Job 30:20 “”I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer me; I stand up, and You turn Your attention against me.”

BEEN THERE – DONE THAT

Have you ever felt ignored by God?  Come on, be honest.  Hasn’t it happened at least once in your life?  You are going through a difficult, heart wrenching time, and God seems to be nowhere.  You cry out to Him and hear nothing.  His Word doesn’t console you.  Worship just angers you.  Nothing is speaking to you.

Join the crowd.  This has been going on for centuries.  You can look all through Scripture and find references to people who felt abandoned by God.  Job is feeling that in this passage.  He felt God had turned His back on Him.  He didn’t know why.  All hope seemed to be gone.

TEACHING MOMENT

I guarantee you that your children are going to get down in the dumps like Job at some point.  They are going to feel all alone.  Don’t let them stay there.  Just as Job discovered just a little bit later, God hasn’t moved.  He is still present.  He is still watching.  Our children need that assurance that He is there.

Don’t shame your children out of the doldrums, though.  Let them seek God in the midst of their pain.  You can’t seek God for them.  They have to do that for themselves.  But you can share your own struggles with them so they will know they are not “less spiritual” that others.  Be there when they need you, but let them hear God.

How about you?  Are you in one of those times yourself?  Are you feeling like Job?  Have you been crying out to seemingly deaf ears?  Do NOT stop crying out!  God is there!  He is taking you to a point where He wants you – the perfect point.  Because EVERYTHING God does is perfect.  He is making you more like Him with every blow of the chisel. He is knocking off imperfections.  He is making you something in which others can see Him.

Let God work on you!  You WILL like the end product!

Psalm 135:15-18 “15 The idols of the nations are but silver and gold, the work of man’s hands. 16 They have mouths, but they do not speak; they have eyes, but they do not see; 17 They have ears, but they do not hear, nor is there any breath at all in their mouths. 18 Those who make them will be like them, yes, everyone who trusts in them.”

WHAT IS YOUR GOD?

The Psalmist nails it here.  The things we worship other than God cannot see, hear or talk.  Yet, we idolize them.  We spend exorbitant amounts of money to obtain and maintain them.  Anything we possess can possess us.

Think about the things in your life you spend the most time on.  I read somewhere recently that if the average person read the Bible as much as they watched TV they could read through the entire Bible in one month.  Wow!  Guilty!  I know I spend way too much time in front of that thing.  But TV isn’t the only “god” we have.  I could name dozens of others.  What is yours?

TEACHING MOMENT

The point is this – we must teach our children what to worship, or should I say WHO to worship.  They need to know that the most important thing in the world to us is God.  We must model for them true worship.  There is NOTHING wrong with having nice things and even spending time on them.  But we must hold them with open hands.

Our children will adopt our faith when they are small.  We read to them from His Word.  We take them to church.  We send them to church summer camp.  But we must be laying a foundation for the day when our faith becomes their faith.  And we must build that foundation with solid stones.

Mom and Dad, are you laying the right stones?  Are you pointing your children in the right direction?  Is church something that you do on the weekend, if it’s convenient?  Do you make God the priority in your life by spending time with Him each day?

The problem with blind, deaf and mute gods is they begin to make us blind, deaf and mute also.

Job 24:13 “”Others have been with those who rebel against the light; they do not want to know its ways nor abide in its paths.”

OFF COURSE

When I read this verse today the first thing that popped into my head (and that can be dangerous, lol) is our society today.  People are rebelling against “the light” and have no desire to know God.  Do you agree?  If you bring up Biblical values and morals, they scoff at you.  If you try to stand on the principle of one man and one woman marriage, you are considered narrow minded and prejudiced.

I read a quote recently from A.W. Tozer.  “When the world says, ‘Oh, you’re narrow,’ you say, ‘Maybe I am narrow, but the way is narrow, and the path to heaven isn’t as broad as a 16-lane highway. You know why I am too narrow?  I am walking with my God.’”  That just about sums it up for me.  I have to be focused on “staying inside the ditches” on the road to eternity.  It is way too easy to get distracted and get off course or get stuck in a ditch.

