and smell the roses. In the moments between worldly chaos, we can connect with people, but first, we must push on; contentment is one task away.

Mark 12:29-31, “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

The Need for Meaning

1 Corinthians 13:7, “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

I’m one of these weird guys who believes love conquers all. I believe the love of Christ that flowed down from the cross is the answer to meaning. God made us perfectly for His plan for our lives; we don’t need to fix that. We must take it and use it to expand His effort by showing the same love toward others. Our true triumph in life depends on our positive impact on others, not the fleeting recognition that fades away after our time has passed. The outward view of worldly success looks different for each of us. The inside view is the same; it is contentment in that we matter and have meaning. From an eternal perspective, we have left this world a better place. My greatest joy is through the people I have met, not my worldly achievements.  

“Love God, and He will enable you to love others even when they disappoint you.” – Francine Rivers.

I believe we will be truly content when we live this way. God will bless us with joy beyond our understanding. The trappings of the world will not make sense. We will be operating on a different level. In that moment, we know where we stand with God, the people we love most, and our truest selves.

As I have said, your life is a story God wrote that regales the angles. They look to you to help write the next chapter – make it good.

Micah 6:8, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God?”
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We are Wonderfully Made

We are wonderfully made. I believe two things about all people. Firstly, God intricately and flawlessly designs us for a specific purpose in life. Secondly, we all possess a unique story to share. These principles form the cornerstone of our identity in Christ and serve as the bedrock upon which God shapes our destinies. While this concept resonates with me personally, it may vary for each individual, as we all have our own perspectives.

We are Wonderfully Made

Ephesians 2:10, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

We are the product of God’s workmanship. It was once said, “God don’t make no junk.” We are exactly who God wants us to be, warts and all. There is no single aspect of who we are that God did not design in us. In the very complex world of God, we have the power to decide what to do with it. Non-believers create great music, art, structures, and achievements. They took what God gave them in a different direction. That does not mean their talents are not from God. We hear tremendous stories of Christians overcoming disabilities to achieve great heights. These are the stories of people going in different directions but from the same source.

“Your talent is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God.” – Leo Buscaglia

Even Paul had his thorn, but he said it was a calling. He saw it as demonstrating that God can overcome any obstacle. Paul wanted to demonstrate it to the people, not just talk about it.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10, “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

As I sometimes do, I pray that God will take away what I perceive as a weakness; that weakness might be physical, intellectual, or emotional. Instead, should I not pray that God will show me how to use it for His glory? We are wonderfully made as we are. It is not a potential we need to aspire to but a reality of what is.

Do not think you are inferior or need to be like others. Rejoice in who you are and embrace God’s future for you. Whatever you perceive as a weakness is a strength if you know how to use it. Let God show you the way.

Philippians 4:13, “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”

Wonderfully Made for What?

Psalm 139:16, “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

Wonderfully made part two. What is that purpose if we are perfectly and uniquely made to achieve God’s purpose? It is a quest, a journey, not a destination. Mother Teresa said it best.

“I am a little pencil in God’s hands. He does the thinking. He does the writing. He does everything, and sometimes it is really hard because it is a broken pencil and He has to sharpen it a little more.”

Mother Teresa, The Joy in Loving: A Guide to Daily Living.

God writes the story; we try to live it. As Mother Teresa said, we are broken, and living it can be really hard.

But you know what? Life is all about becoming the best version of ourselves, and that’s where the real rewards lie. Everything else that tries to lure us away from that path is just an illusion, trying to trick us into thinking it’s fulfilling. Like achieving huge success in the world, but if it doesn’t come with eternal salvation, it’s like chasing after a dream that fades away once reality sets in.

It’s like climbing a mountain, only to find another one waiting for us. Our achievements might not bring us the happiness and satisfaction we crave; instead, they just fuel our hunger to achieve more. We keep searching for peace, but somehow it always seems to slip through our fingers. Sadly, it’s often only when we’re nearing the end of our journey that we realize this truth. And for some, by then, it might be too late to make things right.

Proverbs 20:24. “A man’s steps are from the Lord; how then can man understand his way?”

