God's Questions to Us.

Over the years of reading the Bible, I’ve come to appreciate the questions God has asked people. His questions are always deep with meaning and sometimes a call to repentance. I like that he asks people to explain themselves to him. The questions make them either make excuses or say they are sorry.

When man first sinned, God gave him the chance to explain himself. The Bible says, “Then the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?”  and later, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"   Genesis 3:9

Instead of repenting, Adam and Eve blamed each other and the serpent. But God was merciful to them. The next person God questioned was Cain.

Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" "I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?"   Genesis 4:9

God gave Cain a chance to tell him what he had done and repent. He didn’t, in fact, he was flippant about it. This was the first human death and it was a murder. God gave him a punishment, but when Cain complained about it, God helped him.

Moses didn’t want to go back to Egypt to bring God’s people out of slavery. He made many excuses, and one of them was that he was not an eloquent speaker. God wouldn’t accept any of his excuses and asked him this:

Then the LORD said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?   Exodus 4:11  God is telling him to trust him because he is the mighty God who can do anything.

Balaam was a prophet of God. But as Israel was coming into the promised land, King Balak of Midian, asked him to come and curse the Israelites. He was afraid of them because he knew they were coming to take his land. When the messengers came to ask Balaam to do this he said he would ask God what to do. God told him, “No.”  The men went and told the king his answer, but he sent them again with more money. Balaam told them to stay another night and he would ask again.

And God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?”   Numbers 22:9

Balaam explained and God gave an answer Balaam didn’t like. He ended up chasing the messengers and going to King Balak. His heart had become greedy.

Job, the man of God who suffered the loss of all things, questioned God. He didn’t understand why God was letting all these terrible things happen to him. God’s question is a stark one.

“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Job 38:4

This was a question to make Job think about whom he was questioning. God is Almighty, all-knowing, all-seeing. Can we humans make a flower out of nothing? No. But God can. Look at the vastness of the universe. Look at what God can do and what he has made. Study the human body and how it works and you will be in awe.

We may not like this question and answer of God’s; but that’s too bad. Lol.

Jonah was the prophet God sent to the wicked city of Ninevah. They were a brutal nation, killing thousands of people to take their lands. God told Jonah to go there and tell them he was going to destroy them. Jonah didn’t want to and ran away, but later he went since God wouldn’t let him get away with that.

The people of Ninevah repented! How wonderful! Jonah should have been happy, but he wasn’t. He probably hated these people and also thought he might be considered a false prophet. God asked him a question to teach him compassion:

“And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left (this means children), and also much cattle?”  Jonah 4:11

Elijah was one of the greatest prophets in the Bible. But he ran away in fear when Queen Jezebel threatened him with death. He was in the wilderness and tired and asked God to take his life. Instead, God sent an angel to give him food, water and comfort. Elijah was wandering in the wilderness for 40 days.

There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”   1 Kings 19:9  I love this question. Elijah told God about all his troubles. But God told him he still had many people in Israel who still worshiped him. He told Elijah to go back, and he did. Eventually, he was taken to heaven in a chariot of fire. Good old Elijah.

These are some of God’s questions in the Old Testament. I’m going to continue next post about the questions Jesus asked of People.

The Wilderness.

Photo by:

http://www.dsmedia.org/resources/illustrations/sweet-publishing

I’m reading in 1 Kings now and found many interesting and beautiful things about God. And I learned something new about Elijah, a great prophet of God.

You may know the story of when Elijah was on top of Mount Carmel. It hadn’t rained for three years because the people of Israel were worshipping Baal, an evil god to whom the people would sacrifice their live children by burning them to death.

Elijah told King Ahab to bring the people and the prophets of Baal to Mt. Carmel. They would have a contest between Baal and the Lord God. They would build altars and pray; whichever God answered by fire, he was the true God.

After many hours of praying, Baal did not answer. Elijah prayed and immediately fire came down from heaven consuming the sacrifice and altar. The people said, “The Lord, he is God.”

Elijah thought the nation would change; he thought Ahab would quit worshipping Baal and turn to God, but this did not happen. In fact, his wife Jezebel sent a message to Elijah telling him she would kill him by the end of the day.

