Don't Ask God, "Why?'...Ask Him, "What Now, Lord?"

1 Timothy 2:  ⁵ For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, ⁶ who gave Himself a ransom for all, (NKJV)

Most of us live life believing that we are doing well and our plans and efforts will give us a life that is pretty good.  Then our world gets turned upside down...death of a loved one, divorce, loss of job, loss of health, or even societal upheaval that ruins relationships.  The control we thought we had, spirals out of control.  We don't know where to turn.  All the advise and comfort others extend do nothing to ease the pain and hopelessness. Prayers do not bring the relief or produce the results that we so desperately seek.

Then, one day, through our tears we cry out, "Why God...Why God...Why?".  At that moment God in a a calm, comforting voice responds, "Don't ask 'Why' ask 'What Now Lord?"  That is when He calls us to take Him off the witness stand and put ourselves there.  

When I put God in the Judge's seat and I put myself on the witness stand, I realize that the mercy and grace I need are out of my reach.  I am like Job in Job 9:3...I have no defense and the consequences I face are of my own doing.  I need a Mediator to plead for me.  Jesus is that Mediator and He is the Way that leads us to the next moment.

The question "Why?" is actually evidence that we are questioning the goodness of God's plan or whether He is really in control.  When we ask "What now, Lord?" we are acknowledging that he has a plan for us and He invites us to trust Him and His providence over our lives.  Jesus prayed that we be one with Him as Jesus is one with Him. My world spirals out of control because of the choices and the lifestyle I embrace when I push God aside and put myself, my possessions, my family, my desires where God needs to be.

When my prayer becomes "What now God?" He opens the door to moving beyond my despair to receive His comfort and guidance.  I am no longer stuck in hopelessness, but living with His promises.  His healing has eternal consequences which lift us above the current circumstances and gives us peace.  The answer to "Why" is always the same...God wants us to be aware of His majesty and the great chasm that exists between Him and us in our human condition.  The chasm can only be spanned by Jesus Christ. 

Tune out the noise of the world...Tune in THE STILL SMALL VOICE

God’s Revelation to Elijah

¹¹ Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; ¹² and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire ^[e]a still small voice.

¹³ So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave.

We are surrounded by a noisy world and bombarded with the chaos and despair which is delivered by 24 hour news/ opinion channels, Twitter, Facebook, blogs, and well-meaning opinionated friends (I’m guilty).  We are confronted daily with "Breaking News", "Devastating Events", "Latest News" and the challenge we have is to sort through all these to find news vs. opinion vs propaganda vs distortion vs lies.  

The good news is that through Jesus, God has sent His Holy Spirit to us as a counselor and advocate to break through the noise of this world and speak to us through A Still Small Voice.  When we repent and receive Jesus as our Savior, His Spirit lives within us (Acts2:38 and Luke 11:9-13) and we see the world through God's eyes and not as the world see it.  The Holy Spirit delivers truth and brings order to the chaos.  There is no such thing as "Breaking News" to God.  He is not caught off guard by events and He is not deceived by the efforts to distort, confuse, and mislead the world.  Those are efforts of Satan and those who do not know God.  The Still Small Voice of the Holy Spirit will help us to live with Hope, Peace, and Love as revealed in and through followers of Jesus.

"HALLMARK" MOVIE ...MY LIFE...Directed by GOD

I am coming clean...recently I have been watching the Hallmark Movie Channels.  I am in a state  of political overload, tired ads of miracle drugs with their promises and warnings, sitcoms that are not funny, and news that is propaganda.  Hence, I landed on the Hallmark Channel.  Now understand that I am far to manly to really get too involved in the movies and they are so predictable; good is good, evil is evil, and happy endings every time.  But never the less, I have memorized the numbers for the channel.

Predictably, every movie has a good character who is the struggling victim in the story and a villain.  We ride the roller coaster events as the victim strives to find answers and solutions to the problems facing him/ her, while the villain is working against the good solutions being sought.  By the end of the movie, the victim is victorious with good overcoming evil and all is well.  Now the ending for the villain is not as predictable.  Some villains have their hearts softened and they turn to good and abandon the bad intentions sharing in the joy with the victorious star, while some villains never soften and are not present in the final joyful scene.  At the end of every movie, I have to admit that the ending was good.

As I was watching one the other day, I had this strange feeling that God is looking down on my life and directing it and viewing it very much like one of these movies.  As the director, God knows the script.  He knows the evil in my world, the good, the darkness, the sadness and the joy.  By His Spirit, (the audience) looking down, He feels my sadness and my joy.  He shares in my hopelessness and my hope.  He knows my fears and provides the strength and courage to move on.

As a Christian, I have faith that the my "Hallmark" life will have a victorious ending.  I know that God is directing and leading me on a path where His love and His peace will be the final scene.  Jesus came to us to reveal that His Father's script for each of us promises a perfect ending.  His Spirit helps us to stay on script and brings us back into the light when we lose our way.

God is the creator and the director of all things, but we are not puppets on a string.  We have a tendency to adlib and go off the script, therefore He sent Jesus to us so we can have the faith and belief in Him to lead us to the ending He wants for us.  It is by our belief in Jesus and the Holy Spirit that we receive the words, the encouragement, the corrections that guarantees a happy ending.

In Genesis 1, each day of creation God saw that "it was good".  On the sixth day, after creating male and female, He saw that it was "very good".  I know that because of the sacrifice of Jesus, God will bring my "Hallmark" life to and a victorious conclusion and say, "It was very good!"