TEACHING MOMENT

Teaching our children to stay focused on God can be challenging.  They are going to hear everything but God from the world.  The world’s view of life directly conflicts with what you are teaching them in the Word.  So, our job is to keep them laser focused on the prize.

The next time you have some of your child’s friends over to the house, listen in to what they are talking about.  Chances are they will discuss some things that may not agree with your family’s values.  Why not share this verse with your child when they leave?  Remind them that they are going to encounter a lot of people in their life who “do not want to know its ways nor abide in its paths.”

How about you?  Do you “want to know its ways” or “abide in its paths”?  Remember, a ship that gets just a few degrees off course will travel many extra miles and fail to reach its destination.  You have to stay focused on the end.  You have to keep your eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our Faith.

Job 23:3 “Oh that I knew where I might find Him, that I might come to His seat!”

GOD DOESN’T PLAY GAMES

Who doesn’t like a good game of hide and seek?  Kids have played it for generation.  There is something exciting about hiding in a spot and hearing the “it” try to find you.  But for the “it” it can be quite frustrating, especially if you keep being “it”.  (Okay, that is enough “its”.  LOL)  When people hide so good you can’t find them or run back to “home” before you can tag them, it can be very defeating.

Some people, like Job here in this verse, feel like God is hiding from them.  When they go through hard times, they think God has taken a vacation or has turned off his ears to them.  That is so not true.  You see, Job’s perception of God at this point in the book has been marred by his physical and emotional suffering.  He has allowed the circumstances of life to blind him.  God was still there.  He was just waiting for Job to see Him.

TEACHING MOMENT

If there is one attribute of God that our children need to learn it is this – that God is always there.  He is omnipresent.  He can be every all the time.  I do not begin to understand that, but I believe it.   Our children need to understand that when they go through hard times (and they will) God has not gone anywhere.  More times than not, we have taken our eyes off of Him.  We are looking in the wrong direction.

As believers, we don’t have to try to find the Lord.  He dwells within us through His Holy Spirit.  We only have to stop and get quiet.  We have to allow Him to speak.  Sometimes that means we need to find a place that is free from all the noise of life.  Sometimes that means we get into the Word (which is always a good way to hear Him) and read.  He will speak.  He does to me everyday through His written Word.

Are you listening today to the voice of your heavenly Father?  Are you screaming at God, “Where are You?  I can’t find You?”  Stop yelling!  Listen!  Let Him speak truth into your hearts today.

Psalm 110:1 “The LORD says to my Lord: ‘Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.’”

WHERE ARE YOU SITTING?

When you were courting your spouse, do you remember sitting so close to them that you appeared, from a distance, to be one person?  The joke is told of an old couple who were riding along in their old pickup truck.  The old man was driving, and the wife was sitting on the other side of the truck.  The wife looked over at her husband of fifty years and said, “Look at us.  When we were dating, we used to sit right next to each other in the car.”  Without taking his eyes off the road, he said, “Well, I haven’t moved.”

Christ is seated at the Father’s right hand, and He isn’t moving.  The Father and the Son are side by side in eternity, waiting on us, watching over us and the Son is interceding for us.  As our enemies attack us, the Son leans over and says to the Father, “I haven’t moved.  I am still right here on behalf of Carl.”  Wow!  I am that precious in His sight.

TEACHING MOMENT

The next time you sit down next to your son or daughter or they jump in the chair next to you, bring this verse up to them.  They know how much you love them, right?  Explain to them that Jesus is sitting next to His Father, too.  And He is talking to God about all His children.  Is your child His child?  I pray they are.  If not, what a great verse to use to explain how much God loves them.

Our children desire closeness.  They want to be hugged and loved on.  Even those children who think they are too old for that still need that.  You may have to be the one to reach out first, but do that.  Remain physically close to them.  Remind them daily how much you love them by showing them the affection they need.

