What I Do When I don't Understand God's Ways

(Job 3:11-13) Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly? {12} Why did the knees prevent me? or why the breasts that I should suck? {13} For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest,

Sometimes I ask silly questions. Why did God deal with me this way? Why did God let this happen? Why is it necessary that I go through this? OK, so maybe they are not so silly, but the answer lies in the fact that God has a purpose when He works in our lives.

One thing that has always impressed me was the quick response Abraham had when God asked him to take Isaac to Mount Moriah. I am not so sure I would have responded so speedily. But I do try to be that way. Here are four things that I try to employ personally when I do not understand God's ways.

1. KNOW GOD. His ways are not ours, that is for sure. (Isa 55:8-9) For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. {9} For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. God sees and knows what we do not. He has a goal for our lives and a plan to reach that goal. And His divine motives are always good.

2. TRUST GOD. (Isa 41:10) Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. I can always trust that what He says is true whether I understand it or not. And I can trust that He is able to carry out His desire for me by His mighty power.

3. OBEY GOD. (Isa 48:18) O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea: I should always obey God, regardless of the occasion or circumstance. Every adversity that I face is God's opportunity to show His gracious, mighty hand. From every great trial can come a great testimony if I am faithful to obey Him.

4. ASK GOD. (Isa 58:9) Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; If wisdom and understanding is to be found, it will come from God. (Jer 33:3) Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

God never puts more on me than I can bear (1 Cor 10:13), and nothing can separate me from His love (Rom 8:35-37). He's a wonderful Saviour to me.

FACING THE FUTURE WITH CERTAINTY

We live in uncertain and terrible days. 2 Tim. 3:1, "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come." But many have faced uncertainty in the past: Abraham, who went to war against kings and armies to save his nephew Lot; Joseph, who was sold into slavery by his own brothers; Esther, who put her life on the line to save her people from extinction; the three Hebrew young men, who refused to compromise their faith in Babylon; are all examples of believers living through uncertain times.

Let me suggest four factors which will strengthen our resolve to live faithfully through uncertainty:

1. ACCOUNT THAT GOD IS ABLE. Heb. 11:19, "Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from which also he received him in a figure." Is God really God? Is His Word really His Word? Will He keep it? If our answer is a resounding "Yes" to these questions, then we must remember that God has promised to provide, protect, and prosper His people if they will follow Him.

2. SEEK THE COUNSEL OF GOD. James 1:5, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." God counsel on any matter is always right, available and immutable.

3. PURPOSE IN YOUR HEART. Prov. 23:6-7, "Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats; For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee."  Daniel 1:8, "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself." A purpose set heart with do two things: a) it will sacrifice anything for the blessing of God, and b) it will set a high Godly standard for life and not settle for less.

4. REMAIN STEDFAST.  1 Cor. 15:58, "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." Psa. 78:6-8, "That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments: And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God."  Remember, a double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

During days of uncertainty, the best action is to stay with God and trust Him to bring you through.

The Curse of Getting What You Want

Psa. 106:15, "And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul."

I like to brag on God. He is a God Who hears and answers our prayers. He always knows what is best for us. He will say "No" when we are wrong and "Wait" when it is not time for the answer. The Lord likes to hear His children pray and will wait for the importunity of our asking.

However, there is an element of our prayer relationship which is little spoken of, and it is this. We can become so bull-headed about what we think we want, what we think we need, where we think we need to go, what we think we need to be doing, that God will say, "Well, that's just fine, you go on, Son and get what you think best, go where you will, do what you desire. You will not listen to Me, so now you must learn the hard way."

God dealt this way with the children of Israel in the wilderness, as per our text, and then later on when they desired a king, he let them have Saul.  They murmured so much in the wilderness that they would not listen to God and their carcasses fell there. Saul took their sons and daughters from them and made them his servants.

The desires of our heart must always be tempered by the delight we have in the Lord. God can send leanness into the soul.

BREAD

I like bread. I don't need the carbs or calories, but I like it. My mother's cornbread was always my favorite. I wish she were still with us today and she could take that old cast iron skillet out and cook some cornbread on top of the stove. O, my!

In John 6:35 Jesus told us that He is the bread of life. He had come down from heaven to be the provision of God. Just like physical bread, our spiritual bread must be bruised, crushed in the millstone. Isa. 28:28-29 Bread corn is bruised; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen. This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.

Then it must be baked in an oven.  Lev 2:4 And if thou bring an oblation of a meat offering baken in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil.

Finally, before we eat it, it is broken.  1 Cor 11:24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.

This is the miracle of the Bread of life which we have the privilege to enjoying, but at great sacrifice of the Saviour.

I like bread.

Struggling to Get to the Field

I was saddened today to learn that one of our missionary families (we have supported them for more than seven years) will not be on their field of service when I am scheduled to visit that country. I was so looking forward to visiting them and assisting them there, but because some churches have either lost or waned in their fervor for missions, the missionary must extend their time in the United States to raise additional support.

God has blessed our church over the years for the faithfulness of His people to give, pray for and support our missionaries. Personally, Mrs. Groves and I have been blessed through giving by the faith promise plan to missions. In fact, she is so convinced of it, she trusts God to supply an additional amount beyond our family promise so she might have something to give herself.

