"Luke? You got your mind right?"
My life is a never ending cycle of "getting my mind right." Dana Acker
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This portion of Dana’s email is a challenge to post because Dana used many complete chapters of scripture from Job and Habakkuk to support his position. If I used all those chapters we’d be accused of trying to publish a book. Where Dana quoted an entire chapter, I have a link to that chapter. While the reader can read this without clicking these links, much of the strength and meaning of what Dana is saying will be missed if each entire chapter in the Bible isn’t read. What God is trying to say to us through His word, will also be missed.
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Dana continued (see Part 1 for the beginning of this post)
You are not alone in this, John. Looking back into the Old Testament,
Habakkuk the prophet wrestled with the cares of his age. Job most
certainly had to come to terms with it. The question of being perplexed at the
situations around (cares of this life) you seem to never go away,
does it? And it doesn't appear that they will go away until the absolute
end of things and the beginning of the New Heavens and Earth. And, you are far
from alone in your concerns about such, hence Jesus' caution to His disciples
(and to us).
In both Job's and Habakkuk's cases, God poured water on their burning questions
by revealing a vision of Himself to them in ways that got them to take their
eyes off their concerns, and put them on Him alone. By so doing, God
filled their vision with something so unfathomably magnificent, so all
consuming that everything else, even the nagging and burning question of
earthly life problems and concerns no matter how dire, simply paled into
insignificance, thus turning their questioning into repentance and worship or
both. Take a look at the vision of Himself that God gave to Job in Job
38.
All of Job 38 is God asking Job a long
series of questions. God, basically asks Job if he (Job) is the Creator, e.g.
Job 38:22-24 NKJV
22 “Have you
entered the treasury of snow,
Or have you seen the treasury of hail,
23 Which I have reserved for the time of trouble,
For the day of battle and war?
24 By what way is light diffused,
Or the east wind scattered over the earth?
Or have you seen the treasury of hail,
23 Which I have reserved for the time of trouble,
For the day of battle and war?
24 By what way is light diffused,
Or the east wind scattered over the earth?
Dana then copied all of Job 39, where God
continues a relentless series of questions and statements about His Creative
abilities, e.g.
26 “Does the hawk
fly by your wisdom,
And spread its wings toward the south?
27 Does the eagle mount up at your command,
And make its nest on high?
29 From there it spies out the prey;
Its eyes observe from afar.
And spread its wings toward the south?
27 Does the eagle mount up at your command,
And make its nest on high?
29 From there it spies out the prey;
Its eyes observe from afar.
Dana then says, as he introduces Job 40,
that “…old Brother Job is starting to get the picture…”
Chapter 40
begins:
Moreover
the Lord answered Job, and said:
2 “Shall the one
who contends with the Almighty correct Him?
He who rebukes God, let him answer it.”
He who rebukes God, let him answer it.”
3 Then Job
answered the Lord and said:
4 “Behold, I am
vile;
What shall I answer You?
I lay my hand over my mouth.
5 Once I have spoken, but I will not answer;
Yes, twice, but I will proceed no further.”
What shall I answer You?
I lay my hand over my mouth.
5 Once I have spoken, but I will not answer;
Yes, twice, but I will proceed no further.”
And just like "Ginsu Knives" on
the late night TV commercials, "Wait, there's more!" From
Job chapter 41:
“Can
you draw out Leviathan with a hook,
Or snare his tongue with a line which you lower?
2 Can you put a reed through his nose,
Or pierce his jaw with a hook?
5 Will you play with him as with a bird,
Or will you leash him for your maidens?
10 ....Who then is able to stand against Me?
11 Who has preceded Me, that I should pay him?
Everything under heaven is Mine.
Or snare his tongue with a line which you lower?
2 Can you put a reed through his nose,
Or pierce his jaw with a hook?
5 Will you play with him as with a bird,
Or will you leash him for your maidens?
10 ....Who then is able to stand against Me?
11 Who has preceded Me, that I should pay him?
Everything under heaven is Mine.
