October 2009 Highway Won Update
Hello and happy October, and the fall season along with it! September has been an interesting month for us here at Highway Won. We have enjoyed cooler weather here than most of California, which has made the coast the ideal place to get away to for many people, and many have. Labor Day weekend (and our Pinedorado festivities with it) was super busy here in town and there still was a pretty good stream of folks in the store for about a week afterward, but we’ve reached a bit of a slowdown which is typical for this time of year. Our book sale this month of September has been fairly successful despite the slowdown, and we are thankful for that. As important as it is for us to carry gifts, t-shirts, jewelry and other miscellaneous items, the primary reason we opened this store here was to get good quality Christian books, materials and Bibles into the hands of people in this community and its tourists and to be a light and witness of Christ here. Please continue to pray for our understanding of the direction that God has for this store and that we can continue to make an impact in the lives of our community members and visitors to our beautiful town.
There are days we all face in which we begin to wonder what’s going on in our lives, as well as challenges in understanding the “whys” and the other issues that bother us when we get frustrated. Kary and I have been seeking the possibility of one of us going back to work full time (outside the store that is), and I had a job interview last week that was right up my alley so to speak. It went fairly well, but then I got a call yesterday that I wasn’t one of the few selected to go on for a second interview. That was and remains quite frustrating. How do we respond in times like these? I wasn’t sure myself right then so I did what I often do in view of these things: I went out and took a good look at the ocean and what all was happening there. And guess what? The ocean was still there, pounding rhythmically onto the shore like it has for thousands of years; the birds are still there being fed by their heavenly Father’s gracious hand; the seals and otters were still out there frolicking; squirrels were still chomping away on shoreline plants; sea gulls were still “gulling” (or whatever it is they do); and God is still there, and is just and right and holy in all that He does, allows, and His plans, not mine, are still best! The best thing I remembered as I was out there and then came back on in here to the store is that Matthew 6:24-34 is still true no matter what my feelings or confusion may say! “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” –TK
What’s New for October?
While there is no one set sale or special planned for October, there are several miscellaneous things that are going on. We now have (yikes) most of our Christmas items including boxed Christmas cards available in the store for those of you who are early birds at this sort of thing. Individual Christmas cards are coming along in the near future. There is a very cute Christmas special item from Dayspring that you’ll want to see when you actually begin buying those Christmas cards. Although our official art sale is over we do have many pieces marked down as much as 40%. We of course still offer our local discount of 5% off purchases (except for greeting cards) plus our frequent customer card to add up to additional future savings. We also still are receiving new book and music releases and have other items still to come for you to peruse. While we have lost our bargain book bin to boxed Christmas cards currently, I still have a small bin of books available that are priced from about $2.00 to $6.97, most of which are $3.25 or $4.97.
Looking ahead to the rest of 2009, the holidays are coming in earnest. November will begin our Bible Sale as November brings National Bible Week as well as Thanksgiving, and there will be some great savings on Bibles then. Cambria’s annual Hospitality Night will be on December 3rd celebrated throughout the town which is always a fun event, and we’ll have some special things going on here as well, and probably a free giveaway of some type. There are a lot of great things ahead and we look forward to seeing many of you friends of Highway Won here over the next few months! God bless you and enjoy these fall days ahead, especially the extra hour of sleep November 1st and the moving back of our clocks one hour!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Book Review
The Life of A.W. Tozer: In Pursuit of God
The Authorized Biography by James L. Snyder
Regal Books, 2009 $14.99 US Retail
I have always enjoyed biographies, at least those that are well written and have a personal takeaway for us today. When this new biography of one of my favorite Christian authors came into our store I couldn’t resist, and I was definitely not disappointed. While this one follows the basic pattern of the typical biography (from birth to death and impact of the life), it also was a bit topical, sharing events at various times of Tozer’s life and how that impacted who he was, how it made him the beloved if not a bit odd pastor of the churches he served, and how he became the amazing author that has impacted his subsequent readers as well. The biography also has a fair amount of material and quotes from family and those who knew him or served under him in some facet, occasionally forming an entire chapter, which is a bit different from many biographies I have read, and is effectively done here.
