[Faith-talk] FW: [reachingouttoothersgroup] Fwd: WHAT TO DO WHEN IT SEEMS LIKE EVERYTHING IS AGAINST YOU …
Eric Calhoun
eric at pmpmail.com
Sun May 15 13:12:45 UTC 2011
Original Message:
From: LRSBNA at aol.com
To: reachingouttoothersgroup at yahoogroups.com
Subject: [reachingouttoothersgroup] Fwd: WHAT TO DO WHEN IT SEEMS LIKE
EVERYTHING IS AGAINST YOU .
Date:
Sun, 15 May 2011 09:04:59 EDT
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Subj: WHAT TO DO WHEN IT SEEMS LIKE EVERYTHING IS AGAINST YOU .
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Welcome to the
Nugget
Today's Devotional:
WHAT TO DO WHEN IT SEEMS LIKE EVERYTHING IS AGAINST YOU .
Do you ever feel like God has abandoned you? Like everything is going
good
for everyone but you? Like no matter how much or how ardently you seek
God, He doesn't hear you, or worse, He doesn't care?
Maybe you've had a great sin in your life, and though you've been taught
God forgives all sin, it seems like maybe just this one He overlooked?
Or perhaps you've been taught that God blesses those who love Him, but
despite the fact that you've tried to serve Him faithfully, you see
unbelievers experiencing blessing upon blessing, while you seem to have
gone by
completely unnoticed!
David felt this way, and a record of it is found in Ps. 73:3-28. When
this
Psalm was written, he was at a point in his life when he couldn't hear
God's voice. In fact, he felt as if only the wicked were the recipients
of
God's love and grace:
"For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They
have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong. They are free
from
the burdens common to man; they are not plagued by human ills. . They
scoff,
and speak with malice; in their arrogance they threaten oppression.
Their
mouths lay claim to heaven, and their tongues take possession of the
earth .
This is what the wicked are like - always carefree, they increase in
wealth."
And though these wicked folk even seem to blaspheme the Most High God,
someone who has strived to keep his heart pure before the Lord, someone
like
David, receives only punishment from the Lord:
"Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my
hands
in innocence. All day long I have been plagued; I have been punished
every
morning ."
I know that many of you out there can relate to what David is
experiencing
here. All we have to do is look around us when we are in the midst of
trouble and it seems like God is blessing everyone BUT us! He is taking
care of
the unbelievers OVER the believers!
And what do we tend to do when we are in such a situation?
Most of us react by closing ourselves in and focusing our thoughts on
our
problems and how unfair God is. But this isn't what David did: ". till I
entered the sanctuary of God ."
David didn't just sit there accusing God of being unfair, he sought God!
And what happened?
First of all, in the presence of the Almighty God, things came into
perspective: "Then I understood their (the wicked) final destiny. Surely
you
place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin ."
And once brought face to face with Truth, David was humbled: "When my
heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant;
I
was a brute beast before you."
Then he was again able to see reality. Notice the Truth that he saw:
1. God never left him: "Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my
right
hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me
into
glory."
2. God is his everything: "Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has
nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is
the
strength of my heart and my portion forever."
3. No matter what, he can always rejoice in God's presence: "But as for
me, it is good to be near God."
4. He will tell of God's goodness, no matter what: "I have made the
Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds."
Friends, when it seems that the Lord has abandoned us, let's remember
David and let's follow his example. Let's seek God! Let's rejoice in His
presence! And when we do, we will learn 4 important lessons:
a. God will punish those who have created the situations we are in.
B. When we are grieved and our spirits embittered, we become senseless
and
ignorant, a brute beast before God.
C. We are nothing without God. Even in the midst of horrible
circumstances, it is good to be near God, to make the Sovereign Lord our
refuge, to
seriously be able to say, "God is the strength of my heart and my
portion
forever!"
D. No matter the circumstances, God has never left us!
Then all that's left to do is to tell of God's goodness!
If we follow David's example, then our perspectives will change. Our
hearts will lighten, and we will again be filled with the joy of the
Lord.
Don't believe David?
Why not try it for yourselves?
In His love,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Speech-Language Pathologist, mother of two teens, Author
and
Moderator for The Nugget, a tri-weekly internet newsletter, and
Scriptural
Nuggets, a website devoted to Christian devotionals and inspirational
poems, _www.scripturalnuggets.org_ (http://www.scripturalnuggets.org/) ,
with
Answers2Prayer Ministries, _www.Answers2Prayer.org_
(http://www.answers2prayer.org/) . Announcements:
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for? Prayer works! The Bible confirms this in James 5:16 "The prayer of
a
righteous man is powerful and effective." NIV Send your prayer request
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and let us pray in agreement with you! "For where two or three come
together in my name, there am I with them." (Matt 18:20 NIV) Hallelujah!
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