“I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord. Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie!” Psalm 40:1-4 ESV
Have you every had this thought:
"I thought this was God's will for me?"
Or what about this one:
"How could God give me something so great only to just take it away?"
I have found that when my life doesn't turn out exactly as I wanted or had planned, even after praying and giving it over to God, I find myself asking the same questions above and more like them. It is what happened when I got a new job and thought it would be the one that got my family over the top only to have it snatched away six months later. Or how about the time the doctors told me that everything would be fine only to find out 8 hours later that I would be riding home alone?
When life throws us a curve ball when we were looking for a fast one down the middle it is easy to allow doubt to creep into our hearts, no matter how strong you are in your faith. Questions like: Why me? Why now? Just WHY??? We doubt ourselves and we doubt the plans that God has for us.
I have been one of the worst in the history of the world to doubt God and ask Him where He was when I needed Him? I have cried out to Him and asked Him why He let me down. I mean, I was serving Him and I still didn't get the outcome I wanted.
For centuries, people have asked that some question. They have debated why bad things happen. They have written books, articles, and even a blog or two to ask the same questions I am referring to. But as I have grown older and hopefully wiser along the way, I have learned that even in the Bible, people would doubt God and what He would do. Abraham doubted God's promise about his son Issac and took it upon himself to get another woman pregnant, other than his wife, and that didn't turn out too good. But I believe the most impressive story about a man that struggled with doubt had to be Job.
While most of us can't relate to the same level of suffering and pain that Job went through, most of us can relate to his questions, to his struggle with wanting to simply get an answer from God as to what he did to deserve all this mess. I mean, he was a righteous guy. He was a true friend of God. He was generous, kind, and extremely faithful to God. He was the kind of guy that everyone wanted to hang out with. If he lived today, he would have the mansion out on the lake near where I live, roll around in the coolest cars, fish in the coolest and fastest bass boat, and even with all that, he wasn't even the least bit smug about any of it. He was the guy that walked the walk and talked the talk.
But one day the enemy pointed out in his finite wisdom that if God would allow him the leeway to "attack" Job, he would ultimately curse God and walk away in a huff. And God being God, infinite wisdom and all that jazz, allowed it happen. God knew that Job wouldn't break in the end. So he allowed the enemy to attack Job but he couldn't kill him. And attack he did.
Job lost everything. His money...gone. His kids...all killed in an accident. His home...destroyed in a natural disaster of biblical proportions. His body...riddled with painful sores. By the time all these things happen, Job is a broken man both physically and emotionally. All the friends he had, the ones that he thought would give him encouragement...It must have been his fault they said. Oh, to have friends like these. Then his loving wife, can't forget this gem of womanhood...She threw her hands up and the towel in when she told him to curse God and die.
And what did Job do? God's Word tells me that He did the exact opposite of all the advise he got. He doesn't turn his back on God. While he does question God and admit that his world is shaken at its foundation, he still trusts God and His plan. And I will admit that I can't say I would be strong enough to do the same given the same circumstances.
But how does God respond? He doesn't give Job a list of reasons why all these things happened and He doesn't show him the blue prints either. God does a thing only God can do and spins it around to question Job. In Job chapter 38 and 39, we find a beautifully written account of God's questions to Job. It properly shows His power, creative ability, and omniscience. God asks him, "Job, where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Have you seen where the darkness dwells and the way that leads to light? Do you know the path of the stars above? The workings of wisdom?" And on and on God questions him with things so deep, the man couldn't even begin to know how to answer God. Have you ever been there? I have.
Some might read it and think, man, God sure was picking on poor old Job. But in my study I have come to understand that God is showing Job that there is a purpose and a meaning to every single thing he has experienced. And though he may or may not know what the plan is...there is always a plan. God will never do anything without a perfect plan in place and with multiple options to achieve His goals. I can doubt. I can even ask Him questions. I can even stop and wonder why but there is always a purpose.
Eventually, Job gets released from the attack that the enemy placed on him and he was found faithful all the same. God knew all along that Job wouldn't dishonor Him and that in the end the enemy would lose. As a reward for his faithfulness, God gave him more than he lost.