Elijah ran. He ran into the desert, the same desert that Israel had to cross to get to the promised land. And this is the part I had forgotten; he wandered in the wilderness for 40 days.

I thought of Jesus and when he went into the wilderness for 40 days. I thought of Israel and how they had wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. God has patterns throughout the Bible and here was another one.

Most commentators of the Bible say Elijah was discouraged by the outcome of his work for God. He probably thought his work was fruitless and wondered why he had risked his life for nothing. He couldn’t see what God was doing or why. His faith in God was tested.

When Israel wandered through the wilderness, their faith was tested also. They came to a day when there was no water. They thought they were going to all die of thirst so they complained and wanted to go back to Egypt. They got angry at their situation. God provided them with water, not just once, but many times. They had no food left and were frightened. They didn’t trust God to feed them. They said, “Can God make a feast in the wilderness?” Yes, he can and he did. These things happened to make their trust in God strong but it didn’t work with that first generation.

For Jesus in the wilderness the test was the same. Did he trust his father? Would he complain about being hungry and save himself? No, he didn’t. He could have made the stones into bread but he knew if you or I were in the wilderness, we could not do that. He came to live a human life, depending on God for everything.

Joyce Meyer talks a lot about Christians going through a wilderness time. Everything around them feels dark and hopeless. They cannot see the way out and wonder why God allowed this to happen to them. We have a choice in these times, to trust and praise God in the midst of them, or to complain and rebel against him.

I found two songs lately that are so inspirational. The words are fitting for this subject.

No one can take away, my hallelujah.

No darkness can contain, my hallelujah.

Your cross has made the way, for my hallelujah.

From the song: My Hallelujah, by Brian and Katie Talwalt.

Give me hope like Moses in the wilderness.

Give me faith like Daniel in the lion’s den.

Give me a heart like David, Lord be my defense.

Then I can fight my giants with confidence.

From the song: Confidence, by Sanctus Real.

“No darkness can contain, my hallelujah.” We must not allow darkness to stop our praise and love towards God. Remember how Jesus and his disciples suffered. No one is immune to suffering; you are not alone. This world of pain is not our home; Jesus walks beside you.

Don't Regret the Past.

After writing my last post, where I said I wish I had known spiritual things when I was younger, I felt the Lord did not want me to keep thinking and saying that about my life. There were so many things we need to learn about God and being a Christian. But God doesn’t zap all that knowledge inside us when we are following him. We learn as we live, struggle and experience the good and bad things of life. This is the way he teaches us.

God could have made David a king immediately after Samuel anointed him. But Dave had to flee and hide from King Saul for 20 years. If David had not suffered the loss of all things, even his family and home, we would not have most of the Psalms, which have given wisdom and comfort to millions of people. When I am in distress, I turn to the Psalms. They teach us how to rely on the Lord when we are confused, sad and frightened.

God could have delivered his people from Egypt at the time Moses wanted to do that. But he didn’t, and Moses was spent 40 years living as a shepherd before God called him. Moses must have matured and become patient as he looked after sheep. When God did call him, he felt he wasn’t up to the task, which is what God was waiting for. Moses had become humble, and as the Bible says, “The meekest man on earth.” Now God could use him.

God allowed Joseph to be a slave and then a prisoner before he could use him. Joseph had learned to trust God through two of the worst conditions that can come upon a person. He came to Egypt a spoiled child but grew to be one of the few people in the Bible that records none of his sins. His forgiveness towards his brothers is beautiful to read about.

I feel like God doesn’t want me to regret the past years of my walk with him. There were years when I was angry at him and wouldn’t speak to him. When I turned and came back to him, I could only read one verse in the Bible at a time. Slowly, I could read more and spend more time praying. I was an alcoholic during that time, for 10 years. Yet God didn’t leave me. He was always there hearing my prayers and helping me.

How do we thank a God like that? He stoops low to save us. He, himself, the God of the universe is humble. He will take us as we are. He has great patience to stay with us through all our trials and temptations. There is a song lyric, “I’m confident your faithfulness will see me through.” (Song: Confident, sung by Steffany Gretzinger)  I believe that now for myself. No wonder we will praise God in song through all eternity. 

