Fill 'er Up

Does your life feel like an empty thimble? Small, inconsequential, minuscule, almost invisible? Is work grinding you up slowly, your mate, kids, grandkids demanding more of your time, chores at home increasing exponentially, car trouble, bills increasing, is the daily cost of living squeezing the money you haven’t even earned? Life’s overwhelming? Think you need a long vacation on some secluded beach with a pina coloda’s coming at you nonstop? The warm sun on your face, the sand between your toes, the deep blue water beckons you to come in and the swaying of the palm trees wave at you.

The technical term for this malady is ‘perpendicular ieus’. For a million reasons you have decided that it’s time the world revolved around you! You should have been born wealthy, you should have had the best job offers, you should be worrying about your spa appointment, you should be shopping on Rodeo drive, you should be on the talk shows telling how your life as a famous writer now revolves around non-stop charity fund-raising, you should have the paparazzi following you!

\When we take our eyes off life in general, that’s when we suffer a case of depression or a bout of super-ego mania! Who or what’s behind all this consternation and confusion? Who else: the evil one that troubled Job centuries ago. Job lost all his family and all his possessions in a matter of hours, and then Job was afflicted with gargantuan health problems, and when he realized all the chaos directed at him was by Satan, how did he respond? He said to his wife, “Shall we accept the good from God, and not trouble?” Job 2:10

Job’s wife believed that all the suffering was because God was unfair. This is a perfectly normal reaction to suffering but it is totally contrary to the character of God. Empirical evidence (that which we gain from observation) is how many people jump to their conclusions. Unless we consider revelational evidence (that which comes from God), we will reason like Job’s wife did. Pain isn’t always suffering—if can help us grow. Life will have challenges, God watches how we respond. Suffering is often a mystery and Job respected this mystery—the mystery of God himself. The greatest mystery in suffering is how it can bring a person into the presence of God in a state of worship. Job’s suffering was a test for Job himself, and Satan and humans—NOT for God. When all was said and done; Job passed a test which proves that people can love God for who he is, not for what he can give.

YOU can empty an ocean one thimble at a time if needed, or fill 'er up.