You can read the passage by clicking here
Couple of thoughts as I read this: Am I willing to be so honest as to assume my own innocence in the presence of God? I love that Job was willing to be so raw. Personally, I know I've never been able to stand before God and plead innocent. And while I know that Job wasn't sinless, I believe he understood that his circumstances weren't the outcome of his actions. In other words, I think Job had some real insight into his situation. I feel he was onto something.
That said, I also think Job was amiss. He was disillusioned by his circumstances. He wasn't completely innocent. He wasn't just and didn't even deserve to be in the room with the Almighty Judge.
I feel like everyone relates to job's story; we're all a little double-minded. Some good theology - some understanding, but still only seeing a piece of the picture. Most of us feel we're innocent when bad things start happening to us, but we're quick to forget our failures and shortcomings. It's only when our lives are exposed to the light of Christ that we're able to see the truth of who we are! May we be willing to be raw and vulnerable in the presence of God, but may we always remember our own frailty and may we choose to humble ourselves. If God is forced to humble us, it becomes humiliation!
Showing posts with label humility. Show all posts
Showing posts with label humility. Show all posts
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
SOLO Day 50 - 1 Chronicles 16:23-29
You can read the passage by clicking here.
This may be coming out of left field, but it's hard for me to serve a God more humble than I am.
I expect him to be more than me in all areas of life. I expect him to be more powerful, more knowledgeable, more spectacular. He should be bigger. Who wants to follow a god that's smaller than themselves? My God needs to be big, strong, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound type of stuff. He's got to be big, because I expect a bigger-than-life God.
Maybe "more" humility isn't an appropriate thought. Maybe less pride is a better description. Which seems a little oxymoronic: all powerful God = very little pride? Verses like this passage are interesting because I love words of praise. I'm sure God loves to hear it too. But while I long for them for reasons less than holy (boost my ego, encourage self-worth, feel important...) God wants it because he longs for us to love him. He's not needy-he knows we need him, and our confessions of praise are simply our acknowledging the need in our souls. He has less pride than we do because he's not self-serving, something I can't wrap my head around. Maybe that's just one more reason why he's good!
May we come to resemble the God who's more humble than we are, and may we sing his praise with our very lives!
This may be coming out of left field, but it's hard for me to serve a God more humble than I am.
I expect him to be more than me in all areas of life. I expect him to be more powerful, more knowledgeable, more spectacular. He should be bigger. Who wants to follow a god that's smaller than themselves? My God needs to be big, strong, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound type of stuff. He's got to be big, because I expect a bigger-than-life God.
Maybe "more" humility isn't an appropriate thought. Maybe less pride is a better description. Which seems a little oxymoronic: all powerful God = very little pride? Verses like this passage are interesting because I love words of praise. I'm sure God loves to hear it too. But while I long for them for reasons less than holy (boost my ego, encourage self-worth, feel important...) God wants it because he longs for us to love him. He's not needy-he knows we need him, and our confessions of praise are simply our acknowledging the need in our souls. He has less pride than we do because he's not self-serving, something I can't wrap my head around. Maybe that's just one more reason why he's good!
May we come to resemble the God who's more humble than we are, and may we sing his praise with our very lives!
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
SOLO Day 23 – Judges 7:1-7
Who knows you better than anyone else in the world? For me, it's easy. My wife Carrie knows me so well, she can often predict How I'm going to react and sometimes, the very words I'll use.
This past week she was killing me! We were sitting on our couch chatting, and she was in rare form, making me laugh simply because she knew what I was thinking and I couldn't get anything past her. Even though I try to be spontaneous and hold my cards close to my chest, she can read me like a book. Rarely can I get anything by her.
Carrie knows me pretty well, but God knows me better! And by the way, he knows you too!