Hills and Valleys.

Mt. Carmel: Wikipedia

I listen to Annie F. Downs who has a podcast called, “That’s Sounds Fun.” I listen to her on Spotify which also has a huge library of music. Sometimes Annie has musicians on her show. When she does, I go listen to some of their songs. I’ve found many beautiful Christian music this way. Listening to songs about God makes my heart soar, and there are always good lessons in the lyrics.

One song I found recently is called, “Hills and Valleys,” sung by Tauren Wells.  It is my favorite song right now. What I find in Christian music is that I can put myself in the lyrics or I think of the people from the Bible. “Hills and Valleys” speaks to the fact we all go through highs and lows in our spiritual lives. I wish I had known that as a young Christian because then I might not have been so despairing in my low times. I thought I was a bad Christian and I just didn’t know how to live the life and have faith like other Christians.

When I first heard this song, I imagined myself on hills and going through valleys. But I’m afraid my hills aren’t very inspiring. With my psychological makeup I have been mostly slogging through valleys. So, I thought about people in the Bible. First there is Moses. He was on the mountaintop with God. He spoke face to face with God. He was given the tablets of the Ten Commandments written with God’s own finger. But then there were his valleys. He spent 40 years travelling around the desert with a bunch of people that kept complaining until he finally lost his temper and God did not appreciate it. Still, like the song says, he kept his eyes on God. He didn’t turn away. And he was a humble man He knew he didn’t get to that mountaintop on his own. It was God who made him what he was, a great man of faith, and when he was in the valley, God himself buried him.

Then there is Elijah. He was on the mountaintop with God on Mt. Carmel. He prayed and fire came down from heaven to prove God was God of the whole world and there was none other. Like the song says, he didn’t get there on his own, but that same day, Elijah became afraid and ran away from Queen Jezebel. He didn’t ask God what to do, he just ran for his life. He was in a valley. He ran for miles and miles and even told God he wanted to die. He was discouraged, but he kept his eyes on God. He ran, but he didn’t run from God and God sent an angel to help him.

Jesus. He was on a few mountaintops. He gave the Sermon on the Mount. He climbed a mountain with Peter, James and John. As he was praying, Moses and Elijah came down from heaven to talk with him about his death. He was transfigured there and became bright as the sun. But very soon after that he walked through the Kidron Valley to the Mt. of Olives, there to go through his greatest suffering. When Jesus was on mountaintops, he didn’t get there on his own either. His Father was with him. He said he did nothing without the Father. And through his valley, he kept praying and keeping his eyes on his Father who sent an angel to strengthen him.

In each of these stories, God took each one to heaven after they had gone through a valley. So, don’t be discouraged if you are going through a valley right now. One day, either here or in heaven, you will be standing on a mountaintop with God.

Hmm, It Took Me 45 Years to Learn That!

Well, after my previous post, I've been thinking and praying. I've decided I have to leave the hard questions with God and not worry about anything. We aren't supposed to worry and fret so I won't.

I did think about how long God took to teach people in the Old Testament. Moses was 40 years working as a shepherd before he was ready for God to use him. David was on the run from King Saul for 20 years. Joseph was a slave and in prison for 13 years before God rescued and used him.

Human beings are not known for their patience. We like things done fast and tied up with a pretty bow. At least, I do. But God is very patient and I'm thankful for that. It can take years for a person to learn life lessons. And a lot of our learning comes from failing; just like scientists learn from experiments that don't work. Churches don't like it when we fail and they don't like to wait for us to learn something.

Maybe we shouldn't hate our failings so much. Failing at being kind or generous can bring some guilt, and not all feelings of guilt are bad. We can say we are sorry and begin again and ask God to make us into kind and generous people. He will. That's the great part. He will change our hearts into good hearts; into hearts that honor him.

If there was a church that worshipped on Saturday and had no rules and accepted everyone, and had a lot of singing of happy songs, sharing of our lives with God, and praising God, and praying together, I would go there. I feel pretty safe saying that because there will never be a church like that.