Have you been hugged today?  Has someone told you they love you?  Can I hug you today?  Here it comes.  Can you feel it?  Probably not, but I am sending it to you.  Better yet, let the Lord give you a hug today.  Ask Him.  I know from first-hand experience that He is a hugger.

Psalm 109:8 “Let his days be few; let another take his office.”

You may have heard this verse quoted by others in regard to someone who is serving in a political office whom they didn’t like.  I heard it quoted against President George W. Bush and President Barak Obama.  Depending on your political persuasion you probably wanted one of them out of office.  Right?

However, we as believers, must pray for our leaders.  Although I did not vote for some elected leaders, I am still mandated to pray for them.  God allows leaders to be elected for a purpose.  I truly believe that.  Therefore, I must submit to God’s sovereignty and lift up those He has put in place.

TEACHING MOMENT

Our children must learn submission to authority.  That begins with us, of course, but it is applied to all authority.  The recent protests in our country against President Donald Trump is just one indication of anti-authority thought.  Protests on college and high school campuses against speakers who espouse opposing views is another.  Our children must respect authority, regardless.  We must model that for them.

So, how do we do that?  How about praying with your children for their teachers and principals?  How about praying for your mayor or governor, whether you voted for them or not?  How about praying for your boss or supervisor whom you may not always agree?  Your children need to see you showing respect and honor for those leaders, even if they know you don’t agree with them.

This devotion is a little different than most of the ones I have written.  But I have learned to allow the Lord to speak through me whether I understand all He is saying or not.  I trust that someone out there needed to hear these words today.  I know I did.

Respect, honor and submission are important principles for all, but especially for us who call ourselves followers of Yeshua.  Will you bow to His rule today?

Psalm 22:1 “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning.”

DAVID’S WORDS FIRST

These words of David, spoken way before Christ, are the same words Christ spoke on the cross.  Did David know his words would be used by the Messiah, the Son of God?  No!  David was just a man like the rest of us, but he did have a heart to please the Lord.  He, in penning these words, was being guided by the Holy Spirit, just like every other author of the Bible.

Don’t you think God can use us in the same way?  Now I don’t mean in writing prophecy.  I mean don’t you think if we are yielded He can use us to speak into the lives of others the truths of His Word?  Of course He can.  But we have to be willing to be used.  We have the advantage of knowing His complete Word, something David didn’t have.  We have the blessing of the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit, something David didn’t have.

TEACHING MOMENT

We can teach our children to speak into the lives of others using God’s Word.  Our part is training them in the Word.  We must be deliberate in teaching them to get the Word inside their hearts, not just their minds.  By “ingesting” the Word, they will always have it at their disposal to share with others.

Just last night I was at a funeral visitation and had the opportunity to share a short word with one of the family members.  He was saying how he was about to crash after “being strong” all week for everyone else.  God gave me the opportunity to speak truth into his life (without preaching) in just a few short words using His Word.

Our children need to see us doing that.  And as we do it, they see how God can use us, if we are willing.  Will you allow the Lord to speak His Word through you today?  Will you “ingest” the Word today and then share that with someone?

Be watchful!  God will send those people to you who need you, if you are willing.

Psalm 34:1 “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.”

PRAISE MINDED

Most men are accused of having one track minds.  They seem to only be able to think about one thing at a time.  Women, on the other hand, can be thinking about several things at once.  I am not sure which is better.  There are definite advantages to each.  But for the purpose of this devotional thought today, let’s just saw the former – one track minds.

Why do I say that?  Because the Psalmist is declaring that his mind is continually on the Lord.  He says “at all times” and “continually.”  I have been memorizing Scripture a lot lately, and I find myself constantly reciting the verses out loud or in my head.  I have become almost obsessed (in a good way) with these verses.  Instead of turning on the radio in my truck I recite verses.  It has been great!

