How To Deal With Circumstances

But when Pharaoh saw that the rain, hail, and thunder had stopped, he and his officials sinned again, and Pharaoh again became stubborn. Because his heart was hard, Pharaoh refused to let the people leave, just as the Lord had predicted through Moses. [Exodus 9.34-35] 

If we can see it, Pharoah's story can very easily be our story. It all has to do with how we deal with our circumstances.

How do we deal with our circumstances?

First, we must understand what our circumstances are! Are our circumstances merely "circumstantial" or, is there a reason behind them? Does every circumstance have a meaning or, do things just happen? Our answers to these questions reveal our knowledge and/or belief in God's Word, the Bible.

It wouldn't be long after Moses' and Pharoah's interactions regarding the Israel's release from Egypt, that Moses would be given, and would write volumes of information on many topics, all of which pertained to "relationship with God." Included in this plethora of information, Moses was given very specific and detailed information about circumstances. These circumstances were categorized by whether they were good (blessings) or bad (curses). 

In Deuteronomy 28, God demonstratively states that good circumstances are the direct result of obeying Him and that bad circumstances are the direct result of disobeying Him.

While the story of Moses and Pharoah should serve as evidence enough about the distinction between good circumstances and bad circumstances, God, knowing man's heart-inclination toward hardness, went on to confirm this distinction in Deuteronomy 28.

The difference between Pharoah and us today is that Pharoah understood his circumstances. Pharoah and his magicians tried to explain them away, but they eventually conceded that God was working against them through their bad circumstances (plagues). Even still, as soon as the bad circumstances subsided or went away, Pharoah once again rebelled.

In contrast today, and as would be expected of a God-less and Word-less society, no association is made between obedience or disobedience to God as it relates to good or bad circumstances respectively.

However, there is a catastrophic failure among "God's people" today in that they too, just like the God-less and Word-less people of the world, do not interpret their circumstances according to God and His Word. They resign their understanding of circumstances to randomness as if God no longer makes a distinction between those who are His and those who are not.

“Go back to Pharaoh,” the Lord commanded Moses. “Tell him, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so they can worship me. If you continue to hold them and refuse to let them go, the hand of the LORD will strike all your livestock—your horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, sheep, and goats—with a deadly plague. But the LORD will again make a distinction between the livestock of the Israelites and that of the Egyptians. Not a single one of Israel’s animals will die! [Exodus 9.1-4]

Jesus' Advent brought a renewed picture of the distinction between those whose circumstances were cursed and those whose circumstances were blessed. Jesus demonstrated God's enduring desire to bless mankind with good circumstances in every miracle He performed. Jesus made a clear distinction between bad circumstances and good circumstances.

The same Bible that makes the distinction between blessings (good circumstances) and curses (bad circumstances) tells us that Jesus suffered the penalty for disobedience (that yields curses) when He submitted to the Cross:

But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” [Galatians 3.13]

The benefit of Jesus' work on the Cross however is reserved only for those who believe. Jesus was not unclear about what believing in Him looked like:

If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24 (also, Mark 8.34 & Luke 9.23)]

And, just like Pharoah had to make choices about his hard heart, a would-be follower of Christ has to make choices about his hard heart: 

For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes—so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.’ [Matthew 13.15] 

The distinction between a hard heart and a heart submitted to God is evident in circumstances. Jesus said that the person who abandons their hard heart will experience good circumstances - they will be healed. 

Jesus also said a person submitted to God and His Kingdom will experience no lack:

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. [Matthew 6.33]

Even though God was very clear about blessings and curses, and even though Jesus spoke directly to that same end regarding good or bad circumstances, the idol of religion makes all manner of claims otherwise but does so at the peril of having turned blind eyes and deaf ears to God's Word. Blind eyes and deaf ears are among the defining characteristics of idols and those who trust them:

Their idols are merely things of silver and gold, shaped by human hands. They have mouths but cannot speak, and eyes but cannot see. They have ears but cannot hear, and noses but cannot smell. They have hands but cannot feel, and feet but cannot walk, and throats but cannot make a sound. And those who make idols are just like them, as are all who trust in them. [Psalm 115.4-8]

The idols of the nations are merely things of silver and gold, shaped by human hands. They have  mouths but cannot speak, and eyes but cannot see. They have ears but cannot hear, and mouths but cannot breathe. And those who make idols are just like them, as are all who trust in them. [Psalm 135.15-18]

How indeed do we then deal with our circumstances?

