“Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ But he will answer, “Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.” Revelation 3:2-3 So why “A Sense of Urgency”? It was the first title that came to mind when I created this website. Why is it so important to me? Urgency has two main definitions: (1) something important which requires swift action, and (2) an earnest and persistent quality; insistence. Both apply. In the months leading up to the creation of this website, I had been spending a lot of time reading the Bible. Jesus, Paul, Peter—they say some alarming things in there, especially pertaining to hell. Then I started reading Erasing Hell by Francis Chan. “We have become dangerously comfortable—believers ooze with wealth and let their addictions to comfort and security numb the radical urgency of the gospel.” “Are you sure you’re on the right side? What evidence do you have that you know Jesus? Please understand my heart. I believe I am asking these questions for the same reason that Jesus gives the warning. It’s the most loving thing I can do! ‘Many’ will go to hell even though they thought they’d waltz into paradise. Jesus will say, ‘I never knew you; “Could it be that [Paul’s] drive to reach the lost was directly related to his willingness to ponder their fate if he didn’t reach them at all?…While much of our church culture believes that talk of wrath and judgment is toxic and unloving, Paul didn’t seem to have a problem with these things. In fact, Paul believed that these were essential truths…[There is] an ongoing state of punishment for all who don’t love Jesus.” - Francis Chan, Erasing Hell This was what I had finished reading when I put the book down and wrote my first post. I “woke up.” I was overwhelmed with anxiety, sick to my stomach, distraught, I felt like throwing up. Why? Because for the first time in my life, I deeply pondered the fate of the unbelievers in my life, and even more—the fate I would have had if I had died prior to giving my life to Christ—only months ago. Reader, the gospel is something radically important which requires swift action. The gospel is radically urgent. Do you know Jesus? Are you confident He will not shut the door and say to you, “I don’t know you or where you come from”? Have you listened to Him and read His Word? Even more, once you have become confident of your own salvation through God’s grace and mercy, how does this urgency change how you interact with those around you? I can’t stop talking about God. Sometimes I take it a little too far and I am too harsh. I’m a flawed human being, so my approach might not always be perfect, but all I know is this: I understand where I was headed, and I am eternally grateful to the One who redirected my path, so I have to share Him with others. So a sense of urgency is important in that the gospel is itself a message that requires swift action. Add to that, we as believers should be urgently getting to know God ourselves. Earnestly, we persist in the disciplines of prayer, reading the Bible, self-reflection, etc. Anything we can get our hands on to bring us closer to Him. How often do you eat? How often are you hungry? How often do you drink? How often are you thirsty? How much more should you seek the Bread of Life and Living Water! Perhaps this post doesn’t flow as smoothly as my others. I didn’t think it would. This topic makes me anxious. I can’t seem to think straight or write well. But this topic is what drives my faith—my sense of urgency. God exists and He is clear and He speaks and He lives and He is here. Do we know Him? Are we getting to know Him? Do we spend some time with Him on Sundays and shove Him to the side for the rest of our week? Or is He the air that we breathe? “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Philippians 1:21
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"Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?" Romans 2:4 We each have a story we hide,
A sin that we shove to the side. But honesty battles our pride. Reminders can act as our guide. For if all our sins we decline, And hide in the back of our mind, We’re tempted to think that we’re fine, When actually we’ve become blind. It hurts to remember our sin, Mistakes that resulted in strife, But I will not let my pride win, So here’s how I ruined my life. (This story is really of me, For these things I really did do, But I'll replace “I” with a “she,” For in Christ I have become new.) Stubborn and brimming with pride, Each compliment went to her head. And near-sighted—practically blind, By Satan’s sweet words she was led, Her reputation was of gold, For all those who knew her had said: “She’s kind and she’s so self-controlled. She’s honest and very well-read.” So she met some people one year, With whom all her time she would spend, And quickly it would become clear, That one would be more than a friend. This boy wasn’t all that she dreamed, But surely he was close enough. Together the two of them gleamed, Eventually falling in love. So things were quite well for some time, But they knew that she’d have to leave. So while they were still in their prime, She left him for months overseas. Longer than they’d been a pair, Was how long they would be apart. The situation seemed unfair, But neither of them changed their hearts. So four months passed by very slow But neither of them fell away. In fact, in this time they would grow, And during this time God would say, “For you two to ever work out, I should be first in your hearts. If from me your love does not sprout, This pairing will soon fall apart.” Blinded by her stubborn heart, She honestly tried to seek God, But Satan would quickly take part, And make every step a facade. No matter how often she read, Satan in her placed this doubt: "'Be perfect,' is what God had said, To be good is what it’s about." But it was too hard to be good, She couldn’t stop sinning inside. Her boyfriend had seemed like he could, But in time she no longer tried. And once more she went overseas, But this time would not be the same, For he was with God and at ease, While Satan on her had his claim. So Satan for her set a trap: A man that she had met abroad. So easy and quickly she’d snap, For she was too damaged and flawed. Though God offered her a way out, She gave in and cheated right there. Her hardened heart silenced God’s shout, And for some time she couldn't care. As she'd from that