Trusting God on the crooked path
We are almost to the end of the book. I really enjoyed this book and it has been so relevant, so encouraging and so challenging. I would like to continue journeying with you through a new book. Please provide some suggestions.
It is one of "those" days. The first e-mail I received in the morning was from one of the agencies where I interviewed twice. This agency was the farthest drive, 45 minutes one way. I was asked to come in twice. You can see where I am headed with this. The title of the message was internship. It was a short e-mail and those are usually the worst and it was. In polite language they said that they cannot accept me as an intern. Usually this should not be a big deal, but I forwarded the message to the director of field education at the college and she expressed her concerns that this is starting to become problematic. My peers all started their internships five weeks ago and I have been met with ten weeks of failed attempts. Yet, in this, the Lord is good. I received two phone calls from two different hospitals and had two interviews this week. I have no idea how it will turn out, but this situation is not in my control.
I far prefer the times when everything makes sense and things are going well.
"I personally prefer the "straight" times! I like to be able to see how everything is fitting together. The crooked times are difficult, not just because they're crooked but because we can't see how God is working. But those are the times that require faith. Remember, God is fitting things together even when we can't see. It just doesn't feel as good or as safe. The book of Ecclesiastes encourages us to rejoice when life is easy and to trust God when it isn't." (p. 186)
Consider the work of God, for who is able to straighten what He has bent? In the day of prosperity be happy, but in the day of adversity consider — God has made the one as well as the other so that man may not discover anything that will be after him. (Ecclesiastes 7:13-14, nasb)
God has made both the times of prosperity as well as the times of adversity. Human nature far rather prefers the days of prosperity. We try so much to avoid the adversity. Recently I have had Romans 8:28 appear and reappear in my mind especially when the e-mail came in this morning.
"All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose."'
Yet these situations God places in our lives do not stop us from asking the "why" questions and the "how long" questions. One of my most favorite minor prophets ponders such questions and Dillow reflects on his message.
"Habakkuk was different from the other Old Testament prophets who addressed either their own countrymen or a foreign people. Habakkuk talked to God alone. He was a man with a crooked situation. After the death of Josiah, the last godly king, the people worshiped false gods, and very little honor was given to Yahweh.
Moral corruption was rampant in judah, yet God was silent. Violence and lawlessness raged; God seemed unconcerned. It appeared that God was not working. Habakkuk came before God and asked the age-old questions that tear our hearts apart: "How long, O Lord?""Why, God? Why do You allow evil and wickedness to continue in Judah?" He prayed:" (p. 189).
How long, O Lord, will I call for help.
And Thou wilt not hear?
I cry out to Thee, "Violence!"
Yet Thou dost not save.
Why dost Thou make me see iniquity.
And cause me to look on wickedness?
Yes, destruction and violence are before me;
Strife exists and contention arises.
Therefore, the law is ignored
And justice is never upheld.
For the wicked surround the righteous;
Therefore, justice comes out perverted.
(Habakkuk 1:2-4, nasb)
The circumstances aren't too different from the ones we see here in the United States and around the world, rampant injustice. Volumes have been written from philosophers and Theologians and pastors about this issue of God's sovereignty and human evil, and the book does not go into the why of things but the how. God responds to the questions.
Then the Lord answered me and said,
"Record the vision and inscribe it on tablets.
That the one who reads it may run.
For the vision is yet for the appointed time:
It hastens toward the goal, and it will not fail.
Though it tarries, wait for it;
For it will certainly come, it will not delay.
Behold, as for the proud one.
His soul is not right within him;
But the righteous will live by his faith."
(Habakkuk 2:2-4, nasb)
"God reaffirmed that what Habakkuk had heard was true — the Chaldeans were coming — but Habakkuk was to live by faith. This same statement is repeated three times in the New Testament: "The just shall live by faith" (Romans 1 .-17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 1038). In other words, God didn't explain Why; instead He told Habakkuk to trust Him with all his Whys. Habakkuk was to trust God for what he didn't understand, what he couldn't see. He was to walk in the dark with God" (p. 192).
God often does not explain why. The righteous shall live by faith. God is not unaware of the troubles in the world, and the troubles we face. Sometimes the provision or the solution is immediate, while many times it takes a while. Personally, waiting on God while circumstances are impossible and time is growing limited is very difficult.
Chapter 3 of the text is one of the most beautiful expressions of faith in Scripture:
Though the fig tree should not blossom.
And there be no fruit on the vines.
Though the yield of the olive should fail,
And the fields produce no food.
Though the flock should be cut off from the fold,
And there be no cattle in the stalls,
Yet I will exult in the Lord,
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
The Lord God is my strength.
And He has made my feet like hinds' feet,
And makes me walk on my high places.
(Habakkuk 3:17-19, nasb)
The circumstances did not change, but somehow, some way, we see a movement from questioning God to praising God. Dillow suggests three things that happened.
He told his honest doubts to God.
He resolved to wait on God.
He chose to trust God in the dark. (p. 193)
I came across a beautifully-written song a year ago that has similar elements of doubt, and then the movement towards praise. I am not quite there yet. I want to move from fear to faith.
Yours
Steven Curtis Chapman
I walk the streets of London
And notice in the faces passing by
Something that makes me stop and listen
My heart grows heavy with the cry
Where is the hope for London?
You whisper and my heart begins to soar
As I'm reminded
That every street in London in Yours
Oh, yes it is
I walk the dirt roads of Uganda
I see the scars that war has left behind
Hope like the sun is fading
They're waiting for a cure no one can find
And I hear children's voices singing
Of a God who heals and rescues and restores
And I'm reminded
That every child in Africa is Yours
And its all Yours, God, Yours, God
Everything is Yours
From the stars in the sky
To the depths of the ocean floor
And its all Yours, God, Yours, God
Everything is Yours
You're the Maker and Keeper, Father and Ruler of everything
It's all Yours
And I walk the sidewalks of Nashville
Like Singapore, Manila and Shanghai
I rush by the beggar's hand and the wealthy man
And everywhere I look I realize
That just like the streets of London
For every man and woman, boy and girl
All of creation
This is our Father's world
And its all Yours, God, Yours, God
Everything is Yours
From the stars in the sky
To the depths of the ocean floor
And its all Yours, God, Yours, God
Everything is Yours
You're the Maker and Keeper, Father and Ruler of everything
It's all Yours, God
It's all Yours, God
It's all Yours, God
It's all Yours, God
The glory is Yours, God
All the honor is Yours, God
The power is Yours, God
The glory is Yours, God
You're the King of Kings
And Lord of Lords
And its all Yours, God, Yours, God
Everything is Yours
From the stars in the sky
To the depths of the ocean floor
And its all Yours, God, Yours, God
Everything is Yours
All the greatness and power, the glory and splendor and majesty
Everything is Yours
Yeah, it's all Yours
We are Yours
The glory and honor is Yours, everything is Yours
It's all Yours, God
My life is Yours, my heart is Yours
My hands and my feet are Yours
Every song that I sing
It's all Yours, all is Yours
All belongs to You
Our gifts are Yours, God
All our dreams are Yours, God
All our plans are Yours, God
The whole earth is Yours, God
Everything is Yours
No comments:
Post a Comment