As a writer I am one of those strange characters who actually reads each book’s Introduction, and I greatly appreciated James Snyder’s guidelines in his introduction on “The Art and Stealth of Christian Biography.” I recommend that all Christian writers read that introduction as it deals with some significant issues involved in not just biography, but all honest and forthright Christian writing. It also interested me to learn how meticulous of a writer Tozer was, and in fact I was shocked to learn that his writing was limited only to nine books, with other works including The Attributes of God being compilations from his sermons and other writings. James Snyder included at the end of each chapter snippets from Tozer’s denominational magazine that he edited for many years, called “Tozergrams.” These are almost worth reading in and of themselves, but I highly suggest you read the rest of the book! The book also has several rare photographs of Tozer and those involved in his life. As you read, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to see that one doesn’t have to be a super saint, perfect, or socially adept to be greatly used by God, or to greatly know God for that matter, for Tozer was none of these things in himself but he knew a great God who made all the difference.
While I enjoyed reading of the example of Tozer’s pursuit of God and how he became the man known to us who read in awe the things that he learned in that pursuit and recorded for us, and not only did I learn of Tozer the man, I learned of the God he knew and was personally challenged to better seek and know Him myself as I read. I think that you will too. In a day of “easy-believism” and so called commitment to following Christ, we need to reexamine what it truly means to be one who pursues God, becoming a person after His own heart.
© 2009 Thomas R. Klock, Cambria, CA. All Rights Reserved.
The Authorized Biography by James L. Snyder
Regal Books, 2009 $14.99 US Retail
I have always enjoyed biographies, at least those that are well written and have a personal takeaway for us today. When this new biography of one of my favorite Christian authors came into our store I couldn’t resist, and I was definitely not disappointed. While this one follows the basic pattern of the typical biography (from birth to death and impact of the life), it also was a bit topical, sharing events at various times of Tozer’s life and how that impacted who he was, how it made him the beloved if not a bit odd pastor of the churches he served, and how he became the amazing author that has impacted his subsequent readers as well. The biography also has a fair amount of material and quotes from family and those who knew him or served under him in some facet, occasionally forming an entire chapter, which is a bit different from many biographies I have read, and is effectively done here.
As a writer I am one of those strange characters who actually reads each book’s Introduction, and I greatly appreciated James Snyder’s guidelines in his introduction on “The Art and Stealth of Christian Biography.” I recommend that all Christian writers read that introduction as it deals with some significant issues involved in not just biography, but all honest and forthright Christian writing. It also interested me to learn how meticulous of a writer Tozer was, and in fact I was shocked to learn that his writing was limited only to nine books, with other works including The Attributes of God being compilations from his sermons and other writings. James Snyder included at the end of each chapter snippets from Tozer’s denominational magazine that he edited for many years, called “Tozergrams.” These are almost worth reading in and of themselves, but I highly suggest you read the rest of the book! The book also has several rare photographs of Tozer and those involved in his life. As you read, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to see that one doesn’t have to be a super saint, perfect, or socially adept to be greatly used by God, or to greatly know God for that matter, for Tozer was none of these things in himself but he knew a great God who made all the difference.
While I enjoyed reading of the example of Tozer’s pursuit of God and how he became the man known to us who read in awe the things that he learned in that pursuit and recorded for us, and not only did I learn of Tozer the man, I learned of the God he knew and was personally challenged to better seek and know Him myself as I read. I think that you will too. In a day of “easy-believism” and so called commitment to following Christ, we need to reexamine what it truly means to be one who pursues God, becoming a person after His own heart.
© 2009 Thomas R. Klock, Cambria, CA. All Rights Reserved.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Jobservations
I had intended to post this over two days, but one never knows what a day brings...including a crashed computer, which I am currently experiencing! I am sending this from the store rather than home therefore.
I write this article originally in November and came across it the other day, and felt that it might help someone going through difficult times right now. It's a bit long but please read and enjoy!
I write this article originally in November and came across it the other day, and felt that it might help someone going through difficult times right now. It's a bit long but please read and enjoy!
Jobservations: Facing Difficult Times
This nice sounding, “leap-yearish,” Olympian year of 2008 certainly has been far from nice for many people that I know personally and for many others in this world. War and struggle continue in the Middle East without much hope of ending or of our troops returning home (so what else is new?); rather than decreasing, persecution and torture of believers seems to be spreading, most recently worsening in India but elsewhere as well; there have been unexpected deaths and serious illnesses hitting the lives of friends and relatives of mine; unemployment and ruin seem to be taking a stranglehold in lives, and believers are not exempt from this; our nation and as a result many others around the world are watching their economies circling in the rim, waiting for the final flush. Every time I pick up the newspaper and see a headline, instead of saying “Oh no” I find myself saying, “Now what?” This reminds me of a tragic day that hit a man from the land of Uz (no, not Oz) by the name of Job. Disaster upon disaster was pronounced to him ranging from the theft of his cattle to the deaths of all his children, with each of the subsequent messengers mournfully telling him, “And I alone was left to tell you.”