Do you know what’s awesome? Living the story that Christ wrote for us—it’s like everything in our lives is leading us to that epic conclusion. Every single gift we receive, whether it’s money, time, relationships, experiences, knowledge, or skills, comes from God, and they all have a purpose. They’re like arrows pointing us in a certain direction. Our mission is to figure out that direction and embrace it.

Don’t get caught up in chasing worldly fame, status, or wealth because they won’t bring true satisfaction. The real deal is finding that inner peace that goes beyond any understanding. That’s the stuff that truly satisfies the soul.

Philippians 4:7, “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Heaven’s Response

Picture this: angels sitting around a campfire or maybe a cozy stove, reminiscing about the incredible stories of people’s lives as written by God. They regale with laughter when they recall the epic triumphs, and they can’t help but shed tears of joy when they talk about how people overcame their challenges. Each time a new story gets added, Heaven gets a little brighter and happier.

Furthermore, when God finally welcomes an obedient believer, He weeps. First, because He loves the stories that were lived out, and second, He knows that this person will not be part of any new ones. I don’t know about you, but I want God to wrap me up tight and weep. I long for God’s embrace to be so tight, so intimate, that it overwhelms me with His love and moves us both to tears.

John 6:27, “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him, God the Father has set his seal.”
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Melancholy

Melancholy is the road less traveled; joy we feel and embrace, depression is suffocating, melancholy is just blah. It is living in a world of knee-deep mud while trying to move forward. Melancholy, you are not in; you are not out; you are just stuck.

Proverbs 17:22, “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”

Follow me on a somewhat circuitous journey for a minute. I remember when I was 30 and received my first pacemaker. I dropped into a period of melancholy thinking because I was living via an artificial device (i.e., I was no longer invincible). A few weeks ago, I received an artificial value in my heart. Everything went better than planned, and I started hiking again within weeks. But my friend Melancholy reappeared. A friend of mine. who is a nurse, told me that they were taught that melancholy was a normal reaction to heart surgery.

I remember this quote; “it is not the water around the boat that sinks it; it is the water that gets into the boat that sinks it” So intellectually and physically, all is good, but emotionally I have doubts. I started letting the water outside the boat seep in; I was taking on water. In the book “Not Good Enough, Why Your Small God Leads to Big Problems” by JD Greear, he states, “When we say “I can’t believe in God because there is so much purposeless evil in the world,” we assume that we could immediately perceive whatever purpose is out there.”

Here is where I try to draw this together; I started to let the fact that I could not see God’s hand in some of the dysfunction around me, that I started to assume His hand was not there. Somehow, intellectually I understood; emotionally, I was letting go. I started to lose hope because I did not understand the bigger plan. Therefore, my role in the plan got foggy. My purpose became fragmented. I started to question why. Asking why is not a bad thing; not accepting the answer is.

We all go through periods of darkness. We live in a fallen world. Some of those dark periods have a purpose; some are purposeless SIGSWs (self-inflicted gun shoot wounds). My melancholy is self-inflicted, it has no real purpose, but I have experienced the other type too; they are much harder to climb out of. We rationalize our position without the benefit of a contrary opinion. Because we do not understand, we stop listening.

Ecclesiastes 8:17, “Then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it.”

When we are in the throes of pain, it is difficult to feel God’s wisdom and love. Pain does not have to be physical. The worse pain I have felt in my life was emotional. I understand how the body heals, I don’t understand how the heart heals, but it does, not with antiseptic, bandages, and stitches, but with love and caring. Giving what we desperately need provides us with what we want.

1 Corinthians 2:9, “However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived are the things God has prepared for those who love him.”

This post is short. More cathartic than informative. I’m patching the holes one by one that are letting water in. I am trying not to let dysfunction hijack my emotions. I am trying to focus on God’s plan for everyone, not just me. Most important, I am trying to learn what God wants me to know from this experience.

Romans 15:13, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
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Who am I that I should love God?

