Wooing

 Job 34 - 37

Job 36:16 “He is wooing you from the jaws of distress to a spacious place free from restriction, to the comfort of your table laden with choice food.”

“He is wooing you…” Ladies, how many times have we thought possibly even said we want to be wooed?  I know I say it regularly.  The idea of having a man do things to entice us to want to be with him, around him, fall for him, etc.  A man who wants to take us to dinner.  A man who wants to go for romantic walks.  A man who wants to listen to us when we talk about our day.  A man who will be our rock and just hold us telling us everything will be okay.  I have good news ladies… HE is wooing you!  HE has a table for us to sit at and eat plenty.  HE will walk with us, better yet, HE will carry us on the walk if we are weak that day.  HE romances us in a way no mortal man could.  HE listens to every word that we speak or think.  HE wants so badly to be our rock.  To hold us and tell us everything will be okay because HE knows it will.  I am guilty of loosing site of this.  Forgetting that I should be more worried about Him wooing me than a mortal man wooing me.  Remembering that the two should woo similarly.  That the mortal man should woo me with the same ideals as He does.  The wooing should be parallel, not perpendicular. It is so easy to let society dictate what the wooing should look like and man o man what true lady would want what the majority of society trained men are offering.  Ladies, if you are a God fearing woman, own up to your part of the wooing.  Be a lady of the Lord and wait for the parallel wooing!  I am challenging myself to do just that, please join me!

God at Age 8

Day 23 – Job 29 - Job 32

Job 32:7-9 “I thought, ‘Age should speak; advanced years should teach wisdom.’ But it is the spirit in a person, the breath of the Almighty, that gives them understanding.  It is not only the old who are wise, not only the aged who understand what is right.”

This is an interesting concept.  As we grow up we are told to do believe people because they are older than us and wiser than us.  This verse challenges that school of thought.  I believe this verse is right on when it comes to wisdom of the spirit.  It is not always the elders of a community who feel the spirit within them and have knowledge to share in regards to their experiences or what God has shown them.  In my journey with God many people younger than me (some a few years yet others many years) have shown me God’s heart in many ways which someone older than me would probably never be able to show me.  For example:  my nephew.  For anyone who knows Tristan knows he has just about the biggest heart one could ever have.  He has a lot of changes going on in his life right now and he may not speak to it, but he can feel it.  It is in the small quiet moments that someone would be able to see God through this 8 year old boy.  In the last year while his life has had major changes to it, I have seen him grow into a young man (yes at age 8) and although he may not realize it he has shown God’s love every time I have seen him.  No it has nothing to do with my bias opinion of my nephew either… lol. :) I remember once Tristan could tell I was tense, upset, confused, unsure of what to think and he asked me “Stephanie why aren’t you smiling?”  I told him “Well Tristan, that would take a lot right now.  Got a lot going on, buddy, ya know?” Tristan’s reply was this “Well Stephanie, it is easy to smile.  Just remember I love you more than anyone. Well, except for Jesus.” As he said this he gave me a hug.  I smiled and said “Tristan if I always remember that I will always have a reason to smile! Thank you lil g!”  Then we played crazy 8s.  This little boy, so innocently and without knowing it spoke years of wisdom to me on that afternoon.  Yes many people older than me tell me Jesus loves me, but when you hear it from an 8 year old… wow!  I have seen God so much in Tristan over the last year and I praise God because it means I know He is with Tristan during all the changes going on in his life!  Praise God!  Ever since that afternoon, I have listened to Tristan more intently and other children I talk to as well.  One never knows when God’s words will come to you in the smallest and most precious ways.  I challenge you to pay attention to those younger than you, you never know when God may have something to say to you through them!

Fear or Respect

Day 22 – Job 28

Job 28:28 “And he said to the human race, “The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.”

Why is it that so many are afraid to ”fear” the Lord?  Not afraid because of God, but because of others.  Why is it norm to deny God rather than openly love and fear Him?  If it is wise to fear Him, why don’t more people?  In today’s society most of us have grown to believe that we should fear nothing.  When did fear become so horrible?  Especially fear of God.  A power so strong He could wipe us all out.  Shoot, that is someone to fear!  However, I am starting to wonder if the fear should be more of a respect.  For example, when we are children we do or don’t do things because of fear of punishment from our parents.  As we grew it became more knowing and understanding right from wrong.  As we reached “adulthood” our decisions, becoming more intense, we’re not only driven by right versus wrong, but I truly believe also out of respect for our parents.  I no longer fear my parents, but still keep them in mind out of respect.  Some decisions I make are a reflection of who I am, and therefore a reflection of them.  As it is this way with parents, I believe it is the same with God.  I don’t believe I will ever NOT fear God, but I believe Christians do a lot of our decision making based off of a respect for such an awesome power.

When the Sun Goes Down

Day 21 – Job 24-27

Job 24:13-17 “There are those who rebel against the light, who do not know its ways or stay in its paths. When daylight is gone, the murderer rises up, kills the poor and needy, and in the night steals forth like a thief. The eye of the adulterer watches for dusk; he thinks, ‘No eye will see me,’ and he keeps his face concealed. In the dark, thieves break into houses, but by day they shut themselves in; they want nothing to do with the light.  For all of them, midnight is their morning; they make friends with the terrors of darkness.”