And what
does Job do at this point after having gotten real up close and personal with
this revelation of God to him? The opening of Chapter 42 says:
Then Job answered the Lord and
said:
2 “I know that You
can do everything,
And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.
3 You asked, ‘Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?’
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
4 Listen, please, and let me speak;
You said, ‘I will question you, and you shall answer Me.’
And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.
3 You asked, ‘Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?’
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
4 Listen, please, and let me speak;
You said, ‘I will question you, and you shall answer Me.’
5 “I have heard of
You by the hearing of the ear,
But now my eye sees You.
6 Therefore I abhor myself,
And repent in dust and ashes.”
But now my eye sees You.
6 Therefore I abhor myself,
And repent in dust and ashes.”
What happened to Job's burning questions? Where are his life situations now?
OK, now let's look at Habakkuk. In the first chapter of Habakkuk's
prophecy, we find the prophet genuinely disturbed over the problems being
caused by his own people, the Hebrews. A little further on, Habakkuk
is even more disturbed over God's plan to use the Babylonians (Chaldeans--now
modern day Iraq) to be the rod in God's Hand, so to speak, to chastise and
smite the very people whose wickedness and rebellion he was complaining to God
about in the first place.
So Habakkuk, in mentioning his one concern
to God, then walks away, not with a solution of his design, but rather
two "cares of this world" questions with which to deal. “Thanks
God.” Most of us would react that way.
Read God's response in revealing Himself to Habakkuk Chapter 2:
Wow! While Job's new and large vision of God ended in
repentance, see how Habakkuk's response is that of worship--he even wrote
a song--a hymn about what he had seen (Chapter 3):
17 Though the fig
tree may not blossom,
Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail,
And the fields yield no food;
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,
And there be no herd in the stalls—
18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail,
And the fields yield no food;
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,
And there be no herd in the stalls—
18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
19 The Lord God is my strength;
He will make my feet like deer’s feet,
And He will make me walk on my high hills.
He will make my feet like deer’s feet,
And He will make me walk on my high hills.
To
the Chief Musician. With my stringed instruments."
When the nagging questions regarding
earthly difficulties arise, and cause consternation or
frustration, it is indicative of our gaze being on the problem(s) and not
on God. It's like Job. When confronted with truly seeing God (as
God revealed Himself to Job by His Word) all of his present problems paled
into insignificance.
At the risk of entering the department
of redundancy department, when God directs our gaze to the problem (as
opposed to our looking at it with just our human eyes and emotions,) it is not
to further frustrate us, but rather to see said problem through His eyes.
It is to touch our hearts, so that we humbly offer our lives in order
to take His love, comfort, and message of redemption in any way HE chooses
for us, and in ways that we are able, to those who are the victims of
problems that are even worse than ours. Not trying to make doctrine here,
but just some perspectives upon which to ponder.
And
lastly from 1Thess. 4:13 and following:
13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren,
concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no
hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even
so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. 15 For
this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the
Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the
Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an
archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 Then we who are alive and
remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in
the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore
comfort one another with these words.
That is our greatest and really, only
hope, John. Nothing else is as important. The comfort we seek is
right there. No matter what stripe of end-times theology one
embraces, the one thing we ALL walk away with, and can take comfort in, is
that when it is all said and done…"And
thus we shall always be with the Lord."
I find that in my life there are parallels to Paul Newman's character in
"Cool Hand Luke." Now that's switching gears just a bit, isn't
it? From Prophets to prisoners…. But, when Luke would try to escape the
prison farm and get caught, to punish him, they would make him dig a deep hole
(like big enough to bury a Volkswagen) then fill it back up. Then, upon
completing that hole, he would be forced to dig another deep hole and fill
it up. After days of no food or rest, constant hole digging, and
having to endure continual harassment, the guards would ask,
"Luke? You got your mind
right?"
My life is a never ending cycle of
"getting my mind right."
Praying for you and Carol.
Love you Brother,
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