About this Blog Seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.
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By Anushka, on 14th August 2010 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. – Romans 8:28
This is a great Bible verse that reminds us that everything that happens in our lives happens for a reason. It’s a particularly good verse when things are going well for us…however there are many times in our lives when things do not go so well and we can wonder what God is trying to tell us. We can even start to wonder if He is really there after all.
If we lose our job, or have sudden health problems, or a family crisis, or maybe our plans for the future fall through, it can be very easy to say to God, “Where are you now that I need you?”
Its like that quote we often hear, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” And I can add to that, how exactly do the bad things that happen to us fit in with that Bible verse from Romans quoted above?
I’m going to make some suggestions about how we can know that God is working in our lives whatever happens to us.
Firstly, we know that God has a plan for the earth. His ultimate plan is to send his Son back to the earth to put things to rights and set up his kingdom here – and for us to be there with Him if we want to be.
So whilst God is still concerned with our daily welfare, the big picture involves Him preparing us for the kingdom. To this end He may choose to develop and shape our characters using our life circumstances. Its certainly true that looking back at a particular life event one can often realise its purpose in directing us to our current position which is somehow helping us to serve God more effectively, but at the time the trial may have seemed both stressful and pointless.
We must also remember that God works on a different timescale to us. A thousand years to Him is as one day. It may seem to us as if our patience needs to be everlasting and we may wonder how we can keep going, but to God the kingdom is just round the corner.
Think about how long Abraham waited to receive the promise of his son Isaac, or how long David had to wait to become king after being anointed. Many Bible characters had long trials to overcome – some found it hard and constantly asked God for reassurance whilst others were patient and continued in prayer.
However hard we find our life circumstances we must try to focus on the fact that God is leading us to His kingdom, and that He loves us and wants us to be there.
For I an convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:38/39
By Anushka, on 10th August 2010 It can be very easy to distance ourselves from those long ago events in the Bible that shaped history. We easily forget that Bible characters were people just like us with same fears and emotions, and the same split personalities wrestling between doing the right thing and the wrong thing.
We can feel that it was easy for them to do what God wanted and can overlook the internal struggles many Bible characters went through, and feel that decisions are so much harder for us.
To refocus our minds it can be helpful to reread the story elements of the Bible and try to put ourselves in the shoes of these characters to understand their thought processes. It helps to imagine the scenario, the geography, the political atmosphere of the time, and the social habits.
Take Moses – from prince of Egypt to an outcast and a killer hiding in the wilderness. Is it any wonder he was scared and felt unable to speak on behalf of a people he barely knew? Yet he brought the Israelites out of Egypt to the Promised Land.
O my Lord, I am slow of speech … please send by the hand of whomever else You may send – Exodus 4:10/13
Take Paul – zealous persecutor of Christians to zealous Christian missionary. Is it any wonder he felt a conflict between his past life and his future work, doubting his worthiness? Yet he almost single handedly commenced the spread of the gospel to the Gentile world.
When I came to you, I did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom … I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. – 1 Corinthians 2:1/3
Take Peter – impetuous and spontaneous in his love for Jesus, recognising the truth of the Messiah, and yet denying him three times when trouble struck. Is it any wonder he wept bitterly? Yet his strength in the early church is shown in his inspiring epistle.
Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” – Matthew 26:75
Take Jesus – perfect son of God, but even he would have not gone through with his death if there had been any other way. Is it any wonder his sweat was like great drops of blood? Yet he gave his life for us, bringing salvation to all mankind.
O my Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will. – Matthew 26:39
Sometimes all it takes to get us back on track is to realise that we face the same sort of conflicts that believers have faced for centuries. And how do we make our decisions? How do we make our righteous mind win over our worldly mind?
The same way that Jesus did – we need to pray. So let’s remember the words of Jesus’ prayer to bring us comfort and reassurance:
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. – John 14:27
By Anushka, on 7th August 2010 Sometimes it’s difficult to feel close to God in this modern world. I find myself thinking of what it must have been like to live in Bible times, for example, in the time of Jesus.