country depart, The storm of emotions then hit. Her life soon exploded apart, When she finally saw what she did. She still had a few weeks to hide, Before she would see him again, But shame tortured her from inside-- She dreaded admitting her sin. So she agonized what to say, And feared for what he would then do. She wanted their love to be saved, But inside she already knew. She desperately cried out to God, For strength so she wouldn’t give in To hiding behind a facade. God helped her despite her great sin. So when she at last did admit, He angrily left and withdrew. Reality started to hit, And her heart had broken in two. On that day their pairing did end, Her sin was too great to forgive. She lost her true love and best friend. She no longer wanted to live. Entirely empty inside, She didn’t know what she would do. A part of her already died. His love for her was all she knew. Inside in her heart she had planned, Her life here she would leave behind, But God took this sinful girl’s hand, And kindly He then changed her mind. He said to her, “Listen, My child, I know the extent of your sin. Your body and love you defiled, But I will not let Satan win. Nothing you’ve done can erase, My love and My Son whom I gave, To suffer and die in your place, Triumphantly beating the grave. Repent of your sins, but keep living! I'll give you a brand new beginning! For better I am at forgiving, Than you ever have been at sinning.” She heard this and fell to her knees. Could such a love really exist? And how could this possibly be? How great is His love that persists! She repented and gave all she had, Her plans and her thoughts, words, and deeds. She gave up her life to her Dad, Who perfectly loves her and leads. Friends, this is where I was found, When I reached the end of my rope, Where pain and depression abound, Having destroyed all my hope. But God is too good to let go. To each of His children He’ll call, “Your sins and your failures I know, But I’ll pick you up when you fall." So let my life be praise to Him, Who saved me from my own self-harm. I’m better than I’ve ever been, For safely I rest in His arms. I pray this I always remember: I died the 16th of September. Now His love’s the air that I breathe, In Him I will always believe. “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8 What were you thinking about before you started reading this post? Perhaps you are preoccupied with some worrisome anxiety, or maybe you are rather content with how you feel today, or you could be thinking about that argument you had the other day. Whatever it is you are thinking, most likely you are running on autopilot. I’m going to guess you are not deeply concentrating on each thought that pops in your head, but that you are instead allowing each thought to flow in and out of your mind, like watching leaves float down a river. Some leaves pass by slowly, others speed by, still others get stuck on a branch of sorts and remain in sight for much longer than necessary, and others are dead. Do you stop to pull out the dead leaves? “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’" Matthew 22:36-37 Have you ever thought about what it means to love the Lord your God with all your mind? Heart is easy—to love God as He loves us. Soul is also easy—to submit ourselves to God as living sacrifices. But what about your mind? How can you love with your mind? “We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” 1 Corinthians 10:5b Your thought-space is important to God. In fact, your thought-space is often a defining factor of the love that is in your heart. If all you think about is money — worrying about if you have enough, wishing you had more, etc. — do you love God or do you love money? I’ll give a clearer example. If you are married, but you constantly think romantic thoughts about a person who is not your spouse, do you really love your spouse? Perhaps these thoughts really are just thoughts, and they would never turn into action, but just because the sin stays in your head doesn’t make it any less of a sin. Be careful, Reader. Many people will try to tell you that sin is in your words and actions alone. It is so much easier to say and do the right thing than it is to think the right thing. But here’s a simple truth: Battling sin is never going to be easy. Perhaps you, in your mind, have been slandering a friend of yours with all the utmost hate and detest, but to his face you are kind. Have you sinned? Or say, rather, that you speak and act quite righteously, and in your head you are well aware of this. You think yourself to be a good person. You believe you have earned your own salvation. You look down on those who cannot be as moral as you. Have you sinned? Or perhaps you, in your mind, have had many sexual relationships with many different people, but outwardly you are abstinent. Have you sinned? “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Romans 3:23-24 Here is a truth we need to accept: we are all sinners. I am not here to pat you on the back and say, “So long as you speak and act righteously, you’re saved.” That’s not biblical. Jesus's sacrifice is the only reason you can stand before God, who is aware of all your sins, and still be saved. It is a harsh reality to look at ourselves in the mirror and realize we are not good people, but it is absolutely necessary. Whether or not you have fooled your friends to think you are a good person because you speak and act righteously, you can never fool God. And in the end, God's opinion of you is the only one that matters. "Do I think well of myself, think myself a nice chap? Well, I am afraid I sometimes do (and those are, no doubt, my worst moments).” - C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity But I digress. Be careful what you think, reader, for your thoughts are just as precious to God as are your words and deeds. Just as you should test your words and deeds against the Scriptures and examine where they do not line up, so should you do with your thoughts. Don’t just run on autopilot all the time. To run on autopilot is to allow yourself to float downstream. Perhaps you are not swimming with the stream, but if you are not fighting against it, you are headed to the same place. “Watch your thoughts, they become your words. Watch your words, they become your actions. Watch your actions, they become your habits. Watch your habits, they become your character. Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.” I talk about this topic quite often, but in today’s post I wanted to briefly tie fear and wisdom together and emphasize their importance. “For those who find [wisdom] find life and receive favor from the Lord. But those who fail to find [wisdom] harm themselves; all who hate [wisdom] love death.” Proverbs 8:35-36 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Proverbs 9:10 “To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I [Wisdom] hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.” Proverbs 8:13 There is a simple truth at work throughout these three verses (and the rest of the Bible, really): (1) You must find wisdom. What is wisdom? (2) The fear of the Lord is wisdom. What does it mean to fear the Lord? (3) To fear the Lord is to hate evil. I discussed in a previous post that fearing the Lord has to do with literally being afraid of the Lord, as Jesus says to fear God who has the power to send us to hell (Matthew 10:28). Perhaps this is still true. I myself am learning much as I study the Word of the Lord. “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:16-18 Perhaps the fear of the Lord as defined this way (being afraid of God) is more a conversation than a single act. Think back to those instances when shepherds and God-fearing people trembled in terror before the Lord or someone the Lord had sent. “Fear not,” they often said. Perhaps we fear the Lord so that He, in His great love for us, can completely comfort us by telling us not to be afraid. Yet look at what Moses says to the Israelites when they are afraid of the voice of God after receiving the 10 commandments: “Moses said to the people, 'Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.'” Exodus 20:20 Do not be afraid…so that the fear of God will be with you. I haven’t quite figured out an answer to this question yet (are we supposed to literally be afraid of God?). Maybe I never will. If I do, I’ll be sure to post about it in the future. For now, I’m content to turn to God in prayer and have Him reveal to me if my fear is sufficient enough, or too much. What I do know is this: how to fear God is not a topic we can shy away from. We are to seek wisdom, lest we harm ourselves and love death (Proverbs 8:36), and wisdom is found first in the fear of the Lord (Proverbs 9:10). At the very least, we know for certain that fearing God does mean hating evil (Proverbs 8:13). And to hate evil is to first know what is evil in ourselves and the world around us, through self-reflection and outward examination. If we are not testing ourselves and the world around us against the Scriptures, how will we ever know what is evil? Perhaps the same principle can be applied to God. To fear God, we must first know God, so that we know the awesomeness of the One we are worshipping in order to understand the extent to which we must fear Him. If to you God is just a guy in the sky who you chat with nonchalantly, how can you ever fear Him? But if He is to us the same God pictured in Isaiah 6 and Revelation 4, fearing Him should come quite naturally. “Day and night they never stop saying: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.’” Revelation 4:8 “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Proverbs 4:23 Have you ever said something or did something you regretted? Have you ever told yourself afterwards, “Okay, lesson learned. I’m not going to do this again”? And, after having told yourself this, have you done it again? If you answered no to all these questions, good for you. I can’t relate. If you answered yes to all these questions, you’ve experienced the failure that follows changing your mind without changing your heart. “You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” Matthew 12:34 Some scholarly researchers have argued that biblical references to “heart” and “mind” are the same in meaning. God said that David was a man after His own heart (1 Samuel 13:14), which many scholars believe means David was a man after God’s own mind. Lucky for me I am not a biblical scholar and lucky for us not everyone has to be in order to get what God is saying in His word, so I’m going to assume “heart" means heart and “mind" means mind. So what does it mean that you speak what your heart is full of? And why is it that we can know we shouldn’t do/say/think certain things, but we still do/say/think them anyway? I think the “heart” being referenced here is a lot more complex than we can understand, for this is the same “heart” that God can harden in order to darken our understanding. “They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.” Ephesians 4:18 By this logic, you cannot even get close to wrapping your mind around certain truths when your heart is hard. This is a difficult subject. In one sense our hearts are always going to be hardened to a certain degree because we can never fully understand God. But in another sense, if our hearts are too hardened, we will be ignorant, separated from the life of God, and overflowing with evil. For instance, has your heart ever been so hard that you didn't even feel guilty when you were in sin until the extremity of what you had done finally clicked? When our hearts are hard, even our own guilty conscience can't understand what's going on. The heart is a powerful influencer in our actions and reactions. Which is why it is important to guard our hearts. The very thing which causes us to overflow with evil actions/thoughts/words is the very thing we must fight to protect and fight to keep obedient to Christ. But though we already know our hearts can cause us to do evil even when our minds are well aware of the good we should seek, what can we even do to guard our hearts? “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7 The answer is prayer. In most instances, the answer is always prayer. As much as you may think your mind is strong enough to battle the impulses of the evil that overflows from your heart, you’re wrong. You can’t. Your mind isn’t strong enough. Your heart will win every time. Guard your heart by praying to God, and His peace will guard both your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. That’s the answer. "Though certain I knew who I was quite well, I am a fool. I can say a lot to sound wise, and people can tell me I articulate my thoughts well, but at my very core I am a fool. I am quick to speak, quick to assume, and slow to admit my errors. Pride makes it difficult to see when we are in need of correction. Sometimes it takes the lovingly harsh rebuke from others to finally realize things we must repent and turn from. But there is a way to keep tabs on ourselves as well, and that is through self-reflection. “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?” 