If your church supports missionaries, be sure to get involved financially, and prayerfully.

Lost Voice But Not The Song

One of the inevitables of growing old is that one's voice changes. Personally, my voice used to be much higher than it is today. But after preaching for forty years and racing toward the "sixty" mark, the voice I once had is now turned to gravel. Oh, I still have the volume and I believe, much of the stamina I had as a younger preacher. But the quality of the voice is gone.

Praise God, the song is still there! I find myself perusing through old song books and hymnals, remembering the worship and praise that came from joining my voice with others as we sang together in the congregation. One of my favorites says:

'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,

Just to take Him at His Word.

Just to rest upon His promise.

Just to know "thus saith the Lord."

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him.

How I've proved Him o'er and o'er.

Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus,

O, for grace to trust Him more.

I find myself vocalizing those old refrains more and more these days. And it is sweet to know that the heart of the song writer still rings true today - even if it comes for a gravelly voice.

Sing it true!

We would see Jesus

John 12:20-21 "And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast: The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus."

I had not worked with my father-in-law very long until he called me into his office and said, There are two scriptures that should be mounted on the pulpit of every preacher - on the preacher's side, John 12:21 and on the people's side, Galatians 4:16. These two passages work in tandem with one another to set a proper atmosphere for the Holy Spirit to work.

Today we want to consider just what these Greek Jews came to see. It was not the resurrected Lazarus who many had come to see. It was not the woman healed of her issue of blood, or the lame man who now walked, or the blind man who was made to see, or even the demoniac who was given his right mind. It was Jesus Who they had come to see.

When we get a correct view of Jesus our soul is satisfied. See Him as the Saviour of the sinner, the Sovereign of the saint, and the Solace of the soul.

The lost world does not need to see the persuasive personality of the slick talking, compromising charlatan. The unsaved are not benefitted by the church which offers nothing more than a "feel good about yourself" gospel. And it is not enough to talk about Jesus - they need to see Jesus.

Seeing Jesus is a soul saving, life changing experience.

The Lord's Perfect Instructions

Matthew 21:1-4, "And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples. Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. And if any man say aught unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them."

There are three things that we can always say about the Lord's instructions to us:  1) His directions are always specific; 2) His directions are always scriptural; and, 3) His directions are always sure. It was the Lord's mother who gave some great advice, "Whatsoever he saith unto thee, do it." One could never go wrong with such advice.

False signs are dangerous. I like the story of the highway patrol officer who was waiting along a busy road to catch a speeder when along came a car just puttering down the road. The officer thought, "This is just as dangerous as a speeder." So he pulled the car over and found five little old ladies inside. The driver said, "What is wrong, Officer? I was not speeding." "No, Maam, but you were going slower than the speed limit and that is just as dangerous." "Oh, no, Sir. I was doing the speed limit exactly...22 mph." The patrolman explained that they were on highway 22 and that was not the speed limit sign. Then the officer asked, "Are these other ladies OK? They look a little pale."  "Oh," said the driver, "they are alright. We just turned off of Highway 135."

Beloved, make sure you are following the Lord's instructions and not false signs.

Words Plainly Spoken

There are words, concepts, statements in the Word of God that are hard to understand. I will admit that several of them escape me. I suppose it will be that way until we reach Glory. I am not suggesting that the Lord muddles words or hides truth in obscurity. We must study to show ourselves approved unto God, workmen un-ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth.

However, the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is not obscure in any way. 1 Cor.15 defines it as the death and burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, according to the Scriptures. And along with that statement comes a list of truths:

1.  Salvation is by grace alone.

2. All men are sinners and fall short of the righteousness of God.

3. There is a literal and eternal hell for the penalty of sin.

4. God is merciful toward the sinner and is willing to save him.

5. The grace and mercy of God are accessed by faith in Christ and through calling upon His name.

The Gospel rings so loud and clear that its distinctness is undeniable.

When it comes to the salvation of a precious soul, God's trumpet does not sound an uncertain sound. It is so plain that even a small Sunday School boy could understand it and believe. Praise God!

If you are reading this and wonder how you could come to know the Lord in such a way, having all your sins forgiven and become a child of God, please contact me. I would appreciate the opportunity to should you in the Bible what God says about being saved.  pastor@fbc-indy.org

Soul Winning

This is a word which is not used much these days. Seems the heart and soul of a few decades ago has been lost to this generation. Too much TV religion I am afraid. Modern emphasis appears to be on discipleship, but how can we teach a Christian discipline to a lost man who has not the Spirit of God in him, nor truly knows Who Jesus is?

Some claim to be winning the lost to Christ, but adherence to a creed, church attendance, and empty profession does not a born again child of God make. A real believer is not born by corruptible things, but by the Word of God.

This preacher is old enough to remember the powerful witnessing from the pew that accompanied the Spirit-filled preaching from the pulpit. Men and women were convicted of sin and turned to Jesus Christ for salvation and redemption. Not enough of that happening today.

I am resolved to have a personal revival of soul winning and witnessing despite the distractions of the world, the deception of satan and the deterioration of the flesh.