(Psalms 10:1) “Why, O LORD, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?”
Why… I wonder why? Seems to have such a great part to play in our lives, it is ingredient of our daily routine. As much as we may reassure ourselves that God’s is in control, and He is! We nevertheless ask the question why? Take yesterday morning as an example; I was just about to do my final edit on the mornings post and it was on that tricky subject “spiritual gifts” and out of the blue my computer died. At first I thought there had been a power failure, but on further inspection everything else was still powered up. I mean everything! And there are at least ten plugs coming out of the one power point. My first question; how did that happen, I unplugged the plug and plugged it into another power point that I know was working and nothing, my computer remained lifeless! My logic now tried to work out what had just happened. Or should this subject be left unaddressed? But then the real concern kicked in, WHY? There I was looking for justification for why this had now happened. Was this now necessary I now thought with anger welling up inside.
Let us consider my emotions for a moment; these were my initial thoughts; for 347 days I have constantly blog without missing a post, so WHY was this now happening? Was it necessary! It obviously was or else it wouldn’t have happened. Do you see the pattern of self-justification now emerging? How I long for our new bodies and all that goes with them.
Before we take communion, before we break bread, we are instructed to judge ourselves least we be judged with the world. It is an instruction from God to us, His children. There is a time and a place for us to be sober as we examine our lives before a holy God; “Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.” (1Corinthians 11:28-32)
Our daily walks must involve self reflection. But I believe we can also take this too far, how are we to work out the correct balance? There is no easy answer, but Paul gives us inkling on how we should appropriate judgment to our lives; "All things are lawful," but not all things are helpful. "All things are lawful," but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. (1Corinthians 10:23-24) – And – “I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else's conscience? If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks? So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.” (1Corinthians 10:29-33)
With that now as my psyche, do I live out my life with others in mind; for the most part I am guilty of this mistake. Is that why my computer crashed? Or could it be something else? Am I living nonchalantly in the closet areas of my life? It could well be for this reason! I cannot say with any certainty why this happened, but after self examination I have to conclude that my opinions can never overshadow the Word of God. One thing I am sure of is that coincidences do not play a part in our lives. God is sovereign and in perfect control, even in the so called little areas of our lives. I must find rest in this verse; “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
Having said so much, I also believe there is a season for all things and maybe it is time for me to sit back and reflect a little more on my life and where it is leading me as I sit back in the shadows and let others do the talking and look to learn from them. What that actually means I will have to work out.
Signing off
Tyrone
2 comments:
A very good issue to address Tyrone, the question "WHY?" haunts all of us. Sometimes our lives are filled with too many questions and too few answers and many of the questions start with "Why?" To avoid self-incrimination it helps to look at an outstanding example of a Christian, to get a handle on the "why's", like Paul for instance, so many things went wrong for him, things that God could have prevented, but didn't. Paul's conclusion was, "But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead." All of these frustrations, challenges and irritating things that we face, build perseverance, faith and character so that "For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" Lord bless, Malcolm
Amen Malcolm, but what troubles me is the self denial tendency of "all is well" when it is clearly not! Lord bless!
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