You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘healing’ tag.
The story of Job has always intrigued me for a variety of reasons. Here he was, the man that God himself was impressed with. “Have you seen my friend Job?” It almost sounds as though God himself were boasting. “Look around. Try to find anyone that is more stable, more blameless than he is! Try to find someone. I dare you!”
Apparently, God had reason to boast (If God boasted). Job had it all together. He was the poster child for spiritual living. Job had it all. A great church, a great family, well behaved kids and although Scripture says little about her, I’m guessing his wife was a knock-out.
If Job were alive today he could probably have whatever he wanted. The evangelicals would flock to him as the one who could do away with all the social ills. Those on the other side would have to admit he was a class act. Besides, he had money, and money always speaks loud and clear.
Try looking at Job from a human perspective. Look at his story without the advantage we have of the backstage drama between God and Satan. At the peak of his career Job suffers the trifecta of disasters. Economically he loses all his livestock. In his day, livestock = $$. Secondly, he loses everything relationally. The one thing every man hopes for is to leave a heritage behind him. Job lost any hope of passing on his good name that day when, due to natural disaster, every one of his children was killed. But, he still had his health, right? A man can suffer lots of adversity if he’s healthy. Not so fast. Job loses his health too.
So here he is, this man of greatness wallowing in a burnt out campfire scraping his sores with a dirty, broken piece of an old dish.
Enter the church…well, maybe not exactly the church, but close. Three of Jobs ‘closest friends’ come to hold an intervention. Perhaps Job’s demise was casting a dark shadow on their ministry. Give them the benefit of a doubt. Maybe they were there with good intentions. Whatever their motives, the men all had the same message for Job. The message was worded differently, and arguments were made rationally, from our perspective. The bottom line to these ‘friends of Job’ was that adversity comes as a result of sin. Job suffered adversity. Therefore Job sinned.
It’s a simple equation that has been handed down through the centuries. Sin = adversity. Spirituality = Blessing. We have to explain things. We have to give reasons for those times when our Theology about a God of Love falls short. We all have the tendency to explain those times when ‘good people’ suffer and ‘bad people’ are victorious.
Eventually, Job had his wealth and position restored, and a new family to carry on his good name. But Job learned a valuable lesson that each of us needs to learn and I have to admit I’m not good at this yet. That lesson is this. God is God. He is sovereign in all he does.
While I’m not advocating that when trials come we need to don the sackcloth and grab the nearest broken plate on our way to the burnt-out campfire, each of us needs to take the time, during the tough times, to stop and evaluate what got us here. Sometimes it is our sin. Sometimes it’s the sin of others. Sometimes we won’t know.
I appreciate the fact that Job questioned God. He didn’t question YAHWEH’s existence. He evaluated himself and could find no sin. But he shows each of us a couple valuable lessons.
First, God is God and is of another world. We have no idea of the future. We have no idea what is going on in the spiritual realm involving our lives. It takes faith, but each of us must look first to see if there is sin that needs to be dealt with. If so, deal with it. Ask repentance and work towards a cure with the help of the Holy Spirit. If not, faithfully trust that God will eventually make His way plain. It may not be until heaven, but He will reveal Himself.
Secondly, it’s okay to question God, to ask for answers. To share frustrations. To cry. Our Heavenly Father isn’t an emotionally weak old man that can’t handle adversity or argument. He’s a loving, understanding Heavenly Father that only has our best in mind, and He knows better than us what is best for us.
Lastly, stay true to yourself. There are many people out there that will tell you exactly why you are going through this trial and what you need to do to get out of it. Before you jump on some ‘quick cure’ bandwagon spend some time with the Master. Then listen with a Godly wisdom to that others say.
(From ‘Sifted as Wheat’)
It was a hot, dusty Judean day. The old man walked slowly down the path with his son close to his side. As they walked, he described the scenery they passed and issued an occasional warning about a stone in the road, or some obstruction coming up. Most of the shady spots along the way had already been taken by the lame, the crippled and the destitute. Finally, they came to one of the few remaining shady spots along the road. He helped his son to the ground, made him as comfortable as possible and gave him the small box that would hopefully be filled with stray coins by the end of the day.
Then, with a parting hug and kiss to the cheek he left his son and returned home. At the end of the day he would return, help his son home and do the whole thing over again. Each day was a reminder of the dreams the son’s blindness had stolen. He’d never seen the sun, or the flowers, or the hands that had cared for him since birth. His entire world was wrapped up in the sounds, smells and descriptions others would give him.
As the blind man sat along the road, he sensed a crowd coming. He couldn’t tell how many, or who it was, but it must be someone important to travel in such a large group. His spirits lifted. If it was a large crowd it could mean the possibility of many coins landing in his coffer. If only he’d been earlier so that he could have gotten one of the spots further out of town. The first beggars in line often received the best alms.
The conversation grew louder. His spirits began to rise. It sounded like someone in the midst must be a Rabbi, or noble of some sort, for he was fielding questions from his followers.
Someone ran past him hollering something….did he say healed? Then, he sensed the teacher before him. He heard the question that had haunted him his entire life.
“Who sinned, Master? Was it this man, or his parents?
It was a question that he hated to hear. Why did people naturally assume that any sort of adversity in someone’s life was the result of sin? He knew it wasn’t his sin that caused the blindness. He was born this way. He knew his parents. They were Godly, faithful parents who followed the law to the best of their ability.
The teacher gave an answer he didn’t fully understand. It wasn’t the answer he’d heard countless times.
“It was neither,” was the reply, “This was done so God could be glorified.”
What a confusing answer. Yet the sound of the man’s voice and the words he spoke brought a strange sense of peace and comfort to the blind man. While he was still pondering what the words might mean he smelled the scent of wet dirt. Something wet suddenly covered his eyes.
Instinctively he began to raise his hands to wipe whatever is was away, but the person talking told him to stop and go wash in a certain pool. A group of men led him away. Soon the cool waters of the pool of Siloam covered his face.
As he wiped the water away he made a startling, wonderful discovery. HE COULD SEE!! For the first time in his life he saw the blue sky, the flowers, and the people around him. What a marvelous miracle.
But, little did he know, his story had really just begun!
(From ‘When Grace Isn’t Enough: Living in Grace Despite my Past)
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 