2 Corinthians 13:5 “Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.” Lamentations 3:40 In a world where it is common to run on autopilot, it is no strange thing to regret our thoughts, words, and deeds. We are hardwired to act on impulse, and it seems strange to fight our impulses rather than letting them take the lead. What we need to understand, though, is that we are by nature sinful and so it is actually necessary to battle our impulses. It is difficult to sit in silence when you are itching to speak up, but have you consulted the Spirit? If you haven’t, and He doesn’t want you to speak, then you’ll probably regret what you say. We end up regretting everything we do out of step with the Spirit. I have never self-reflected before. In fact, this morning was my first time. But in my time of self-reflection I was able to come up with quite a list of things I had done wrong just yesterday. Rude comments, assumptions, prideful arguments, etc. All within the course of one day. Sure, I started that day the same as any other—with Bible reading and prayer—but a hearty breakfast won’t keep you from the pangs of hunger that will come later in the day. “Indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.” Proverbs 2:3-5 How can a person be wise? By fearing the Lord. We’ve discussed this before. So then, how can a person learn to fear the Lord? By searching for insight and understanding as if digging for gold. But as we learned in a previous post about Job, wisdom cannot be found anywhere on the earth, so what does that search for wisdom look like? “Repent at my [wisdom’s] rebuke! Then I will pour out my thoughts to you, I will make known to you my teachings.” Proverbs 1:23 It all comes down to repentance. And you can’t repent if you don’t know you’re sinning, and you can’t know you’re sinning if you aren’t self-reflecting--examining your ways and testing yourself against the Scriptures to find where your thoughts, words, and deeds do not line up. So what does self-reflection look like? If you’ve never done it before then you can use the template a friend gave me which was very effective for me this morning. Basically, you spend some time each morning (or evening) going through everything that you thought, said, and did the day before and you ask yourself these questions:
If it is helpful to you, here is an example of some of my reflections from this morning about things I did yesterday:
The idea of these self-reflections is not to self-hate. It is a way to examine your actions and realign them with what is said in the Scriptures. It gives you the opportunity to dig deep into yourself and figure out why you are not acting as the Scriptures say you should so that you can repent and pray God will give you the wisdom and understanding to not repeat the same mistakes. And by finding biblical evidence that supports or refutes your own actions, you strengthen your biblical knowledge and accumulate references for if you or someone else experiences a similar situation in the future. These reflections should move you to action. "The complacency [uncritical satisfaction with oneself or one’s achievements] of fools will destroy them” Proverbs 1:32b. Don’t become complacent. Test and examine yourself daily. Ask God for wisdom. I cannot stress how important a practice like self-reflection is, and I’ve only just begun doing it today. We are by nature sinful, so there will always be something for us to reflect on, repent of, and ask God for help with. Don’t ever assume you’re doing everything right. “You must ask for God’s help. Even when you have done so, it may seem to you for a long time that no help, or less help than you need, is being given. Never mind. After each failure, ask forgiveness, pick yourself up, and try again. Very often what God first helps us towards is not the virtue itself but just this power of always trying again. For however important chastity (or courage, or truthfulness, or any other virtue) may be, this process trains us in habits of the soul which are more important still. It cures our illusions about ourselves and teaches us to depend on God. We learn, on the one hand, that we cannot trust ourselves even in our best moments, and, on the other, that we need not despair even in our worst, for our failures are forgiven. Below is a paraphrase I wrote of the book of Job. Following is a short commentary on the themes I noticed and my thoughts on what I learned from this book. If you have already read Job or wish to learn from the book without actually reading it or my paraphrase, skip down to where it says, “Themes." Job was blameless and upright. He feared God and shunned evil. He was very wealthy. The Lord allowed Satan to strike everything Job had to test and see if Job would curse the name of the Lord. Job’s oxen, donkeys, servants, sheep, camels, sons, and daughters were all murdered or taken (except for a few messengers who survived to let Job know this happened). Job still did not curse the name of the Lord, so the Lord allowed Satan to strike Job himself. Job was given painful sores all over his body for a long time, but he still did not sin in what he said. His three friends (Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar) came to console him (1-2). Job: "I wish I was never born. I am miserable (3)." Eliphaz: "If you are innocent, why worry? But who can really be blameless in the sight of the almighty God? You are blessed for being disciplined (4-5)." Job: "I have no hope, God is striking me without reason and testing me every moment. I will complain out of my pain (6-7)." Bildad: "Are you saying God is not just? Just seek Him and He’ll help you, He won’t reject the blameless (8)." Job: "But how can anyone be blameless before God? How can anyone argue with Him? I am blameless, but God finds me guilty because all are guilty before God (9-10)." Zophar: "God’s ways are higher than you can understand. Just devote your heart to Him and leave your sin and He’ll help you (11)." Job: "You are all smearing me with lies. God causes all things good and bad; He