God Sends Good And Bad

Reading through the book of Job is an interesting enterprise. Bad stuff happens, more bad stuff happens, people complain, people accuse, God shows up. God doesn't explain his actions, but does give a monologue about how awesome He is.
Only God can brag.

It appears as though God manipulates Satan into attacking Job. Maybe God wanted to show the spirit world that there were a few humans who would not curse Him even when life falls apart. That there were indeed a few people with integrity.
Unlike Satan, who fell into apostasy because he couldn't be as big as God.

Check out Job chapter 2. Yeah, go ahead. Satan says Job will curse God if Job gets sick. God takes that challenge, after taunting the Devil with Job's great character ("Look at my man Job! He didn't lose faith even when you killed his kids and destroyed his livelihood!").
Satan inflicts Job with nasty boils over his entire body, as drawn by John Totleben above.

This was a bad week for our pal Job.

But listen to this:
'Then his wife said to him: "Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!"'

Can you hear the venom spewing from her lips?

Now in her defense, her ten children had just died in a storm, and all her wealth had been destroyed. So she was grieved. But...

Job says: "You speak as one of the foolish women speak. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?"

Think on that for a moment.

We think all good stuff comes from God, and bad stuff from Satan or the world. Job knows better. He knows it all comes from God. He didn't get mad about it either. He did lament the day of his birth, though. But God never called him out on it. In fact, He still said Job was blameless.

In his pain, Job wished he had never been born. His friends showed up too, and after being silent for a week, decided to give him their opinions about why his life fell apart.
It was his fault, they said!
He must have had some secret sin that had offended God. These things couldn't possibly happen to a righteous man!

But they do, don't they? God hands out adversity like free tickets to a baseball game. But you can't refuse these...

In the end, Job saw God's power and forgot about himself. God then told the three friends that He wasn't pleased with their speeches. They had not spoken well of God, as Job had. There is a lesson here. God didn't come to Job's aid because his friends were accusing him, He came to his aid because Job was speaking right about God. Job hadn't cursed God. He knew Him well enough not to do that. His friends thought they knew Him, but were merely superstitious. Job understood that God hands out trouble and doesn't owe anyone an explanation for it.

I'm sure this baffled Satan. What happens when you think you know better than God?
You fall.

Job also understood that his Redeemer was coming, and that he would see Him face to face. That always puts our lives in perspective, doesn't it?
His theology was in good order!

Job now had to pray for his friends, which he did. They offered their sacrifices, and Job prayed for them. What a good friend! See, God listened to Job because he was blameless. Not sinless, but blameless. Nobody could say anything bad about him.

Fortunately, it all ends well. Job's wealth is returned to him two-fold. Double the donkeys, double the camels, etc. He even has ten more kids, evidently with the same misinformed wife. He lived another 140 years as well, probably living to 210.
God took care of him.

Here is what we don't like about God: that He gives trouble. We ask 'Why?' and don't get a reply. But God can do whatever he wants with his clay. He uses adversity, sends adversity, to mold His people into a beautiful piece of pottery. He is preparing us for Heaven, where there is no pride or lust. Adversity has a way of stripping all that away.
As Christians, we no longer are our own, but we now belong to Christ. He bought us. He can do what He wants with us. His ways are good, though, so don't forget that.

Job knew this, and was well spoken of because of it.

 

Unholy-Days

Halloween, Christmas, Easter. "Holidays" that really exist in a fantasy-land. You'll notice two of those days are in a different color. That's because they link to two other posts of mine which are freakin' fantastic pieces of fine literature.
Really.

Halloween just passed. What did you do? Did you dress up the kids and march around your neighborhood collecting candy? Why? Because that's what we did as kids? Why did we do that?

Some would say because it's fun. And it is. But have you ever noticed how you feel when the trick-or-treating is over, or when you're done unwrapping the presents, or finished finding the eggs? You might feel empty, like a dream just ended.
That's because it did. I think we enter a fantasy world three times a year, and when the day is over, the bubble bursts. The next is back to normal, like nothing happened. The festivities are forgotten and the "holiday spirit" has evaporated.
We spent all that time preparing for...what exactly?

We celebrate something at Christmas, but I'm not sure what. For Christians, it is supposed to be about Christ's birth (Christmas), but it kind of isn't. Sure, we have the holiday services, but that's for an hour, which can't compete with the two months of time leading up to the Big Day. It's really about the lights, the spectacle, the gifts. And when the 26th comes, the fantasy is over. The jolly elf is gone, nowhere to be found. We must then wipe away the evidence by putting away the presents and taking down the decorations. A lot of people try to hold on to that mystical feeling by leaving the tree up for another week or more, but it all fizzled out upon waking up the Day After.

Easter is another one. Some say it's pagan, some say it's Christian, some it's both. But really it's something else: A cartoon! Bunnies? Eggs? One big bunny who delivers them all? Sounds like a cartoon to me.

He doesn't like the pastels either.

We tell kids about fake entities and then tell them later that they don't exist. How stupid is that? We are perpetuating a myth...

Modern Christmas was invented by a few well-intentioned men who wanted to create an American family holiday. It worked! (I guess Thanksgiving wasn't good enough. You know, the holiday where we give thanks to God while gathered together as a family). Modern Easter took root in Germany around the 1500 and 1600's, then spread to America. How it got merged with The Resurrection I don't know, but perhaps the Roman Catholic Church had something to do with it.
Or Hallmark.

So basically we are celebrating ancient pagan traditions through the lens of commercialism. Exploit those religions!

Gotta keep it going. It's the money, honey. Holiday movies, music, toys, decorations. "The Christmas Spirit" and all that.
In other words, a fantasy.

So what do we do? Do we celebrate the pagan side, or the Christian side? Or just have fun living out the fantasy? Or not celebrate at all?
(If you decide to not tell your kids about Santa, or the Bunny, or even the Tooth Fairy, you will be ostracized, at least a little. After all, everyone does it and so should you!)

In any event, It's still sort of a free country, so you can celebrate any way you want. Just ask yourself: What am I doing and why am I doing it?