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Life Lessons

Why do Bad Things Happen to Good People? (Part 7)

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                                     Round Two with Job’s Friends.

     Eliphaz spoke up again  and once more said that Job must have acted dishonestly towards his brother or not helped others where he could have. His view of God was that He must have been punishing Job for something he had done wrong!     How often we bring God down to our level! Every time we say, “I can’t see how God can allow this or that…”  we are making Him like us. We have to remember that God is God, His ways are far above our ways  (Isaiah 55:8-9) and He can see the wider picture of all things, the end from the beginning. He is infinite, we are only finite and very limited at that.

   Job began his answer….  “Oh, if only I knew where to find Him! I would lay my case before Him! I cannot find Him to put my arguments forwards because He is everywhere, from the east to the west! But I know I’ve followed His ways closely, and treasured His words. Others have ignored Him and He has let them go their way. They may be exalted for a short time, but it all turns to nothing in the end!”

  Then  Bildad spoke up again, but didn’t have much to say this time. As he contemplated God’s existence, he was lost for words… “Dominion and awesome might belong to God, and we can’t fathom His greatness. What can we, who are no better than worms,  say in the face of this?”

    Job had an answer for all of this….  “What’s the point of you talking? We all know of God’s greatness over His creation, the heavens and skies, the moon and the stars, and these are just the tip of the iceberg!”      Job continued this speech by then telling what his life had been like before these tragedies had come upon him. God’s blessings had been upon him in every way, he said, and he had experienced God’s presence with him at all times. His children were around him, and everything he had was prospering ….  “Those I met in the street were polite and always ready to speak with me”, he went on, “I was always ready to help people, and they blessed me for it. I was always fair and honest with others and they would listen to my advice. Nobody argued with me or answered back, and I lived like a king! Now people mock me and those younger than me won’t even speak to me! People keep way from me. I’m in constant pain, and it feels as though God himself has deserted me! My skin is tortured and I feel no better than the jackals or ostriches!”

   Job then went on to talk of his integrity before God….he had never entertained evil thoughts towards to the opposite sex, he had always been honest in his dealings, and helped those less fortunate. “I‘ve always trusted God for everything! I had an open home for anyone who needed a bed for the night, and I never did anything that needed to be covered up. Oh! If only there was someone who would stick up for me!”    Job truly felt forsaken and alone and although his friends were there with him, they were no comfort at all!  There may be times in our lives when we have felt like this, but we have the comfort of knowing that God never leaves His people. Paul could talk of all the bad things that had happened to him, but even though he suffered physically and begged the Lord to take his problem away, he had the comfort of knowing the Lord was saying to him, “My grace is sufficient for you!”  (2 Corinthians 12:7-10) So in our bad times, we too, can hang onto the fact that God sees and knows and will strengthen us to keep on going. Job chapters 22- 31

Grandma's Stories

Why Bread and Wine?

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    Bobby and Sarah were riding home from church with Uncle Jeff one Sunday after the morning church service,  as he was coming to their place for lunch.  Both of the young people were more silent than usual, and in the end Uncle Jeff said, “Is something bothering you Bobby?”

“Well, not exactly,” Bobby said, “But I’d like to know a few things”.

“Like what?” Uncle Jeff asked.

“Well,” said Bobby slowly, “What I’d like to know is about this bread and wine stuff they have during the service”.

“What do you know about it Sarah?” Uncle Jeff asked.

“Well, I know it comes from the Bible, it’s not just a thing that people have made up to look good”, she replied.

“I guess it must mean something,” Bobby said, “But I’ve never heard anyone really explain it”.

“Perhaps you weren’t really listening”, Uncle Jeff said, “Haven’t you noticed what sort of prayers are said just before the bread is given out? What about you Sarah?”

“It’s usually a thank-you prayer”, she said, “Thanking the Lord Jesus for dying on the cross for our sins.”

“That’s right,” said Uncle Jeff, “But there is a lot more to it all than just that. How do you think the bread is made?”

“It’s made out of flour”, Bobby said.

“And how does flour get to be made?” Uncle Jeff asked.

“Well, it gets ground up out of the grains of wheat or whatever other grain is used”, Sarah said.

“If the wheat grains had feelings, do you think it would have been hurt in the grinding process?” Uncle Jeff went on to say.

“Oh,” said Sarah slowly, “So you are saying that the bread is like the Lord Jesus being hurt so badly when He died on the cross”.

“That’s right, Sarah, ” said Uncle Jeff, “What is the next process in making bread?”

“It gets mixed up with other things and then it’s baked in the oven,” Bobby said, “I DO like new bread!”

“What do you think the meaning of that is as far as the Lord Jesus was concerned?” Uncle Jeff asked getting back to the point.

“Being in the oven is very hot”, Sarah said, “I guess it was like that for Him when God turned away from Him when he took our sins on Himself.”

“Yes, that is quite true,” Uncle Jeff continued, ” and what’s more what is the bread like when it comes out of the oven?”

“Yum, yum,” said Bobby, “I LIKE new bread!”

“Did you know that the Lord Jesus could say that He was the bread of life? That was all because He died to save us from our sins! ”

“So that is what it is all about?” Sarah said, “Thanks so much for explaining that. What about the wine then? Is that something the same? ”

“Yes, the picture is the same”, Uncle Jeff said, “ The grapes have to be crushed first to get the juice out of them, and then there is a further process the juice goes through before it will keep. How do you think this is a picture of the Lord Jesus?”

“He lost a lot of His blood while He was on the cross”, Sarah said thoughtfully, “Almost as though it was crushed out of Him!”

“Yes, and some people drink wine to make them feel happy, and when they have something to celebrate; another thing about wine is that it is a healer if you put it on sores, and it stops you feeling thirsty,” Uncle Jeff said, “And what’s more it lasts without going rotten.

“Does all this make sense to you Bobby?”

“Ye-e-es, I guess so”, Bobby said. “So it’s all a picture of what  Jesus has done for us. It won’t seem so boring now in church, now that I know what it all means. But why is it only big young people who take it and grown ups? Why can’t I do it?”

Uncle Jeff had been expecting this question, and he said, “I know that a lot of young children have given their hearts to Jesus, and they would love to do this, but you know people do change their minds as time goes by. Remember the time when you thought you would like to milk cows when you grew up?”

“Yes”, said Sarah nudging Bobby, “And remember how you used to say you were going to marry Jenny when you grew up?”

“Yuk!”, said Bobby, “I’ve changed my mind, that’s all!”

“Well, you see we have to make sure that you are grown up enough to understand what it is all about and you want to do it to please the Lord Jesus Himself, not just because Jack in the next seat takes it!”

“Oh!” said Bobby, “Well, I don’t think I’m going to change my mind about this, but I only  want to do it to please God and because it says so in the Bible!”

“That’s great!” said Uncle Jeff as he turned in to their driveway, “Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling hungry. Let’s go inside and see what Mum has ready for us for lunch!”