When God blesses us Christians, I think at times we feel unworthy.
That old phrase from that silly Saturday Night Live spinoff movie “Wayne's World” comes to mind. Wayne and Garth's mantra in that movie when they received something that they felt was undeserved was “We're not worthy”. I think we all are guilty of that at times. Christianity is based on God's love for us even though WE ARE NOT WORTHY!
Recently, I was struggling tremendously with some things in my life. They were very ordinary issues that people have. A couple of these issues were related to my household finances. The financial struggles of a new baby can add to a household plus just dealing with past bad decisions of one kind or another were really bringing me down.
Finally, last Thursday morning I had a Job moment. Job is one of my heroes of the bible. I know I probably choose odd heroes. I always admired Job for his resolve and strength of character. It takes a lot of courage and maybe even a little stupidity to challenge God.
Well, I am sure with me, my challenging God was way more stupid than courageous. More than anything it was just desperation. I often have pictured myself challenging God would be something like Wile E. Coyote challenging the Roadrunner. I would say something less than reverent out of frustration and a lighting bolt would strike me. I would then look like Mr. Wile E. Coyote did when one of his wonderful ACME bombs blew up in his face. I can picture me still trying to finish my sentence when the lighting struck. My face charred, my clothes burned up, what hair I had left still smoldering on top of my head.
You know what... That is not how our God works. God wants to help us and bless us with all we need. I think we all have problems turning things over to God like we should. I know that I do.
Well, in this particular instance, I was so very desperate and I was really in this poor pitiful me mode asking “Why me Lord?”. "How could this happen to me?" I didn't see any possible way out of this situation. I had exhausted all of my options. You notice I said “my options”. My options are those things that I thought that I could do to fix the situation. I was depending on me. I only had to turn it over to God. Don't ever forget that all things are possible through God.
God has a plan. That very same day I questioned God. He answered me. He blessed me and handled my problems in a way that I could have never ever foreseen or even imagined. For me personally it was a miracle. What a humbling and blessed experience for me! I was in shock for most of the rest of that day. I truly did not feel worthy. I did not feel that I deserved what God did for me. One huge flaw exists in my theory of my worth.
I am worthy because I am a child of God!
Nothing else is needed. Our worth as children of God is freely given and cannot be bought.
So, when you are struggling and feel as if your situation is impossible. Just remember this...
You do not live in Wayne's World! You live in God's world! The world that God created and rules. Nothing is beyond God's capabilities and God's capabilities are beyond our understanding.
I am going to share a little bit of what God said to Job from Job 38 in His first discourse to Job.
Job 38
The LORD Speaks
1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said:
2 "Who is this that darkens my counsel
with words without knowledge?
3 Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
4 "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
6 On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone-
7 while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels [a] shouted for joy?
8 "Who shut up the sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,
9 when I made the clouds its garment
and wrapped it in thick darkness,
10 when I fixed limits for it
and set its doors and bars in place,
11 when I said, 'This far you may come and no farther;
here is where your proud waves halt'?
12 "Have you ever given orders to the morning,
or shown the dawn its place,
13 that it might take the earth by the edges
and shake the wicked out of it?
14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal;
its features stand out like those of a garment.
15 The wicked are denied their light,
and their upraised arm is broken.
16 "Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea
or walked in the recesses of the deep?
17 Have the gates of death been shown to you?
Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death [b] ?
18 Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?
Tell me, if you know all this.
19 "What is the way to the abode of light?
And where does darkness reside?
20 Can you take them to their places?
Do you know the paths to their dwellings?
21 Surely you know, for you were already born!
You have lived so many years!
22 "Have you entered the storehouses of the snow
or seen the storehouses of the hail,
23 which I reserve for times of trouble,
for days of war and battle?
24 What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed,
or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?
25 Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain,
and a path for the thunderstorm,
26 to water a land where no man lives,
a desert with no one in it,
27 to satisfy a desolate wasteland
and make it sprout with grass?
28 Does the rain have a father?
Who fathers the drops of dew?
29 From whose womb comes the ice?
Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens
30 when the waters become hard as stone,
when the surface of the deep is frozen?
31 "Can you bind the beautiful [c] Pleiades?
Can you loose the cords of Orion?
32 Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons [d]
or lead out the Bear [e] with its cubs?
33 Do you know the laws of the heavens?
Can you set up God's [f] dominion over the earth?
34 "Can you raise your voice to the clouds
and cover yourself with a flood of water?
35 Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?
Do they report to you, 'Here we are'?
36 Who endowed the heart [g] with wisdom
or gave understanding to the mind [h] ?
37 Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?
Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens
38 when the dust becomes hard
and the clods of earth stick together?
39 "Do you hunt the prey for the lioness
and satisfy the hunger of the lions
40 when they crouch in their dens
or lie in wait in a thicket?
41 Who provides food for the raven
when its young cry out to God
and wander about for lack of food?
I can only imagine what Job felt like as God spoke to him. He also learned that it was God's world and not Job's.
I hope that you all receive God's blessings knowing that you are worthy and thank God daily for those blessings.
I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13
Blessings,
Robbin
