I had a lot of trouble with suffering, not just the "suffering" per se, but with the very existence of it at all relating to God. I realized over the weekend that with out evil ( and thus pain and suffering) God would not have have a platform in which he could show us goodness and mercy.He could not teach us lessons of perseverence, patience, general lessons of consequence,and faith. Good cannot exist without evil.
I know this was off subject a bit...
I like the pic about keeping your word. I have a bit of trouble with this one. It's easy to say that you'll do something off the cuff, and not ever follow through. This is especially easy to do with children unfortunately. People eventually learn (think) that they cannot depend on you.
Suffering is always rough. Job said, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him," Job 13:15. Job did not understand what was behind his suffering but vowed to trust God no matter what. The amazing thing is that God knew Job would hang in there and therefore allowed Satan to attack him. It is a lesson in faithfulness for all of us.
Now about keeping your vows, i.e., promises: Don't make them unless you plan to keep them; and once you make a vow, you must fulfill it. So much in our society today hinges on broken vows; from broken marriage vows to broken business vows; from broken contracts to flat out cheating. The Lord says if you make a vow, fulfill it quickly.
I was in a church once and made a vow to give a certain amount of money over the next three years. But then something happened and I left that church the following year. At first I thought that I didn't have to fulfill that promise because I was leaving. But the Lord broke into my thinking and told me that I certainly had to pay what I promised. Then I left the church.
He wouldn't let me get away with doing evil. I thank Him for holding my feet to the fire. If I make a vow, I keep it, and do it quickly, as the Lord advised.
2 comments:
I had a lot of trouble with suffering, not just the "suffering" per se, but with the very existence of it at all relating to God. I realized over the weekend that with out evil ( and thus pain and suffering) God would not have have a platform in which he could show us goodness and mercy.He could not teach us lessons of perseverence, patience, general lessons of consequence,and faith. Good cannot exist without evil.
I know this was off subject a bit...
I like the pic about keeping your word. I have a bit of trouble with this one. It's easy to say that you'll do something off the cuff, and not ever follow through. This is especially easy to do with children unfortunately. People eventually learn (think) that they cannot depend on you.
Suffering is always rough. Job said, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him," Job 13:15. Job did not understand what was behind his suffering but vowed to trust God no matter what. The amazing thing is that God knew Job would hang in there and therefore allowed Satan to attack him. It is a lesson in faithfulness for all of us.
Now about keeping your vows, i.e., promises: Don't make them unless you plan to keep them; and once you make a vow, you must fulfill it. So much in our society today hinges on broken vows; from broken marriage vows to broken business vows; from broken contracts to flat out cheating. The Lord says if you make a vow, fulfill it quickly.
I was in a church once and made a vow to give a certain amount of money over the next three years. But then something happened and I left that church the following year. At first I thought that I didn't have to fulfill that promise because I was leaving. But the Lord broke into my thinking and told me that I certainly had to pay what I promised. Then I left the church.
He wouldn't let me get away with doing evil. I thank Him for holding my feet to the fire. If I make a vow, I keep it, and do it quickly, as the Lord advised.
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