This verse caught me the other day as reading. Ps. 81:16, "But I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you."
What caught me was the contrast of the two items mentioned in the verse. Honey, for one and the rock for the other. They seem like they do not go together at all but God uses this strange connection to remind His wayward people that He is still merciful in spite of their sins.
I thought, well, honey is sweet, healthy, brings flavor to other food dishes, and has many uses that are helpful in general. While a rock, on the other hand, is hard, lifeless{except for whatever bacteria may be on it's hard service} gets in the way of seed trying to grow. Rocks have some uses for sure, but one of them is not producing honey. So why does God use this poetic language of getting honey out of a rock to bless His people, who are unconcerned with Him or His blessing?
Well, sometimes hard, rocky circumstances have a way of making us feel that we have hit "rock bottom" as they say. It seems like nothing good is going to come out of this trial, and the pressure of our situation weighs on us till we feel like we're about to be crushed by them. Where's the honey?
It is exactly in those times when the sweetness of God's Presence is most sensed and appreciated. When we have no where else to turn except to call out to our Savior, that's when we realize that He is there, closer than a brother. His Holy Spirit whispers the sweet insights that are especially precious as we pray and seek Him, even though we groan under the weight of our concern.
His word becomes all the more precious and particularly relevant to us. It hits home and our hearts are soothed by the promises and phrases that now mean so much more to us as we consider them. Yes, out of a hard rocky place, God feeds us with honey, sweetness and the helpful comforts of His Holy Spirit. James says to count it joy when we face difficult circumstances and trials, because it is in these very trials that Gods Presence is made known to us in an experiential way. That is a sweet experience, even in the midst of a rocky road, and hard trying pressures.
There is a choice involved however. We choose to seek Him, trust Him, read His word and pray, and say in effect, no matter what my circumstances, I believe God, He will perfect that which concerns me someway, somehow. It is born out of faith, born out of maturity and a willingness to trust and follow God in any case.
When that is our lifestyle, we find that it truly is like life enhancing honey out of a hard lifeless rock.
That truly is sweet.
Thursday, December 26, 2019
Wednesday, December 4, 2019
Afflictions In Disguise?
This morning as I read the Scriptures, and prayed through the same, I was struck by a thread that seemed to be common in the Psalms I was reading. They were psalms that lamented the sufferings of God's people and offered their cry to Him for deliverance and defense by bringing the harmful actions of their oppressors down upon their own heads. The Psalms I read cried for God to see the harsh treatment His people were experiencing, and yet they asserted their trust in Him to somehow, someway bring deliverance and vindication. In spite of the suffering described, the psalmist knew that God was still for them, and he was resolved to look to Him for help, strength, and final victory by the saving power and unfailing love that God has for His covenant people.
As I read and prayed my heart was moved to pray for the people of God who believe in Jesus Christ for salvation, but are suffering greatly because of their faith. Persecution has always been the experience for Christians from the very beginning of the church. As I read and prayed for the persecuted church around the world, in Muslim nations, Hindu nations, even some predominantly Catholic nations, my prayer was for God to deliver them and sustain them in the midst of their afflictions.
But soon my thoughts went to our own nation here in the USA. As of today, we do not suffer from persecution. I felt grateful for that as I sat in my comfortable chair, in a comfortable home, warm, safe, secure with a very tasty cup of coffee, reading and praying in the early morning. My thoughts of gratitude and humility soon gave way to a question however. My question was, Is the great comfort and provision of God upon me, upon us, that we enjoy really an affliction in disguise? We've heard of blessings in disguise, troubles that actually work out for our good. Are these comforts afflictions in disguise? Good things that actually do more harm in the long run.
Have the comforts and blessings we have been granted by our gracious heavenly Father become a means by which our spiritual sensitivity is deadened, or at least dulled into complacency and stagnation? Have we fallen into the snare of just taking them for granted, or worse, as some teach, identify our blessings as emblems of God's special favor upon us?
We are the recipients of great blessings from God. We acknowledge His goodness to us everyday. My concern was as I prayed, that we not be the Laodicean church, who thought that because they had money and comforts that they were spiritually enriched and had no needs to speak of. My concern is not with the blessings from God. All His gifts are good and come to us from His gracious heart of love and care for us and for our spiritual development and Earthly provision. He knows the various needs we have as we make our way through this fallen world. My concern is more for our attitude toward ourselves and toward God, and toward the Christian faith in general as He grants blessings to us daily.