Father, I have willfully and hard-heartedly ignored Your clear and distinct messages through my bad circumstances calling me to repentance. In my idolatry I have, in blindness and deafness, failed to rightly see my circumstances and consequently failed to experience all the blessings Jesus secured for me on His Cross. May I be strengthened today to give up this my own way, take up my cross, and distinctly follow Jesus. So be it.

The Vernacular Of Idolatry: "More"

But Pharaoh shouted, “You’re just lazy! Lazy! That’s why you’re saying, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifices to the LORD.’ Now get back to work! No straw will be given to you, but you must still produce the full quota of bricks.” [Exodus 5.17-18] 

FACT: Slavery is very basic: if a person wishes to eat, they must work.

FACT: There are a couple things Egypt is notable for throughout the Old Testament: slavery and idolatry.

The ultimate goal of all idolatry is slavery. Unironically, slavery fosters increased idolatry. Every negative aspect of slavery is the intended outcome of idolatry. Idols are the work of Satan, the deceiver, to lure people into idolatry and trap them in slavery. It should be understood that the people of Israel had not cried out to God for deliverance, but to Pharoah, resulting in the subject passage of this article.

The oppressive nature of idolatry that leads to slavery is seen in the subject passage above. Once idols have established their slave drivers, they demand "more" to prevent people from effectively worshiping God.

We must remember that "Egypt" was, at first, seen as a "better option" for Israel. It was much more convenient for Israel to move to and settle in Egypt (where the food was) than to continue the inconvenient trips back and forth just to eat. And, besides that, Joseph was in Egypt. In the emotion of being reunited with Joseph, what Jacob's family failed to realize is that, as powerful as Joseph was, he was still a slave to Pharoah. For Israel to relocate to Egypt was a willful submission to slavery - oh it was unoppressive at first and the food and fellowship were good, but, as we saw in Exodus chapter one, that would change.

Eventually, a new king came to power in Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph or what he had done. He said to his people, “Look, the people of Israel now outnumber us and are stronger than we are. We must make a plan to keep them from growing even more. If we don’t, and if war breaks out, they will join our enemies and fight against us. Then they will escape from the country.” [Exodus 1.8-10]

Idols are presented to us today in the exact same way. They lure us with convenience and emotion. What idols offer us today seems at first to be a much better option than current circumstances. All the while, idols are working overtime to "claim" us. But first, the "honeymoon" period... followed by oppressive slavery!

Before even giving the Ten Commandments, God revealed His intentions that Israel (His people) not have idols and the consequent slavery they bring:

“Therefore, say to the people of Israel: ‘I am the LORD. I will free you from your oppression and will rescue you from your slavery in Egypt. I will redeem you with a powerful arm and great acts of judgment. I will claim you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God who has freed you from your oppression in Egypt. [Exodus 6.6-7]

And then, when God started laying out the Ten Commandments, He used exclusive wording Israel was already familiar with:

“I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. [Exodus 2.20]

What followed then was the first three Commandments forbidding polytheism by singular focus on God alone (1st Commandment), forbidding polytheism by forbidding idols (2nd Commandment), and forbidding polytheism by name "association" (misusing God's name, allowing the name of God to be associated in any way with idols - 3rd Commandment). The strict wording of the first three Commandments reveals God's absolute and unmistakable intolerance for man's trust in or allegiance to anything or anyone but Him.

“I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. “You must not have any other god but me. “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands. “You must not misuse the name of the LORD your God. The LORD will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name. [Exodus 20.2-7]

God knows that every idol of man, and particularly those of his own making and ingenuity, eventually, intentionally and relentlessly enslave man. Starting with the idol of "self," progressing on to debt, insurance, medicine, technology, and eventually even the idol of religion, man demotes God from His rightful first and only place in his life rendering himself a hopeless and helpless slave to those idols.

