Food
For Thought
By:
Rev. Shirley D. Heermance
PRAYING TO OVERCOME
WHAT COMES OUT OF THE BLUE!
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Have you ever been seriously impacted by a situation that came from "Out of The Blue?" You know what I mean, when something happens that surprises you and it seemed to have come from out of nowhere. Have you ever had something to take you completely by surprise, and that something sent you reeling out of control? Life is filled with all kinds of unexpected situations, some that are full of blessings and others ... let me just say, quite the contrary. It's those things that come out of the blue that might cause you hardship, that I want to briefly address as food for thought.
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In the Bible there is a chapter inserted in the Old Testament, written by a man named Job, who found himself face to face with unimaginable hardship that came out of the blue! In his story He lost everything in a series of fatal swoops: his wealth, his children, his livestock, his marriage, his friends, his prestige, his health, everything but his life and his faith in God. I warn you, if you have never heard of Job's experiences, when you read it, you might find it to be one of the most compelling surprises that has ever impacted the life of any one human being. The circumstances of Job's life after the unexpected and astonishing events, that came out of the blue, forced him into a place of reckoning. He found himself so overwhelmed with what was happening to him and was unable to understand the "why me" of it all. Without warning Job's life spiraled downward, so quickly that he could see no way of recovery. It didn't get any better for him as he talked with his wife and friends. She told him to "curse God and die" which is of course what the devil wanted him to do and was the source of Job's trouble, and his friends blamed him for what was happening in his life, without the desire to console or to support him. When all else failed, there was only one thing left for Job to do, and that was to pray.
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In Job's story he talked with God about what came to him out of the blue. He pleaded his case and appealed to God's mercy. Job talked to God and told him all about his sudden struggles, about the circumstances that had so strongly affected him that he wanted to die. But in the end, because of his faith in God, Job found that prayer changes things. In Job's story it reminds us that sometimes really bad things can come out of the blue to affect really good people. In fact, his story is a reminder that all of humanity (the good, bad, and contrary of humankind) are all subjected to the same things. Everyone potentially can be overwhelmed by the unexpected, which sometimes can be unbearable, like Job with no way to see how to survive after the surprise.
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So it is, if you are faced, while reading this article with the unexpected and you don't know how to see your way through. If you have almost decided to give up or to give in, I want to encourage you not to but instead pray to overcome whatever has come out of the blue to you. Pray for reconciliation and for understanding, if you need it and God will impart it to you. Pray for restoration and peace and the Lord will provide for you all that you need.
Though you may not be able to understand all that you are going through, or why, I pray that you might see with your own circumstances that God is still in control. What you are going through may not seem fair, but God is. You may have been broken because of what you are going through, but God can fix what's broken in you. Trust Him, and no matter what, don't doubt or turn your back on Him and God will see you through whatever came out of the blue and has negatively impacted you.
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DREAM THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM
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Isaiah 54:1-10 MSG
St. Luke 12:29-32