It is at times like these that our faith is put to its most significant test and our trust in God is challenged. Yet it is also in these times that we find out how God can amazingly enable and equip us to endure, and how He works despite the gloom that would engulf us. What was Job’s response to this day of gloom, death, and horrific loss? “Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. And he said: ‘Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.’ In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong” (Job 1:20-22, NKJV). How could he react this way? It is because Job knew his God and had his heart in the right place, as broken as it was. Let’s consider some of the things we need to keep in mind from Job’s experience when we face trials and difficulties, as well as how (and how not) to respond to those who are facing such trials and grief.
Remember the Source of Spiritual Attack
Job’s troubles began with accusation by Satan before God’s throne one ominous day. Satan asked for permission to do all he could to bring down this man of God and, as shocking as it is to us, God gave him permission to attack Job within certain limits. Satan’s goal is to wipe us out with our trials, but God will only let things go so far because He knows what we can handle, and He controls the thermostat when things get hot! God has a better purpose in mind by allowing trials in our lives which is to transform our lives and help us grow, and as a result to bring glory to Him. God turns things around to achieve His purpose despite the attacks.
God Doesn’t Disappear in Times of Disaster
Job had reason to feel that God disappeared and no longer cared about him if anyone did, and that his life of righteousness had been in vain. There are several places in the long debates between Job and his friends that Job complained that he felt that he had lost touch with God and couldn’t understand why He had done the things He did to him. In the midst of great sorrow and suffering our view of reality both physically and spiritually can become distorted. Yet Job knew that God hadn’t vanished; he just wanted to know how he could find Him and deal with why these things had happened. We must remember that God is still there in the midst of all of our difficulties. Mrs. Job was crushed and blurted out in despair, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!” (Job 2:9). Let’s not be too hard on her. She thought God had vanished and brought this disaster upon them, and I’d like to see one of us do better in the midst of losing all of our children in one moment of time. However, Job replied with what is the vital attitude for us in facing personal disasters and difficulties: “But he said to her, ‘You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?’ In all this Job did not sin with his lips (Job 2:10, NKJV).”
Facing or Helping Someone in the Midst of Affliction
Let me be blunt for a moment. Bad things happen to people whether they are good, bad or indifferent. Sin entered this world and with it the human heart was corrupted, and our bodies underwent the impact of the curse springing from sin. At times God’s children have experienced bad things as well for no apparent reason, no apparent sin involved, yet God allowed tragedy to strike their lives. How do we respond to someone who faces such times? True, Job’s experience was extreme but sadly not unique. What do we do when a Christian young woman is raped in the church parking lot? What about when a child with a severe disability to believing parents? What about when children who are raped, abused, kidnapped, tortured, or killed in a horrible accident or by a wicked person? What about when someone following what they believed was God’s will sees their life come apart at the seams as a result, or so it appears? What about a man or woman who loses their spouse and is left alone to care for their young children or family? How do you comfort a teenager who was perfectly healthy one minute and in a moment of time breaks their neck or some other tragic event and is paralyzed for the rest of their lives? These are not just the imaginings of your author, but these are all things that have really happened to God’s people for no known reason, no explanation, and no sin on their part. What do we do?
Job’s comforters as they should have been. This late spring brought the tragic death of the son of our log-time pastor, who left behind a wife, a two year old and a baby on the way. Another couple of months later my cousin died in her lat 30s after a long, difficult battle with M.S. The first thing I did was to go to the card section of our store and look through the condolence section to send to the families involved. I discovered that as well meaning as these cards are, many of them are preachy or telling the grieving person to buck up and get back on the road to normal. What do people need when in the midst of difficulty like this? What Job’s comforter’s did at first when they arrived to console him:
Now when Job's three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, each one came from his own place — Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. For they had made an appointment together to come and mourn with him, and to comfort him. And when they raised their eyes from afar, and did not recognize him, they lifted their voices and wept; and each one tore his robe and sprinkled dust on his head toward heaven. So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great (Job 2:11-13, NJKV).