Life back then was very different. All chores would have been hard manual work. Food had to be grown; animals had to be killed for meat. People would only have travelled away from their home towns or villages on special occasions, and their transport methods would have been donkeys or their own two feet. Communication was by messenger. Many people would probably have been born, lived their lives, and died in the same house.
Then into their lives came this travelling Rabbi. He told them wonderful, thought provoking stories. He healed sick people and even raised people from the dead! How incredible it must have been to see God’s hand visibly at work. Who could doubt his power, and the truth that Jesus was the Son of God?
I sometimes have this feeling that it was much easier to see and feel God back in the first century.
But is it a case of “the grass is always greener”? Imagine if Biblical people knew about what we have now – would they envy us? For a start we have the Bible. If we want to recall what Jesus said on a particular occasion we look up the chapter and verse. Back in the first century they would have to rely on their memories, or what someone else remembered, or wait until the next time Jesus or one of his disciples passed by to ask them a question.
We also surely take for granted the freedom of information and ease of communication that exists today. Yes, many people now discredit the word of God but we have all the information we need to decide for ourselves at our fingertips and most if us can do this without persecution from the authorities.
Back in Jesus’ day people in the next town may not have heard about a miracle he performed until a few days later, and only a handful of people saw the event first hand. The story was then told by word of mouth. Sometimes it had to be kept secret because the Jewish rulers did not approve of Jesus. Was it really easier for those first century people to believe than it is for us?
What it comes down to is that the evidence was there for them, and the evidence is there for us. God has provided us with the appropriate evidence to suit the times we live in, so that each and every one of us has the opportunity to respond to him and say, yes, I want to learn more.
So let’s be thankful for the written word that God has provided us with, together with the blessings of freedom of information and speed of communication that would have been a miracle in itself to those Biblical people, and take every opportunity we can to learn more about God.
By Anushka, on 4th August 2010 We know that everything in the Bible is there so that we can learn from it. The apostle Paul tells us this:
All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness – 2 Timothy 3:16
When Paul was writing his letters don’t forget that his Bible WAS the Old Testament, so clearly he thought there was much we can learn from it.
If you read the Old Testament you will be struck by the way its written as a history book rather than a means of religious instruction. We are to learn by reading about other peoples lives, and more importantly the mistakes they make, because believe me, in many cases the Old Testament is a catalogue of how NOT to worship God!
The Israelites worship idols, they follow false gods, and they complain about their lot. They are constantly under attack from enemies because they fail to trust in God, and they only turn back to him when they are in trouble.
And as for the individuals: they commit adultery, murder, and theft. They lie, they covet and they disobey God… I could go on.
But hang on, its not as if we are perfect ourselves. How many of us have told lies, been jealous of someone or in some other way committed a sin?
Every single one of us!
Which is the whole point. We are not perfect and neither were God’s chosen people. If we read the Old Testament we learn about how people dealt with their mistakes and the consequences, we learn about forgiveness, we learn that its okay to say I’m sorry to God and try again.
We also see how these flawed people sometimes managed to get it right! David was called a man after God’s own heart. Moses was referred to as the friend of God. There is a message there for us that if we try hard to do what God wants, he can be pleased with us, and because of Jesus, he will forgive us when we do wrong.
So next time you read something from the Old Testament, remember, these were real people. They lived their lives just like we do, they had the same desires and physical needs. They made the same mistakes. They had the same capacity for good, the same altruistic motives. They sometimes struggled with their faith and went through highs and lows in their lives.
Let’s take comfort from the experiences of those people who lived in Old Testament times, and learn from them, knowing that these were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God [has] planned something better for us so that only together with us [will] they be made perfect – Hebrews 11:40
By Dave, on 4th August 2010 The remains of the key Bible character John the Baptist have been found on Sveti Ivan Island it is claimed. The archaeologists are convinced, but more tests are needed. How they know I haven’t got a clue, but if it is proved to be John the Baptist it would be a wonderful for Christianity (if it was shown to be true – it was claimed his bones had been found in Iran five years ago, but obviously not I guess). One wonders if this isn’t another opportunistic attempt to boost Christian tourism to the area, something which the Roman Catholics are renowned for being good at.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10849211
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