As depicted by the Egyptian slave drivers, idols always oppressively demand "more." In contrast, God always demands "all." To bring this to date for our generation, Jesus demanded "all." His words are not allegorical:

If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24 (also, Mark 8.34 & Luke 9.23)]

And, it is not at all ironic that in Jesus' demand for "all" there is freedom: 

Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” [John 8.31-32]

We should all survey our lives particularly noting everything that demands "more" of us. Whatever demands "more" should be highly suspect as an idol. Idols rarely, if ever, initially demand "all" as that would completely blow their cover. It starts off as, "I'll just do this one thing for "me,"" or "just so many payments of $xxx." Some even advertise, "low introductory rates!" Other "must-have" products and services without shame relentlessly and methodically raise rates. More subtly, other idols offer great convenience, but that great convenience is not quite enough when the next 'latest and greatest' comes out. "More" is the tell-tale vernacular of idolatry. As Israel found out, "more" became the demand of their slavery.

Unlike the overbearing slave drivers of Israel's inadvertent idol, Egypt, Jesus, Who demands "all," actually reveals that His "all" is less than idolatry's "more":

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. [Matthew 11.28]

The irony of all this is found in the fact that we as humans tend to want "more" and, in the pursuit of "more" unwittingly become enslaved to idols that then demand "more" of us! Ever hear the phrase, "I've got bills to pay!"?

Jesus's words indict most all:

“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money. “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today. [Matthew 6.24-34]

"Self,"  debt, insurance, medicine, technology, and sadly, religion all, in their own way, demand "more" of us. Jesus, on the other hand, demands "all." We DO have a decision to make - it can't be both ways.

Father, please continue to reveal everything in our lives that prevents us from being 100% devoted to You. So be it.

The New Egypt

So the Egyptians made the Israelites their slaves. They appointed brutal slave drivers over them, hoping to wear them down with crushing labor. They forced them to build the cities of Pithom and Rameses as supply centers for the king. But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more the Israelites multiplied and spread, and the more alarmed the Egyptians became. So the Egyptians worked the people of Israel without mercy. They made their lives bitter, forcing them to mix mortar and make bricks and do all the work in the fields. They were ruthless in all their demands. [Exodus 1.11-14] 

As simple as this may sound, slavery is associated with work.

As we see in the opening passages of Exodus, the work of slavery for the Israelites became highly oppressive. This increasing oppression happened because Israel was noticeably blessed by God and the Egyptians felt threatened by it.

Now, we should pause here to understand that God ordained work. Along with work however, God promised abundance and blessing, but within certain parameters:

The LORD God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. But the LORD God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden—except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.” [Genesis 2.15-17]

We should also understand at this point that the work God ordained had everything to do with man's most basic need: food. And, it is in this most basic need where we find that God placed a limitation upon what man could eat. Abundance of food was was the result of man's work, but there was a limitation.

At the point man disobeyed God, eating the forbidden fruit, man's work first became oppressive.

And to the man he said, “Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains. By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return.” [Genesis 3.17-19] 

As the history of mankind progressed, it was the basic necessity of food that landed Israel in Egypt. God indeed used this set of circumstances to accomplish significant Bible history, but we are also afforded the opportunity to see an undeniable principle at work along the way. That Biblical principle is this: the pursuit of food put God's people in bondage.

We should furthermore understand that God designed man with the need to eat. He particularly engineered the male human body for physical labor to this end. However, just because Adam tended the entire Garden of Eden did not give him permission to eat of every tree. He and the woman were forbidden to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In all the abundance of the Garden of Eden, man was allowed to eat freely in return for his work and no other fruit was forbidden, just that one fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Just that one. But human selfishness and pride do not deal with prohibitions very well...

So also, Jacob's family needed to eat. In a particularly bad weather pattern, all their labor yielded no food and so they had to consider their options if they were going to eat. Egypt had food. They went to Egypt to get food so they could live. And, food they got. However, rather than getting the food and going back home to stay, the emotion (son and brother Joseph was there) and convenience of moving to Egypt (they were invited, interestingly enough, not by Joseph, but by Pharoah) led to God's people being oppressed more so than ever in their work for food. Innocently enough, Israel made a simple decision that ultimately yielded brutal slavery. They could have chosen to only buy food in Egypt and keep their residence in Canaan, but they chose to move to Egypt.

