lost causes – Page 19 – Broken Believers

The Awful Pain of Job

“Oh, why give light to those in misery,
    and life to those who are bitter?
²¹They long for death, and it won’t come.
    They search for death more eagerly than for hidden treasure.
²²They’re filled with joy when they finally die,
    and rejoice when they find the grave.
²³Why is life given to those with no future,
    those God has surrounded with difficulties?”

Job 3:20-23, NLT

Job begins to curse his existence and his words are saturated with frustration. He grieves for all of his dead children and is sickened by his afflictions. Job is a man pushed beyond the edge.

Job is the “poster child” of human suffering. He is completely without pretense as he openly grieves. He voices exactly what is in his heart.

Let us be clear about this; He is devastated, ravaged by Satan’s grim ministry. Job to his credit, is oblivious to Satan’s wager with the Almighty God. He has no clue that he has been chosen by God in this matter. The Lord keeps His secrets.

All Job knows is the pain, and there is the endless grief that even his tears can’t help.

In Job’s first speech he asks some basic questions:

Why is light given to those who are full of pain?
Why does life unfold to the one who rather not live anymore?

Death has a powerful influence in this three verses, He wants to die, and end the charade. He wishes for non-existence and laments that he can not die fast enough.

People with disabilities and chronic pain can understand Job’s desire for release. Once they were “whole” people. Death was something to be avoided at all costs. But now it is seen as an escape.

Hurting people will often turn to drinking and drugging as a way of coping. We’ll try anything to numb our thinking. It’s what gets us through the day. Oblivion has become my best friend.

For Job (the patron saint of pain) finds that nothing will fix him. His friends have come, but they seem to only accuse and confuse job. Honestly he is better when they just sat with him in silence.

“God wants us to choose to love him freely, even when that choice involves pain, because we are committed to him, not to our own good feelings and rewards. He wants us to cleave to him, as Job did, even when we have every reason to deny him hotly.”

–Philip Yancey

“Come quickly, Lord, and answer me, for my depression deepens. Don’t turn away from me, or I will die. Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you.”

Psalm 143:7-8

ybic, Bryan

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Get Away From Me

“And the crowd began pleading with Jesus to go away and leave them alone.”

Mark 5:17

This has to be one of the saddest verses in the whole of scripture. Yet, it is so true today. People refuse the only presence of him who can save and deliver. The very idea of the powerful Jesus creates too many waves, and the implications go beyond what can be envisioned. It is so much turmoil, and so much has to be dealt with.

Quite frankly, ‘it is better if he would leave us alone.’ These people have no issues regarding what Jesus can do. They have seen it with their own eyes. They understand more than I. Yet they choose to have Jesus leave, and not come back. He creates far too many problems, and they don’t want their lives disrupted. “I beg you sir, please leave us alone.”

This is very often the issue in our world today. Communities try to make “a no-Jesus zones” such as taverns, and casinos, media, ‘porn parlors.’ They find themselves in conflict with Jesus. There is a suppression of goodness in a society, and the truth becomes slandered and mocked. But the core issue is often the deliberate blindness of those who, by their rejection, claim their allegiance to the dark.

To ask Jesus to leave, is to invite darkness to follow. There can be no vacuum. If he is not present and active, darkness is sure to pour in. There is so much at stake here. It essentially boils down into a quasi-apocalyptic issues. Evil begins to triumph, and darkness tries to pour into the throne room.

But asking Jesus to leave us alone creates a brand new set of problems. All too often (way too often) we stumble with what we think is quite important. We exalt the reasoning power of our intellect. We feel that we should not be manipulated or controlled. We bar the Holy Spirit‘s activity. We don’t want to see or hear of it. We create a dark immunity that hides us from reality.

The heart of Jesus looks for us—- you and me. He very much wants to reside with us, and teach us out of this wicked trap. His love is quite real, and it is an intense power that enters into our weakness without judgement or condemnation. We must invite him to come. We need to become hospitable and welcoming to the Lord. We need Jesus.

What’s Left, If We Don’t Have Jesus? (smoodock45.wordpress.com)
Was Jesus Incapable of Healing Because of Lack of Faith? (askthepastors.wordpress.com)
You Are Meant For Greater Things Than This (pastorpaulvbsblog.blogspot.com)

Present Tense Prodigals

“So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. ²¹His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.

Luke 15:20-21, NLT

The Parable of the Prodigal Son has typically been taught as a ‘once upon a time’ event in the life of one wayward youth. We understand it to be such. The prodigal returns to his Father, case closed. It is a remarkable story that resonates to every broken believer.

But what if I told you that this parable is present tense. That we are continuously wandering, spending our inheritance and living off the wealth of our Father. We feel bad about this, we repent and return, only to embark on another foray into sin of our own choosing. It happens all the time.

My point is this. We seem to be always the prodigal. We never seem to outgrow this. We are constantly coming to our senses, and returning home. We seem to never get the point that our personal sin as eternal consequences. We live like there is no tomorrow, except we have to sober up and realize we have wandered far from our home.

The story of the prodigal is written to us who have repeatedly (that means very often) find themselves a good distance from where we should be. We find ourselves feeding the pigs again. We abhor our choices, and wonder again if our Father will take us back just one more time. Reason says ‘No!,’ but faith says ‘Yes!’

God’s love for us is greater than all our evil wanderings. It extends to the ups and downs of our vacillating discipleship. He sees it all and fully accepts us as His returning son. We will never tire out His constant love. We can feel ashamed of our recent behavior, but that changes nothing. We belong to Him, even if we feel wretched.

There are belivers who are overwhelmed by their sense of sin. Some of this is inflated by the devil. And yet they feel estranged from the Church. They know what they’ve done, and they can find no excuse for their actions. They’ve wandered again (for the 100th time).

The Father’s love is not subject to your obedience.

Grace is not some meager thing doled out in some stingy manner. It is given outrageously to each son or daughter without limits. Rascals are included. God is not a miser.

“But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. ²³And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, ²⁴for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.

Luke 15:22-24

‘One, and your done’ doesn’t apply to your heavenly Father. His love for you can’t be reduced to this level. Pick yourself up, leave the pigs, and come home again.

For My Friends in Battle

^“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”

Philippians 1:6

All Job knows is the pain, and there is the endless grief that even his tears can’t help.

“Come quickly, Lord, and answer me, for my depression deepens. Don’t turn away from me, or I will die. Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you.”

ybic, Bryan

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The Father’s love is not subject to your obedience.

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“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”

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^“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”