Weekly Devotion/Discussion 6/29/12

Why Would You Do That Do Me God?

Have you ever had a time in your life where it just seems like everything is going wrong and you wonder what you did to God to make him mad enough to put him through all of this?  I am sure in those times that people have told you things such as: “Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”, or “God has a plan for it all”.  To be honest being told that just makes you want to punch those people in the face rather than making you feel better.  If this applies to you, as I’m sure it does…well because I know it applies to me, then this week’s devotional applies to you.

          With that Introduction out of the way, I want to start out by saying that for those of you that are dealing with something that is causing you pain, hurt or any discomfort in life I want to say that I am so sorry.  I hope that God’s hand is apparent in your life and that you realize that God has his hands over you and Jesus is there to provide you a shoulder to lean on. 

          Believe it or not you are not the only one that has ever had a tough time in life.  We have a whole book in the bible that shows us that even in our toughest times when we feel like we have lost it all, God is still there with us.  If you don’t know the book I am referring to, it would be the book of Job.  Now don’t worry I am not going to write a full commentary on the book of Job.  Although I am just going to reference a little of the book I do hope that you will take the time to read through this book, especially if you haven’t.  The most important thing to take from the book of Job in my opinion is that no matter what, through everything: losing his family, being struck with boils all over his body, and losing all his material things he still trusted God. 

          Believe it or not, the passage I want to use is not in Job but in fact out of the Psalms.  The Psalm that I think fits better than any other for those times in which we go through the valleys is the 23^rd Psalm. 

Psalm 23

New King James Version (NKJV)

The Lord the Shepherd of His People

A Psalm of David.

23 The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
² He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
³ He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.

⁴ Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell^[a] in the house of the Lord
Forever.

Now I am sure that you have heard this Psalm given at funerals, and there is a very good reason for this…because it shows us that God is there to comfort us in times of hurt.  But, and please notice this, Psalm 23 isn’t just a passage to be used in times of hurt, but also in times of joy.  You see we can 100% understand from this passage that God is our Sheppard and is there to lead us and protect us, but we can also take from it that we don’t have to fear anything, we can take comfort in the Lord, and goodness and mercy will follow us through all of our days just for residing in the Lord our God. 

I really hope that you have been able to take comfort from this week’s devotion, but also that you have been able to take a sense of joy from this devotion also.

God Bless,

Will