THE SHEPHERD’S CORNER
This morning in my quiet time I read about Job and Philip. Job lost all his wealth, all his children, and all his dignity. Philip, on the other hand, gained much. As a disciple of Christ, he gained opportunity after opportunity in ministry. When he preached in Samaria, God empowered him to heal the sick and drive out demons. As a result of it a crowd of people turned their lives to Jesus. Philip was also given the honor to lead a high ranking official from Ethiopia to Christ, before the Holy Spirit supernaturally took him away.THE SHEPHERD’S CORNER
This morning in my quiet time I read about Job and Philip. Job lost all his wealth, all his children, and all his dignity. Philip, on the other hand, gained much. As a disciple of Christ, he gained opportunity after opportunity in ministry. When he preached in Samaria, God empowered him to heal the sick and drive out demons. As a result of it a crowd of people turned their lives to Jesus. Philip was also given the honor to lead a high ranking official from Ethiopia to Christ, before the Holy Spirit supernaturally took him away.
One servant of God lost much but another servant gained much. But, behind the scenes it was the same God who was at work in these men’s lives. It was He who allowed Job to suffer and it was He who gave Philip the privilege to reap victory. It was He who let Job taste the bitterness of earthly life and it was He who granted Philip the opportunity to taste the sweetness of heavenly life.
What we need to guard against is to think that God has two faces—an evil and cruel face toward Job and a kind and smiling face toward Philip. No. He has only one face—a loving face. For reasons not always obvious to naked eyes and finite mind, He allows suffering to take residence in our tent. When that happens—usually when the pain becomes unbearable—we often pray that God will either take that SUFFERING out of our tent or take US out of our tent.
There are times He will do either one of these two alternatives but there are times He will do neither. He won’t take suffering out and He won’t take us out of our tent. Instead, what He will do is to get inside our tent and stay by our side—day and night. He won’t say much because He knows what we really long for during those sleepless nights is not words but warmth—of His presence.
Pastor Paul
One servant of God lost much but another servant gained much. But, behind the scenes it was the same God who was at work in these men’s lives. It was He who allowed Job to suffer and it was He who gave Philip the privilege to reap victory. It was He who let Job taste the bitterness of earthly life and it was He who granted Philip the opportunity to taste the sweetness of heavenly life.
What we need to guard against is to think that God has two faces—an evil and cruel face toward Job and a kind and smiling face toward Philip. No. He has only one face—a loving face. For reasons not always obvious to naked eyes and finite mind, He allows suffering to take residence in our tent. When that happens—usually when the pain becomes unbearable—we often pray that God will either take that SUFFERING out of our tent or take US out of our tent.
There are times He will do either one of these two alternatives but there are times He will do neither. He won’t take suffering out and He won’t take us out of our tent. Instead, what He will do is to get inside our tent and stay by our side—day and night. He won’t say much because He knows what we really long for during those sleepless nights is not words but warmth—of His presence.
Pastor Paul