We often feel compelled to say something, to have some brilliant cliché to share or to proclaim the Scriptures to someone in the midst of their grief and loss, but that isn’t always the best. The best is to be there for them, to cry with, pray with, listen to, and help those who suffer. There is nothing wrong with weeping with those who weep, and in fact we are commanded to just as much as we are to rejoice with those who rejoice (Romans 12:15). We are also to “Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2, NKJV). A friend of ours told my wife and I about a great little book that was of help to her at a time of great grief in her life, which we now carry in our store, Letter to a Grieving Heart. It begins as follows:[1]
I am so sorry you have to face life with this kind of wound. I don’t have any answers. Or any magic words.
In fact, I would rather sit or walk with you for a silent hour than fill your ears with words that would ring hollow and fall so short of real comfort. I would rather do your dishes. Or restock your refrigerator. Or write out the checks to pay your bills, answer your phone, or take care of other mundane details…
Don’t accept or jump to conclusions. Job’s friends made the mistake after their consoling him of thinking that it was their job to get Job back right with God. They proceeded under total assumption, not fact, to try and “fix” things. We also have a tendency when things go wrong to blame ourselves, to think God is punishing us, or whatever myriad things that Satan would use to crush our conscience and heart in the midst of grief. Certainly we must make sure there are no un-confessed sins that might be in our lives and should confess them to the Lord as soon as we’re aware of them (1 John 1:9) but it is wrong to automatically assume that our suffering is the result of some sin we are being punished for, or that our goodness and righteous living is a guarantee against such things either. Consider some of these “Job-servations” about the wrong assumptions made both by Job himself and his friends regarding his suffering:
Job’s feelings: Job felt his life had been in vain and worthless, and wished he had never been born because of the suffering that took place. Yet we see throughout the book that Job continued to maintain that he had followed God and couldn’t understand why this happened to him. There are glimpses of hope mixed in with his great sorrow, but he still had lessons himself to learn about these things. He seemed to be riding a roller coaster of emotion from confidence to deepest despair, and for those in grief or great suffering this is completely typical. It is called being human. Don’t let others condemn you or make you doubt God either because of your humanity. He is gracious to us and remembers that we are but dust, a failing dirt clod with life breathed into it! (Psalm 103:8-14). Sadly, Job’s comforters, despite being human themselves, were far from humane in their treatment of Job’s suffering.
Job’s friends’ beliefs and accusations: Job’s buddies believed that his children all died because of either Job’s or their own unrighteousness or sin, and that righteous living will help Job to get back to the person he should be and experience God’s blessing again. Despite his protests that he knew of nothing that he had done wrong, they continued to accuse and accelerate their attacks on him. This is not the way to help someone in the midst of their difficulty and grief. Let them express their feelings. It isn’t the time to debate. Remind them of your love for them and for goodness sake don’t jump to conclusions that you know nothing about. Be there for them and don’t judge them. Leave your philosophizing at home and watch what you say. Remember in the end it was Job’s friends who needed prayer to avoid big troubles because of their treatment of him!
Glimpses of Hope and God
At the end of this long book of debate on human suffering, God stepped in and redirected both Job and his “comforters,” but guess what? God had been there all along! He never went anywhere. He was there when Satan asked permission to wipe Job out, and despite the great suffering allowed, God had His hand on the thermostat of Job’s life. God was there when He allowed the destruction of a man’s family and life. He was there when Job collapsed, yet not into utter despair, but in worship of the God who remained true and worthy despite the fall of all else in Job’s life. Be clear that you understand that God gets no pleasure from allowing His children to suffer (Lamentations 3:33), but He can gain glory and we can experience good as we endure these difficult things. Job began to gain glimpses of this in the midst of all that he had to face:
1. There is a need for a mediator between us and God, one who can lay his hand on us both and relate to what we have gone through (Job 9:32-35). God loved us so much that He provided us that Mediator, Jesus Christ, who has been through our human experience so He an come to our salvation and aid in the midst of our sorrows; He is a God who has drawn us near and is not far from understanding our weaknesses, our sorrows, our pain (see 1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 2:18; 4:15-16).
