Longing for a Wonderful Life

This is a central theme for our current adult class on Wednesday nights! Last week, we learned about hope.  This week, we will learn about peace. 

Who doesn't love the classic movie, It's a Wonderful Life? This movie is one we will watch every year as a tremendous reminder for us to appreciate the lives we have.  If you have not seen this, you should make a point to sit down and get lost in the story.

Aftermath

Last night a major storm hit our town, hitting just as I was heading home from an evening board meeting.  I found myself feeling nervous and scared as the rain poured down and lightning was striking all around.  I couldn't see very well, and I just wanted to get home.

The next morning, I saw it.  I saw the aftermath of that powerful storm.  I just had to stop and take pictures of each tree I found along the way back to work.

Leaning on His Promises

Have you ever made a promise you swore you would never break, only to break it anyway?  I've thought about promises that people make, promises that sometimes get broken, and some of the reasons why.  Some people lie about the promise initially, never intending to keep the promise.  Others are simply careless about their words, making the promise hastily and without thought.  These people forget their promises.  There are some people who take great care to make a promise they intend to keep.  They mean every word they say, but even so, circumstances cause them to break the promise.  Perhaps they got distracted by sin.  Maybe they simply did not have the authority to follow through and deliver the promise.

God is different.  He is the only Person who can and does keep every promise He ever made.  Consider this passage out of Hebrews:

"Now when people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it. And without any question that oath is binding. God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind. So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us." ~Hebrews 6:16-19 (NLT)

God will deliver His promises.

... I just don't know when.

Equal is not Fair

"Fair is not always equal, and equal is not always fair." ~unknown

Have you ever wondered why some people are treated differently than others?  It's sometimes difficult to understand this, especially when you feel like you are the one getting the short end of the stick.

Last week, I spent some time in the book of Matthew.  The story of the landowner and workers struck me.  This is a parable found in chapter 20, verses 1-16.  If you would remember this story, it is the one that illustrates that no matter when the landowner hired the workers that day, he chose to pay for a full day's wages.

The ones working all day were very upset that the ones hired last were paid the same.  The response by the landowner was that the ones hired first had agreed to the wages when they were hired.  He went on to say that he has the right to pay people what he wishes.  He admonished them by saying they should not be jealous because he is choosing to be kind to others.

Post Entanglement - What next?

My friend who contributed the tree branches picture in the post Entangled in Sin gave me another picture to think about.

He broke through the entangled branches of sin, only to find this scene of buried tanks of mystery.  What if you break through your addictions that kept you entangled in sin, only to find that the scene that awaits you is not what you pictured or dreamed about?

Life is hard.  Sometimes there really isn't any explanation for why some people will have a harder walk in this world than others.  Job is one such example that keeps popping up in my searches for good things to share with others.  It would seem that Job is the one we can identify with.  Job was blighted when Satan sought to test this man of God, and while he refused to curse God, he did wish to die.  If you remember the plight, Job lost everything, and then was cursed with painful illness, including horrible skin boils, "covered with maggots and scabs, skin breaking open, oozing with pus." ~Job 7:5 (NLT).

Men and women of God often find themselves in a calamity of life they cannot explain away by sin.  It could be the loss of a job, or divorce, or loss of a loved one, or even the loss of personal health, as in cancer.  The important thing to remember when we are facing these things, is that God never left your side.  It may seem that you are in a vast wasteland full of these barrels of buried waste, but even there, God is there too.

There is nothing you face that He didn't face too.  I hope you can feel assured that the One who went before us is the One who heals us.  In the end, He healed Job and blessed his second life more richly than the first half.  If you find yourself in a calamity of life, think about this life on earth as much like the first half of Job's life.  There will be a second half.  Just wait, God has a plan for you.  I like to think of my beautiful second half of life being my life with God in heaven.  These are the promises I place my hope in.  In the meantime, I pray for resilience and endurance.  I also pray heartily for my friends who walk each day in pain.

"I stay awake through the night, thinking about your promise." ~Psalm 119:148 (NLT)