Humans…are strange beings! That’s for sure! Think on these things for a moment: When we are walking the path with our Lord and as long as everything is going as we think it ought to go, we’re happy and content. Throw a monkey wrench into the mix and have things go slightly off center, we are on our own hollering and yelling and we can’t wait to find the one who messed it all up! Of course when we are not able to pinpoint someone to blame (it’s never me, right?) the Lord is always a good target!
“God isn’t fair, especially when there are trials and tribulations!”
The Bible is quite clear that when we have problems, we need to run to the Lord, not away from Him! Then the question is this: Why do we react the way we do? Everyone already knows if we are human and living on this planet we will definitely have problems, now and then.
Let’s take a moment and think of others that have been in the same situation. How about Lot? You can bet he had a great deal to put up with considering where he was living and how the surrounding people were living. The people were so wicked that God sent two angels to remove Lot and his family from Sodom and Gomorrah before HE destroyed it!
Imagine if you will, that you live someplace like that─where everyone around you is terribly wicked doing everything and anything they want to do regardless if it is right or not. So one day two men show up at your front door and tell you they are angels from heaven and that you and your family need to evacuate, because God is going to reduce the entire area to ashes!
Oh, Oh…right…we’re already there!!
“And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them. And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men thatappertained unto Korah, and all their goods.
They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation. And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also” (Numbers 16:31-34).
Moses and Aaron had much the same problem while leading the Israilites in the wilderness and again, the Lord dealt with those who were wrong and disobedient to HIM. We need to consider this same thing is happening in our lives today. Or don’t earthquakes and diseases of today count? I’m constantly seeing things taking place today, like at no other time in human history. For example, you catch something which is caused by bacteria, you go and see your physician and he/she prescribes an antibiotic.
The antibiotic tells your body to create t-cells (white cells) and the t-cells then filter through your entire body and kill certain bacteria. Hence you recover from pneumonia. Let’s look at another common problem, the virus. Certain viruses can be deadly if not treated soon enough, like Avian flu. Viruses have no “body” for any t-cells to attack, yet the antibiotics are used to make sure “opportunistic” bacteria don’t make things worse.
The only thing to do then, is to treat the symptoms: Body aches, high temperatures, breathing problems and the like. So why are all these different “viruses” coming to light as they are today? Makes ya think a little, doesn’t it?
Let’s call “disobedience” by what it really is: Rebellion against God. People usually commit the majority of SIN when everything is going well for them. Think in terms of the wealthy. They do whatever they want because they are able to afford whatever they want. They’re feeling good about themselves, so why not? Life should be fun! The big thing is, they can afford to be this way. Who would want to deny them when the end result is that you’ll get paid more to look the other way, right?
Most people have no idea what others are doing. For the most part everyone is too engaged in their own situation to be bothering with what someone else is doing. God on the other hand sees and knows everything. HE sees everything you’re doing and HE knows why you are doing it─regardless of whether it’s right or wrong.
“For the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12, emphasis added)
Ask yourself this: How would you feel if you knew a person and they were able to read your mind? In other words, what if they were able to know your every thought? That would be pretty scary to say the least and to be honest, and you probably would have nothing to do with them, right?
How many times have you read the Ten Commandments and thought to yourself, “Yep, I did that and then…that.” Made you feel pretty bad right? Please refer to the verse above, one more time.
Sometimes I read something in the news, like maybe in politics. Well, the president and some of the members of Congress want to know the facts about such and such. Of course, by the time the information filters down to you and me, it is a totally different story. But God knows!
I simply wonder to myself what their excuse will be when they stand before a powerful and just God. In cases like that, the Lord having eyes that look like flames, makes sense. It is an awe-inspiring thing to know. God knows every single SIN we have ever committed, just like the politicos. What will be our excuse?
That sort of knowledge makes it difficult to deal with being humble, doesn’t it? You understand we must not judge others, because the Lord will judge you and me in the same manner we judged them. Who am I to look down my nose at anyone, for any reason? And yet we commit this SIN everytime we turn around, in almost every thought we have. Now it’s even more scary, knowing the Lord knows our every thought, right?
I guess the point I’m trying to make here is this: We are all human, therefore we all are stained by SIN and we need a Savior who understands us and is willing to forgive us for our SIN. We need someone that will cleanse us, wash us and make us clean. Otherwise none of us would ever be acceptable in the presence of God. There will be NO SIN in heaven!
We must go to the cross of Jesus Christ on Calvary and humbly ask the Lord to forgive us for our SIN and to cleanse us. We must leave our old self─the SIN filled person we used to be─hanging on that cross where Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior bled and died. It is HIS blood that covers our SIN and it is HIS love for us that makes you and me whole once again.
We must understand that the life we live here on this small planet is not simple by any stretch of the word. From the beginning of our lives we are entangled with all our wants and desires! We want to have a pleasurable life. We don’t like problems and we don’t like others looking down on us so we are consumed with the things that make us feel good about ourselves.
We are very conceited and self-professing to others and it becomes a drudgery having to deal with so many people that have problems — when we feel we are so “perfect” in every way. Why do you think we have a problem when someone doesn’t like us or when they make us feel small and insignificant?
How odd then, that we should feel bad about doing something we shouldn’t only after being caught red-handed. It makes me wonder what we will feel when we stand before the Lord and HE looks at us with those soft, yet all knowing eyes? At the same time it makes me wonder why we don’t look at the world with those same feelings every hour of every day?
It makes me consider things differently when I realize I am just like everyone else and that the only true difference is that I belong to Jesus Christ. It changes my thoughts when I consider witnessing to others because in the beginning I was probably worse than any other and yet my Lord loves me and died to prove that!
May the Lord Bless you richly!!!