The Well
The Well |
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Connecting Hope to the Hurting | |
Monday
September 29, 2008
"Who dug the valleys for the torrents of rain? Who laid out the path for the
lightning, causing the rain to fall upon the barren deserts, so that the parched
and barren ground is satisfied with water and tender grass springs up? Has the
rain a father? Where does dew come from? Who is the mother of the ice and
frost?"
Job 38:25-29
Okay, Job lost everything he owned in one day. The next day he even lost his physical health. The only thing he had left was a nagging wife. So, his friends come and for the first seven days they minister to him in silence. The problems began when they started analyzing his situation.
No one had an answer. Most of the time we don't. We think we know what God is doing, but do we really? When the attack of September 11, 2001, hit we were astounded. We couldn't understand how God could allow that to happen. Some believed it was to warn people to turn to God. However, we don't know that for sure.
Job and his friends thought they knew why God allowed all of this devastation to come into Job's life. God finally had enough and began asking them questions. From these verses I see that God just sometimes has to put us in our place. He is both father and mother to us, quite a paradox if you ask me, but one I can accept and appreciate.
Let's pray and ask the Father to give us a Holy Spirit check if we start doing to others as Job's friends did to him. Sometimes its just better to keep our mouths shut, sit in the ashes with our friends, and mourn with them. Hard. . .huh? It's just better to let God be God.
Father, I realize that with You pain is timeless. There are people out there today who are grieving the loss of loved ones, both past and present. Help us remember not to judge the circumstances surrounding any death, but to keep our eyes on You and be a minister of hope in the darkness.