What was seen in Israel's encounter with Egypt should be seen as it relates to Adam's encounter with Satan: it was all about food with a "garnish" of emotion. Adam's and Eve's emotion was that of feeling mistreated by God (Satan's baited words "Has God really said..." elicited a selfish emotion) regarding food. At that moment, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil became an idol. Jacob's (Israel's) "emotion" was Pharoah's invitation to come be with their family member, Joseph, again, in the setting of food. At that moment, Egypt became an idol.

Satan is a deceiver. His most effective tool is to enlace his bad advice in our basic need for sustenance. Yes, we all need food, but just because a poison mushroom may taste good doesn't mean it won't kill us! God-followers are somewhat on the lookout for Satan's temptations but most are not looking in the right place. That right place is our most basic need: food. It is in our need for food and basic sustenance that Satan plants thoughts of selfishness and pride that ultimately land us in oppressive slavery to idolatry. Satan uses our basic needs to enslave us to idols.

No wonder Jesus came on the scene with profound words about our basic needs:

“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money. “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today. [Matthew 6.24-34]

The moment our basic needs become more important than our obedience to God, we are a slave to those needs - they have inadvertently but effectively become idols in our lives. Our insistence upon meeting these needs for ourselves has yielded the broad-category enslaving idols of debt, insurance, medicine and technology. In fact, religion can also be added to this list.

The story of Joseph and Egypt makes a great and popular entry-level Bible story. However, as one watches carefully for the mention of Egypt following Joseph's story, "Egypt" becomes synonymous with two things: idolatry and slavery. Imagine that! As practical as "Egypt" started off to be, it ultimately set in motion a large-scale pattern of slavery and idolatry in the history of God's people that is more prevalent today than ever before. Man's systems of debt, insurance, medicine, technology and even religion are cumulatively "the New Egypt."

Father, as Your Holy Spirit opens our eyes to see the truth of ancient "Egypt" in the Bible, may He also open our eyes to see the truth of "the New Egypt" in our day and time. May Jesus's words in Matthew 6.24-34 weigh heavily upon our hearts in conjunction with His call to give up our own way, take up our cross, and follow Him. So be it.

Are You As Strong As God?

Are you as strong as God? Can you thunder with a voice like his? [Job 40.9 ]

No and no.

Why would any man ever attempt to compete with God?

There is only one answer: pride.

There is a popular saying that is often quoted among people who purportedly believe in God. It goes like this: "God helps those who help themselves." Nothing however could be further from the truth: nothing could be further from faith in God alone; nothing could be more idolatrous; and consequently nothing could be more blasphemous.

“I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. “You must not have any other god but me. “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands. “You must not misuse the name of the LORD your God. The LORD will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name. [Exodus 20.2-7]

In fact, "God helps those who help themselves" effectively violates all three of the first three Commandments above.

To argue this point is exactly where Job found himself, ultimately being confronted by God Himself with the question of the subject passage of this article:

Are you as strong as God? Can you thunder with a voice like his? [Job 40.9 ]

Ironically, Job did not answer a single question God asked him. Instead, Job went "full-reverse" on his tirade: 

“I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you. You asked, ‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?’ It is I—and I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for me. You said, ‘Listen and I will speak! I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.’ I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.” [Job 42.2-6]

When Job finally shut up and saw God for Who and What He Is, he sheepishly (and rightfully so) retracted everything he previously said with such conviction and confidence. He didn't concede to say, "I will just do what I can with what I have..." (which, by the way sounds very religious and very familiar today) but instead Job said, "I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance."

For all the justification we stand behind for our idols today (starting with the idol of "self"), when we truly encounter God - not a church, not a good preacher, not a good book, not religion - we, like Job will have no defense - no justification, but simply quiet repentance evidenced by what we do, not what we say.

If we miss the fact that it was from his "sitting in dust and ashes" that God restored Job, we have altogether missed the significance of Job's story. Job's intentional position of sitting (not standing) in dust and ashes (total depravity) shows us that Job's restoration was of zero effort of his own. In fact, God did not help Job until Job humbly acknowledged he had nothing to contribute in and of himself...

At best, God violently confronts those who help themselves.

At worst, God quietly says nothing to those who help themselves...

If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all. [Hebrews 12.8]

Is God speaking to you?

