In studying Job again I've realized that in Job 36,
the Lord warns us of some of the major pitfalls and dangers of living
with pain. Of course He also tells us how to avoid them as well.
The first was that we might look for some kind of shortcut to get out of our pain and by doing so miss the message that the Lord has for us. This may be different for each of us, but one of the things this makes me think of are all the slick promises of the faith healers, or the slick promises of the huge number of "miracle cures from nature" that people often shove under our noses and tell us that if we'd just buy these and use them, we'd get well. I'm sure you guys can think of many other "shortcuts" the world, Satan, or our flesh might offer us to get our eyes off the Lord and cause us to try and fix things ourselves.
The next danger listed is that of taking our own lives. Job frequently mentions that he wishes he could die, but because He loves the Lord, he would never take his own life and presume to enter the Lord's presence uninvited in that way. As inviting as death may look at times for us, we must all run to the Lord and avoid allowing these thoughts in our minds. They must be taken captive and stopped and replaced with the Truth from His Word, that He in in control and will use this pain for our good and His glory if only we will endure like good soldiers of Christ. We must remind ourselves that He has a wonderful plan for us and we will gain the victory and reign with Him by keeping our eyes and our thoughts fixed on Jesus and remembering that it's the Lord who will give us the ability to endue and encourage us as well. (Rom 15:5; 2 Timothy 2:3; 2 Timothy 2:12; Hebrews 12:3-7; Hebrews 6:10–12)
For me, this last pitfall is the most scary, for He warns us we may be tempted to just give up and go back to living the way the world does, thinking that perseverance does us no good or that there's no point to being obedient if we have to suffer this way anyway. We need to remember what our Lord suffered freely for our sakes when we were still His enemies, hating Him! We need to focus on the great and awesome love He has for us and keep that foremost in our minds, realizing that's the reason for following Him, not any benefits we might gain from it! If we need still more incentive, we can also remember that there is no true enjoyment in life without Him and that sin will eventually bring even more suffering and sorrow.
Lastly He gives us yet another key for remaining true to Him and steering clear of the these pitfalls. When we begin to feel down or tempted by one or another of them, that's when we need to do the one thing we probably feel the least like doing at the time: praise Him! Why? Because just as prayer changes things, so does praise! For one thing, praising God changes us tremendously. Even when we start out feebly and uncertain, and not really "into" it. If we keep going, we'll find that our spirits will become lighter and we will be filled with His love, His light, and His Joy and that will be our strength!
I used to wonder what God meant by "the sacrifice of praise", but I understand now that it's simply praising Him when we least feel like it, which is of course when it will do us the most good. God doesn't tell us to praise Him because He's some kind of egomaniac. He tells us to do it because, like all of His commands, He knows it will help us. He certainly doesn't need our praise, but we most certainly need to praise Him - the more the better!
When I'm in a great deal of pain, or feeling like I simply can't take anymore, I do two things. First I ask the Lord to relieve the pain. After asking Him, I thank Him for the relief I know is coming and then I begin to praise Him. Before I'm done, I realize that He has indeed relieved the pain! I don't mean to say that it's gone, but it's bearable again, which only causes me to praise Him even more!
Sometimes, when my whole world seems to be falling apart on top of the pain, and I'm struggling to praise Him, not able to think of "where to start", I turn to the psalms and use them to praise Him. Other times I'll turn on real player and sing along with praise and worship songs that exalt the Lord that I've downloaded just for this purpose. There's many ways to get started praising Him, but generally I wind up starting with my very favorite psalm....Psalm 103, and allow that one to lead me into His court to worship the God who loves me.
It's always encouraging to me to see how the Lord has given us all we need right there in His Word. He knows our needs and our temptations, and is always ready to show us the way out through His Word. Thank You Lord!
The first was that we might look for some kind of shortcut to get out of our pain and by doing so miss the message that the Lord has for us. This may be different for each of us, but one of the things this makes me think of are all the slick promises of the faith healers, or the slick promises of the huge number of "miracle cures from nature" that people often shove under our noses and tell us that if we'd just buy these and use them, we'd get well. I'm sure you guys can think of many other "shortcuts" the world, Satan, or our flesh might offer us to get our eyes off the Lord and cause us to try and fix things ourselves.
The next danger listed is that of taking our own lives. Job frequently mentions that he wishes he could die, but because He loves the Lord, he would never take his own life and presume to enter the Lord's presence uninvited in that way. As inviting as death may look at times for us, we must all run to the Lord and avoid allowing these thoughts in our minds. They must be taken captive and stopped and replaced with the Truth from His Word, that He in in control and will use this pain for our good and His glory if only we will endure like good soldiers of Christ. We must remind ourselves that He has a wonderful plan for us and we will gain the victory and reign with Him by keeping our eyes and our thoughts fixed on Jesus and remembering that it's the Lord who will give us the ability to endue and encourage us as well. (Rom 15:5; 2 Timothy 2:3; 2 Timothy 2:12; Hebrews 12:3-7; Hebrews 6:10–12)
For me, this last pitfall is the most scary, for He warns us we may be tempted to just give up and go back to living the way the world does, thinking that perseverance does us no good or that there's no point to being obedient if we have to suffer this way anyway. We need to remember what our Lord suffered freely for our sakes when we were still His enemies, hating Him! We need to focus on the great and awesome love He has for us and keep that foremost in our minds, realizing that's the reason for following Him, not any benefits we might gain from it! If we need still more incentive, we can also remember that there is no true enjoyment in life without Him and that sin will eventually bring even more suffering and sorrow.
Lastly He gives us yet another key for remaining true to Him and steering clear of the these pitfalls. When we begin to feel down or tempted by one or another of them, that's when we need to do the one thing we probably feel the least like doing at the time: praise Him! Why? Because just as prayer changes things, so does praise! For one thing, praising God changes us tremendously. Even when we start out feebly and uncertain, and not really "into" it. If we keep going, we'll find that our spirits will become lighter and we will be filled with His love, His light, and His Joy and that will be our strength!
I used to wonder what God meant by "the sacrifice of praise", but I understand now that it's simply praising Him when we least feel like it, which is of course when it will do us the most good. God doesn't tell us to praise Him because He's some kind of egomaniac. He tells us to do it because, like all of His commands, He knows it will help us. He certainly doesn't need our praise, but we most certainly need to praise Him - the more the better!
When I'm in a great deal of pain, or feeling like I simply can't take anymore, I do two things. First I ask the Lord to relieve the pain. After asking Him, I thank Him for the relief I know is coming and then I begin to praise Him. Before I'm done, I realize that He has indeed relieved the pain! I don't mean to say that it's gone, but it's bearable again, which only causes me to praise Him even more!
Sometimes, when my whole world seems to be falling apart on top of the pain, and I'm struggling to praise Him, not able to think of "where to start", I turn to the psalms and use them to praise Him. Other times I'll turn on real player and sing along with praise and worship songs that exalt the Lord that I've downloaded just for this purpose. There's many ways to get started praising Him, but generally I wind up starting with my very favorite psalm....Psalm 103, and allow that one to lead me into His court to worship the God who loves me.
It's always encouraging to me to see how the Lord has given us all we need right there in His Word. He knows our needs and our temptations, and is always ready to show us the way out through His Word. Thank You Lord!
Thank you Cindy for another excellent article, helpful in our Christian walk.
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