2. There is something beyond this human difficulty, and that is unexplainable hope. In one of the most famous passages of the Old Testament, in fact one I read some years ago at my grandmother’s funeral, is Job 19:25-27: “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; and after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God, Whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me! (NKJV)” We have the great assurance that as His child we have a hope beyond this life and its sorrows. One day we will all be transformed from this rough glory to true Glory when we see Him as He is, and that is in itself a source of great hope (1 John 3:1-3). We must take on an eternal focus and not on these temporal although painful difficulties (2 Corinthians 4:16-18). As the author of Hebrews put it, “And so, dear brothers and sisters who belong to God and are partners with those called to heaven, think carefully about this Jesus whom we declare to be God's messenger and High Priest” (Hebrews 3:1, New Living Translation). This High Priest knows your sorrow and pain. Because of His help and through confidence in Him despite the rain pouring on your life, “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7, NKJV).
3. One final lesson Job learned that brings us past our sufferings and trials to renewed hope is in how God responded in the end of this long book and what it teaches us: God is still God, is still in control, and is still good and worthy of worship despite what our circumstances may tell us. Job 38:1 tells us that God answered Job out of the whirlwind, out of the very thing that had brought destruction and pain to his life. Some of the things that God reminded Job of were that He was creator of all and master of all creation, His careful care of all He created, His great power and sovereignty, and most of all His being beyond our full understanding and “figuring out.” Job had heard what he needed to hear to accept that this was God’s best, repented of all of his self-righteous thoughts and struggles in grief, and God, out of grace, restored him. We may not always have the complete restoration that Job did, receiving double of all he lost materially, but we will receive double the growth and peace and joy in the Lord that we had before affliction and other difficulties hit our lives. Remember that the refining process of anything valuable involves that the heat be turned way up, melting away the dross of our lives, and if God has allowed such trials to hit your life, you must be pretty valuable to Him.
[1] Billy Sprague, Letter to a Grieving Heart (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2001), p. 5.
© 2008, Thomas Klock, Psalm 72:8 Communications Services, Cambria CA 93428. All Rights Reserved.
It is at times like these that our faith is put to its most significant test and our trust in God is challenged. Yet it is also in these times that we find out how God can amazingly enable and equip us to endure, and how He works despite the gloom that would engulf us. What was Job’s response to this day of gloom, death, and horrific loss? “Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. And he said: ‘Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.’ In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong” (Job 1:20-22, NKJV). How could he react this way? It is because Job knew his God and had his heart in the right place, as broken as it was. Let’s consider some of the things we need to keep in mind from Job’s experience when we face trials and difficulties, as well as how (and how not) to respond to those who are facing such trials and grief.
Remember the Source of Spiritual Attack
Job’s troubles began with accusation by Satan before God’s throne one ominous day. Satan asked for permission to do all he could to bring down this man of God and, as shocking as it is to us, God gave him permission to attack Job within certain limits. Satan’s goal is to wipe us out with our trials, but God will only let things go so far because He knows what we can handle, and He controls the thermostat when things get hot! God has a better purpose in mind by allowing trials in our lives which is to transform our lives and help us grow, and as a result to bring glory to Him. God turns things around to achieve His purpose despite the attacks.
God Doesn’t Disappear in Times of Disaster
Job had reason to feel that God disappeared and no longer cared about him if anyone did, and that his life of righteousness had been in vain. There are several places in the long debates between Job and his friends that Job complained that he felt that he had lost touch with God and couldn’t understand why He had done the things He did to him. In the midst of great sorrow and suffering our view of reality both physically and spiritually can become distorted. Yet Job knew that God hadn’t vanished; he just wanted to know how he could find Him and deal with why these things had happened. We must remember that God is still there in the midst of all of our difficulties. Mrs. Job was crushed and blurted out in despair, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!” (Job 2:9). Let’s not be too hard on her. She thought God had vanished and brought this disaster upon them, and I’d like to see one of us do better in the midst of losing all of our children in one moment of time. However, Job replied with what is the vital attitude for us in facing personal disasters and difficulties: “But he said to her, ‘You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?’ In all this Job did not sin with his lips (Job 2:10, NKJV).”
