05/22/2024
I have been thinking about some thoughts presented by Pastor E.M. Bounds' in his devotional message this morning. I have been contemplating a couple of statements he made that I found quite thought provoking and revealing; the first is "The end of trouble is always good to God." And the second was "Trouble proves a blessing or a curse, depending on how it is received and treated by us." These fit nicely with a conclusion I reached a long time ago. I came to the realization that man is the source of trouble in creation. Let me explain my thoughts...
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.”
Psalm 46:1-3 ESV
Since God created earth, started it spinning, and placed man on it, the poles have been incredibly cold and the deserts have been dry. Since the beginning, grazing animals have munched on plants and carnivores have fed on the meat of the grazers. This wasn't a problem and none of it was trouble until man entered the scene and began to perceive these events through the filter of his needs and desires... At that moment trouble began. Before that time nature was playing itself out just as God had designed it to work, but then came the fall of man, and sin came to the man God had created and placed in the Garden of Eden to walk with Him.
One day, a descendant of that fallen man wanted to visit the mountains on the far side of the desert and began to walk. Half way across the desert his water ran out and he became thirsty unto death. The desert hadn't changed, animals had died there of thirst many times before, but this time it was different; a creature who was partially physical and partially spiritual was suffering and calling out to God for assistance... The man decided that it was a problem that water didn’t exist in the desert. The concept of trouble had thus erupted in a world of order and sequence, and it came from man because he chose to view it that way. In His mercy God decided to end the discomfort that this man, His created soul, was experiencing, and He reasoned that while saving him from dying of thirst that He would teach him that as God He was indeed this man's Lord and provider. At that moment the solution for trouble was offered to man.
“Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.”
Psalms 91:14-15 KJV
So man had experienced a problem, called it trouble, and God had started using that perception to instruct this creation of His. What caused man trouble was just the natural order of things until that order was perceived differently by him. Was this the byproduct of eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Or, did trouble first arise in the Garden? Was that the actual desert where man first thirsted unto death? I used the word byproduct because all trouble is not sin, but all sin is certainly trouble.
This brings us to the second part of the equation of trouble, and Bounds' statement that trouble "either draws us to prayer and to God or drives us away."
In my example, the man had chosen to perceive his thirst as trouble... It became more than the natural order of creation, but in this moment of trouble he did something wonderful, he called out to God and bridged the divide within himself, between his physical nature and his spirituality… and God heard his cry and answered him; and helped him.
At that moment of realization this man had to make the same choice that Job had to make. Would he maintain his faith in God or would he curse God and die. In my example he chose wisely... he chose God. What is our answer>? What is it that we choose?
“Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die. But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.”
Job 2:9-10 KJV
In our own troubles we have a choice to make; will we choose to face them with God through prayer, or alone by turning our backs on Him and our faith. This age old question remains, and each of us must answer it for ourselves. Will I surrender to my spiritual self and God, or will I surrender to my physical self and nature.... in other words, am I a child of God or a creature of the earth. This also decides our answer to the first commandment and breathes spiritual life into the birth of our faith...
“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”
Deuteronomy 6:5 KJV
But the wrong answer can give birth to the physical world in those who choose not to seek God in times of trouble and in their lives. Have they simply chosen the natural world? Have they reverted to being creatures of nature and its order, or, has Satan, who is the lord of the world, not led them to choose becoming prey over prayer?
“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.”
1 John 3:1 KJV
So we as Christians have chosen, and we have chosen wisely. This morning when we pray let's thank Our Heavenly Father for his provision and love, and let's also thank Him for the troubles that lead us to Him and his instruction and revelation we are blessed with through them. Then let's thank him for the love that led Him to redeem us by sending His Son to die for us so that we might have life everlasting.
“But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”
Ephesians 2:4-7 KJV
This morning's thoughts have been a little deeper than I intended them to be, but the question is simple... Do we choose God or the world? Are we creatures of prey or the children of prayer?
Prayer:
Father, thank you for hearing our very first prayer, seeing the trouble we have decided that we are in, and then coming to rescue us from it. Thank you for offering us redemption, and the blessing of entering into a renewed relationship with you. Thank you Holy Father for creating us with not only a body, but with a spirit as well; because you are spirit, and this becomes the bridge that provides us passage between the natural world and the foundation of an eternal relationship with you. Help us to see our choice clearly, to resist the temptations of the world, and to grasp the love that led you to send your Son Jesus to redeem us and to bring us into eternal life in your presence. Help us to be your good children, and not the offspring of the world and of Satan, its master. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who was and is, and is to come. Holy is Jesus Christ your Son who abides in you and you in Him. Merciful and full of grace are you who sent Him, the Christ, so that we might abide in Him, and He in us, and thus be reunited with you in this way. Hear now our every prayer, feel the love we have for you, witness our obedience to your will and your Word. Abba, we pray that in this way you will be well pleased with us just as you are in Jesus. See Him in us Father, and grow us in faith and belief so that our relationship with you will become full, and our keys to an eternal life with you. Praised be your name Lord, and let all glory be yours forevermore. You are our choice, and in you we find life in every desert, and the answer to every prayer.
Amen! Amen! Amen!
“The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.”
Psalm 16:5-8 ESV
Rich Forbes