TEACHING MOMENT

So, how do we teach our children to get “Jesus focused”?  How do we show them what it means to keep your eye on Him?  I know you know.  We have to be that way.  We need to find a way to point everything toward Him.  In one Bible study I have been doing it tells us to point everything Godward.  I like that.

When little Elrod comes home with a bad grade, point him to Jesus.  Ask him if he did his best to please Jesus, not you.  When little Gertrude misses the last second shot in soccer and her team loses, point her to Jesus.  Remind her that Jesus loves her whether she wins or loses.  Ask the Lord to give you the words to say in each and every situation that points them back to Him.

Are you living that way?  Are you trusting Him?  Are you letting your mind dwell on Him rather than on the worries of this old world?  He wants to relieve you of all those unfruitful thoughts and desires.  He wants your thoughts to be heavenward.  He desires that you desire Him above all else.

So, do you?  Will you?  Now, set your mind on things above!

Job 16:2 “I have heard many such things; sorry comforters are you all.”

NOT A WORD

Recently I was called to a home where someone’s brother had just died.  I have known this person for 10 years.  I needed to be there to lend comfort, but words were not necessary.  There were no words that were good enough to ease the pain.  So, I told them that.  I did pray, but I did not quote a bunch of verses and wax eloquently.  I just prayed.

Job needed friends to be with him, not try to figure out what he did wrong.  I love his words here.  “I have heard many such things; sorry comforters are you all.”  Haven’t you wanted to say that sometimes?  He is trying to tell that he doesn’t want their advice, just their love and friendship.

TEACHING MOMENT

How do we teach comfort to a child?  They will only learn this first hand.  When you comfort them, they will learn.  When they see you comfort others, they will learn.  Comfort is not taught – it’s caught.  Sometimes we just hold them tight and love on them.  That’s comfort.  Sometimes we pat them on the back.  That’s comfort.  Sometimes we cry crocodile tears with them.  That’s comfort.

Whenever you child is hurting remember they are taking mental notes of how you comfort them.  Over the years they will fine tune their comforting skills by watching you.  If you want a hardhearted child, then be stoic and hard on them.  That’s what you will get.  But if you want a child who recognizes the hurt in others and seeks to comfort them, then be that to them.

Are you hurting today, Mom or Dad?  Are you seeking comfort in something or someone that is not healthy?  Were you brought up to not cry?  Stop right where you are and seek the Great Comforter.  He is always listening to His children.  He wants to use His Holy Spirit in your life to not only convict you but to also comfort you.  Won’t you let Him?

Remember, your children are watching!

Psalm 118:22 “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief corner stone.”

Do you understand what the cornerstone is?  Ask any mason.  They will tell you.  Watch as they start laying brick or block for a new building.  They always start with a corner.  They start by laying the corner stone.  Then they string lines in two directions to ensure the walls are straight and plumb.

We know about whom the Psalmist was writing.  Jesus is that cornerstone.  He is the foundation for us.  He ensures that our lives are straight and plumb.  If we stay attached to that cornerstone, we will always be standing firm and strong.  The cornerstone isn’t going anywhere.

TEACHING MOMENT

Our children need us as their cornerstone when they are young.  They need to know we are stable and strong.  They need to know they can depend on us.  But we can only serve in that role for so long.  They need to know early in life that there is only one, true cornerstone – Jesus.

One great way to talk about this is while you are playing with them.  Playing with blocks or legos works great.  Start by laying that first block or lego to build a wall and then stop.  Talk about this verse and what it means.  Explain how the rest of their building project is built on that first piece and how their life is going to be built on what they lay down as the first piece.  Explain how Jesus wants to be that first piece in their life.

But Parents, it is hard to talk to your kids about that unless you are allowing Him to be first in your life.  Is He your cornerstone?  Have you built your home on Him? Have you built your career on Him?  Does His placement in your “wall” determine the direction you go?  He needs to be.

If Jesus is your cornerstone, the next time you feel the earth shaking beneath your feet, you can rest easy knowing He shall not be moved.