Good Wednesday morning! Today, I felt the call to revisit a subject that I wrote on a while back. Have you been singled out in some way? Perhaps like my sister, Kerri, or those I knew at my former workplace (including me!), you have been singled out to lose your job. In many ways we are singled out in this life, and many of those ways can be quite humiliating or frightening. We tend to look at the dark side of these events. Even in what we think would be good ways to be singled out, that of winning a lottery or some other award, we might be frightened at the prospect of a glancing blow from fame. Winning a large lottery jackpot right now might bring out a serious amount of hate mail from a lot of bitter and unemployed folks. What would you do? The entire amount wouldn't be enough to help all of the unemployed. If you won a billion dollars and gave all of it to 8 million unemployed folks, each would get a whopping $125. Enough to get by for quite some time in a third world country, but we all realize how quickly that would be spent here in our country. Could you or I be selfish enough to keep all of the money in light of so much suffering? Even though enriching a sole winner is the whole point of entering into a lottery, many would expect the winner to share.
I read about a possible world record holder in Michigan who, amid a storm of controversy, simply backed out of the public eye. Thousands of dollars and a lot of publicity were involved, but the man just walked away from it. Some of the contro-varians were accusing fakery in the potential record and while the man's action does not prove their case, it did give the boo-birds cause to claim a "see, we told you so!" The brouhaha was about a dead deer, in case I failed to mention that part. Most people at once yearn for some small amount of recognition or fame and at the same time fear that very thing. In the Bible we see many examples:
Moses was raised in the nobility of Egypt, but when it came time to return there as a man chosen by God to speak to those same folks who raised him; he stumbled and stammered in fear. "Not me, Lord. I can't speak well!" he said in hopes of avoiding the assignment. The Lord in his mercy allowed Moses to take Aaron with him and became famous anyway.
The first disciples of Jesus felt bold when they could walk with Him, but even as a group they often became terrified or could not act. As the Holy Spirit came upon them in great power, those same terrified men were often singled out and died for their faith; all after Jesus had long since departed for His well-deserved place in Heaven. Stephen may have been singled out by the Jewish authorities, but when he spoke in the Spirit, those authorities listened.
Frightening moments abound in the Bible: David was singled out to fight a giant and rule a nation; Paul was singled out to speak and write for Jesus, and Mary was singled out to bear a special child...as a virgin; try explaining that one to your parents. None of these brave persons was truly alone as we know from our reading.
When Job was singled out for special testing, even his wife and friends turned on him. However, we later learn that God had placed his own holy confidence in Job. Our times of testing take on a different light when we realize that God has placed his confidence in each of us. He knows that in the strength of Christ, each of us can endure the testing of our faith. Did you notice that in the testing of Job he couldn't DO much? All of Job's resources on this earth were suddenly taken from him. He could not gather up his servants and sons to go fight those who had taken his livestock; he could not run to a doctor or hospital; the illness stole his strength; his friends accused him of evil, and his wife simply advised him to "curse God and die!" Wow, I'll bet Job felt singled out.
We enter a time of testing and the first urge we have is to do something about it. We may have that option, but God may simply want us to endure the testing of our faith. To be singled out for job termination, a disease, or some other calamity is not something that any of us would choose on our own. You or I may feel singled out and alone during this time, but we would each be wrong. Since Jesus left and sent the Holy Spirit into our hearts, we have never been alone in a time of testing. The world may look dark outside, and our prospects may seem gloomy and dim, but we have the light of Jesus in us.
Reach out in prayer for the power of Jesus today,
Bucky
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