Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong. Job 1:20-22
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus,
This morning I drove down to Camp Lone Star in LaGrange, Texas from Dallas. As I was driving south, I skirted by some of the torched land that has suffered under the wrath of fire voraciously kindled by the extremely dry vegetation that covers most of Texas because of an unbelievably severe drought we are experiencing. As I am writing this I am also listening to a report being given to the Circuit Counselors Conference concerning all the fires around Texas (20 active at the moment) and the Bastrop fire specifically which has taken the homes of over 50 families connected to LC-MS congregations in some way including 3 pastors who lost their homes and a fourth who lost his garage. We earlier had an opening service in which we prayed for rain for Texas as has been done across the state for a long time and yet there is no possibility for substantial rain for the foreseeable future. Is God listening? Does He care? Questions always asked in the midst of disasters.
In the verse above, from the first chapter of Job, Satan had just finished his attack against the property and children of Job, all with the approval of Yahweh God, which resulted in financial devastation to Job but infinitely worse also resulted in the death of all his children. As word concerning the death of his children came to Job, after he was told of the destruction of all his wealth, Job responded, "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." With these words Job gives witness to just how much he trusts in the Lord, just how strong his faith is and how actively personal his faith and relationship with God has become. Then comes a commentary about Job: In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong. Even though Job lost everything, including his children, which, by the way, were considered one of the greatest assets of a man back in Job's day, he did not do or say anything that was in any way accusatory of God even though, as we find out later in the book of Job, he understood that none of this happened without God's approval.
We all, at some point of time or another, have had life experiences that have been tremendously taxing on us. How have we responded to the situation? Have we just flat-out blamed God? Have we at the very least questioned God's motives or lack thereof? Or have we been able to rely on the divinely gracious gift of faith, trusting completely in God and His will and purpose in all situations, and then echoed Job's words and blessed the Lord in the midst of the tragedy? As stories are coming out of the fires, especially the Bastrop fire, I am being blessed to hear of and see the faith of Job in many who have lost much in these fires. Praise be to God!
As an aside, at both of the worship services at Tree of Life yesterday, I announced to the congregation that we would be taking a free-will door offering for the LC-MS families that have lost their homes in the fires. Being challenged by this call for help literally at the last minute, God's people faithfully responded with over $800 of donations. As this amount was conveyed to me, I was tremendously moved by the loving response of God's people to others in need. Praise be to God!
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God...
There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. 1John 4:1, 18-21
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus,
This morning I drove down to Camp Lone Star in LaGrange, Texas from Dallas. As I was driving south, I skirted by some of the torched land that has suffered under the wrath of fire voraciously kindled by the extremely dry vegetation that covers most of Texas because of an unbelievably severe drought we are experiencing. As I am writing this I am also listening to a report being given to the Circuit Counselors Conference concerning all the fires around Texas (20 active at the moment) and the Bastrop fire specifically which has taken the homes of over 50 families connected to LC-MS congregations in some way including 3 pastors who lost their homes and a fourth who lost his garage. We earlier had an opening service in which we prayed for rain for Texas as has been done across the state for a long time and yet there is no possibility for substantial rain for the foreseeable future. Is God listening? Does He care? Questions always asked in the midst of disasters.
In the verse above, from the first chapter of Job, Satan had just finished his attack against the property and children of Job, all with the approval of Yahweh God, which resulted in financial devastation to Job but infinitely worse also resulted in the death of all his children. As word concerning the death of his children came to Job, after he was told of the destruction of all his wealth, Job responded, "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." With these words Job gives witness to just how much he trusts in the Lord, just how strong his faith is and how actively personal his faith and relationship with God has become. Then comes a commentary about Job: In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong. Even though Job lost everything, including his children, which, by the way, were considered one of the greatest assets of a man back in Job's day, he did not do or say anything that was in any way accusatory of God even though, as we find out later in the book of Job, he understood that none of this happened without God's approval.
We all, at some point of time or another, have had life experiences that have been tremendously taxing on us. How have we responded to the situation? Have we just flat-out blamed God? Have we at the very least questioned God's motives or lack thereof? Or have we been able to rely on the divinely gracious gift of faith, trusting completely in God and His will and purpose in all situations, and then echoed Job's words and blessed the Lord in the midst of the tragedy? As stories are coming out of the fires, especially the Bastrop fire, I am being blessed to hear of and see the faith of Job in many who have lost much in these fires. Praise be to God!
As an aside, at both of the worship services at Tree of Life yesterday, I announced to the congregation that we would be taking a free-will door offering for the LC-MS families that have lost their homes in the fires. Being challenged by this call for help literally at the last minute, God's people faithfully responded with over $800 of donations. As this amount was conveyed to me, I was tremendously moved by the loving response of God's people to others in need. Praise be to God!
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God...
There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. 1John 4:1, 18-21
No comments:
Post a Comment