Year: 2019

Miserable Comforters

“I have heard all this before. What miserable comforters you are! Won’t you ever stop blowing hot air? What makes you keep on talking?
Job 16:2‭-‬3 NLT

I just love the book of Job.

Job, more than many other servants of God, Job has seen clearly that:

for our God is a consuming fire.
Hebrews 12:29 ESV

And…

For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.”
Hebrews 12:6 NLT

We are each worthy of punishment. We have all fallen short of God’s glorious perfection. And discipline, and even suffering and persecution in this life, are always good for us — they produce in us a harvest of right living, of character built through endurance. They are the narrow path by which we share in His holiness.

When we have our eyes set upon eternity, momentary sufferings are endured through hope in the Lord and not in ourselves. We find our comfort in the arms of the Lord, because He is in the midst of the furnace with us. He may not remove the bitter cup of suffering from our hands, but He will not forsake us. Think back to Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace:

Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you refuse to serve my gods or to worship the gold statue I have set up? I will give you one more chance to bow down and worship the statue I have made when you hear the sound of the musical instruments. But if you refuse, you will be thrown immediately into the blazing furnace. And then what god will be able to rescue you from my power?” Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.”
Daniel 3:14‭-‬18 NLT

Or remember Joseph put in the pit by his brothers, or in the jail by false accusations. Servant of God, remember this when suffering comes and those around you prove to be miserable comforters:

Then the Lord asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.” Satan replied to the Lord , “Yes, but Job has good reason to fear God. You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. Look how rich he is! But reach out and take away everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face!” “All right, you may test him,” the Lord said to Satan. “Do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don’t harm him physically.” So Satan left the Lord ’s presence.
Job 1:8‭-‬12 NLT

But remember even moreso, when you religious hypocrites (like Job’s “friends”) seek to attack another with the Word of God, judge another, make assumptions about why another is suffering harm.

Would you wicked people go to a man who has just lost a child and say, “It is your sin that has found you out and this is why your child has died.”

Would you wicked people see your enemy suffer harm and rejoice in it? Have you forgotten that a forgiven man is a forgiving man and is one who loves his neighbors and blesses those who consider themselves his enemies.

Would you wicked people judge a person by his outside circumstances and appearance alone? Have you forgotten the empty tomb of death and lies and wickedness and jealousy and pride and sinfulness that lies at the core of you that can only be covered up by the blood of Jesus Christ shed for you on a cross?

Yes, we may know many who have been miserable comforters to us in our times of suffering — but dwelling on that does little but sow seeds of bitterness towards an outward target with a speck in their eye. No, instead of proudly placing ourselves in the seat of “persecuted” and staying there — maybe se need to be reminded of how many times we have been miserable comforters to others, how often we have failed to forgive, how often we have lifted up accusations against others in our minds and in our hearts.

Lord, forgive us. We have many times been miserable comforters to our brothers, sisters, and neighbors. Help us to love, to comfort, to make peace — and to endure. Amen.

Don’t Engage Toxic People

One of the quickest ways to enrage a toxic person is to refuse to engage them on their own terms — and it is one of the best ways to restore your own peace and do not allow them to continue stealing it from you.

Your peace does not have to be contingent upon whether or not toxic people around you continue to do things like:

– Giving Unsolicited Advice
– Insulting Others
– Spreading Gossip
– Pitting people against each other
– Constant Criticism
– Not Respecting Boundaries
Etc. (See the linked article: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.theactivetimes.com/healthy-living/habits-of-toxic-people%3famp )

This Christmas, you may have enemies who masquerade as friends, you may have family or friends who thrive on drama, you may have people around you who insist on conflict, abusive behavior, and all kinds of pride and narcissism — who want to leverage their physical proximity to you during the holidays to sink their poisonous fangs into you. Or maybe I’m the only one who sees the possible evidence of such things around themselves?

Christmas is about the birth of Jesus Christ. And if you are a Christian, you believe that God came in the flesh to offer us a salvation that we couldn’t earn ourselves because we were all enemies of God. We see times when the people sought to kill Him and He just seemingly walked right through them thwarting their plans ands not getting engaged with them on their terms. We see the Pharisees asking Him questions to try and trap Him and He doesn’t engage their attack, He redirects and leaves them grumbling amongst themselves. We see when they sought to try Him that He was silent and did not engage them directly and even suffered their attacks and persecution, knowing that there was something much greater at stake — suffering for the sins of the world. His suffering had a purpose, and therefore,  He could withstand the taunts and not have to engage them on their terms.

We can learn from this example.  We know that the Bible tells us to “resist the devil and he will flee” — but tells us “do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also.” So if we are dealing with an evil person who likes to provoke and attack us, we are encouraged to not engage them on their terms. And when we trust and obey in this way, when we offer blessing to those who seek to curse us — we are free and full of peace, while it is to them “like having hot coals dumped on their heads”.

Lord, give us the humility and gratitude and trust in you that allows us to not engage those who are toxic and evil, but to “[walk] right through the crowd and [go] on [our] way” as You did in Luke 4:30 and “[hide] [ourselves]”  as You did in John 8:59 and “[escape] their grasp” as You did in John 10:39. Order our footsteps and be delighted in our way. Remind us of what we can expect from wolves as described in Matthew chapter 10, but let our hope be in you and not in ourselves. Amen.