And a final word to you arrogant rich: Take some lessons in lament. You'll need buckets for the tears when the crash comes upon you. Your money is corrupt and your fine clothes stink. Your greedy luxuries are a cancer in your gut, destroying your life from within. You thought you were piling up wealth. What you've piled up is judgment.
All the workers you've exploited and cheated cry out for judgment. The groans of the workers you used and abused are a roar in the ears of the Master Avenger. You've looted the earth and lived it up. But all you'll have to show for it is a fatter than usual corpse. In fact, what you've done is condemn and murder perfectly good persons, who stand there and take it.
Meanwhile, friends, wait patiently for the Master's Arrival. You see farmers do this all the time, waiting for their valuable crops to mature, patiently letting the rain do its slow but sure work. Be patient like that. Stay steady and strong. The Master could arrive at any time.
Friends, don't complain about each other. A far greater complaint could be lodged against you, you know. The Judge is standing just around the corner.
Take the old prophets as your mentors. They put up with anything, went through everything, and never once quit, all the time honoring God. What a gift life is to those who stay the course! You've heard, of course, of Job's staying power, and you know how God brought it all together for him at the end. That's because God cares, cares right down to the last detail.
And since you know that he cares, let your language show it. Don't add words like "I swear to God" to your own words. Don't show your impatience by concocting oaths to hurry up God. Just say yes or no. Just say what is true. That way, your language can't be used against you.
Here is the excerpt from the blog post that stuck in my head:
Because there is no true happiness apart from holiness, and there is no true holiness apart from knowing what it means to suffer unhappiness. And there is no knowing how to suffer unhappiness apart from God.
You saw that today, saw it in the woman’s eyes on a front porch in Haiti, rain splattering off edge of that rusting tin roof. I simply pray you will not be apart from God. I don’t say this cheaply: It’s through suffering unhappiness that God may beckon you into deeper happiness in Him. Don’t be afraid.
Because the thing is: I don’t want you to get all A’s in life. I want you to get life. I want you to get God. A.W. Tozer
said that you can have as much of God as you want.It’s wild to think about that: How much of God do you really want? How happy do you really want to be? Why would you avoid Him and all your joy — when you could hunger for Him and have as much happiness as you want?
What I am trying to tell you is that no matter where you end up, where the road leads: You can have as much God as you want. As much joy in Him as you want. The real believers relentlessly believe that. The world or circumstances will try to dupe you differently– but it’s a law as irrefutable as gravity itself: no matter what — as much God as you want.
Is there anything else worth wanting or having?
-------------------------------------------------------------------
God is Good and His Timing Is Perfect
No comments:
Post a Comment