"A lamp is despised in the thought of one who is at ease;
it is made ready for those whose feet slip."
Job 12:5
The Scriptures tell us that the Word of God is a lamp given to mankind.
"Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path."
Psalm 119:105
Why is it then, that so many do not shine its light upon the issues of their lives? Why is it then, that it is "despised?" The Scripture answers that for us. It is despised "in the thought of one who is at ease."
In his wooing us, God often places sufficient trial and trauma into our lives for the express purpose of being that lamp in times when our "feet slip." He calls through mercy, he calls through stories that make his call very obvious. But for many, that isn't enough. Sometimes he has to place very painful circumstances in our lives - to rescue us from ourselves.
When you are "at ease," do you think of God, or do you just go along, maybe with God in the background of your mind, but making him relatively just an afterthought? Not a forethought, but an afterthought, a resource when you need him but easily forgotten when you don't. How soon we forget him when all is well. How soon we NEGLECT him.
Almighty God desires to be the center of our lives, not an afterthought. He desires our time. He desires that we not let busyness occupy us to the extent that we forget him, not placing him first before all.
If people had a sufficient understanding of just who God is, they would be shocked. He is not a Santa Claus in the skies waiting patiently for us to perhaps give him some thought from time to time. No, he is the creator of the universe, the one who holds every atom, every molecule in place. He knows us intimately and thoroughly and is constantly trying to get our attention. How sad that the most high God has to resort to such efforts to get our attention. And how dangerous for the ones who don't respond.
God so loved the world that he sent his Son Jesus Christ to suffer and die on a cross in order to bear the judgment on our sins. This was the greatest demonstration of love history has ever known, the torture and death of the sinless one on behalf of sinners. How soon we forget what he has done for us. How soon we allow circumstances in life to crowd him out of our minds. We're too busy for him.
Turn to the Lord today and give to him the time your creator desires from you. He loves you with a love that is far above anything you've ever experienced or could ever understand. What he wants from you is your time, time to spend in his presence, time to spend in the Word he has given to us, meaning for it to be the very sustenance of our lives. He wants you to CARE about him. And to place him first in your life, not as an afterthought.
Is that too much to ask? If so, you're on your own - and your foot can so easily slip. And THEN you will remember the lamp you need to take the next step. How much better it would be to put him first, to give him the place of honor in your life and let him shine his light on you as he so desires. It changes everything.
"For the earnest expectation of the creation
eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.
For the creation was subjected to futility,
not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope;"
Romans 8:19-20
Have you ever wondered why there is so much suffering in the world? Have you ever wondered why God made the world the way it is?
Well ...he didn't.
If you read the story of creation in the Book of Genesis, what is remarkable is that after every thing that God created, he said it was "good," and when he was finished he said it all was "very good."
"Then God saw everything that he had made,
and indeed it was very good."
Genesis 1:31
So what happened? Why is the world so far from being "very good?"
It's very important to understand this.
When Adam rebelled against what God had told him, Adam brought sin into the world, and the effects of that were far more vast than most have any idea. At the sin of Adam, DEATH entered the world, and that death was so pervasive that every living thing became subject to it, even animals and plants. DEATH came in through sin and DEATH has reigned ever since. Everything dies. No living thing escapes. Death kills all, babies and old people, all die. Everything living ...dies. This was not the act of God! This was man destroying what God had created good and pure and beautiful.
Sin is a tremendously powerful and destructive force and it can be blamed for all the ills the world lives with. Ignorant men blame God for all the suffering in the world, when it is not God at all behind it, but sin brought in by man.
People rail at God for "allowing" suffering, but God in his wisdom has allowed the full manifestation of the results of sin and death to remain until "the restoration of all things," because it is a visual portrayal to all peoples now and in all the ages to come - of the heinousness of sin and all the death and destruction that sin brings.
