The Gathering Place Where Family Matters

“Moreover Job continued his parable, and said, Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me…As I was in the days of my youth…when my children were about me” (Job 29:1-2, 4, 5).

In his deep grief and confusion, poor Job was in absolute misery. Eventually he would understand what the Lord was doing, but right at the moment when he made this statement, he certainly didn’t understand. He was in the deepest days of grieving.

One of the common denominators of grief is the groanings and longings of the broken heart to be able to go back to the “happy days.” If you have a few moments, read his statement in its entirety as found in Job 29:1-31:40 as he paints the picture of the joy of his former days and the misery of his present situation. Here’s a great lesson for us. Job couldn’t go back, and neither can we. There are very precious people that I dearly miss every day. Rather than investing time and energy in wanting to go back to the former days, I want to trust the Lord today. I want to be thankful for the blessings of yesterday, but I also want to look carefully for the blessings of today and tomorrow.

Now here’s a picture for us: We wouldn’t drive our car by staring in the rearview mirror. We must never live that way either.

“Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).

Burden bearing is a two-way street!

When a crushing situation arises that is just too heavy to be borne alone, believers must rally to help. The church must function as the church and step up to help in whatever way is necessary to bear that burden.

But there is another side to this. The person who has experienced the crushing event, the burden, must allow others to know and give them the opportunity to bear the burden with them. There is nothing spiritual about living in denial or secrecy and refusing to allow others to step up and help. This is no time to retreat to isolationism. Christ’s law commands that we bear each other’s burdens but also that the burdened allow others to help.

Our question for today: This verse will impact you today. I know that it will. Are you the one with the burden or are you the one that needs to step up (either alone or with others) to help someone?

Come with me to a nursing home and meet a lady you will never forget. First, let me share a verse of Scripture with you, and hopefully you and I will never forget it as well.

“So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom” (Psalm 90:12).

There are many principles of application of our verse for today. Granny Irene  in the nursing home has a pretty good interpretation, I believe. Everyone called her “Granny Irene.” While she lost her mobility, she never lost her sense of humor or her trust in the Lord. She often told me that growing older was not for the faint of heart.

One day she told her visitor the reason for her joy and praise of the Lord. “Well, Pastor,” Granny told me, “let me tell you. I just keep thinking of eternity on one hand and my very, very, very few years here and now on the other hand. It helps me to number my days which helps me to live with a much wiser heart! My trust grows. My joy deepens, and my amazement at His grace is so precious.”

Her young pastor (so you know it was many years ago) never read Psalm 90:12 in the same way again.

Think about this today: Compare your few days with the never ending joy of eternity. It will give you a totally different view of your life right now.

I recently read of a funny situation that was posted on the internet. Obviously, I have no idea as to its accuracy. However, it does give me the opportunity of sharing a Biblical directive with my friends. Here’s the humorous situation posted online. The author wrote the following.

I was the substitute principal at a local school when two boys who were fighting were brought to me. They were brothers.

I asked, “What’s the problem?”

The first answered, “He called me ugly!!”

The second one said, “That was after you said I had a face like a frog!”

I tried very hard not to laugh…they were identical twins!

Here are the verses I am thinking of. “And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:30-32).

Unholy and uncontrolled anger is a dangerous thing. It distorts our way of thinking and the way we view situations. Take a lesson from the identical twins!

This is a good reminder for all of us! Take a moment to read Ephesians 4:30-32 once again. You’ll be glad that you did (and so will everyone around you!)

You may not agree with what I am sharing today.

You might not appreciate my thoughts and personal convictions.
But thanks for allowing me to share with you from my heart.

“Woe unto him that gives his neighbor drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness” (Habakkuk 2:15).

In our present English, Habakkuk is literally saying, “Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbor, pressing him to your bottle, even to make him drunk, that you may look on his nakedness.”

Go ahead. Call me old fashioned, but I still believe drunkenness and even social drinking is sinful. As a foster parent, police chaplain, marriage counselor, and pastor, I have witnessed firsthand the devastation of alcohol. I love the alcoholic, but I hate what the alcohol has done to that person. Though it has caused a stir at times, I warned – clearly warned – the churches in which I candidated and then became pastor, that I would not marry anyone if there was going to be drinking at the reception. Why? Because it seemed unthinkable to me to ask God’s blessing upon the couple who in thirty minutes would turn to one of the greatest dangers of the home and family. Drinking has caused such heartache and regret. No wonder Habakkuk proclaims “woe” to those who not only drink but who give it to their neighbor. Yes, you can call me old fashioned, but I still choose to believe the Word of God. How about you?

Thank you: Choosing to avoid something that can ruin my life, ruin my testimony, and cause others to stumble just seems wise to me. Thanks for allowing me to share with you from my heart.