Facing or Helping Someone in the Midst of Affliction
Let me be blunt for a moment. Bad things happen to people whether they are good, bad or indifferent. Sin entered this world and with it the human heart was corrupted, and our bodies underwent the impact of the curse springing from sin. At times God’s children have experienced bad things as well for no apparent reason, no apparent sin involved, yet God allowed tragedy to strike their lives. How do we respond to someone who faces such times? True, Job’s experience was extreme but sadly not unique. What do we do when a Christian young woman is raped in the church parking lot? What about when a child with a severe disability to believing parents? What about when children who are raped, abused, kidnapped, tortured, or killed in a horrible accident or by a wicked person? What about when someone following what they believed was God’s will sees their life come apart at the seams as a result, or so it appears? What about a man or woman who loses their spouse and is left alone to care for their young children or family? How do you comfort a teenager who was perfectly healthy one minute and in a moment of time breaks their neck or some other tragic event and is paralyzed for the rest of their lives? These are not just the imaginings of your author, but these are all things that have really happened to God’s people for no known reason, no explanation, and no sin on their part. What do we do?
Job’s comforters as they should have been. This late spring brought the tragic death of the son of our log-time pastor, who left behind a wife, a two year old and a baby on the way. Another couple of months later my cousin died in her lat 30s after a long, difficult battle with M.S. The first thing I did was to go to the card section of our store and look through the condolence section to send to the families involved. I discovered that as well meaning as these cards are, many of them are preachy or telling the grieving person to buck up and get back on the road to normal. What do people need when in the midst of difficulty like this? What Job’s comforter’s did at first when they arrived to console him:
Now when Job's three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, each one came from his own place — Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. For they had made an appointment together to come and mourn with him, and to comfort him. And when they raised their eyes from afar, and did not recognize him, they lifted their voices and wept; and each one tore his robe and sprinkled dust on his head toward heaven. So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great (Job 2:11-13, NJKV).
We often feel compelled to say something, to have some brilliant cliché to share or to proclaim the Scriptures to someone in the midst of their grief and loss, but that isn’t always the best. The best is to be there for them, to cry with, pray with, listen to, and help those who suffer. There is nothing wrong with weeping with those who weep, and in fact we are commanded to just as much as we are to rejoice with those who rejoice (Romans 12:15). We are also to “Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2, NKJV). A friend of ours told my wife and I about a great little book that was of help to her at a time of great grief in her life, which we now carry in our store, Letter to a Grieving Heart. It begins as follows:[1]
I am so sorry you have to face life with this kind of wound. I don’t have any answers. Or any magic words.
In fact, I would rather sit or walk with you for a silent hour than fill your ears with words that would ring hollow and fall so short of real comfort. I would rather do your dishes. Or restock your refrigerator. Or write out the checks to pay your bills, answer your phone, or take care of other mundane details…
Don’t accept or jump to conclusions. Job’s friends made the mistake after their consoling him of thinking that it was their job to get Job back right with God. They proceeded under total assumption, not fact, to try and “fix” things. We also have a tendency when things go wrong to blame ourselves, to think God is punishing us, or whatever myriad things that Satan would use to crush our conscience and heart in the midst of grief. Certainly we must make sure there are no un-confessed sins that might be in our lives and should confess them to the Lord as soon as we’re aware of them (1 John 1:9) but it is wrong to automatically assume that our suffering is the result of some sin we are being punished for, or that our goodness and righteous living is a guarantee against such things either. Consider some of these “Job-servations” about the wrong assumptions made both by Job himself and his friends regarding his suffering:
Job’s feelings: Job felt his life had been in vain and worthless, and wished he had never been born because of the suffering that took place. Yet we see throughout the book that Job continued to maintain that he had followed God and couldn’t understand why this happened to him. There are glimpses of hope mixed in with his great sorrow, but he still had lessons himself to learn about these things. He seemed to be riding a roller coaster of emotion from confidence to deepest despair, and for those in grief or great suffering this is completely typical. It is called being human. Don’t let others condemn you or make you doubt God either because of your humanity. He is gracious to us and remembers that we are but dust, a failing dirt clod with life breathed into it! (Psalm 103:8-14). Sadly, Job’s comforters, despite being human themselves, were far from humane in their treatment of Job’s suffering.
Job’s friends’ beliefs and accusations: Job’s buddies believed that his children all died because of either Job’s or their own unrighteousness or sin, and that righteous living will help Job to get back to the person he should be and experience God’s blessing again. Despite his protests that he knew of nothing that he had done wrong, they continued to accuse and accelerate their attacks on him. This is not the way to help someone in the midst of their difficulty and grief. Let them express their feelings. It isn’t the time to debate. Remind them of your love for them and for goodness sake don’t jump to conclusions that you know nothing about. Be there for them and don’t judge them. Leave your philosophizing at home and watch what you say. Remember in the end it was Job’s friends who needed prayer to avoid big troubles because of their treatment of him!
