Not Quite Finished

“I am the Lord and there is no other. I create the light and make the darkness. I send good times and bad times. I, the Lord, am the one who does these things.”

Isaiah 45:7 NLT

God allows suffering as a follow-up of free will, testing, or as a tool for greater purpose. These days as I am having physical issues, mental issues, and questions about my future, I enjoy reading the Bible because I’m reading things that I have never seen before. Yes, I wrote out the entire Bible over several years, and I’ve read it numerous times, but God didn’t point out to me every verse in the book. I didn’t think that God did bad things but there is this in Isaiah. It is his words that wrote “I make darkness and send bad times”. There are plentiful times when he accomplished bad times with some of his servants on the earth. He didn’t let them do the things on their own, but kept watching and caring for them through the hideous times.

Jacob was looking for a wife. He had 14 years of working for his uncle Laban just to get two wives. Leah gave birth to seven children before Rachel birthed Joseph. Joseph was Jacob’s favorite but he didn’t receive love from any of his brothers. His life was miserable in his young years. Sold to Egyptians as a slave and put in prison for years. Moses killed a guy and fled to Midian. God didn’t allow him to go into the promised land because he disobeyed one of God’s commands. David fled from Saul and was hiding in the wilderness for years. Then he made a mistake before the Lord with Bathsheba – and he arranged for Uriah’s death. Elijah performed sacrifices for the Lord, (who provided rain), killed all the prophets of Baal, and then fled from Jezebel because he feared his life would be taken (I Kings 19. 3-4). Jeremiah, who was a prophet like Elijah, got sunk in a well where he was put to die. Then there is Job, a man faithful to God, who lost his entire family to Satan. There are umpteen times that God’s faithful servants personally experienced dreadful and atrocious times.

That reflects on my life now. After serving the Lord for 40+ years, I am awestruck and dismayed by what he is doing in my life now. My life is not normal now. Perhaps it is old age that is cramping me, but I am normally healthy. I exercise every day. I’m resting when I get home from exercising, which is a new thing. I’m reading my Bible regularly which, as I said above, the Lord is revealing to me things that I didn’t see or focus on in the word. Maybe I should center on the people in the Bible who were much closer to God than me. Jacob had sons that became the 12 tribes of Israel. Joseph was just under the king of Egypt in importance. Moses led the Israelites to the promised land. David was a man after God’s own heart. Elijah was taken to heaven before he died. Job lived for 140 years after that and God gave him 7 sons and 3 daughters. God rewarded his servants while taking them through destructive things.

I know that God is trying to teach me something – I just don’t know what it is these days. I will continue to read my Bible and see what God is saying to me. I will continue to pray for people that God has put on my heart. I will continue to write posts or another book. I will continue to love my wife who takes care of me above what I desire. I will continue to mentor men younger than me. Maybe God will reveal to me those things that are bad for me and divulge how he makes them good in my life. It’s all up to a faithful God…