Father, Your Word tells me that You alone are God. It also tells me that, in Your jealousy, You will not tolerate any other god (including the popular god, "self"). But, most notably today, Your Word tells me that it is a misuse of Your name (blasphemy) to associate Your name with my own efforts. May I be found, like Job, intentionally positioning myself to reveal my complete trust in You and You alone. So be it.

We Do It Every Day

“Will you discredit my justice and condemn me just to prove you are right? [Job 40.8] 

We do it every day.

We do this every time we turn to an idol to remedy God's justice. Oh, we don't do it flagrantly, but we do it nonetheless inadvertently.

When we encounter lack, experience a loss, suffer sickness or disease, or simply find ourselves inconvenienced, we are in Biblical fact experiencing "curses." Let me list here some curses described in Deuteronomy 28.15-68:

• Towns and your fields cursed
• Fruit baskets and breadboards cursed
• Children and your crops cursed
• Offspring of your herds and flocks cursed
• Wherever you go and whatever you do cursed
• Curses, confusion, and frustration in everything you do
• Diseases
• Wasting diseases, fever, and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, and with blight and mildew
• Skies above will be as unyielding as bronze
• Earth beneath will be as hard as iron
• Rain that falls on your land changed into powder, and dust will pour down from the sky
• Defeated by your enemies
• Corpses will be food for all the scavenging birds and wild animals
• Boils and tumors, scurvy, and the itch, from which you cannot be cured
• Madness, blindness, and panic
• Oppressed and robbed continually
• Another man will sleep with your wife
• Build a house, but someone else will live in it
• Plant a vineyard, but you will never enjoy its fruit
• Ox butchered before your eyes, but you will not eat a single bite of the meat
• Donkey taken from you, never returned
• Sheep and goats will be given to your enemies
• Sons and daughters taken away as slaves
• Foreign nation eat the crops you worked so hard to grow
• Constant oppression and harsh treatment
• Go mad
• Covered head to foot with boils
• Exile
• Object of horror, ridicule, and mockery
• Plant much but harvest little
• Worms will destroy grape vines
• Olives will drop before ripened
• Lose sons and daughters
• Insects destroy trees and crops
• Foreigners living among you become stronger and stronger (you become weaker and weaker)
• Left hungry, thirsty, naked, and lacking in everything
• Iron yoke of oppression on your neck
• Foreign invasion (no grain, new wine, olive oil, calves, or lambs, and you will starve to death)
• Cannibalism
• No compassion
• Indescribable plagues intense and without relief, making you miserable and unbearably sick
• Diseases with no relief
• Every sickness and plague there is
• Torn from the land
• No peace or place to rest
• Heart will tremble, eyesight will fail, and soul will despair
• Life constantly hanging in the balance
• Live night and day in fear, unsure if you will survive
• Offer to sell yourselves to your enemies as slaves, but no one will buy you

Whether we admit it or not, we encounter some form of these curses every day. But, instead of admitting we are experiencing curses, we just call it "life" for the most part and immediately set about to remedy the affect of these curses with man-made solutions: idols.

In our remediation of life's problems with man-made solutions, we inadvertently discredit God's justice. In so doing, our man-made solutions justify our dominion over our own lives (in our own minds) thus effectively condemning and invalidating God and His Word. 

Yes, we do this every day without giving it as much as a passing thought.

But I am here to tell you, the flagship idols of debt, insurance, medicine and technology (there are many more including religion) have lulled modern society (including the so-called Church) into a deadly idolatrous sleep. All the while, man is increasingly "going mad" with the festering disease of society without God - "God's people" included.

Why? Because we will not admit that our troubles and difficulties are indeed curses from God calling us to repentance (not self-remediation).

Again, from a previous article, Saying It Isn't So Doesn't Make It Isn't So.

Father, I have never been more convinced of our gross idolatry than I am today. It is overwhelming to my human mind. But! Your Holy Spirit encourages me on, confirming Your Word with increasing conviction. May Your light of truth shine brighter in and through me every day. May I live this out in giving up my own way, taking up my cross, and following Jesus daily. So be it.