When I read this story I'm so impressed by the numbers that are involved. God lowers the numbers of the Israelite army from 32,000 to 300. Did you catch that? 31,700 Israelite soldiers have left! There are 300 men that Gideon leads against thousands upon thousands of Midianites. If you were to read the entire chapter of Judges 7 you'd read that God gave Gideon and the Israelites the victory. That's really cool, 300 verses thousands, and the Israelites win. Crazy odds-cool story!
But the one line that really jumped out at me was this, "You have too large an army with you. I can't turn Midian over to them like this—they'll take all the credit, saying, 'I did it all myself,' and forget about me." God knows our hearts. Just like Carrie can read me in certain circumstances God can read me ALWAYS. He knows our inclination to accept all the credit when something is great, but blame him when it's not. God doesn't desire to share his glory, just the blessings of it! And God's clear: 32,000 or even 10,000 soldiers overcoming the odds isn't miraculous enough. It needs to be evident that the odds were insurmountable-that the Israelites had no chance-without him.
Can you imagine what he can do through a life completely surrendered to him? I believe God's wants to do crazy, miraculous stuff in us and through us. What would happen if we humbled ourselves and asked him to do things that could only be done by him? The type of things there's no way I could do for myself so it's clearly a miracle.
My prayer is that we will see God do immeasurable things in us and through us, and that we ask for more. Not for things to be selfishly consumed or for things that improve our status, but the really crazy stuff like life change that's beyond yours and my capabilities! The really crazy wild things like eternal destination changes and healing within families. Stuff that only God can do. I pray that you will see and be a part! He knows you so well, and has your best in mind!
This past week she was killing me! We were sitting on our couch chatting, and she was in rare form, making me laugh simply because she knew what I was thinking and I couldn't get anything past her. Even though I try to be spontaneous and hold my cards close to my chest, she can read me like a book. Rarely can I get anything by her.
Carrie knows me pretty well, but God knows me better! And by the way, he knows you too!
When I read this story I'm so impressed by the numbers that are involved. God lowers the numbers of the Israelite army from 32,000 to 300. Did you catch that? 31,700 Israelite soldiers have left! There are 300 men that Gideon leads against thousands upon thousands of Midianites. If you were to read the entire chapter of Judges 7 you'd read that God gave Gideon and the Israelites the victory. That's really cool, 300 verses thousands, and the Israelites win. Crazy odds-cool story!
But the one line that really jumped out at me was this, "You have too large an army with you. I can't turn Midian over to them like this—they'll take all the credit, saying, 'I did it all myself,' and forget about me." God knows our hearts. Just like Carrie can read me in certain circumstances God can read me ALWAYS. He knows our inclination to accept all the credit when something is great, but blame him when it's not. God doesn't desire to share his glory, just the blessings of it! And God's clear: 32,000 or even 10,000 soldiers overcoming the odds isn't miraculous enough. It needs to be evident that the odds were insurmountable-that the Israelites had no chance-without him.
Can you imagine what he can do through a life completely surrendered to him? I believe God's wants to do crazy, miraculous stuff in us and through us. What would happen if we humbled ourselves and asked him to do things that could only be done by him? The type of things there's no way I could do for myself so it's clearly a miracle.
My prayer is that we will see God do immeasurable things in us and through us, and that we ask for more. Not for things to be selfishly consumed or for things that improve our status, but the really crazy stuff like life change that's beyond yours and my capabilities! The really crazy wild things like eternal destination changes and healing within families. Stuff that only God can do. I pray that you will see and be a part! He knows you so well, and has your best in mind!
Saturday, February 12, 2011
SOLO Day 20 – Joshua 9:3-9, 11, 14-16
Ever have one of those days when following Jesus seems so hard? I had one of those days recently! I've been trying to be diligent in following through with people and relationships. I've attempted to be a good steward of all that has been entrusted to me. I've even tried to ensure that I was Christ-like with everyone I've encountered. All-in-all, I feel like I'm doing a pretty good job. I'm a little tired, I'm a little strained, but my head's above water. Then I got an email from a friend...