Who am I that I should love God? This post is the second question that each of us needs to answer. The first was last week. Then, it was “Who is God that He should love me?” If you read last week’s post, you understand God’s enormity. You might also start to understand why He loves us. The question then arises if a mighty God loves me, does He care if I love Him? He is all-powerful; He can make anyone or anything do what He wants. So why give me a choice?

The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us; just as the roof of a sun house does not attract the sun because it is bright, but becomes bright because the sun shines on it. – C.S. Lewis

LOVE

How would you feel if the love of your life reciprocated your feelings without any choice or consideration? Their love would be involuntary, lacking emotional depth or comparison. They never felt anything else to compare it with. There would be no highs or lows. It would be like loving a robot—an unfeeling automaton.

Choice is a gift from God, as it is the act of choosing that grants significance to our decisions. The value of choosing to love God is realized when we have the option to choose otherwise. This concept holds true in our relationship with God, but what significance does it hold for us personally? Choice explains our importance to God, but what does it mean to us?

Deuteronomy 30:11-14 “This command I am giving you today is not too difficult for you, and it is not beyond your reach. It is not kept in heaven, so distant that you must ask, ‘Who will go up to heaven and bring it down so we can hear it and obey?’  It is not kept beyond the sea, so far away that you must ask, ‘Who will cross the sea to bring it to us so we can hear it and obey?’ No, the message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart so that you can obey it.”

God has bestowed upon humanity the profound gift of love—the innate longing to both give and receive affection. Being made in the image of God, we are imbued with this desire to care for someone who holds a unique significance in our hearts and existence. When we allow God to occupy a special position in our lives and commit to spending eternity with Him, love naturally flourishes and evolves. Consequently, the pivotal question arises: Whom or what shall we choose to love?

Romans 5:5, “And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”

SIN

Ecclesiastes 7:20, “Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins.”

Sin is the inherent flaw in human actions that prevents them from fully honoring and glorifying the Lord. It originated with the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and has tainted all individuals, except for Christ. Sin ultimately results in both physical and spiritual death.

Titus 1:15-16, “To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but by their deeds, they deny Him, being detestable, disobedient, and worthless for any good deed.”

If we reject Christ due to our sinful nature, we are inherently bound for hell. Hell represents complete, conscious, and eternal separation from God’s blessings. It is the default outcome of condemnation, as not choosing Christ is, in essence, a decision against Him.

1 John 1:8-10, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us.”

The crux of the matter lies not in a mere dichotomy of right versus wrong, but rather in the choice of whom to place your trust. Even individuals who exhibit exemplary moral character yet fail to acknowledge the sovereignty of Christ opts to be eternally separated from Him.

1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”

However, God has provided us with a means to escape such a fate. During the final judgment, God respects our individual choices and determines our destiny accordingly. We have the freedom to decide whether we desire to spend eternity in the presence of God’s blessings or to be separated from them. This is where our free will comes into play—we have the power to make that choice.

Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

SALVATION

Romans 5:6-8, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person, someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Merely doing good deeds will not grant us the privilege of spending eternity in the presence of God’s blessings. However, God has bestowed upon us a pathway to Himself through the sacrificial death of His son, Jesus Christ. Christ’s ultimate sacrifice serves as the means to attain salvation and reconcile with God.

Acts 4:12, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

As we begin to comprehend the relentless pursuit of God’s love for us, our own pursuit of Him is ignited. While we are bound to make mistakes along the way, those errors do not render us ineligible. On the contrary, our heartfelt desire to spend eternity with the one being who genuinely loves us unconditionally qualifies us for such a destiny.

Titus 3:5, “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”

John Piper says that the Bible is the greatest book in history, Romans is the greatest letter in that book, chapter eight is the greatest chapter in that letter, and the first verse is the greatest verse. “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Who am I to hold such love for God? I am a cherished child of the living God who willingly sacrificed His son for my sake, granting me the gift of eternal life. So why do I love Him?

1 John 4:19, “We love because he first loved us.”
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Being a Pencil in the Hand of God

I started to think about the significance of being a pencil in the hand of God. It started with this quote from Mother Teresa.

