johnmarkharris.net

Bear with me, and I will speak, and after I have spoken, mock on.

Mock the mockers! Just because people will not accept what you have to say is no reason to not say it. We are called by God to speak the truth in love. We are to preach the gospel to the whole creation… not just those whom we believe with receive it. So speak your mind, say your piece, and then if they choose to continue mocking you for your faith, so be it… you’ve done your part. But who knows, from time to time, someone might just listen to part of what you say. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but one day that seed of truth can bear the fruit of salvation. Isn’t that worth swallowing your pride and doing what Jesus has asked us to do? Tell them about Jesus!

My spirit is broken; my days are extinct; the graveyard is ready for me… I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!

Job was crying out to God “why!” Job’s friends were asking him “why?” Job didn’t have any immediate answers. He was frustrated, he didn’t understand, his life was falling apart and he questioned God. Yet. At the root of it all, he trusted in the Lord. He knew that no matter what happened in this life, there is a certain hope for the future for tips who love God. Can we say the same? When your life falls apart, do you run away from God? Do you retreat? “Hey, I haven’t seen you at church for a while…” “I know, I’ve been having a hard time…” that’s the very time to increase your faith, to build upon your faithfulness. Jesus lives! and when this life is over, I will stand with him upon the earth! After my body dissolves and is completely destroyed by time and the elements, still, I will be resurrected to see Jesus from my actual physical flesh, with my own eyes I’m going to see my risen Lord from my risen body. There’s no one else I trust in, it’s so exciting I can hardly stand it! Do you believe in Jesus? Have you thought about it? You should.

I have heard many such things; miserable comforters are you all.

God love them, don’t trust your friends. Christians give the worst advice at times. “Girl, you deserve better than that.” “Just trade it in to get a lower payment.” “Get over it.” “God just wants you to be happy.” Listen to God’s word from the Scriptures. Be grateful that people care enough about you to share their opinions with you, but take them for what they are, opinions. They are leading with their feelings in stead of God’s Word. Always seek the Lord. Always confirm with the Bible what you should do. NEVER just follow your heart, it will lead you wrong every time. Our job isn’t to simply make people feel better, as Christians, we should want to lead people closer to Jesus. That’s speaking the truth in love.

I loathe my life; I will give free utterance to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

Prayer needs to be honest. Our communication with God is not about our words, but it is sharing our hearts with the Lord. We don’t have to say the right things, but we do need to speak the truth. How do you feel? What is your emotional state? Try to put those feelings into words and then give them to God. There may not even be words to fully encapsulate what you feel, but you need to get it out. You need to tell God. Not for him, he already knows, but your you. Saying them out loud is helpful as well. If you’re going to pray it, you need to say it. Focus first on being honest with God, then you can move on to how to help and heal.

Has not man a hard service on earth, and are not his days like the days of a hired hand? Like a slave who longs for the shadow, and like a hired hand who looks for his wages, so I am allotted months of emptiness, and nights of misery are apportioned to me.

Life is not always easy. Following the Lord is not about making your life free of trouble. When you begin to feel the pressure, and it seems like everything is closing in on you, hang in there. Just like for Job, life can get very hard. Wave after wave of hardship can seem like more than you can handle, it’s not. You can make it. You may have to change some of your desires, you may have to let other things go, but we do have the promise of Jesus “I will never leave you, nor forsake you.” He is always with you. If he is the one at the center of your life, you’ll never have more than you can bear. Trust in Jesus.