Power Off... Power On!

Our power suddenly blinked out this morning just as I was getting started on my Bible Study.  If you haven’t guessed it by now, this is one of my favorite times of the day.  The house and neighborhood are quiet, the heater is beginning to chase away the morning chill and it’s just me, God, a cup of coffee and Fiver lounging on the leather love seat behind me, as he keeps an alert eye on the cul-de-sac out the window!

But the power outage really did nothing to affect my study as my computer, displaying my eSword Bible Study program, automatically switched over to battery power and the light pouring in from the large window to my left, gave me more than adequate light for my note taking.

Over the weekend I felt led to look at a scripture found in the book of Job that really excited me.  The thoughts of “excitement” and the book of Job don’t usually go together in my mind, and in fact… Job is probably one of the least worn sections in any of my Bibles!  But this verse was different.  At the end of the book, the writer makes an amazing statement that I decided to take personally, for it encouraged me in a special way and put a smile on my face that seem to last for the rest of the weekend!

After all the shock, pain and heartbreak that Job had gone through, his perseverance in sticking with the Lord paid off when it was documented that “the LORD blessed the latter years of Job’s life more than the earlier years.” (Job 42:12 God’s Word ©)

Let me explain a little… I had determined to take down the Christmas tree and pack up all the Christmas decorations on Saturday afternoon.  And what began as a simple task turned into an emotional fiasco!  The first thing that hit me as I began to take off the ornaments on the tree was that Piper and I will NEVER set up and enjoy that tree together again.  Then as I probably mentioned in a previous blog post, a good many of the hand-crafted ornaments that we have hung every year since our first few Christmas’ together, were love-gifts given to Piper by her students at the large Christian pre-school where she taught in the early years of our marriage.

So, all the precious memories of those years before we started our family, came flooding back to me… and needless to say… I became very sentimental, to the point of tears.  Then there were all the ornaments that our kids had made, the family stockings and… well… you can figure out the rest!

That’s why that particular scripture was so well received by me.  When I first read it, I was feeling kind of sensitive, feeling a bit sorry for myself and was tending to see myself as the wasted guy sitting in the bar with Job and agreeing with his sad, sob story (although I can honestly say that I have never had a drink in a bar)!

I’ve noticed that one of the primary thoughts that come to haunt me when those times of sorrow hit, is the overwhelming feeling of being lost without any purpose or meaning to life.  But that verse nailed it as I immediately felt as if the Lord, like with Job, was telling me that… SOMEHOW and SOMEWAY… my latter years would turn out to be even better than my earlier ones when Piper was at my side!

And speaking of being overwhelmed, I have to admit that I was more than a little confused with the thought of that seemingly outlandish and impossible statement!  I mean… How could life for me, possibly be any better than it was with Piper?  But that questionable thinking was quickly quenched when I remembered another scripture found in Luke 18:27 in The Passion Translation when “Jesus responded, ‘What appears humanly impossible is more than possible with God. For God can do what man cannot.’”

So… at that point I made the decision to walk in faith, to put my trust completely in His Word, to not rely on my own opinion (See Proverbs 3:5) and let Him do WHATEVER and HOWEVER that He wanted to do in and with my life… and (do my best to) NOT WORRY about it anymore!

And you know what else?  I am also learning that this same advice and course of action can be… and SHOULD BE taken when it comes to the current atmosphere of confusion, fear and deception that seems to be running rampant in our nation’s capital, where people are saying one thing while physically doing the complete opposite… and then blaming the other party for exactly what they are guilty of!

It looks and sounds like everything is falling apart, but as with my personal lesson this weekend, I firmly believe that God is NOT done yet and will always have the final say!  For once again, as Jesus Himself stated: “The things that are impossible for people to do are possible for God to do." (Luke 18:27 God’s Word ©)

That’s what I believe and in Whom I have set the expectation of my faith.  How about you?  And like I found out once again this morning… EVERYTIME the power has gone out in my home… It will always (eventually) come back on!  (What’s that saying about keeping the switch of faith turned on?)

Have a great rest of the week and keep expecting God’s best in your life today!