“I am a little pencil in God’s hands. He does the thinking. He does the writing. He does everything, and sometimes it is really hard because it is a broken pencil and He has to sharpen it a little more.” ― Mother Teresa, The Joy in Loving: A Guide to Daily Living

Once we start to understand that we are the pencil in the hand of God, we start to understand our position in life. Christ is the author of all stories, the writer, producer, financial backer, and hero of every story. We are His instrument. When we start to understand we are a pencil in the hand of God, we start to appreciate all that we can be.

Psalm 115:1, “Not to us, O Lord, not to us. But to Your name give glory Because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth.”

Authoring Your Story

Many of us go through life thinking that we write the story of our lives. We are the hero who saves the day. On the other hand, some of us see ourselves as the victim tossed by the waves of life. In either case, we are the central character that the story encircles. We assume the role of the one in control when we are actually an instrument of the creator.

Psalm 37:23-24, “The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him, though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.”

When we get to Heaven, if we get to Heaven, what will be God’s response? Will God look at His assortment of writing utensils and say I’ve never written anything with you? Will he see you and say that He remembers a story, but it was a short story once, or twice?

Will God beam with joy, grab you up and hold you close, remembering all the incredible adventures of your life? Will He laugh and cry with every turn of a phrase embodying a triumph or tragedy from your relationship? Will He weep because there will be no more new stories to delight Himself?

Jeremiah 10:23, “Lord, I know that people’s lives are not their own; it is not for them to direct their steps.”

Wasting Your Time

You are wasting your life if you are not an instrument of God’s story. There is no kinder way to say it; any good deed, or honorable act, that the Spirit does not drive is a wasted effort. All who flit from activity to activity in busy, misdirected lives are not building a legacy; you are passing the time. Forty or eighty years after our passing, others will faintly remember us, no matter our skill, intelligence, or accomplishment. But, there will be no eternal implication echoing through time, no great stories to be relived.

Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”

Even the great statesmen, who emboss their names in history, are just that, a name. We don’t know them; we might know of them. They are a name, a face, and a place, real only within the context of a subject. It is in Heaven that relationships last forever. It is in Heaven that angles relived, rejoiced, and regaled over God’s stories

Luke 15:10, “In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Refocus Your Storytelling

We spend too much time making our mark here, where time erases because another will supersede every earthly accomplishment. Our wealth will be left behind. The great stories about adventure, tragedy, victory, and love not written by God will fade away like a mist in the morning sun. Yet, those stories driven by the Holy Spirit will prevail. They ripple for generations as angles rejoice at their retelling.

“Seeking to perpetuate one’s name on earth is like writing on the sand by the seashore; to be perpetual, it must be written on eternal shores.” D.L. Moody

Don’t waste your life by doing good for the sake of doing good, thinking the story you write has merit. Anyone can do good and be kind; it’s called being human. Being Godly is to let God write your stories and guide your path. Remember, live your life so that when you meet Christ face-to-face, He will cry. He will cry joyfully at your meeting and sorrowfully that He will not write any new stories with you.

“The mere fact itself that God’s will is irresistible and irreversible fills me with fear, but once I realize that God wills only that which is good, my heart is made to rejoice.” – A. W. Pink

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Job or Naomi, You Pick

Job or Naomi, you pick the one closest to yourself. This decision is not a question of gender but temperament and faith. It might be easy for some to let gender play too big a role in this comparison, but that would be a mistake. How we approach God in times of trouble is not dictated by gender, environment, or ethnic background but by faith.

It is essential to realize that gender does play a role in Naomi’s situation, as she is both an immigrant and a woman. It does add to her suffering, but she does not suffer from Job’s physical condition. So they somewhat offset each other. I do not believe the Bible means for these two stories to distinguish between male and female suffering but to contrast their approaches to suffering. So, are you Job or Naomi?

Job

Job 1:20-22, “At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and 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.” In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.”

Job devastatingly lost everything. God took everything Job loved and cherished. He still had his wife, although her assessment was, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!” ( Job 2:9). Not exactly the type of support one would expect. Job’s friends took the time to give him bad advice. They assured him that he brought on his problems through his poor behavior. Job did not see anything in his possession as his, but God’s to do with what He pleased.