Glimpses of Hope and God
At the end of this long book of debate on human suffering, God stepped in and redirected both Job and his “comforters,” but guess what? God had been there all along! He never went anywhere. He was there when Satan asked permission to wipe Job out, and despite the great suffering allowed, God had His hand on the thermostat of Job’s life. God was there when He allowed the destruction of a man’s family and life. He was there when Job collapsed, yet not into utter despair, but in worship of the God who remained true and worthy despite the fall of all else in Job’s life. Be clear that you understand that God gets no pleasure from allowing His children to suffer (Lamentations 3:33), but He can gain glory and we can experience good as we endure these difficult things. Job began to gain glimpses of this in the midst of all that he had to face:
1. There is a need for a mediator between us and God, one who can lay his hand on us both and relate to what we have gone through (Job 9:32-35). God loved us so much that He provided us that Mediator, Jesus Christ, who has been through our human experience so He an come to our salvation and aid in the midst of our sorrows; He is a God who has drawn us near and is not far from understanding our weaknesses, our sorrows, our pain (see 1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 2:18; 4:15-16).
2. There is something beyond this human difficulty, and that is unexplainable hope. In one of the most famous passages of the Old Testament, in fact one I read some years ago at my grandmother’s funeral, is Job 19:25-27: “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; and after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God, Whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me! (NKJV)” We have the great assurance that as His child we have a hope beyond this life and its sorrows. One day we will all be transformed from this rough glory to true Glory when we see Him as He is, and that is in itself a source of great hope (1 John 3:1-3). We must take on an eternal focus and not on these temporal although painful difficulties (2 Corinthians 4:16-18). As the author of Hebrews put it, “And so, dear brothers and sisters who belong to God and are partners with those called to heaven, think carefully about this Jesus whom we declare to be God's messenger and High Priest” (Hebrews 3:1, New Living Translation). This High Priest knows your sorrow and pain. Because of His help and through confidence in Him despite the rain pouring on your life, “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7, NKJV).
3. One final lesson Job learned that brings us past our sufferings and trials to renewed hope is in how God responded in the end of this long book and what it teaches us: God is still God, is still in control, and is still good and worthy of worship despite what our circumstances may tell us. Job 38:1 tells us that God answered Job out of the whirlwind, out of the very thing that had brought destruction and pain to his life. Some of the things that God reminded Job of were that He was creator of all and master of all creation, His careful care of all He created, His great power and sovereignty, and most of all His being beyond our full understanding and “figuring out.” Job had heard what he needed to hear to accept that this was God’s best, repented of all of his self-righteous thoughts and struggles in grief, and God, out of grace, restored him. We may not always have the complete restoration that Job did, receiving double of all he lost materially, but we will receive double the growth and peace and joy in the Lord that we had before affliction and other difficulties hit our lives. Remember that the refining process of anything valuable involves that the heat be turned way up, melting away the dross of our lives, and if God has allowed such trials to hit your life, you must be pretty valuable to Him.
[1] Billy Sprague, Letter to a Grieving Heart (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2001), p. 5.
© 2008, Thomas Klock, Psalm 72:8 Communications Services, Cambria CA 93428. All Rights Reserved.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Serving and Stinky Feet
Just a couple of thoughts today. This morning I read a passage that has always amazed me: “Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded” (John 13:3-6, NKJV).
Imagine that: God in human form come down, taking the form of the lowest slave of His day and washing filthy feet! He went on later to tell His followers that He did this to set the example for them that the way of love means to love as He loved, to serve as He served, to deny ourselves. I just finished reading a book on what it was like to be a Christian in the 2nd Century A.D. There was no room for petty disagreements, for seeking self-promotion, but denying self for the sake of others, for “washing the feet” of one another in love, not playing a religious game. Perhaps that’s what missing in the church today: A little self-denial out of love!
So, washed any feet lately?