Saying It Isn't So Doesn't Mean It Isn't So

“People cry out when they are oppressed. They groan beneath the power of the mighty. Yet they don’t ask, ‘Where is God my Creator, the one who gives songs in the night? Where is the one who makes us smarter than the animals and wiser than the birds of the sky?’ And when they cry out, God does not answer because of their pride. [Job 35.9-12] 

When trouble comes, what do we do?

We turn to idols. Saying it isn't so doesn't mean it isn't so.

Some (but not all) of the idols we run to are debt, insurance, medicine and technology. In classic Biblical idol fashion, these are products laced with man's proud ingenuity: reason and accomplishment.

When we have "covered ourselves" with idols, even if we do cry out to God (whether at first, or at last), our pride in holding onto those idols prevents God from answering.

Remember Job's first response?

Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship. He said, “I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The LORD gave me what I had, and the LORD has taken it away. Praise the name of the LORD!” In all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God. [Job 1.20-22]

It was only after another wave of trouble that Job eventually revealed his causative pride in human reasoning (an idol in itself). Job's every attempt to reason in the midst of his oppression (troubles) was eventually rebuked harshly by God. So, it didn't make any difference whatsoever that, at first, Job "hailed God's praises" because deep within himself, human pride was on standby. Instead of standing his ground on what he said in Job 1.20-22 because that was the only attitude of his heart, Job instead was eventually compelled in pride to resort to his argumentative "reason" revealing another idolatrous attitude in his heart. Job really thought that he could persuade God that he was unjustly afflicted - cursed without reason.

When people today consider debt, insurance, medicine and technology as remediation for troubles in their lives, whether before or after they address God about the need, they hold in their hearts, as Job held "reasoning" in his heart, reserved a place for idols (of which today, debt, insurance, medicine and technology are flagships).

People may piously cry out at first, ‘Where is God my Creator, the one who gives songs in the night? Where is the one who makes us smarter than the animals and wiser than the birds of the sky?’  (“I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The LORD gave me what I had, and the LORD has taken it away. Praise the name of the LORD!”) but deep in their hearts they have reserved their idols to fall back on. (Of course they would never call them idols, but mask their idol-identity by saying they are gifts from God.) Just like Job held back his proud human reasoning, they hold back their proud human accomplishment ...for a while. Like Job revealed about himself, people today do not understand that troubles are not just something to be overcome, but as Elihu pointed out, they are indicators of a spiritual problem to be corrected:

But by means of their suffering, he rescues those who suffer. For he gets their attention through adversity. [Job 36.15]

Adversity is a call to repentance. How a human responds to adversity reveals either their total submission to God, or their proud idolatrous relationship with human reason and/or accomplishment. The latter is described in the subject passage above: And when they cry out, God does not answer because of their pride.

Job's complete restoration came only after he humbly broke all ties with his proud human reasoning ...after a severe rebuke from God. Jesus Christ requires no less from His followers:

If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24 (also, Mark 8.34 & Luke 9.23)]

Jesus' words are nonetheless a severe rebuke to everyone holding onto man's way: his accomplishments and reason - idols and pride. And, Jesus' words are nonetheless a severe rebuke to everyone intent on avoiding death. In summary, Jesus' words are a call to repentance, turning away from man's life-enhancing idols and turning to Him alone.

No matter how religious we may think it sounds to say "I trust God alone!" the underlying desires and pride of our heart reveal the truth of our idolatry. Oh, we are quick to retort that "God uses debt, insurance, medicine, technology" and a plethora of other man-made, human-reason solutions, but our resort to these things has already revealed our idolatry - regardless what our words say.

The proof that what is said here is accurate is found in genuine restoration. Job was genuinely restored. The Church today however is not seeing God's genuine indisputable restoration but instead unrepentantly offering up excuses for their idols and calling it "God." The complicated depth of this problem is foretold in the brutal length of the book of Job, but the solution is one and the same: turn only to God (God With Us - Jesus) unincumbered with the proud idolatry of anything to do with man's reason and accomplishments.

Yes, we turn to idols and the solutions we get are not "restoration from God" but instead only the best our idols can provide (and, usually that at an oppressively high price - a further  curse in itself!).

