Tag: Trials

At the Crossroads

Featured ~ Sowmya Gali

Job 23: 8 – 14

“Behold, I go forward but He is not there, and backward, but I cannot perceive Him; When He acts on the left, I cannot behold Him; He turns to the right, I cannot see Him. But He knows the way I take; When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot has held fast to His path; I have kept His way and not turned aside. I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than any necessary food. But He is unique and who can turn Him? And what His soul desires, that He does. For He performs what is appointed for me, and many such decrees are with Him.

Job found himself at the crossroads of life. Until now he thought he was right in the sight of God. He diligently followed the Lord, ensuring there was no sin in him and in his family, and offering sacrifices just in case he or one of his family members sinned in their thoughts. And yet, he found himself in a quagmire from which there seems to be no way out. He recollected if there was something in his past that could have brought about these trials in his life but to his dismay there was nothing. He was willing to seek the Lord’s forgiveness for any sin in his life but God brought nothing against him. His companions reasoning also brought to naught. Job was desperate to know why God allowed such hardships.

Job knew His God. He knew the commandments of the Lord. He knew what displeased Him and what brought pleasure. And yet he found that He could not perceive his God whichever way he turned. Many of us go through life knowing that we are on the right side of God. Diligently obeying His commands, living a righteous life, busy about God’s Kingdom and yet we find ourselves at life’s crossroads. We try to analyze what went wrong and start blaming God for all the wrong going in our lives.

While bemoaning his situation, Job was confident that his God knew which direction he was headed and confessed confidently that God will bring him out as pure gold after testing him. Job was not only confident of his own faith in God but also in God’s faithfulness towards him. He was confident that no matter what situation he was going through, God will direct his paths. Furthermore, he was confident that God will fulfill every promise. Such was Job’s faith in God.

Many of us go through situations where our faith is tested. We first try to reason just like Job if God has turned against us. Then we try to see if there was some unconfessed sin in our lives that is causing the trouble. We seek again Lord’s forgiveness even though He has already forgiven and forgotten. We remind God of our past sins when He has already forgotten. Still when our situation doesn’t improve, we come to terms that it is a trial that God is allowing and we should face that challenge with boldness. In all this, we have focused on ourselves more than focusing on God. ‘What did I do?’ ‘Why did it happen to me?’ ‘What should I do?’ ‘I did everything right.’

Maybe it is time we shift our focus from ourselves, our situations and focus on Him. Just as Job realized that God has the prerogative to do with us what He wants, we too must realize that we are His creation. Our Creator has every right to do what He pleases with us. The clay has no right to question the Potter. We are in His safe hands. The Master has the authority to fashion us according to His purposes. We just must trust Him.

Let us then abandon our confusion at the crossroads. Let us return to Him who is sovereign over everything. Let us harken to the words of Jesus: “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in Him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15: 5) Let us enter in to His rest and allow Him to become the true joy of our lives. When we are confident in Him who is able, then no storm, no trial, no disease, no mountain, etc., can shake us. His confidence becomes ours. God was confident of Job’s faithfulness and knew that he will come out as gold. That is why God boasted about Job’s faith before Satan even before his trials started. Dearly beloved, let us become confident of His faithfulness. No matter the depths of our anguish, our Lord will carry us through. Such is His love for us!

CRADLE → CRUCIBLE → CROWN

Featured ~ Sowmya Gali ~ 2 Comments

Psalm 139: 13-14

For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

The Psalmist declares that we were knit together very intricately with much love and tenderness in our mother’s womb. God knew us even before we were formed. He had us on His mind. His intricacies in fashioning us are indescribable. He knew each baby that is going to be born: the child’s character, personality, future etc. Just imagine God knew every human that was ever formed in a mother’s womb. Whether the child was born or not, He still formed them. Such knowledge is too much for our minds to comprehend. God in His infinite wisdom, designed a mother’s womb as a safe protective shell for the baby.

Once the baby is born, we take all necessary precautions and measures to keep the baby safe, healthy, well-fed and comfortable. Our whole world now revolves around the baby in our arms. God has now a few helping hands to rear that baby outside of the womb. With sound intentions we protect our children from the cradle! We cherish them in our arms as long as we could and always keep them within arms’ reach. We teach lessons in such a way they understand the world around them. We give them pointers to figure out right from wrong. Age-appropriate lessons, fear and love of God, and other important life lessons become a necessity for survival in the dark world that they will be assimilating into day by day.

In a chaotic world, as we ourselves are trying to keep abreast about our world, we glance down or sideways to ensure our children aren’t confused or fearful as we are. We clench our fists hoping that they didn’t see the confused look on our faces. In the midst of all these uncertainties, we are trying our best to stay rooted in the Lord while teaching our wee ones to do the same. According to Anne Ortlund, in her book, “Children are wet cement”, she reiterates that in a child’s formative years, while the cement is still wet, as parents we must impress upon their tender hearts the fear of God, the treachery of the devil, and everything in between.

Jesus Christ entered this world as a baby. He was born through a borrowed womb, empowered by the Holy Spirit. His earthly parents, Mary and Joseph did their part in bringing Him up. He was well protected and much loved in that household.

Job 23: 10-11

But he knows the way that I take; when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside.

The babies are now old enough to grasp the lessons taught, even complex ones. They understand right from wrong, and good from evil. Their hearts do comprehend the fear and love of God. The young people are learning some responsibilities, while finding their way in this world. They are not only being exposed to the goodness in the world around them but also the treacheries. They are now in situations where a protective presence of a parent might not be available all the time. They are learning to protect themselves from the evil around them.

As they take their first steps into the crucible of life, they soon realize how things were much better as long as they were in the cradle. Where they felt safe and secure, now they feel frightened and in despair. In some circumstances, confusion prevails, which then leads to anxiety and fear. The crucible of life comes with challenges that seem overwhelming. However, this very crucible, where we are tried, pounded, and heated up, is the place where our true colors shine brightly. The Master Smith is carefully watching us, removing all impurities as He purifies us. He increases the temperature, pounds us to shape, reheats us till He sees perfection – the reflection of His Son in us.

Jesus Christ, went through the crucible for our sake. He who was righteous became unrighteous as He took upon His shoulders all the sins of the world. His crucible experience led him to the final battle – the cross. Dying on the cross meant separation from the Holy Father and going into the pit of hell. He was willing to swallow that bitter pill also for our sake so we will ultimately be reconciled to the Father for all eternity.

1 Peter 5: 4

And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

The crucible experience may be difficult but it leads to eternal life. The lessons learned will help us live like Jesus did. Many a times, we question why we endure such pain as we go through life’s trials. For at the end of the time, being in the crucible, when we are taken out of the crucible, when our fashioning is done, and when Christ’s reflection is seen in us, we are ready to receive a crown of glory. Let us then count it all joy as we suffer through the crucible journey. Long or short it may be, but the end result is worth the pain that we endured. 

Job desired to find out why he was in the crucible, only to figure out that he is in the best hands possible. May the time spent in the crucible will bring forth pure malleable gold that will be fashioned into useful instruments by our Savior Goldsmith!