It's one thing for a parent to tell his child a principle, it's quite another when the parent allows his child to make mistakes and learn from experience what he didn't "get" just by hearing it from his father. The visual and experiential effects of sin will speak to all generations a principle not read or heard but visually demonstrated. Yes, God does intervene from time to time and heal but for the most part, we remain subject to the fallenness of the creation until the day when he will come and restore all things.
"...until the times of restoration of all things,
which God has spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets
since the world began. "
Acts 3:21
And that is our hope - that the sufferings from the effects of sin will come to an end. The picture will have done its work and the Lord will bring the story to its conclusion. When Jesus comes all creation will be subject to him and he will restore all things.
"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
the calf and the young lion and the fatling together;
and a little child shall lead them."
Isaiah 11:6
When Jesus Christ comes, all the destructive effects of the death principle will be abolished, and he will restore the world to the pristine state it was in before the death force entered. It will be the end of sin and violence and hatred and war:
"...they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore."
Isaiah 2:4
It will be the end of death:
"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death."
1st Corinthians 15:26
Friends, the Kingdom of God is at hand. Make sure your name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life so that you will be part of it. You were born into a fallen human nature prone to sin, and sin carries with it judgment. When you surrender your life to the Lord Jesus Christ you will receive the forgiveness of all your sin and you will be received into his Kingdom to live with him forever in the glorious age to come. If you have not yet been born again, see to it now because truly, the Kingdom of God IS at hand!
MORE ON THIS:
"Born again" - What Does That Mean?
"From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness..." 2nd Corinthians 11:24-27 Many believers have been going through unprecedented trials and some have fallen away. And ...that is exactly Satan's intent when he attacks God's children, especially if they are serving God in any effectual way. Satan means to stop them, to destroy their calling, and he often succeeds. But the Scriptures warn us to be prepared for this and not to be taken by surprise, but rather to understand what is happening in the spiritual realm. "Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you..." 1st Peter 4:12 It can get to you when it goes on and on and on for awhile, and again ...that is the intent. Understanding this is necessary for you to be able to stand. Brothers and sisters, when you feel you just can't take it anymore, consider what Paul suffered in his ministry and calling. Reread that passage above. He was perhaps the greatest man who ever walked the earth other than Christ himself, but take a look at the incredible efforts of Satan to stop him. He was beaten and left for dead, he experienced weariness, sleeplessness, hunger and thirst, he was cold and tired, very very tired. Yet he knew that this was the cost of serving Christ and he did not allow Satan to discourage him - no matter what. Today Paul is in glory, satisfied with the fruit of the work he accomplished in spite of the ordeal that was his lot as he toiled. One of the most amazing passages in the Bible is the account of Paul and Silas when they were hurled into prison. They had been beaten with rods, their backs bloodied and were thrown into a dungeon, their feet tied in stocks - read it in Acts 16:22-33. But ...at midnight Paul and Silas . . .were heard singing praises to God ! ! ! Think on this. In pain, backs bloodied, in a dungeon ...singing praises to God! I am not so advanced in my spiritual walk that I can even imagine singing praises to God if I were lying in a dungeon with my back bloodied and my feet in stocks. I've meditated on this many times, trying to understand how Paul and Silas could do this. It just seems impossible. What understanding did they have that was beyond anything Satan could do to them? Yet that is exactly what they were doing - singing praises to God. And God responded, as he always does when we worship him. ...There was an earthquake and all the prisoners' chains fell off. The end of this story is the jailer and all his household being saved. Note that Paul didn't know that was going to happen at the beginning of this story. He sang praises to God while in his desperate condition. Brothers and sisters, take heart. The Lord is coming soon and we simply do not have much time left to complete our work for him on this earth before the end. Resolve in your heart to expect the ferocious attacks of the enemy designed to bring us down and render us neutralized. Do not allow Satan to stop you, to stop the work you've been called to do. It's far too important. Accept the cost, and labor on knowing that the reward is ETERNAL. Resolve in your heart to arrive in heaven without regret. It will be SO very worth it!
