Trials of life.

Well to say the least I've had a larger period of time between my first post and now. Since the last time I was on here I've read the books of Moses. This post will be a little different since I'm not going to quote any verses. I'm just going to think out loud what these books meant. In the words of a Mr. Torrey, "Think!" Or, such was his response when asked what the one thing every student needed to do if they wanted to understand the bible. So here's me thinking about the books of Moses.

I noticed over and over again how men who believed God would do one thing and yet God didn't always tell them to do it. Perfect example is when Abraham took Hagar in to give him a son. He didn't wait for the promise of God to come true. He was going to make it happen himself. God didn't tell him to have a child with Hagar; though God did help Abraham deal with the situation after the fact.

When I first read through Exodus through Deut. I often wondered why the children of Israel didn't believe Gods promises. I somehow thought in my heart that I was automatically "better" than them. God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt and across the Red Sea by parting it. The children of Israel then went and built themselves a Golden Calf because Moses took too long on the mountain. Over and over again they wanted to go back to Egypt. Back to men who ENSLAVED THEM!!!! Are we that different?

If one if honest with themselves they will see some of the same charecteristics in themselves that we read about concerning the children of Israel. Think you haven't made for yourself a graven image? Have you ever put anything above God. I know I did when I was in a band. Music was number one and God was number two. I didn't realize I had made a golden calf of my own. God promised them a land of milk and honey. Yet the generation that came out of Israel never did get to take possession of the land. It was their children that got to finally take of their inheritance. Why? The children of Israel wouldn't walk out on Gods promises, and as such they didn't get to go in to the land of milk and honey. God wouldn't go beyond what they were willing to do. He is a free will God after all. So how are you limiting God? I have recently limited God by worrying about things I can't control instead of letting God do his business. If I could do everything, and knew everything I would be perfect. I'm not perfect and I need to believe God and his promises. Read through the records you'll find more of yourself than you realized if your willing to look.

I have often heard people accuse God of causing their pain. "God inflicted me," they'll say, "God must be testing my faith." They'll even say that God tempted them (there is a verse that states that God tempts no one). Remember the record of Joeseph? Ya his brothers sold him into slavery, and his dad was left to believe he was dead. You will notice that God didn't give Jacob revelation telling him his son was alive, and if you read the record you will see that Jacob was in deep emotional distress. I always find it funny that people think there will be no pain in this world. I'm not a doom and gloom guy, but lets face it we have an advesary, a devil in this world. He's not here to make our lives easy (just read Job). Needless to say Joeseph also got put in jail by Pharoah for not sleeping with his wife. Oh she lied and said Joeseph came onto her (he was actually running the other way). This brings me to another point. The bible says Pharoahs wife was drop dead gorgeous. Joseph was a very young guy and the bible doesn't record that was having sex with anyone at the time. This beautiful women came on to him. Yet he turned it down. He spent a long time in jail for doing the right thing. Think about that! Between Job, Joseph, and ultimately Jesus Christ they never blamed God for the woes of life. Jesus Christ didn't do anything wrong. If he had some trouble in this life I think you can make a safe bet that you'll have some troubled times too. Doesn't mean you get all bitter about it. After all in Phillipians God tells us to rejoice in all things. Never allow the devil to get you to turn your back on God. Remember, God isn't tempting you. The devil, other people, or your own decisions can be very hard to live with sometimes. God won't go against free will, but he can turn lemons into lemonade if you ask him for help.

God Bless You,
Marc