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!!

Why? How? Who? ... Um.... What?

Yep...I got sick and fell off the wagon again.  It is amazing how just a couple of days out can mess up your entire schedule....Ugh.  Tryin to get back on track here...

Day 25 - Today I will choose to believe that You are faithful and that you use hard times to make me more like Jesus.

Sheila Walsh prompted me to start thinking when she asked me what questions I ask God during the hard times.  The fall back for me and I'm sure most of us is the infamous question of "why?"  Why me?  Why now?  Why this?  Why did it have to happen this way?  Why can't You just fix it?  And I'm sure we could come up with a million more 'whys.'  As I stopped to think about this, I reflected on the challenge - He uses the hard times to make me more like Jesus.  Maybe I'm asking the wrong question.  Maybe instead of 'why' I should be asking 'how.'  How can I be like Christ in this situation?  (I know, I know....back to the whole WWJD thing...).  After all, that, if nothing else, is what we should gain from hard situations - becoming more like Christ.  Sheila notes that she is on a personal campaign to always refer to Romans 8:28-29 together, not separately.  I think she makes a good point: "We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.  For (aka because) God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son."

Day 26 - Today I will be totally honest with You when I come to You in prayer.

Not always easy to do.  But I have tried today.  The one thing I got from my devotion this morning is this: Prayer must be intimate!  Or the relationship isn't real...  For that reason I am trying my best, no matter how humbling, to be honest when I talk with Him.