makes rulers stagger and nations rise or fall. I just want to argue my case with Him. But could any of us lie to God and say we are blameless? He’ll figure us out. Why does God torment me though I am nothing? I’d rather die and wait for His anger to pass (12-14)." Eliphaz: "Your own mouth is condemning you. Is God’s consolation not enough? How could mortals be pure? Wicked men suffer torment all their lives (15)." Job: "Why are you shaking your heads at me? You’re horrible comforters, at least give me some encouragement! God is attacking me without pity, but I remain pure. My own friends treat me with scorn. All people mock me. My spirit is broken, but I have hope in death (16-17)." Bildad: "Wicked men bring calamity to themselves. Surely suffering comes to those who don’t know God (18)." Job: "If I really am in sin, that is my concern alone. All those I love have turned against me. Have pity on me, friends! Why do you strike me as God does? I have hope in that one day I will see God because my redeemer lives (19)." Zophar: "Horrible fates await the wicked. The joy of the godless is temporary (20)." Job: "The wicked prosper on earth. How often do their eyes see destruction? Everyone faces the same fate of death. The wicked do not suffer on earth, but God’s wrath is stored up for them instead. You’re all wrong (21)." Eliphaz: "What does God gain if you are blameless? You are suffering because you are wicked—you haven’t cared for the poor and widows and orphans. Submit to God and be at peace with Him. Then He will take away your suffering (22)." Job: "I just want to state my case before God. Then He will surely find me innocent. But I cannot find Him anywhere. Luckily, He knows that I have followed His commands without fail. God’s plans will always be carried out. Why do we have to wait so long for the day of judgment while the wicked prosper on earth? They are exalted now, but God knows their ways and they will pay later (23-24)." Bildad: "How can anyone be righteous before God as a mere human (25)?" Job: "How can we even try to understand the great power of God (26)? As long as I am alive I will not admit you are right—for I know I am blameless though you condemn me. What hope do the wicked have in death? God will not help them then. Though they prosper on the earth, they will suffer for eternity, and all that they left behind will go to the righteous (27). Treasures can be found on earth, but where can wisdom be found? Humans mine for gold and know gold’s worth and where to find it, but they cannot find nor comprehend the worth of wisdom. The Lord alone is wise, and He has concealed wisdom from humans except for this: the fear of the Lord is wisdom, and shunning evil is understanding (28). “Before, people respected and loved me because I was wise and did good deeds—I miss those days (29). Now, I have lost my dignity and all people mock me. I suffer immensely because God has turned against me. My suffering never ceases (30). I have not sinned because I feared destruction from God. If I have sinned, let destruction come upon me, I will it. If I have sinned, I should be judged. But I have not sinned. I don’t look at women lustfully, I am honest, I am faithful to my wife, I gave justice to my servants, I helped the poor, widows, and fatherless, I did not put my trust in my wealth but in God alone, I did not rejoice in my enemies’ sufferings nor sin with my mouth in curses, I treated my workers well. This is the case I wish to argue to God, if only He would answer me (31).” Elihu: [Is angry with Job for being righteous in his own eyes and justifying himself rather than God. Is also angry with Job’s 3 friends for condemning Job without being able to refute him] “I waited to speak and patiently listened this whole time because you are all older than me so I assumed you would be wiser. But it is the Spirit within that makes a man wise, not his age. None of you have proved Job wrong. The Spirit within me compels me to speak and I will not flatter any of you (32). "Job, argue your case before me, for I am just like you in God’s sight so you don’t have to fear me. You say that you have done no wrong, but yet God finds fault with you. You’re wrong. You complain God does not respond to you, but He does speak—though no one may perceive it—in dreams, visions, whispers in your ear. God is gracious to those who walk upright and delivers them from suffering (33). “Job says he is innocent and has done nothing wrong, yet God denies him justice. God does not do evil, He repays everyone for what they have done. God cannot pervert justice; can someone who hates justice govern? He does not favor the rich over the poor. He examines the ways of all mortals and punishes the wicked. Even if you repent and turn to Him, He will not reward you on your terms. Job, your sin is that you speak without knowledge, you rebel and multiply your words against God (34). “You say that you are right and God is not, yet you wonder what God gains when you do not sin. If you sin or if you are righteous, does it affect the Lord Almighty? Your wickedness and righteousness only affect other people. God ignores the prayers of the wicked. How much less will He listen to you and your case—you who claim that God never punishes and takes no notice of wickedness? Your talk is empty, all you do is multiply your words (35). “God despises no one. He punishes the wicked and helps the righteous. He correct those who sin and call them to repentance. He delivers people from suffering, but you are being given the judgment due the wicked. Be careful not to turn to evil in your time of affliction. Who can understand God in all His greatness? (36) Fear God in His almighty power. Can you ever understand anything He does? He is exalted in great power. People who fear Him are wise, and He has regard for the wise in His heart (37)." GOD: [to Job] “Why do you obscure my plans with empty words that lack knowledge? You will answer to me when I question you. Can you ever understand my ways? Who created you and everything you can and cannot see? Have you given orders to nature and has nature obeyed you? (38) Can you see all that is happening on the earth and know when and where everything will happen before it does? (39)" Job: "I am unworthy to reply to you. I will say no more (40)." GOD: "You will answer to me when I question you. Would you discredit my justice and condemn me to justify yourself? Are you as powerful as I? Then unleash your wrath on the wicked, humble the proud (40). Who can stand against me? To whom do I owe anything? (41)” Job: "You can do all things, no one can obscure your plans. I spoke of things I did not understand. Now I have heard and seen you, so I despise myself and repent (42).” GOD: [to Job’s friends] “You have not spoken the truth about me like Job has. Repent and Job will pray for you that I may spare you even though you did not speak the truth about me like Job did (42).” After Job prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his wealth and gave him twice as much as he had before. All people who had known him before came to eat with him and console and comfort him. Job had more possessions, family, and servants than ever before and lived to see 4 generations of his children, dying at 140 years old (42). Themes:
(1) I think the major point this book gets across is that no one can understand why God does what He does. Job’s friends wanted to believe that God does not punish the blameless so they did everything they could to condemn Job without proof, but in Job 1 we are told that Job is blameless and upright. The church today would very much like people to believe that if they walk in the Spirit and pursue righteousness they will not suffer (a great tagline to try to gain more believers). But in reality, everyone suffers—both wicked and righteous. Sometimes the righteous suffer even more because of the persecution that comes with boldly standing up for what we believe in, even when people don’t want to hear it. When we look at our lives and wonder why things are happening that we don’t understand, we have to accept that we may never understand. We are told in Job 1 that Job is punished to test whether he would curse God. Elsewhere in the Bible it is clear that God allows us to go through times of trials and temptations in order to produce in us perseverance which strengthens our faith so that He may use us for His purposes. If we fail in our time of testing, did we ever really believe? Perhaps this seems unfair to you, but in the end, who are we to ever question God and His just ways? (2) This book also makes it clear that true wisdom is in fearing the Lord. Job and his three friends spend chapters and chapters talking and talking—all empty words without knowledge (in the eyes of God). “Wise” men multiply their words so that they sound intellectual, but true wisdom is much simpler than that. Fear God. Have you ever met people who talk a ton about seemingly intellectual subjects but the topic never seems to make sense to you no matter how much they say? Did you get that feeling reading everything Job and his friends were saying—that it didn’t really flow or make sense? That’s a solid sign of a lack of wisdom. I only paraphrased their conversation, but read the whole book of Job and you’ll see what I mean. Those guys sure do talk a lot. (3) Job was self-righteous. What is meant by this is that he—in a last ditch effort to keep what little dignity he had left—spent the majority of the book proclaiming his innocence and complaining about God’s unjust punishment of him. He justified himself rather than justifying God—a sin both Elihu and God Himself called Job out for. In times of trails and temptations, no one can point a finger at God and ask, “Why are you doing this to me?” Are we as powerful as God? Do we understand His ways? Can we obscure His plans? God made sure to put Job in his place for such arrogance. We too should be careful not to repeat Job’s mistake. I recommend you take the time to read this whole book. It spoke a lot to me during a period of time in which my faith was being tested. When I thought I needed comfort and reassurance of God’s love for me, I really just needed to be put in my place and reminded that He is always in control. God is good! All praises to Him who gives us what we need, even when it is not what we want. I’m learning a lot more from the Old Testament than I thought I would (thanks be to God!). If you couldn’t already tell, I’m currently making my way through the book of Job. I skimmed the book in Mexico but I’ve spent the last few days actually reading each line. If I’m still inclined tomorrow, my next post will be more about the overall themes of Job and a paraphrase I’ve made of the 42-chapter book to get its main ideas across. Today, however, I feel inclined to talk about wisdom. Are you willing to entertain the idea that perhaps you might not be wise? Many of us spend our lives learning things, becoming experts in one or more areas. As we grow older, we believe that through experience we have gained wisdom and understanding. We look at those younger than us and sympathize with their lack of knowledge as we believe we were once in their place, but have since grown and learned. But is this where wisdom is found? Do all who grow old become wise? “I thought, ‘Age should speak; advanced years should teach wisdom.’ But it is the Spirit in a person, the breath of the Almighty, that gives them understanding. It is not only the old who are wise, not only the aged who understand what is right.” Job 32:7-9 So how can someone become wise? According to Elihu (the one quoted speaking above from the book of Job), it is the Spirit who gives us understanding. True wisdom is not something we earn or gain with experience. It is prayed into us. It is a gift from above, and it cannot be sought out. “There is a mine for silver and a place where gold is refined…People assault the flinty rock with their hands and lay bare the roots of the mountains. They tunnel through the rock; their eyes see all its treasures. They search the sources of the rivers and bring hidden things to light. But where can wisdom be found? Where does understanding dwell? No mortal comprehends its worth; it cannot be found in the land of the living...Where then does wisdom come from? Where does understanding dwell? It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing, concealed even from the birds in the sky.” Job 28:1, 9-13, 20-21 Gold is a treasure of the earth. Humans can search for it (though it is well hidden), find it, and understand the worth of the treasure they have just discovered. Wisdom, the most valuable of all treasures on earth, is not found in a similar way. Humans throughout the centuries have come up with many words to prove their own wisdom. Think of the