But you might still ask me: why does God allow bad things to happen? Well, the best way I know to explain it is this: we live in a fallen world and we are a fallen and broken people. And because of our sinful nature and the free will God gives us all and the freedom to make choices in our lives, we see a world brimming with addiction, illness, betrayal, crime, heartache, and disappointment. As long as Christ tarries and doesn't return we will live in a broken and sinful world. Suffering will reign. just because we are Christians doesn't mean we are exempt from suffering. In fact, it is quite the opposite, Jesus tells us in John 16:33, "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." He was warning you and I that our life wouldn't be easy, even if we did follow Him. And I can assure you that there will be times when it is hard, really hard, to follow Him. But as my Grandfather used to tell me all the time, "Son, things that are hard are worth earning. If it was easy, everyone would do it."
When you ask questions, when you doubt, or when you wonder if God will pull you through, remember that doubt is completely normal. God isn't scared or intimidated by any of your questions. He wants you to bring them to Him. I can promise you that it is better to bring your questions to God rather than to look for them in the bottom of a beer bottle or in the bed of a stranger. We have to strive as Christians to rise above our questions and doubt and bring them all to God, He does actually know them all anyways, its the relationship He desires.
Look, I don't know what you are facing right now. Maybe things with your spouse is going terribly or maybe you are in fear that you might lose your job tomorrow. Perhaps your health is failing or you have a loved one that is near death and you just want them to pull through because you can't imagine life without them. Maybe you think that you are too dirty or too messed up to come to God...Trust me, you aren't. If God can accept scum like me then you have nothing to worry about. Know that your questions are important to God and they may be answered on this side of heaven or the other but don't let that stop you from finishing the race. God will come through one way or the other and most likely it won't be the way you expect. Whatever the answer, it will be in the form of comfort, peace, strength, and a perspective far above mine and yours.
"We must cease striving and trust God to provide what He thinks is best and in whatever time He chooses to make it available. But this kind of trusting doesn't come naturally. It's a spiritual crisis of the will in which we must choose to exercise faith." Charles Swindoll
Have you every had this thought:
"I thought this was God's will for me?"
Or what about this one:
"How could God give me something so great only to just take it away?"
I have found that when my life doesn't turn out exactly as I wanted or had planned, even after praying and giving it over to God, I find myself asking the same questions above and more like them. It is what happened when I got a new job and thought it would be the one that got my family over the top only to have it snatched away six months later. Or how about the time the doctors told me that everything would be fine only to find out 8 hours later that I would be riding home alone?
When life throws us a curve ball when we were looking for a fast one down the middle it is easy to allow doubt to creep into our hearts, no matter how strong you are in your faith. Questions like: Why me? Why now? Just WHY??? We doubt ourselves and we doubt the plans that God has for us.
I have been one of the worst in the history of the world to doubt God and ask Him where He was when I needed Him? I have cried out to Him and asked Him why He let me down. I mean, I was serving Him and I still didn't get the outcome I wanted.
For centuries, people have asked that some question. They have debated why bad things happen. They have written books, articles, and even a blog or two to ask the same questions I am referring to. But as I have grown older and hopefully wiser along the way, I have learned that even in the Bible, people would doubt God and what He would do. Abraham doubted God's promise about his son Issac and took it upon himself to get another woman pregnant, other than his wife, and that didn't turn out too good. But I believe the most impressive story about a man that struggled with doubt had to be Job.
While most of us can't relate to the same level of suffering and pain that Job went through, most of us can relate to his questions, to his struggle with wanting to simply get an answer from God as to what he did to deserve all this mess. I mean, he was a righteous guy. He was a true friend of God. He was generous, kind, and extremely faithful to God. He was the kind of guy that everyone wanted to hang out with. If he lived today, he would have the mansion out on the lake near where I live, roll around in the coolest cars, fish in the coolest and fastest bass boat, and even with all that, he wasn't even the least bit smug about any of it. He was the guy that walked the walk and talked the talk.
