No, We Do Not Have the Right

What if what we are looking for to fill the gaps in our lives has been there all along? 

What if our desires have never been lacking?

What if the next best thing has nothing over the best thing you have already had?

What if the "more" you have been looking for was never lost, but just out of sight?

"Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him!" Job 40:2


Something that I have been struggling with for the past couple months is understanding self righteousness. Christians who have given his or her life to God and all that comes along with that, have taken on a life whose demands are great. Still being human, there seems to be some things missing--things desired and not yet attained. We look into the future and there seem to be pieces to the puzzle missing. What type of home are we to create? What type of career are we to posses? What type of people are we to reach? Who is to be our partner through it all?

Those are questions that others seem to get to ask without regard. However, when we ask, guilt creeps in. Maybe we should have asked a different question or asked that same question in a different way. Despite the guilt, the reason behind the question still lingers. The "more" that we want lingers in our heart.

We allow it to stay because it is apart of who we are. Why wouldn't I want to create a Godly home or have career that is more than a mere job? We are still human beings--beings with desires! So the "more" lingers in our hearts.

Self righteousness.

It was not the mourning that Job was dealing with that was the problem. He had lost everything! It was not the illness he had to daily endure that was bothering our Lord. God did not have a problem with Job feeling sad.

"Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?" Job 40:2

It was that Job felt big enough to correct God for "messing up." So Job relinquished his trust and replaced it with condemnation. It seems so silly, wild, or even ludicrous to say that God messed up,yet let's not pretend as though we have never treated God the same way Job did. We often times have a mental picture of how God could have done things better or we settle for God's way.

This time was different. The Father had plenty to say, abut three chapters worth of things to say to Job and He delivered those words personally. Why? Because God wanted this lesson to be as clear as day--no human being has the right to say that God is done wrong. I know, blows your mind doesn't it? That is not what society believes today. It believes that it has the right to call wrong whatever it pleases. Lord forgive us. Job's pain had not elevated him to a place higher than the King of kings.

He had to be reminded that the one who fills gaps had been there all along and was beyond capable.

He had to recapture the vision of the desires that God has for him that more than satisfy his desires.

He had to hear from the maker Himself that there is no "next best thing" after the Creator.

He had to experience more to realize that "more" was code word for God.

We are going to feel a lot of things in this life, but seek to never let those emotions blindly lead you to try and remove God from His throne. No one would fit there but God himself. No matter how blameless we perceive self to be, we are not without sin. We DO NOT have the big picture, so we don't understand it all. Which means we do NOT have the right to be self righteous.

So when the demands of this life seem great and the struggle all to real, don't focus on the evils and get swept into the trap of self righteousness. Instead trade in your condemnation of God's methods for trust.

Don't just take my word for it, read Job 38-42.

"I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. You asked, 'Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?' Surely I spoke of things that I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know." Job 42:2-3

Our God is beautiful, wonderful, gracious, omnipotent, loving, all this and MORE God! The way that He wraps us in light and cools us with wind. He quenches our thirst with water and steadies our feet with a firm foundation. He divided the day from the night with the sun and the moon. What a great God!

How do you feel God is currently working in your life? In your favor? 
Let's recommit to trust Him through it all! Through all the ups and downs. Isn't He worth it?



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Today is a New Day

Woke up this morning? Check.

Breath in my lungs? Check.

A working mind? Check.

Health? Check.

A loving and forgiving God? Check.

I will lift mine eyes unto the hills. He is my present help. Ps. 121:1, 46:1. So, I will be glad that I have today. I didn't have to have today, but I do.

As I look out my new window of my new apartment, I am at peace. I love the nature and its beauty. However this peace did not arrive because today I did everything perfectly, but because I am thinking about my very perfect God. He crossed my mind and made me smile. :-D How about that.

There is something very profound about God. Could it be the way his bright and beautiful rays kiss the earth? Or could it be his tall unwavering trees standing ever constant in my life? No, it must be the security I feel of knowing that as the weather changes I have warm clothes. Yes, that must be it!

Today is a new day and tomorrow shall be one as well. I'm just going to take life one step at a time allowing Christ to prepare the way ahead of me. :-)

Are you glad that there is hope for a new day?

The Basis of Your Hope

To say that this week has been challenging would be an understatement. I have felt more strong emotions this week that I have in a while. Sadly, though "a while" is not as long as it should be. The past couple months have really been trying. God is calling my character forward into the light through some intense trials. There are some days when all I want to do is scream, other days I want a waterfall to come gushing out of my eyes, then there are days when I have nothing to say. Yet, in every moment of every day, I have yet to feel alone. Yes, I may miss my friends and family, but I do not feel alone. God is with me.

It is easy to feel like there is no one on the planet who at a precise moment has not a clue how you feel.  No gets you.... Wrong! There are many people who understand what you are going through. You just may not have encountered them yet. This week I sat on a bench soaking up the warmth from the sun while encountering someone who got what I am going through. As I spoke with one of my friends, to my shock, I was not the only one going through such a specific and tricky tribulation. I was not alone.

When I would feel the feelings of loneliness and confusion creeping in, God would send a messenger my way. It would come through a needed quote, from a phone call at the precise moment needed, a Bible verse, a song, and words from above spoken through any willing vessel. Wednesday was that day. It still shocks me how persistent God is. All day long, message after message. He would not give up! God never gave up on me.

From this long week, I can truly say without a shadow of a doubt that I KNOW that God is with me. That is not speculation or hear say. I still have no idea how He is going to take me step by step, but He will. I have experienced loneliness, so I know what God's presence feels like. I have experienced fear, so I know what God's comfort feels like. I have heard silence, so I know what God's voice sounds like. It was the hardest week, but it was not impossible! God was seeking for me to feel and experience who he really is. This week God was not a figment of my spiritual imagination, God was, and is, a real being who is taking my life by storm.

For all those out there who feel like there is no hope, recall what the basis of your hope is. Is it because of the stuff you have in your life or is because of the God in your life.

How has God shown His worth to you?


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