12.14.24 ~ When It Counts…

Good morning!

Commercial: Last night's zoom call: Vayishelach/and he left: What should I do? What should I do? Is it time to change course? I'm alone. Or am I? I have done everything I can. If I'm doing the right thing, why am I wrestling like this?

For 14 years of labor, Jacob had nothing to show for his labor, monetarily, but the roof over his head, the clothes on his back, and most of all the family he had grown (Gen. 30:25-35). Jacob was walking with integrity. He served well. His wages had been changed 10 times, by his evil father-in-law, and he was empty from the journey (Gen. 31:7; 41). Was he going to be stuck in this situation forever? What was God's will? Am "I" going to be stuck in this situation forever? What's God's will for my life?

Last night's zoom call reminds me of Proverbs 16:4: “The LORD has made everything for its own purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil.”

Huh? If you are like me, you don't like to think that the Lord/Yahweh has made everything, especially things that are evil and dark...especially if it's for my own good and His own purposes (Isa. 45:7; Ex. 10:21; Jer. 13:16; Am. 3:6; 4:13; Jb. 2:10; Eccl. 7:13,14; Jer. 18:7-10; etc.).

Do we, speaking of me, myself and I, really believe that God made everything for a reason in my life to make me become the person I am capable of becoming? Actually, the literal translation suggests that God made everything for his/ma’eneh. The idea is that nothing accidental occurs. There are no events that do not fit into the grander scheme of God, even the events that we would consider dark and wicked.

So I ask myself again: Do I really believe that this is so? My experience is that most often Christians proclaim the sovereignty of God as an intellectual belief, but when it comes to daily living in the hard world, we aren’t so confident. Why do I say that? Because time and again I have experienced life on the edge when God’s hand seems absent, when events just don’t make any sense, when I'm in the dark of night, all alone, wrestling with something I can't see, waiting for the dawn to break (Gen. 32:24), when bad things happen for no apparent reason and when I must wrestle with the question, “But why, God? (Gen. 25:22-25)”

If you have never run into the wall of doubt about the orchestration of life's events under God's sovereignty, then you are truly unique. The events of this life under the power of the prince of this world are designed to shake the very foundations of your faith in the character of God. You and I are battered by the circumstances of life so that we will act as though God is absent. Oh, we can go right on claiming that God is sovereign, but our actions will take on a new flavor. Caution, suspicion, fear and anxiety will surface in unguarded places. We will begin to act as if we are responsible for the ebb and flow of our lives.

It is so hard to stand on the edge and still act on the basis of God’s sovereign control. On the edge, life is shaky. The next step looks like a fall off the cliff. The storm clouds, my limited vision and the howling wind shouts at me to be afraid. I would be a fool to go forward, trusting only in the character of the Lord. But that’s what God's guiding hand is all about – going forward based only on who God is, not on what I see around me. That is the real truth of the one who creates life, death, good, evil, light, darkness (Isa. 45:7). It’s useless to me as a statement in a creed. It only counts when I make it the source of my actions.

Today, as you head into the Sabbath day, your date day with the all knowing one, will you let everything become a declaration of His purpose? Will you rest in Him?

Shabbat Shalom!

Commercial: All in one spot...the last couple months of studies, blog, audio studies and videos

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