Predicaments are precarious time and energy black holes. Do you believe as I, that our predicaments are often of our own doing? Consider our use of the word accident, which though, also can be caused by our carelessness, we are frequently totally an innocent bystander in the wrong place at the wrong time. Predicaments, however, add a stress tier beyond devastating accidents, in that they inject a gnawing awareness that you could have prevented this consuming predicament had you done whatever differently; and usually, there is no shortage of those “I wish I would have…!” And when these black holes drag out long enough, you may well question even, the very roots of your faith.
Is it possible fear (resulting from our stressors) arises from our personally concocted manufactured predicaments where we’ve drifted off course and gotten out of alignment both vertically with our Lord, and then, horizontally too, with our brothers in our community?
You ever think when such occurs, that we too tend to look for someone to blame for this flare-up predicament, just as the children of Israel did. And if it’s not readily apparent who to blame, we’ll provide the narrative to blame someone in the leadership hierarchy. Notice the stinging words told Moses in Exodus 14: 11-12: “Were there no graves in Egypt? Had it not been better for us to serve the Egyptians than we should die in this wilderness?”
Note Moses’ responses to their panic. First, “Fear ye not!” Second, “Stand still.” Third, “Watch.” Fourth, “The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.” How about that for a prescription for people caught between swords & spears to the rear and drowning going forward? Don’t be afraid, stand still, watch God come through, quit talking. Perhaps, the fourth is the hardest, because we just have to complain or tell somebody what pain we’ve been dealt. But God doesn’t need to be informed. He already knows our predicament. He is simply waiting for us to calm down and shut up, or at least, keep silent!
Notice God’s counsel is just the opposite. Don’t be afraid. Stand still. Watch Him work. Keep quiet. It’s then He does His best work on our behalf, and likely, quite the opposite way we’d done it.
I associate stress as being much like a mirror? Why? Because stress reveals what actually drives our thinking! The way we handle stressful predicaments defines and reveals who we are. Actually, pain is God’s fuel for re-discovering our “first love,” when we “drift” from our earlier “inspired” love, over to a more perfunctory love; acting out of duty, rather than with His passion.
So, God provides us painful predicaments to arouse us from our spiritual lethargy. Our predicaments are not punishment, as much as they are wake-up calls from a loving God. Envision pain as God’s fuel to restore His passion in our relationships because pain energizes us with an intensity to change that we normally just don’t possess.
Bottom Line Here? Accept His Love. Share Your Love. Live His Joy. Grow Your Fruit. Embrace His Peace. Share His Hope. Refute Satan’s Evil. Merlin
Inspired by readings from Moses in Exodus, Chuck Swindoll, David Jeremiah, Rick Warren & orchestrated by me. Whence ever cometh an original thought these days?