These verses make me think of the saying “nothing good happens after midnight”.  I don’t know who the first person was to say that to me and I have some of my own versions.  “Nothing good happens after the bars close”, etc.  But if we think about these verses and then look at how our society is now, they are still very relevant and not just to the extremes.  I am guilty of doing things after dark that I would be less likely to do during the daylight.  Not necessarily bad things, but for example getting drunk and allowing a man who is unknown to me dance inappropriately with me.  That situation is not uncommon for a lot of single 20 something females.  Now there may be some people thinking “I do that during the day light” and I am sure it happens, but is the bar/club lit?  My guess is, it is not.  The mood inside the bar/club is that of night.  Lights off, only dimly lit.  This is because people are more free with the lights off.  I have never seen a dance floor with every single light on full.  Shoot, even at wedding receptions the lights are dimmed for the dance.  I am fully aware that not all sin happens after dark and that not all Christians behave differently after dark.  I, myself, have already made that change in my life.  Not only do I just not go out as much, I do my best to act as a lady no matter what time of day it is.

Do you behave differently when the sun goes down?

Justify This

Day 20 – Job 20-23 (9/7/10)

Job 21:22 “Can anyone teach knowledge to God, since he judges even the highest?”

I believe this to be one of the first ever rhetorical questions.  Anyone who believes now or believed then knows the answer, so no answer is really needed.  The question is just thrown out there.  At any rate, how many times do we humans try to tell God about how it is or what should be?  While we believe ourselves to be all knowing only one is.  He is.  We are taught that and shown that but we still try to tell Him and teach Him about things.  I believe any time I have tried to tell God about the way things are, it was about justifying something I had either done, said, or thought which was not in good standing with Him.  Man, we can justify anything can’t we.  Anything from making fun of someone to the extreme of murder.  We hear murderers justifying their actions all the way to their prison cell and beyond.  Why do we do that?  I would say on average, I am justifying my actions regularly.  Not with God necessarily, but with friends, sometimes family.  Not bad actions, just day to day actions.  Why do we do this?  Why do we demand justification from others?  Why is it our business?  I challenge myself to not believe I am needing of justification from others and let God do His job.

You? A Bible Reader?

Day 19 – Job 15-19

In these four chapters I didn’t find anything that “spoke” to me.  It is possible that nothing did because I am a little distracted, so I am going to write about what is distracting me.  I was telling a friend of mine the other day about the day I was having and I mentioned reading the Bible.  She looks at me and says “I didn’t know you were a Bible reader”.  I said “Well I don’t put it on my resume, but yeah.”  She chuckled and quickly changed the subject.  For some reason I have been thinking about these two statements a lot.  If she is my friend shouldn’t she know how I spend my time? And I guess that isn’t even the point.  I don’t tell people in passing conversation that I read the Bible and we had first met at work so it had never come up before, but the assumption that I don’t read the Bible is what I believe has got me bewildered.  So I have been thinking about what it is that I do or say which has people assuming I am not Bible reading material.  Yes, I curse, but I have heard pastors curse.  So being a developer and cursing equals not Bible reading material?  I am a kind person who works hard and won’t let anyone walk on me at work, so because I don’t allow people to take advantage of me means I can’t possibly read the Bible?  Being stubborn as an ox, does that make me someone who wouldn’t read the Bible?  I am very perplexed by this.  For the last 8 years I have stopped wearing my beliefs on my sleeve and believe it is a good thing.  But now I am perceived by people who are my friends to not be someone who reads the Bible.  Okay for the last eight years I have mostly lived a life of a non Bible reader, but these folks met me in the last couple years.  Met me in a time of change for my life.  Is it because I go to clubs and drink and dance?  Because I know that a lot of the folks they run into at bars on Saturday either went to church before or will go Sunday morning.  Why is it that so many people perceive Bible reading Christians to be boring, non social individuals?  And why is it that those who don’t read the Bible and are my friends assume I don’t?  Is it something I need to do differently or is it them?

God's Ying/Yang Power

Day 18 – Job 12-14

Job 12:13-25 “To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his. What he tears down cannot be rebuilt; those he imprisons cannot be released. If he holds back the waters, there is drought; if he lets them loose, they devastate the land. To him belong strength and insight; both deceived and deceiver are his. He leads rulers away stripped and makes fools of judges. He takes off the shackles put on by kings and ties a loincloth^[a] around their waist. He leads priests away stripped and overthrows officials long established. He silences the lips of trusted advisers and takes away the discernment of elders. He pours contempt on nobles and disarms the mighty. He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings utter darkness into the light. He makes nations great, and destroys them; he enlarges nations, and disperses them. He deprives the leaders of the earth of their reason; he makes them wander in a trackless waste. They grope in darkness with no light; he makes them stagger like drunkards.”

In these verses, God’s power is spelled out in a sort of ying/yang way.  Explaining all the things God can give and all the things God can take away.  Job is making sure we understand that God works the full range of the spectrum.  As I mentioned a couple days ago.  I think we forget that God will give us “tests” as He did Job, and why shouldn’t He.  No one ever told me in Sunday School that being a Christian was to be easy.  However, I will say the focus was on how much good God does and it seems to me the only tests we are told about are those Satan gives.  I don’t recall talking about God’s tests.  I will admit that it has been some time ago, but as I think back conversations of God’s tests didn’t start until confirmation days.  I wonder why that is.  Or did we talk about it, but all I can remember is the good.  We talked about the flood but focused on Noah, not why God destroyed the Earth and everything on it.  Shouldn’t we learn that it is important to both love and fear God?  He is the strongest power.  These verses are a good reminder of how quickly and easily it would be for God to take away anything I have or He could just as easily double it.