wisest humans you’ve heard of and you’ll probably have people like Aristotle and Socrates on that list—philosophers who spent their lives talking and thinking and searching for answers. I’m not going to venture so far as to say that those people were not wise, but I will be so bold as to say that the majority of the US today is not. If many of us really were wise, the entire country would look much different. But what does wisdom look like? “And [God] said to the human race, ‘The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.’” Job 28:28 Back on the topic of fear again. Do you tremble at the Word of God? When you read the very words that came from the mouth of Jesus, are you terrified? Think of the things that Jesus told us we need to do. Think of the challenges He posed to believers. Read the Gospels and I can guarantee you won’t look at your own life and say, “Alright, cool, I’m good. I’ve got it right.” I struggle a lot with this. I don’t fear God as much as I’d like to and, according to the Bible, that means I am not wise. This is something I agonize over in prayer, that He would grant me this fear. Consider this of yourself. You, the reader, may be so inclined to ask (as I have also wondered), “Do I need to be wise?” Is wisdom necessary? Fearing the Lord is so difficult. Surely it isn’t required of us and we can simply live our lives loving Him instead of fearing Him rather than approaching Him with both. I don’t have an answer to this question, but I do have a counter-question: If you really claim to know God, as in you’ve spent time in His Word and in prayer, seeking Him out earnestly with your whole heart, how could you not fear Him? Read Isaiah 6 or Revelation (or both). Imagine that God. That’s the God you’re talking to. How can you not fear that God if you know that He is the one you’re talking to? Yes, that God loves you. He pursues you and there is nothing you can do to be separated from His love for you. But He is not a big puppy. He is a wrathful, just, powerful, holy God who sends those who waste their lives in rebellion of Him to hell. Do you fear that God? It’s almost an insult not to, especially since He tells us to fear Him. Whether or not you care about being wise, perhaps you should care about if you are giving God what He is owed. “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commands, for this is the duty of all mankind.” Ecclesiastes 12:13 Has anyone ever told you not to do something bad because, “God is always watching”? And have you heard that and rolled your eyes because how could God possibly be so involved in your life and your affairs that He cares if you steal a pack of gum from a convenience store or cheat on a homework assignment? You might want to read the book of Job. “Mortals, born of woman, are of few days and full of trouble. They spring up like flowers and wither away; like fleeting shadows, they do not endure. Do you fix your eye on them? Will you bring them before you for judgment? Who can bring what is pure from the impure? No one! A person’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed. So look away from him and let him alone, till he has put in his time like a hired laborer.” Job 14:1-6 Imagine the absurdity of the metaphor Job is using. Would you spend every waking moment watching a flower, from the day it blooms to the day it withers and dies, making sure it succeeds in its purpose as a flower and judging it harshly on the day it withers and dies for all the ways in which it fell short of your expectations for your flowers? I’m guessing you probably wouldn’t make time to do this, but God does. For all of us. “What is mankind that you make so much of them, that you give them so much attention, that you examine them every morning and test them every moment? Will you never look away from me, or let me alone even for an instant?” Job 7:17-19 He gives us that amount of attention, examining us every morning and testing us every moment. Have you considered that thought? That as you sit down and watch a movie, or as you spend time with friends, or go shopping, or work, or eat, or do literally anything ever, that God is examining you? That God never looks away from you? I think our lives would look a lot different if we actually believed that God never looks away from us. Too many of us fall into the trap of thinking that we can get away with things and God won’t notice, or that God is too big and great to care about literally anything we do ever. But He does. And we can’t get away with anything, ever. “Would it turn out well if [God] examined you? Could you deceive him as you might deceive a mortal? He would surely call you to account if you secretly showed partiality. Would not his splendor terrify you? Would not the dread of him fall on you?” Job 13:9-11 It’s easy to deceive our friends. It’s easy to lie to them and make them think that we’re doing alright and not sinning in our thoughts or actions. But does it even matter that you can convince your friends if you can’t convince God? Who cares what your friends think? Will their opinions of you matter when you come before God at the end of your life? Can they vouch for you and tell God that you are actually a blameless person when God already knows everything you’ve done literally ever? Can you even vouch for yourself and tell God that you are a good person? Can you stand before the Almighty God with thunder and lightning and beams and rays and rumbling surrounding Him and thousands upon thousands of angels screaming His holiness and a sword coming out of His mouth and fire all around and argue your case? “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:8-9 Don’t be deceived. If you think just because you can get away with sinning in your thoughts and actions in this life to the humans who live here, don’t assume you can do the same with God. God cannot be mocked. Even if you think you’re a good person because you’ve fooled other people or you serve the homeless and give to the poor, let me warn you that your judgment is not a pros and cons list. God will not look at the list of things you’ve done in your life and say, “Well, you’ve done more good than bad, so welcome to heaven.” We have all broken His law. We are all in need of His grace. If you're doing or thinking something that you'd be uncomfortable doing or thinking in the presence of the Almighty God, you should probably stop. Consider this often.