But one day the enemy pointed out in his finite wisdom that if God would allow him the leeway to "attack" Job, he would ultimately curse God and walk away in a huff. And God being God, infinite wisdom and all that jazz, allowed it happen. God knew that Job wouldn't break in the end. So he allowed the enemy to attack Job but he couldn't kill him. And attack he did.
Job lost everything. His money...gone. His kids...all killed in an accident. His home...destroyed in a natural disaster of biblical proportions. His body...riddled with painful sores. By the time all these things happen, Job is a broken man both physically and emotionally. All the friends he had, the ones that he thought would give him encouragement...It must have been his fault they said. Oh, to have friends like these. Then his loving wife, can't forget this gem of womanhood...She threw her hands up and the towel in when she told him to curse God and die.
And what did Job do? God's Word tells me that He did the exact opposite of all the advise he got. He doesn't turn his back on God. While he does question God and admit that his world is shaken at its foundation, he still trusts God and His plan. And I will admit that I can't say I would be strong enough to do the same given the same circumstances.
But how does God respond? He doesn't give Job a list of reasons why all these things happened and He doesn't show him the blue prints either. God does a thing only God can do and spins it around to question Job. In Job chapter 38 and 39, we find a beautifully written account of God's questions to Job. It properly shows His power, creative ability, and omniscience. God asks him, "Job, where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Have you seen where the darkness dwells and the way that leads to light? Do you know the path of the stars above? The workings of wisdom?" And on and on God questions him with things so deep, the man couldn't even begin to know how to answer God. Have you ever been there? I have.
Some might read it and think, man, God sure was picking on poor old Job. But in my study I have come to understand that God is showing Job that there is a purpose and a meaning to every single thing he has experienced. And though he may or may not know what the plan is...there is always a plan. God will never do anything without a perfect plan in place and with multiple options to achieve His goals. I can doubt. I can even ask Him questions. I can even stop and wonder why but there is always a purpose.
Eventually, Job gets released from the attack that the enemy placed on him and he was found faithful all the same. God knew all along that Job wouldn't dishonor Him and that in the end the enemy would lose. As a reward for his faithfulness, God gave him more than he lost.
But you might still ask me: why does God allow bad things to happen? Well, the best way I know to explain it is this: we live in a fallen world and we are a fallen and broken people. And because of our sinful nature and the free will God gives us all and the freedom to make choices in our lives, we see a world brimming with addiction, illness, betrayal, crime, heartache, and disappointment. As long as Christ tarries and doesn't return we will live in a broken and sinful world. Suffering will reign. just because we are Christians doesn't mean we are exempt from suffering. In fact, it is quite the opposite, Jesus tells us in John 16:33, "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." He was warning you and I that our life wouldn't be easy, even if we did follow Him. And I can assure you that there will be times when it is hard, really hard, to follow Him. But as my Grandfather used to tell me all the time, "Son, things that are hard are worth earning. If it was easy, everyone would do it."
When you ask questions, when you doubt, or when you wonder if God will pull you through, remember that doubt is completely normal. God isn't scared or intimidated by any of your questions. He wants you to bring them to Him. I can promise you that it is better to bring your questions to God rather than to look for them in the bottom of a beer bottle or in the bed of a stranger. We have to strive as Christians to rise above our questions and doubt and bring them all to God, He does actually know them all anyways, its the relationship He desires.
Look, I don't know what you are facing right now. Maybe things with your spouse is going terribly or maybe you are in fear that you might lose your job tomorrow. Perhaps your health is failing or you have a loved one that is near death and you just want them to pull through because you can't imagine life without them. Maybe you think that you are too dirty or too messed up to come to God...Trust me, you aren't. If God can accept scum like me then you have nothing to worry about. Know that your questions are important to God and they may be answered on this side of heaven or the other but don't let that stop you from finishing the race. God will come through one way or the other and most likely it won't be the way you expect. Whatever the answer, it will be in the form of comfort, peace, strength, and a perspective far above mine and yours.
"We must cease striving and trust God to provide what He thinks is best and in whatever time He chooses to make it available. But this kind of trusting doesn't come naturally. It's a spiritual crisis of the will in which we must choose to exercise faith." Charles Swindoll
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