Job 3:25, “What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me.”

Job feared suffering. He did not understand why God would let him suffer instead of taking his life. Job did not understand. But, through everything, Job stood with God. He would not blame God for his misfortune. He was not a victim. 

Naomi

Ruth 1:20-21, “Don’t call me Naomi, [pleasant],” she told them. “Call me Mara, [bitter] because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.”

Naomi also lost everything. She lost her husband and sons, which was her ability to care for herself. Unlike Job, thieves did not rob her; the death of her husband and sons robbed her of her ability to create income. Also, unlike Job, she was a foreigner, an immigrant. Therefore, she had no standing in the community.  

Naomi, as opposed to Job, assumed her suffering was of God. She felt that God had chosen her for suffering. Naomi hints at the idea that what was hers was hers, and God just took it away. Naomi sees herself as a victim.

Restoration

God, in His compassion and wisdom, rescues both. God restored Job.

Job 42:10-11, “After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.”

God redeemed Naomi through Boaz.

Ruth 4:9-10, “Then Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, “Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelek, Kilion, and Mahlon. I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife.”

You

Matthew 5:45, “that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”

Often, we endure trials seeking God’s deliverance from them. Suffering is painful for us to endure or to see those we love endure. While our instinct is to flee trials, remember that even in the midst of suffering, God’s will is being done. – Paul Chappell

Are you Job or Naomi? Which do you choose; what is your approach? In this broken world where bad things happen to good people, do you praise God in your affliction, or do you see yourself as a victim of God’s judgment? Do you think that as a dedicated Christian, God should rescue you from the world around you, or do you look for ways to glorify God within your circumstances?

My dad used to say, “Life is unfair; get over it.” We serve a loving God who will take us through the darkest times. We need to cling to that promise. 

Isaiah 54:10, “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken, nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.”
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Pursuit of Happiness

The Pursuit of happiness is one of the most cherished possessions of all United States citizens. The pursuit of happiness is so cherished it is in the first sentence of our Declaration of Independence, signed in 1776. The right to the pursuit of happiness is considered unalienable; unalienable rights are rights that can never be forfeited. They’re fundamental parts of humanity, the basis for moral interactions between people, and are irrevocable.

Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776 “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”

“Every man, whatsoever his condition, desires to be happy.” —Saint Augustine

Unalienable Rights

Thomas Jefferson, the primary drafter of the Declaration of Independence, described unalienable rights as, “We human beings are born on this planet with these rights, and so these are our birthright. These great virtues keep us separate from other living species and protect human dignity. These rights are like God’s gift to the human race.”

Ecclesiastes 3:13, "Also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God's gift to man."

Over 130 national constitutions recognize happiness or well-being as a constitutional value worthy of protection. However, this is high praise for a concept so pure yet so misunderstood. We all crave a world where we are free to chase what makes us happy. We freely endorse that all people have the right to be happy. The problem comes into play when we start to define happiness. Some things that might make one person happy infringe on another’s happiness. Many things that might bring us happiness at the moment are short-lived and harmful in the long term. Almost every perception of human happiness concerns the here and now.

Misapplied Happiness

Most people pursue happiness at their peril. The list of things people do to pursue happiness makes the sins described in Second Timothy sound like a shopping list. Somehow we seem to gravitate toward things opposed to God.

2 Timothy 3:1-5, "But understand this, that in the last days, there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power."

“There is no man upon the earth who isn’t earnestly seeking after happiness, and it appears abundantly by the variety of ways they so vigorously seek it; they will twist and turn every way, ply all instruments, to make themselves happy men.” —Jonathan Edwards

Happiness becomes self-centered. Happiness becomes about having, being, or controlling rather than giving, loving, and accepting. The pursuit of worldly happiness makes us more unhappy. We become insecure about what we have. We become possessive of our happiness over others’ happiness; slaves to the very things we are pursuing.

True Happiness

Happiness is untested delight. Joy is delight tested.- Jack Hyles

Galatians 5:22-23, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things, there is no law."

