Scripture: Job 9:26-28 (the Message)
My life is going fast, like a ship under full sail, like an eagle plummeting to its prey. Even if I say, “I’ll put all this behind me, I’ll look on the bright side and force a smile,” all these troubles would still be like grit in my gut since it’s clear you’re not going to let up.
Thought for the Day: Yesterday I purchased a bottle of wonderful green apple drink while I was at the grocery store. I couldn’t wait to drink it, so upon returning home, I put it in the freezer for a little while. After 30 minutes or so, I opened the freezer to grab the drink, but as I did, it fell onto the floor. Though it was plastic, the lid split open and this slightly carbonated beverage exploded all over the kitchen. And what made it worse was that the bottle rolled into the dining room leaving a ten foot trail of this sticky drink across the floor. I found the bottle on its side underneath the dining room table. It still had about a quarter of the beverage still in it, and so I placed it on the counter as I went to work on cleaning up the mess. It was bad, and so it took me quite some time. Though as I was finishing up with some mopping, the handle on the mop hit the bottle that I had placed on the counter. It was knocked onto my freshly cleaned floor…spilling out the remaining liquid. I expressed my frustration with a single word (it was not profanity), “Why?” as if God was out to get me.
Job’s situation was a bit more tragic than my mess, though he was asking the same question we all tend to ask when one bad thing after another occurs. I can’t say for sure, but I think there are a lot of happenings in life that have nothing to do with God. We may attempt to place blame at the doorstep of heaven, but I see God saying, “Don’t blame me.” If you believe in freewill – and if you believe in sin that you must believe in freewill – then there are some things that are simply events, incidences and situations that occur because of individual freewill or the collective freewill of others. As people of faith, the question should not be, “Why?” but “What?” In light of this situation (problem, irritation, dilemma, sticky mess), what might be the response of a person trying to be faithful to the ways of Jesus?
Prayer: Lord God, when I’m frustrated or overwhelmed by things that have occurred, provide me the spiritual wherewithal to both discern purposefully and respond faithfully. Amen.
1 thought on “Ecclesiological Etchings: 09-02-14”
[?][?][?]