The Question "Why?" and Throwing Stones.

No, I haven't fallen off the edge of the earth.  No, I haven't stopped doing my devotions.   Yes, I have forgotten to blog.  But I'm back due to some recent inspiration.

A couple of days ago my challenge was as follows: Today I will remember that my only hope is in you and that you are with me always.  


Sheila put the obvious and factual but somewhat uncomfortable statement out there: "Job never received an answer to his first question - 'Why?'"  I stopped.  No, no he didn't.  But that is the question I ask myself every time I start over-thinking or dwelling on the past.  Why?  Why then?  Why me?  Why?  Why?  Why?  But if Job never got an answer...well then God certainly isn't going to answer my why.  Well *Humph.*  Ugh.  ...Then Sheila continues..."But Job did gain the new understanding that his only hope was in God."  THERE!  That is what I'm supposed to get out of this...my only hope is in God.  In the end it doesn't matter why - all that matters is God is STILL there, He is right by my side!  Sheila used Psalm 139:7-10 to convey His everlasting presence:
 
                    Where can I go from Your Spirit?
                          Or where can I flee from your presence?
                    If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
                          If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
                   If I take the wings of the morning,
                         And dwell in the uttermost part of the sea,
                   Even there Your hand shall lead me,
                        And your right hand shall hold me.

At first glance you might be thinking...okay???  But this passage gives me such hope! No matter what I do - if I mess up, He's still there.  If I'm on my A game, He's still there!  If I'm all alone and I can't seem to understand why....He is still there.  You would think the devotion itself would have been enough for the day but God wasn't done with me yet.  I started my daily Scripture reading.  On this day I read about Stephen the martyr.  Stephen was doing everything right - He was telling the world about our wonderful savior but the people were unhappy and decided to stone him to death!  But do you know what he did in response?  He asked God to not hold this sin against them!?!  Stephen never even thought to throw a stone back - figuratively or literally.  I read this and thought to myself - "If only I could be so good..."

So what did I learn on this day?  First, I'm not going to get an answer to the never-ending "why?"  But that doesn't mean I should be figuratively throwing stones at anyone.  It means that I need to literally rest in knowing that God is by my side constantly.  He will never, EVER leave me.  And that gives me all the hope in the world.  At the end of today I am thankful for His undying love for me.  I am thankful that because of Him I have everlasting hope.  There isn't a day that goes by that I don't have something to look forward to. It's exhilirating!!

All at Once Heads are Spinning...

Day 16 - Today I will meditate on your amazing, infinite, and unconditional love for me.


So the whole meditation thing didn't happen.  With only so many hours in the day and so many things to do I, unfortunately, tend to put meditation and quiet time on the back burner.  This is where the honesty things gets a little tough.  My priorities aren't always where they need to be.  As much as I want to and as much as I need to, time spent listening to God doesn't usually make the priority list.  I find it easy to make time during the day to read my devotional and the Bible at least once a day, if not twice...but it is VERY hard for me to just listen or meditate.  I can't sit still for more than 2 seconds (ask Justin, he says it is my most annoying habit).


However, I did spend some time in thought today among all of my business.  God loves me!  No matter what I've done, no matter what I do - He still loves me!  That love never wanes, never falters.  Through all of my ups and downs, my good days and my bad, He loves me relentlessly!  I know I relate a lot of things to songs but music has such a passion.  It brings real emotion to the surface.  Music is all throughout the Bible...it is beautiful, powerful, and speaks to so many people in so many different ways.  Anywho...two songs come to mind.  First, "You Love Me Anyway" by the Sidewalk Prophets.  The chorus speaks of how we mess up but God loves us anyway - "But you love me anyway/ It's like nothing in life that I've ever known."  The full song can be found here.  Second - "Hurricane" by Samestate.  I just recently started hearing this on the radio and I absolutely love it!  God's love doesn't make any sense!  We haven't done a single thing to deserve it!  And the crazy thing - love still came!  Every time I hear this song I'm lost in awe at how wonderfully amazing God really is.  The lyrics to "Hurricane" can be found here and the song can be found here.


I hope for the few people that actually read this you take some time to ponder the awesome relentless love of Christ.  You may not deserve it, none of us do, but He loves you anyway!  Nothing you can do will ever, ever, EVER change that!  Isn't it wonderful??  I can't quit smiling if I truly focus on that fact!  :D