Happiness is situational; joy is a decision. God did give us the unalienable right to Joy. Pursuing it does not lead us to gain something but to give up something. Once we give up our right to be joyful and start helping and loving others, we find we have joy. God has built this joyful quotient into us that the more you give, the more you get. We chase happiness like an animated object trying to allude us. Joy is stationary, waiting for us to apply the Gospel to our everyday lives and reap the rewards promised by God.

Ecclesiastes 3:12, "I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live."

Happiness is a valent concept that would lead us to praise it as if it was an object to be worshipped. But, in fact, it is a by-product of our condition. On the other hand, we get joy when we give up on everything worldly. It is the peace that comes from knowing God is with us.

John 15:11, "These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full."

The world is spiraling downward toward the end predicted in Revelations; those who do not cling to the God of the universe will eventually suffer significantly from it. Accordingly, happiness is about serving; not about others serving us.

“It is a Christian duty . . . for everyone to be as happy as he can.” —C.S. Lewis

Philippians 4:11-13, “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance, and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

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Being Loved is Life

Being loved is life; it is what gives us substance and hope. Love fuels our passion for life. However, only when we learn to love do we start to understand what it means to be loved.

Being loved is life’s second greatest blessing; loving is the greatest. – Jack Hyles

Ephesians 2:4-5, “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”

DESIRE

One of my greatest desires and fears is to be loved. I have loved very deeply and hurt because of it. But I know that on those nights when sleep evades me, my mind starts to wander to a place I go to what it would be like to be completely loved; not the love I have experienced in my life but a deep-abiding love mentioned in the Bible.

1 Corinthians 13: 13, "And now these three remain faith, hope, and Love. But the greatest of these is Love."

I lay in the darkness, with no distractions but my thoughts, thinking about love with no agenda, secrets, or motive other than me. I think about a love so consuming that it dictates my existence, a love so large it threatens my heart. It captures me with an attraction that terrifies me. To have and then lose a love like this would be devastating.

Colossians 3:14, "And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony."

LOVE

Altruistic, unselfish, complete love that quenched my desire to be loved is potent. My desire for it makes me vulnerable to its power. To lose it would be to fall into a deep black hole with no escape. The joy of experiencing a love like that is balanced by the pain that would occur if I lost it. And with that thought, I retreat into my world. I return to the safety of a worldly love bartered and traded. I content myself with minor love and minor pain, emotions that I can understand. It is a human love that is well-intended but flawed. Because of that, we build an invisible wall around our hearts to protect us from pain, and that same wall holds back what we can give.

To love someone means to see him as God intended him. – Fyodor Dostoevsky

1 John 4:19, "We love because he first loved us."

The love I desire is out there. It has existed since before time. God, in His infinite wisdom, built the desire for that love into us. It is that hollow feeling we have that we are never complete. You are trying to fill that hole when you chase fame and fortune. Drugs, alcohol, money, status, sex, and power are cheap alternatives. But, ultimately, it is more drugs, alcohol, status, sex, and power we crave because the desire remains. The fire rages because we have not found the one source that will fulfill that desire once and for all time.

1 John 4:7-8, "Dear friends, let us love one another, for Love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is Love."

CHALLENGE

The challenge is that God’s love is not manifest in worldly trappings. He does not replace His love with cheap imitations. He does not confuse our desire to love and be loved, with our desire to possess. One desire demands purity the other grovels in our sinful nature. One looks at eternity; the other looks only at today.

Everything God does is Love — even when we do not understand Him. – Basilea Schlink

God is love in its most pure form. God’s very existence defines that He will freely give Himself without hesitation. God does not fear loss as we do. Instead, he gives and gives and gives. There is no limit to what He will do to demonstrate His love to us. Because His love is perfect, we do not have to fear loss. He will always be with us for eternity.

Deuteronomy 7:9, "Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments."

In the dark of the night, I try to set aside my worldly experiences and trust in His promise. I dream of overcoming my fear and fully embracing what God has always wanted for me, to learn to lean on my faith that He will do everything He has promised. I want to free my heart to love as He loves me because being loved is life. 