Please, don't try to save yourself. Rather, sow to please the Spirit. Do not grow weary in doing good. Get to know God and praise Him with your life, and when the time of judgment comes, His grace and mercy will be what saves you. The reason I have not posted for a few days is because I have been in Mexico on a missions trip. This post will be a bit longer than others, as I will be recapping my experience and the ways in which God showed up. Context: Every Thanksgiving break my school takes a group of 300-400 students down to Mexico where we split up into teams of 10-20 and serve different ministries such as kids, orphanages, expecting mothers, prisons, community service, etc. As God has so graciously allowed me to understand that my purpose is to glorify Him, I felt no use of my time could glorify Him more than serving others, so I signed up to work with expecting mothers. Leading up to the trip, I was very excited. I wanted nothing more than to be useful and to do the Lord’s work for those 5 days. I was excited to glorify my Father in heaven with everything I had. Then we arrived at the base camp. Now, there had been a waitlist for this missions trip—too many people signed up, and they even had to deny some applications though they brought more people this year than ever before. For my ministry, we had a team of 10 girls serving 3 expecting mothers. When I learned this, before we had even gone to the ministry site, I began to feel hopeless and useless. Why did they allow me to come if they didn’t need me? Was it really necessary for me to be there? So the first night I was very bitter. I began to doubt myself. I realized that I still hadn’t forgiven myself for what I did over summer. I hated myself, and I could not feel the love of God. How could He love someone like me? And without His love, how could I possibly serve anyone else? I felt anger build up inside me, and doubts filled my mind—is my relationship with God real or am I just repeating my mistakes from last year? Should I even keep trying to get to know God if I’m just going to repeat the past and hold onto these sinful emotions of anger, bitterness, and jealousy? “Give up,” the voice told me, “You’re never going to be as spiritual as all these people around you. You’ll never know God like they know God. How could God love someone like you?” Some might say I had been hearing from Satan. But God is a God who keeps His promises, and He doesn’t allow us to give up on Him so easily. On Sunday, our second day in Mexico, we went to a church service. The message was about (you guessed it) not giving up. The pastor told us that giving up is never an option. Rather, God is with us, and He wants us to reach out to Him for help. She said that in Isaiah God tells us He will strengthen us. He stands next to us, ready and eager to help. I looked up the exact verse reference later: “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10 As I was reading the rest of Isaiah 41 and as I remembered her telling us how we must cling onto the promises God gives us, I recalled a word from God I had received on October 9, 2018. I had just woken up from a nap and this exact sentence ran through my mind the rest of the day: “Do not doubt the Lord’s ability to save the lost, redeem the wicked, and change the hearts of those who seek after His own.” And that’s exactly what I was doing in Mexico. I was doubting that the Lord could ever really redeem my wickedness or change my stubborn heart. But yet weeks earlier, He had promised me exactly that. Why would I doubt His abilities to do that now? Why should I rush His plans, or doubt His decision to reveal Himself and change my heart in His own time? This was a good realization. I do believe God had that pastor’s message planned for me, as well as others who needed to hear it. Yet, I still had difficulties feeling God’s love. I now knew He would strengthen and uphold me, and that He would change my heart in time, but I could not feel that He loved me or really cared about me. So I read Job, and boy did God speak through that book. “What is mankind that you make so much of them, that you give them so much attention, that you examine them every morning and test them every moment? Will you never look away from me, or let me alone even for an instant?” Job 7:17-19 Job spent the majority of his book crying out to God. He was suffering intense trials, beyond anything I or anyone I know has ever had to bear. Yet He understood that God was with Him in everything, and that God is still Just and Perfect. He did not understand why God was striking him with so much suffering, but He remembered the qualities of God, and stayed true to his faith. He persevered, though his trials were unfairly inflicted on him as he was innocent of such intense suffering. And finally, after spending the majority of his book crying out to God and arguing with his friends, God speaks to Job, but not with the loving comfort we might expect God to use in a situation like this. Instead, God tells Job: “Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand…Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself? Do you have an arm like God’s, and can your voice thunder like his?” Is that the kind of response you would expect God to give to Job—who had nearly everyone he knew murdered, lost all of his possessions, was inflicted with painful, full-body sores for months, and whose own friends couldn’t even console him without condemning him? Of course not. We would expect something like, “Job, don’t worry. I love you. I have a plan in mind. This will pass soon. Don’t be afraid. I am with you.” Instead, we get God’s actual response—much harsher, right? No direct statements of love, no reassuring comfort. He simply reminds Job that He is in control. That He is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-seeing, and that Job is not. So who is Job to question the plans of such a God? Who is Job to talk back to such a God, or think such a God is being unfair? Who is Job to question God and expect God to answer him? This is God’s response to me. Perhaps God has not revealed His great love for me yet. I know it with my mind, but I have not felt it in my heart. Perhaps God has not completely softened my heart yet either. Even so, why should I give up now? God is at work, even when I don’t see it or feel it. He has His plans, and I have mine, and in giving my life to Christ I agreed to willingly trade in my worthless plans for His almighty ones. We are blessed to be loved and deeply pursued by an Almighty God—so powerful that He does not answer to us. He listens to us, and He will answer our prayers, but in His time and in line with His purpose, not in our own time in line with our own purposes. He has called me to patiently persevere this time of difficulty in which I feel no love from heaven, but I know He will show up in His time, and He will continue to strengthen me and help me as I wait. I have a God who keeps His promises. I will cling to that truth, and He will never let me go. I will reply to God as Job did after hearing God’s response: “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. You said, ‘Listen now and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.” Job 42:2-6 This is the way in which God was at work during the past few days. He has not teased me with empty hope. He is not hiding His face from me so that I may suffer in silence. Rather, He is instructing me, strengthening me, disciplining me, and building me up in perseverance and dependence on Him and His promises. His will, His time, His way. I will accept everything He has decided for me. He has helped me to submit to His authority—an answer to my prayer from long ago. Praise be to God! “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, may the name of the Lord be praised…Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” Job 1:21; 2:10 |
AuthorFighting complacency and advocating change in myself for the world around me. Posts by Date
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