I had a sense of warning as I prayed on. Because we are the objects of God's blessing, we must guard against an attitude of entitlement. We dare not become arrogant and forget that the very blessings so graciously bestowed, can just as easily be blown away. God says in Ezekiel 16:49-50, " Behold, this was the sin of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy. Thus they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. Therefore I removed them when I saw it." We Christians usually identify Sodom with the sin of homosexuality and rightly so, it was certainly present there. But God defines their sin as an arrogant, presumptuous attitude toward their wealth and comforts.
Our nation is filled with abominations at this very hour. Is the root of them our careless ease, and arrogant view toward our abundance, which has been so graciously granted by a loving and patient God? It's not for me to make such a sweeping judgment, but it may very well be the case. Afflictions in disguise? Perhaps.
May our Savior Jesus Christ pour out His Holy Spirit afresh and in power in this generation, that we might humble ourselves and seek Him in a true and authentic revival of soul and Spirit and nation. We dare not be dulled in our spiritual capacities in this day and age. While we enjoy the comfort and blessings of our nation, may we never forget from Whom they come. May we never take them and Him for granted. Rather may we worship Him in humility and a Holy Spirit born gratitude. Sodom was removed for their arrogance but we are on more dangerous ground than they. For as one old preacher said years ago, Sodom had no Bible.
As I read and prayed my heart was moved to pray for the people of God who believe in Jesus Christ for salvation, but are suffering greatly because of their faith. Persecution has always been the experience for Christians from the very beginning of the church. As I read and prayed for the persecuted church around the world, in Muslim nations, Hindu nations, even some predominantly Catholic nations, my prayer was for God to deliver them and sustain them in the midst of their afflictions.
But soon my thoughts went to our own nation here in the USA. As of today, we do not suffer from persecution. I felt grateful for that as I sat in my comfortable chair, in a comfortable home, warm, safe, secure with a very tasty cup of coffee, reading and praying in the early morning. My thoughts of gratitude and humility soon gave way to a question however. My question was, Is the great comfort and provision of God upon me, upon us, that we enjoy really an affliction in disguise? We've heard of blessings in disguise, troubles that actually work out for our good. Are these comforts afflictions in disguise? Good things that actually do more harm in the long run.
Have the comforts and blessings we have been granted by our gracious heavenly Father become a means by which our spiritual sensitivity is deadened, or at least dulled into complacency and stagnation? Have we fallen into the snare of just taking them for granted, or worse, as some teach, identify our blessings as emblems of God's special favor upon us?
We are the recipients of great blessings from God. We acknowledge His goodness to us everyday. My concern was as I prayed, that we not be the Laodicean church, who thought that because they had money and comforts that they were spiritually enriched and had no needs to speak of. My concern is not with the blessings from God. All His gifts are good and come to us from His gracious heart of love and care for us and for our spiritual development and Earthly provision. He knows the various needs we have as we make our way through this fallen world. My concern is more for our attitude toward ourselves and toward God, and toward the Christian faith in general as He grants blessings to us daily.
I had a sense of warning as I prayed on. Because we are the objects of God's blessing, we must guard against an attitude of entitlement. We dare not become arrogant and forget that the very blessings so graciously bestowed, can just as easily be blown away. God says in Ezekiel 16:49-50, " Behold, this was the sin of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy. Thus they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. Therefore I removed them when I saw it." We Christians usually identify Sodom with the sin of homosexuality and rightly so, it was certainly present there. But God defines their sin as an arrogant, presumptuous attitude toward their wealth and comforts.
Our nation is filled with abominations at this very hour. Is the root of them our careless ease, and arrogant view toward our abundance, which has been so graciously granted by a loving and patient God? It's not for me to make such a sweeping judgment, but it may very well be the case. Afflictions in disguise? Perhaps.
May our Savior Jesus Christ pour out His Holy Spirit afresh and in power in this generation, that we might humble ourselves and seek Him in a true and authentic revival of soul and Spirit and nation. We dare not be dulled in our spiritual capacities in this day and age. While we enjoy the comfort and blessings of our nation, may we never forget from Whom they come. May we never take them and Him for granted. Rather may we worship Him in humility and a Holy Spirit born gratitude. Sodom was removed for their arrogance but we are on more dangerous ground than they. For as one old preacher said years ago, Sodom had no Bible.
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