Hebrews 10:23, "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful."
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Seeking Faith Rather than Seeking Christ

Are we seeking faith rather than seeking Christ? This quote is a paraphrase from John Wesley concerning the mountaintop experience of many Christians. It was an interesting question. The connotation is that we don’t necessarily fully understand the implication of Christ’s Love for us; we only understand the security of what He does for us.

1 John 4:18 "There is no fear in Love, but perfect Love casts out fear because fear has to do with punishment. Whoever fears is not perfect in Love."

INTRODUCTION

I listened to an interesting Podcast concerning the events at Asbury University this last week. In case you do not know, Asbury University, a private Christian school in Wilmore, Kentucky, had somewhat normal chapel services on March 9, 2023, which led to a non-stop multi-day religious experience. The University does not call it a revival, as they believe only history can determine if it is an actual revival. In the podcast, the commentators paraphrased Wesley, “Are we seeking faith rather than seeking Christ.” The question elicits deeper thinking concerning the emotional impact of the moment as opposed to the eternal impact of Christ’s Love.   

Faith is a misunderstood concept. You can have complete faith that someone is going to lie to you. They have a track record of doing it, and there is no reason to feel they will go against the trend in the given situation. Faith in something is nothing more than confidence that you can predict what will happen. Faith is confidence in the outcome. Christ’s unchanging nature gives us confidence in what He will do.

THE QUESTION

Are we seeking faith rather than seeking Christ? Christian faith should be a byproduct of understanding the depth of God’s Love for us. It is not faith in what God will do but in who God is. If we understand the depth of God’s Love for us, we have no concern for what He does for us. What He does will always be directly related to how much He loves us.

Love is not merely an attribute of God’s character but the essence of his being —

Sunday Adelaja

John Piper, in his book “God Is the Gospel” asked this question, “The critical question for our generation—and every generation—is this: If you could have Heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with Heaven, if Christ was not there?”

Who do you seek? Do you seek the experience of Christianity but not the joy of Christ’s Love? Christ offers us a lot. For those who call Him King, the reward is an eternity like nothing we have ever experienced. But would we still seek Christ without the promise of that experience? Do we crave heaven with or without Christ? Is the fear of losing heaven the driving emotion behind your faith?

But do you feel His Love? When you think of Christ, does it elicit an emotional response? When your prays are not answered as you had desired, do you bask in His Love? Do you really believe that despite who you are, what you continue to do, and how you treat Him, He loves you unconditionally? Do you believe He loves you no matter what you are going through?

John 15:13, "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends."

We are not just His creation; we are His friends.

LIVING WITH THE ANSWER

You have to live with your answer. You can lie to yourself but not to God. We live in a material world filled with measurements and agendas. None of us have ever experienced altruistic Love. It is not natural for man to love that way. Everything is up for sale. We barter and trade affection like shares of stock. We judge others feeling toward us by what they are willing to do for us and us for them.

Romans 8:35-37, "Who shall separate us from the Love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: "For Your sake, we are killed all day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter." No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us."

The God of the universe, who spoke it into existence, sent His son to die for you. He didn’t just die for you; that would have been too simple. Instead, he was humiliated, tortured, and hung alive on a tree with spikes through His hands and feet. He is God; He didn’t need to do any of that. He created us and could have easily destroyed us and started over. But He didn’t. He kept pursuing us.

Romans 5:8, "but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Our faith should not be in what God can do but in how much He loves us. In Love, He will do everything possible to ensure you spend eternity with Him. It is not about how perfect heaven is but about who will be there, the only entity in existence that can and will love you the way you desire to be loved.

Do you need the image of eternity in the Garden of Eden with all of your loved ones who have passed before, perfect weather, agile strong bodies, and peace and goodwill to motivate you toward Godliness, or is spending eternity with your creator, worshiping at His feet enough? Is it about what He provides more than who He is?

This verse describes God’s Love toward us that we should try to emulate toward others.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7, "Love is patient and kind; Love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

Do not strive to spend eternity in heaven; strive to spend eternity with the God who loves you unconditionally.

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