Imagine that: God in human form come down, taking the form of the lowest slave of His day and washing filthy feet! He went on later to tell His followers that He did this to set the example for them that the way of love means to love as He loved, to serve as He served, to deny ourselves. I just finished reading a book on what it was like to be a Christian in the 2nd Century A.D. There was no room for petty disagreements, for seeking self-promotion, but denying self for the sake of others, for “washing the feet” of one another in love, not playing a religious game. Perhaps that’s what missing in the church today: A little self-denial out of love!
So, washed any feet lately?
Monday, September 14, 2009
What's in a Name?
“The memory of the righteous is blessed, but the name of the wicked will rot” (Proverbs 10:7, NKJV). This odd passage from my recently devotions keeps coming back to my mind. How true it is though even as we consider those that we have known personally or heard about in history. Later in that same book the writer records that a good name is better than the greatest earthly riches we can accumulate (Proverbs 22:1). It makes me wonder how people will remember me…will the recalling of my name and my life bless someone or will it be like rottenness to them? The Bible Knowledge Commentary well said: “even thinking about righteous people of the past can be a source of spiritual blessing. By contrast most people want to forget the wicked. Like their character, even their names are corrupt, rotting like a corpse.”
So what makes for a great name, one that when recalled by others results in a blessing to them, not making them angry or sick? There are two things, the first of which is having a right heart. Jesus said that out of the heart the mouth speaks, whether good or bad (Matthew 12:34-35). If our heart is right before Him, that which proceeds out of us will reflect that to others that our lives touch. Such a life will be bearing fruit that is good and pleasing, not rotten and disgusting, and our communication and relationships with others will reflect that (Galatians 5:19-26). Secondly is having the right focus, not on things that discourage and tear down but on the things that are true, good, and focused on the eternal outlook rather than the temporary struggles of life (2 Corinthians 4:17-18; Philippians 4:8). Having the right focus also exudes from a person as others around see a living example that is worth the remembering. It is hard to earn a rotten name when you have God’s goodness and joy overflowing from your life to others!
It isn’t necessarily the great works one does that makes a life worth a blessed memory, and certainly not how rich one was or what achievements they accomplished. It also isn’t a perfectly lived life, but one that aimed to be the best example that they could that we remember pleasantly. So the question remains: How will I be remembered? How will you? What are we going to do differently to leave a legacy of joy rather than of disgust, or just as bad, be completely forgotten by those we leave behind? I encourage you to, along with me, seek starting today to leave behind a name that will be well remembered for all the right reasons.
So what makes for a great name, one that when recalled by others results in a blessing to them, not making them angry or sick? There are two things, the first of which is having a right heart. Jesus said that out of the heart the mouth speaks, whether good or bad (Matthew 12:34-35). If our heart is right before Him, that which proceeds out of us will reflect that to others that our lives touch. Such a life will be bearing fruit that is good and pleasing, not rotten and disgusting, and our communication and relationships with others will reflect that (Galatians 5:19-26). Secondly is having the right focus, not on things that discourage and tear down but on the things that are true, good, and focused on the eternal outlook rather than the temporary struggles of life (2 Corinthians 4:17-18; Philippians 4:8). Having the right focus also exudes from a person as others around see a living example that is worth the remembering. It is hard to earn a rotten name when you have God’s goodness and joy overflowing from your life to others!
It isn’t necessarily the great works one does that makes a life worth a blessed memory, and certainly not how rich one was or what achievements they accomplished. It also isn’t a perfectly lived life, but one that aimed to be the best example that they could that we remember pleasantly. So the question remains: How will I be remembered? How will you? What are we going to do differently to leave a legacy of joy rather than of disgust, or just as bad, be completely forgotten by those we leave behind? I encourage you to, along with me, seek starting today to leave behind a name that will be well remembered for all the right reasons.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Welcome Aboard
Hello everyone! I have been thinking of returning to the world of blogging after doing a much more complex website in the past. I am sitting here reflecting on the week, the summer now past, and the uniqueness of the whole thing. In this new blog I hope to share with you all simple lessons learned in this and other experiences here in the Central Coast, as well as updates and news. If you know me, I have always been a bit on the philosophical side, thinking a lot more than speaking, and then when I do speak about things it is either too quickly or well thought out, not much in between. I was challenged today in the Scriptures to better use my speech and to be more purposeful in it, so I hope and pray that this will be something that will do so effectively. The name "Klockworks" refers obviously to my last name and what God is working out in and through me. So enjoy these things and I hope that you are blessed and that I can be of help to you even in some small way.
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