I had done something that had offended my friend. It wasn't intentional. I wasn't being malicious. Honestly, I didn't think it was a big deal. Seems like a little bitty mistake. But apparently my actions had put a strain on the relationship. My friend took the high road. My friend approached me humbly. My friend confessed any offense that might be theirs. But my friend called me out, and no one likes that!
Honestly, this is not what I needed to hear. I'd had a stressful week where I've been on my best "Jesus behavior." I've worked tirelessly with little thanks and I'm getting ready for a really busy week leading to a really important event. I have been in meetings non-stop and my phone won't stop ringing...(seriously-I had to stop that sentence to answer two phone calls-on different phone lines!!!! Are you kidding me??????)
I read this passage and I think, "Man the Israelites can't catch a break." They get approached by a bunch of wandering waifs who cry out for mercy. The mere sight of the Hivites was probably enough to make them wonder what they could possibly have that God would want to give to Israel. So they agree to peace, because it makes good sense and seems like a nice thing to do. Then, right when they play nice, the rug gets pulled out from under them! It almost seems like a trick. They're doing their best-isn't that enough? What else does God want?
I'm reminded of a certain scripture in the New Testament. Jesus is speaking and says, "Apart from the Father, I can do nothing." Jesus was dependent on the Father. And if Jesus was dependent, the Israelites definitely have to be-and so do I. They didn't consult God. I'm not sure why, but they didn't speak to him about this issue. They were blind to the obvious.
It doesn't matter how good our "Jesus behavior" is. What matters is who we are. We're God's children, dependent on the Father for everything. We NEED him! We NEED to seek his face. We NEED to be humble enough to know that we're going to screw stuff up on our own. We NEED to listen when he says something and we NEED to do what he says!
So I apologized to my friend, and I apologized to my Father. I need to be listening to God's voice rather than my own. It's my hope that you too will allow God to speak into your blind spots, even if it hurts a little. The outcome is much better than a serious accident!
I had done something that had offended my friend. It wasn't intentional. I wasn't being malicious. Honestly, I didn't think it was a big deal. Seems like a little bitty mistake. But apparently my actions had put a strain on the relationship. My friend took the high road. My friend approached me humbly. My friend confessed any offense that might be theirs. But my friend called me out, and no one likes that!
Honestly, this is not what I needed to hear. I'd had a stressful week where I've been on my best "Jesus behavior." I've worked tirelessly with little thanks and I'm getting ready for a really busy week leading to a really important event. I have been in meetings non-stop and my phone won't stop ringing...(seriously-I had to stop that sentence to answer two phone calls-on different phone lines!!!! Are you kidding me??????)
I read this passage and I think, "Man the Israelites can't catch a break." They get approached by a bunch of wandering waifs who cry out for mercy. The mere sight of the Hivites was probably enough to make them wonder what they could possibly have that God would want to give to Israel. So they agree to peace, because it makes good sense and seems like a nice thing to do. Then, right when they play nice, the rug gets pulled out from under them! It almost seems like a trick. They're doing their best-isn't that enough? What else does God want?
I'm reminded of a certain scripture in the New Testament. Jesus is speaking and says, "Apart from the Father, I can do nothing." Jesus was dependent on the Father. And if Jesus was dependent, the Israelites definitely have to be-and so do I. They didn't consult God. I'm not sure why, but they didn't speak to him about this issue. They were blind to the obvious.
It doesn't matter how good our "Jesus behavior" is. What matters is who we are. We're God's children, dependent on the Father for everything. We NEED him! We NEED to seek his face. We NEED to be humble enough to know that we're going to screw stuff up on our own. We NEED to listen when he says something and we NEED to do what he says!
So I apologized to my friend, and I apologized to my Father. I need to be listening to God's voice rather than my own. It's my hope that you too will allow God to speak into your blind spots, even if it hurts a little. The outcome is much better than a serious accident!
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