3/1/10

Monday Manna

It saddens me when people who have known and worshipped God at some point in their lives turn their back on Him when a calamity strikes. They get angry with God and blame Him and refuse to worship Him or doubt that He ever existed in the first place.  I guess it can be argued that they probably never really knew God in the first place.

My youngest brother was this way for the longest.  He was on fire for God when we were in high school.  He led the Pray at the Pole in the mornings, attended bible study during our lunch break and he never missed a worship service at church.  He lived and breathed our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  It was amazing because he changed from a borderline high school drop out to a focused and dedicated man of God. 

Then it happened.  The pastor of our church and some of the other church leaders fell from grace (for lack of better words) and my brother was really hurt by these men that he looked up to.  He began to doubt all that he once believed.  His belief now was “If they can do any and everything and still say they are men of God then why am I working hard to ‘do right’.  He just figured that being a Christian was an unattainable goal so he just stopped trying.  Of course the rest is pretty easy to figure out.  A nasty divorce. Drinking, clubbing, unemployment, health issues, depression, etc.  It wasn’t pretty. I remember asking him once how could he turn his back on a God that he’s felt and known and loved and that has done so much for him and he just said. “I’m not ready to be real with God right now.”

Fast forward a few years and my littlest big ‘bro is back on the right path.  A new church home that he’s active in. A new zeal for Christ. A better understanding that his own personal relationship with Christ is not predicated on what others do and say.  It’s nice to see him back on track.

But what about the others.  Those who lose a loved one and decide to take their anger and hurt out on God totally ignoring all of the awesome things he’s done in their lives.  Or the person who is wrongfully imprisoned, or molested as a child,  or disfigured in an accident who now refuse to worship God because He didn’t prevent those awful things from happening.

We all will suffer in this life.  It is inevitable.  It may seem like we are the only ones who have ever been through what we are going through. Loss, financial reversals, pain, suffering, illness…you name it, someone has gone through it.  You are not the first nor will you be the last.  We will all suffer trials and even though God allows these trials to come in our lives, He has made us a promise that is even bigger than whatever it is we are going through.  He has a promise to those who believe and trust in Him.  He says in Joshua 1:5  that He will never leave us nor forsake us. Awful things happen so that we can learn how to put our trust and faith in God and not in ourselves.

So the next time you feel like things are just too hard to bear or you feel like giving up on God remember those two scriptures and hang in there because He also said in Psalm 30:5 Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning. Just hold on…it will get better!

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