Archive for October, 2020

Though He slay me, yet I will hope in Him; I will surely defend my ways to His face. Job 13:15

This is one of the most astounding declarations of faith about the goodness of God that was ever spoken. Whatever God allowed to happen to Job, whatever burden He laid upon Him, whatver pain he suffered, even if God should decide to “slay” him, Job ultimately believed that God would NOT fail him. Think about that.

He had complete and TOTAL reliance upon God. Contemplate the fact that it was NOT even a possibility to Job that God could fail him so therefore he never even considered it even though his so-called friends pressed him too.

I find his statement more exacerbating due to the timing of when he said it. He found himself right in the middle of the most agonizing experiences any human being would ever have to go through. He lost his family, his wealth, his land, his livestock, his house, and finally, his health…and none of this by his own hand.

If you were in Job’s circumstance, could you still have faith in someone that has deserted you? 

If God seemingly abandoned you and then you fell into the series of misfortunes like Job went through wouldn’t it be easy to just say, “to heck with this!” and give up and disown God? Why didn’t Job do that?

What kind of relationship did Job have with God that he not only had faith in Him but knew God’s very nature well enough to know that whatever, was happening to him, whatever this looked like visually, was NOT the God he was connected to and knew. I find that incredible.

Just consider with me for a moment the idea of having someone in your life that will not fail you, will not stop supporting or encouraging you, or will not walk away from you even at your ugliest moments.

When you have failed someone or yourself. When you are having real trouble just loving yourself…that is the low point I am referring to. That is the specific spot that when you reach it…is where Jesus meets you. Right when you feel the most alone possible. He is RIGHT there with you.

Job knew it because he had experienced something with God that he didn’t want to lose. That inner peace is simply the love of the savior towards you and me. Job believed that to his core and that faith gave him the strength to say, “though he slay me, yet I will hope in Him”.  Can you imagine being connected to Christ where you could say that AND believe it even during the worst of times? 

Can you imagine trusting Christ SO much that nothing in this world really mattered? Why? because this is all just “STUFF”…just things we leave behind. 

The only thing that matters is your journey on this Earth to get to Him, AND…who you touch along the way. Your wife, your family, your friends, and everyone else.

Guys, I encourage you today to build your faith during these extremely difficult times. Be prepared so that if the time ever came, walking away from God could NEVER be an option.

You would simply say, “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”, Joshua 24:15

Until next time Guys…

I recently heard a song on a country station that got me thinking about life right now and my own modified routine during this crazy time of being quarantined. I don’t know about you, but everything in my life has been radically changed including having to work from home because I’m considered “non-essential”. That feels good…

I have to say though, that this song reminded me of how God works when it talked about finding Him anywhere throughout the day. And ironically, the song said he found God in the most common of places…he didn’t have to be in church, or on a mountain top…He found God driving, fishing…anywhere. As you can imagine, that got me thinking about where I see God inserting himself into my life during this time of being unable to go to work. Working from home on a cell phone is painful, but yet, God reminded me though, I am still employed when some are not. AND…He is right there beside me and that helped me greatly.

This whole situation reminded me of the poem called “Footprints” I read when I was younger where a man was looking back over his life and he noticed that through the very difficult times he only saw one set of footprints in the sand. And so he questioned God, because it looked like God had abandoned him during the hardest parts of his life. But what he learned was that God had been carrying him the whole time. God had NOT abandoned him but rather was holding him tightly, just like a father would do.

I just think it’s important to recognize as men, that we are not alone in this life even though sometimes it really feels that way. Guys…God IS there quietly working to help us, to strengthen us, and to support us.

The Bible says in Jeremiah 29:13, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all of your heart”. Guys, I encourage you today to push forward through this difficult time of COVID…whatever that looks like for you. Truly seek God for the answers you need and He will provide you the relief…All you have to do is ask. 

AND…PLEASE do not be discouraged if you don’t hear His voice. Just stay focused with your eyes on Him and you will get through. Remember, what you are seeking is that place in your life where you will find God. And believe me, that can be anywhere.

So, now that you know He will meet you anywhere and everywhere, what do you want to ask Him?

Until next time guys…