Father, You indeed know my heart. It is I who does not know my own heart that is full of pride and idolatry. It is I who proudly defends my impatient idolatry with complicated religious mumbo-jumbo, unwilling to just stop the excuses and repent. It is I who must re-interpret Jesus' demand to give up my own way, take up my cross, and follow Him to mean something more reasonable to my day and culture. It is I who needs to interpret my circumstances for what the Bible says they mean instead of what the world says they mean... Forgive me for pride. Show me all that I need to repent of. Be glorified in my life! So be it.

Job's Story Is My Story - How Will It End?

“Why don’t people say to God, ‘I have sinned, but I will sin no more’? Or ‘I don’t know what evil I have done—tell me. If I have done wrong, I will stop at once’? [Job 34.31-32] 

Today, I am indicted by my own words from days gone by

Reader, unless you have the time to review everything below with me here, you might as well stop here and go on about your day.

However, if the passage above from Job stirs something in you (as it does me), please get in a quiet undisturbed place and commit some time to read and re-read the articles below. I believe it will be worth it. I believe the Holy Spirit will speak to you (as He is speaking to me) - IF - we are intentional to see and hear what is said...

Two articles from 2019 are: No One Wants To Repent, and No Forgiveness = No Faith.

Then, I Have Sinned, But I Will Sin No More was written in 2021.

And finally, from 2025, please read: Why Not Just Repent?

These articles represent much of my understanding of the book of Job as it has developed over the years. That understanding is that repentance is terribly underrated in my life and in the Church at large today. "Repentance" doesn't make for a very popular book or seminar topic. In fact, repentance doesn't make for a very popular sermon either - even though a single sermon could hardly touch the surface of the issue.

Job's story, to most people, reads like a fairy tale. And consequently, most people only give it "fairy tale" consideration. The story starts with some background, introduces Job, moves on to Job's tragedy, introduces other characters, reveals conflicts, and finally God speaks. And then, in the end, everyone lives happily ever after.

What most of us fail to see is that Job's story is our story. Not in every detail, but definitely in our attitude toward God and the subsequent religious conclusions we make, Job's story is indeed our story. Job's story is my story. How will it end?

We are tasked then, like Job, to make some repentant conclusions about our own lives... 

I have said too much already. I have nothing more to say. [Job 40.5]

I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for me. [Job 42.3b] 

The value of repentance in Job's life meant a complete reversal of all that went wrong. That is the same value of repentance in our lives... if we actually take the time to do it sincerely. Jesus was clear about the value of repentance and its role in the Kingdom of God:

“Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” [Matthew 4.17] 

There is only one reason we do not experience the fullness of the Kingdom: because we do not effectively repent. It should be noted here that repentance is the foundation of faith.

And this is where we defend ourselves and each other saying, "But, we HAVE repented! - We DO believe!"

No, we have NOT repented, because true repentance brings the Kingdom of God in its fullness of power (faith that moves mountains - that restores brokenness). Jesus' life and miracles demonstrated what the Kingdom looks like. True repentance has no reservations and is the very basis of following Jesus:

If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24 (also, Mark 8.34 & Luke 9.23)]

How my story ends depends upon me getting myself out of the picture altogether - repenting for everything that is my "own way," repenting for "carrying anything" besides my cross, and following Jesus - walking in His steps - doing exactly what He did.

Repentance is not an event, but rather, a lifestyle. Repentance is an attitude. However, repentance is not an attitude found on social media or in the general public. Repentance is an attitude found and maintained only in a quiet, undistracted, unhurried place with God. Repentance is highly focused and intentional. Repentance is what the Word of God leads us to. Repentance always precedes faith because faith comes from the Word of God that leads us to repentance before the Holy Father God.

Will we repent until we are restored? 

Name-it-and-claim-it folks declare, "Jesus paid it all!" only tagging repentance in passing. Dispensationalist folks declare, "It's all passed away!" (referring to miraculous restoration), and so also, only give repentance a token nod. Neither camp lives in the restoration Job's story presents - Job's story is nothing more than a fairy tale to them whether they admit it or not. It seems no one wants to intentionally "drill-down" in repentance until they strike real restoration...

Will you repent? Will I repent? How will our story end?

Father, if my prayer of repentance here is the end of it (as it has been so many times), I expect no change in my outcome. May I though be found intentionally repentant - giving up every way of my own; intentionally repentant - taking up my cross; intentionally repentant - following Jesus. So be it.