Complete Integrity

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Thursday, August 8, 2019

“My complaint is with God, not with people.  I have good reason to be so impatient.  Look at me and be stunned.  Put your hand over your mouth in shock.  When I think about what I am saying, I shudder.  My body trembles.  “Why do the wicked prosper, growing old and powerful?  They live to see their children grow up and settle down, and they enjoy their grandchildren.  Their homes are safe from every fear, and God does not punish them.  Their bulls never fail to breed.  Their cows bear calves and never miscarry.  They let their children frisk about like lambs.  Their little ones skip and dance.  They sing with tambourine and harp.  They celebrate to the sound of the flute.  They spend their days in prosperity, then go down to the grave in peace.  And yet they say to God, ‘Go away.  We want no part of you and your ways.  Who is the Almighty, and why should we obey him?  What good will it do us to pray?’  (They think their prosperity is of their own doing, but I will have nothing to do with that kind of thinking.)  Job 21:4-16

One of the things you’ve got to admire about Job is the tenacious way he will not be satisfied with anything less than a complete vindication of faith in God.  When life came unglued for the rich man from Uz the only thing he had left from his previous life was faith.  His riches were gone, stolen by thieves; his children had been taken in a freak accident; his health had turned to painful boils covering his whole body; with all that calamity having befallen the family his place in the community vanished as he became suspect of hiding some deep, dark secret that had God all ticked off.  And even Job’s wife had given up, sniping at what was left of Job’s faith; she got in his face and harped:  why don’t you just get it over; curse God and die. 

Can we talk?  If you were Job, wouldn’t you be a just a little curious if God was really good, and keeping faith was worth it all?  Yet, despite the horrible circumstances, and the obvious question on the table about keeping on with God, that is exactly what Job believed.  His answer to his wife’s snarky question about giving up was the archetype of integrity which never ceases to cling to truth:

But Job replied, “You talk like a foolish woman. Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?”  So in all this, Job said nothing wrong.  Job 2:10

In defense of Mrs. Job, it’s hard to sit by and watch your loved one suffer.  When I got badly injured playing football in high school, my father got to the hospital after they’d taken me to surgery.  When they wheeled me out of the operating room I had tubes everywhere and looked white as a ghost.  Dad took one look at what had been his healthy 16-year-old son that morning…and fainted.  Parents protect; that is our nature and calling.  My bride’s nurture gene kicks into high gear when any one of her children, grand or great-grandchildren is threatened. 

God’s Word tells us Job said nothing wrong in all of this.  And from this we take our cue:  it’s not questioning God which gets us in trouble; it’s refusing to believe amid our questioning. 

God’s not afraid of our questions; I believe He rather enjoys the fact that we want to go deeper into the meaning of why we’re here and how it all works.  It’s more the tone of our questioning that crosses the line between Creator and creature.  You may have heard that a lawyer never asks a question to which he or she doesn’t already have the answer.  That may work for wrangling the truth out in a courtroom, but it will never do in the prayer room.

For You Today

If you’ve got questions, God’s got answers.  Just remember to ask like a faithful friend, not a lawyer.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image:  William Blake (public domain) courtesy of Wikimedia Commons      
                          Unless otherwise noted, Scripture used from The New Living Translation©

Remembering Before You Can't

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Wednesday, August 7, 2019

Don’t let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor him in your youth before you grow old and say, “Life is not pleasant anymore.” Remember him before the light of the sun, moon, and stars is dim to your old eyes, and rain clouds continually darken your sky.  Remember him before your legs—the guards of your house—start to tremble; and before your shoulders—the strong men—stoop.  Remember him before your teeth—your few remaining servants—stop grinding; and before your eyes—the women looking through the windows—see dimly.  Remember him before the door to life’s opportunities is closed and the sound of work fades.  Now you rise at the first chirping of the birds, but then all their sounds will grow faint.  Remember him before you become fearful of falling and worry about danger in the streets; before your hair turns white like an almond tree in bloom, and you drag along without energy like a dying grasshopper, and the caperberry no longer inspires sexual desire.  Remember him before you near the grave, your everlasting home, when the mourners will weep at your funeral.  Yes, remember your Creator now while you are young, before the silver cord of life snaps and the golden bowl is broken.  Don’t wait until the water jar is smashed at the spring and the pulley is broken at the well.  For then the dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.  “Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless.”

That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion:  Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty.  God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.  Ecclesiastes 12:1-8, 13-14[2]

I believe Solomon stops short of dementia, but not far short!  He mentions just about every low point you need to get depressed about the future.  Hair turned white, legs wobbly, eyes dim, sexual desire gone, drooping posture, and, for good measure he throws in a dental situation that even makes eating a chore.  As I write the sun’s morning glow is beginning to peek out from behind the tree line, so I got up and opened the shades so I won’t miss out on a pretty sunrise while I can still see and hear the birds chirping; assisted by trifocal glasses and powerful hearing aids, of course. It’s hard to place oneself on Solomon’s scale of physical woes increasing age seems to gradually, but gleefully bestow on the aging.  But that gets markedly easier as you do push the threescore-and-ten barrier.

This passage is generally preached with young people in mind, an urging to get right with God before it’s too late.  However, anything this side of the grave is appropriate.  Even at 70, 80 or 105, you are “young" compared to those  you read about in the obituary column. 

Very often in ministry I’ve had the privilege to visit very senior saints confined in nursing homes or their own homes, unable to do much for themselves because of a litany of maladies.  And with hardly an exception, they all remark in one way or another their wonder at why God still has them here.  I quickly agree that I wonder that too, but then pose the possibility that exists for ministry at every age and stage of life, unwell in body or not.  The inference, of course, is that God is not done with us here if we’re still breathing.

I give you Iris Jones as a prime example.  Confined the last decade to a nursing home for a good bit of Solomon’s medical chart, Mrs. Iris ministered more than most, writing cards of encouragement to her pastor and wife with shaky hand, praying long and strong, and smiling.  Those were what she could do, and, despite severe headaches, failing strength of legs and balance, and bodily pain more than most could bear, she made you feel like you were the most important person walking on planet earth.  She should’ve been named Barnabas, the Encourager!

For You Today

Whatever you can do today, use the strength God still allows; it won’t last forever!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image:  Pixabay.com        Unless otherwise noted, Scripture used from The New Living Translation©

[2] For another post on Ecclesiastes 12:13 see:  Something Better