Tuesday, June 14, 2011

The Curse of Perfect Days

Can we be honest? Life sucks. Am I right? From the crushing and life changing (death, divorce/break-ups, loss of jobs) to the minor (stuck in traffic, too hot, no apple pies at McDonalds) life is hard. And most of the time our (my) response is not very positive. I get mad at McDonalds for not having apple pies. I curse at the car in front of me not moving faster. I question and get angry with God for the death of a loved one....

Our response is natural. We want answers to the why questions. Why did my grandfather die? Why did my parents get divorced? Why didn't my girlfriend want to be with me anymore? Why doesn't McDonalds have apple pies when it's on the menu? (Clearly I'm upset at McDonalds for never having apple pies).

And we see this response of frustration in the bible. Moses throws down and breaks the 10 commandments when he comes down the mountain and sees the people dancing around the golden calf (Exodus 32:19). Jesus gets frustrated at the people in the temple and over turns the tables and drives the people out making money in God's house. And next time you read the gospels and Jesus tells a parable and then the disciples come up and ask what he meant, just insert a sigh before Jesus' response.

But about 8 years ago I read a verse that changed the way I view the difficult days.

"So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.

His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!”

He replied, “You are talking like a foolish[b] woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”

In all this, Job did not sin in what he said."

Job 2:7-10

Job is having a rough day or two. First he loses all his livestock, workers, and children. But that isn't good enough for Satan who decides he needs to up the stakes and inflicts Job with sores. I think in another translation it says boils. Yikes. Job at this point is probably not stoked. But Job doesn't say anything. Just goes into a mourning period.

Mrs. Job on the other hand is none to please. She just lost all she had too! And her husband is now covered with sores and probably not looking to hot. So she's pissed. Who can blame her? She just wants her husband to get angry and go ape! Curse God and Die. Her words. That's harsh.

But Job's response was so deeply impacting that it has yet to leave me.

"Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?"

Say what? The New Living Translation words it "Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?” It seriously smacked me in the face. And today that thought returned while I was in prayer.

Yeah, sometimes life is unfair. Things happen that are rough but I think its good to always remember that God is still God and God is good, all the time. He can turn any situation and use for his glory and with him we can overcome all the sucks. Rough days and heartaches and death are all a part of life. But that doesn't make them God's fault. And it's not our place to blame God for them.

It is our responsibility to praise and worship God for how awesome he is in spite of whatever is happening in our life. Because God is always good no matter how bad life gets.

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