Every work of God is for a definite purpose for it is linked to the other pieces of His Divine plan for the universe. Everyone born on the earth in a specific family, a certain place and in unique circumstances is placed with a specific role and purpose to perform in that specific scenario. All that is needed for that assigned task is fully provided in advance by God for He never expects anyone to deliver beyond his/her capabilities. Only those are, however, successful who diligently follow the chosen path and fully utilize the given resources without complaining about lack and overload.
Why do we suffer in ignorance? The Israelites were carried away captive to Babylon and they were being told by various prophets about God rescuing them and taking them back to Jerusalem. God is a loving Father who is always actively involved in the lives of His children and not some tyrant (Jeremiah 29:11). Before creating Adam and Eve, God created everything on the earth in the Garden of Eden that they would need to live a comfortable life. In the land of Havilah there was gold and precious stones also and they had all the created beings to help them in their task of expanding the existing resources (Genesis 2:11-12). After His work of creation ‘God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good’. On review He noticed the loneliness of Adam and immediately decided to correct that ‘to make a helper suitable to him’ (Genesis 2:18). The helper was also to be suitable and a fitting companion.
What is God’s plan for mankind? In addition to making all provisions for them for a comfortable life so that they could worship God, He visited them also every evening. The warning about the forbidden fruit was that eating it will cause death (Genesis 2:17&25). Till sin came there was no death and since death would have a cause, usually sickness, that was also not there. Adam and Eve were not ashamed of their nakedness, because there was not supposed to be anything that would cause shame or guilt. The prophecy about establishment of the rule of the Messiah declares there will be no violence by any wild beasts also and that ‘they shall not hurt or destroy on My holy mountain’. Even the wild beasts will also become docile. Then ‘there shall be no more curse, (that entered after sin), but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him’ (Revelation 22:5). God will be with His people and not visiting them in the evening as in the Garden of Eden.
With sin, the ‘very good’ creation of God was ruined and the first murder was committed by Cain of his brother Abel, who also tried to hide it from the All-knowing God. Just like Adam and Eve were told about the consequences of their sin, God told Cain also the same. Since earth was forced to accept the blood of the innocent Abel, the curse was also ‘from the earth’ only, who ‘will no longer yield its strength’ to him and those of his kind (Genesis 4:10-12). He will be deprived of protection and a permanent shelter and be a ‘fugitive and a vagabond’. Even then God heard his cry of fear for his life from anyone who found him, God promised that ‘whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold’ (Genesis 4:15).
The Angel of the LORD told Manoah’s barren wife that she will bear a son and ‘no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazrite to God from the womb’ (Judges 13:5). Samson was to ‘deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines’. He repeatedly lived sinfully, yet God used him to judge Israel for twenty years. Delilah tried to hand him over to the Philistines by getting to know the secret of his great strength and finally he told her and was blinded and captured by the enemy (Judges 16:19-30). God still did not abandon him and heard his prayer in the temple of the Philistines god Dagon, ‘O LORD God, remember me, I pray! Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two blind eyes’. God did and he could push against the two pillars that supported the building, ‘with all his might, and the temple fell on the lords, and all the people who were in it’.
All the fruits on the earth were there in the Garden of Eden but Eve and then Adam also felt the strong urge to disobey God and eat the only one fruit that they were not supposed to eat. The Old Testament is filled with numerous stories of man, individually and as a community rebelling against God’s commands. But every time that they turned to God, He was ready to forgive and help them start afresh. The words ‘they did evil in the sight of the LORD their God’ are found seven times in the one book of Judges only. On the other extreme, we find God telling His people that they rob Him ‘in tithes and offerings’ and then we are told the result of that (Malachi 3:8-9). God declares, ‘You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me’ and this is about our poor financial management and then we cry out to God to get us out of debts. Most preachers do not talk on this subject for they do not want to be termed as seekers of money from their congregations.
Apostle James, the brother of our Lord Jesus was the head of the first Church that was founded in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost. He teaches about the basic living way for any believer, ‘to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin’ (James 4:17). How many of us are culprits in these two commands alone and then blame God for letting them down by not answering their prayers. The essential principle of receiving is to let go of what you are holding, empty your hands to get hold of what is being given by God. I received a call from a woman in New Zealand about her marriage, for the person she was living with for the past sometime did not want to marry her. She is reluctant to leave him for she may not get someone else. How can God or anyone help someone who is not willing to live by the standards set by God and then seek Him to answer. We want to live in the world by worldly standards but desire best gifts from heaven without following heavenly ways. The devil whom a sinful person comes only to ‘steal, and to kill, and to destroy’ (John 10:10). God never forces anyone to follow Him, we have the choice, whom to follow.
Walking in the plan of God even with sinful nature – Committing any sin is a choice but God in His love is merciful to forgive when we confess and repent of it (1 John 1:9). The love of God is revealed in His Son, ‘for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life’ (John 3:16). God loved the world as it was when His Son became Man and the life style of the people is not any better today. But as it was then even so it is now, salvation is for all those who believe in Him. When Lord Jesus became Man, He was well aware of what awaited Him on the earth; rejection by His own people, ridicule, continuous criticism, being linked to the devil and of being his agent, torture, humiliation, crucifiction and all that humanity could bring on Him. Yet He came to give us ‘life and that too abundantly’ (John 10:10).
Then and now people were weighed down by the burden of trying to please God and earn salvation through their own deeds. In most cases this became more a show of holy and righteous living than actually doing so. Lord Jesus, in a parable, told about the self-acclaimed righteousness of a Pharisee who virtually put God in his debt through his testimony (Luke 18:10-13). On the other hand the tax-collector admitted his sinful nature and sought God’s mercy and compassion. Lord Jesus called out to such people who knew and admitted their sins and sought forgiveness. He called out to them, ‘Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest’ from your self-efforts to please God (Matthew 11:28). All those who carry the weight of self-efforts to hear God’s approval and get into a close relationship, are called by the Lord.
John the Baptist identified the Lord as ‘the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’ (John 1:29). At noon time when the sins of all of humanity, committed in darkness, started to be heaped on the Son of God on the cross, ‘there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. Then the sun was darkened’ (Luke 23:44-45). The Passover festival is celebrated only during a full moon and solar eclipse occurs during new moon time only. The scene of our darkness heaped on the Son of God was so evil that the loving Father turned His face from His only beloved Son and the Saviour Lord cried out in His loneliness (Matthew 27:46).
Apostle Paul confidently declares that God ‘has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins’ (Colossians 1:13-14). The Son of God declared on the cross ‘It is finished’ (John 19:30) but anyone who continues to believe otherwise will keep suffering. The first step of release from sin and suffering is to believe that the Word of God is true, then receive it as such and finally start living in faith. Even Adam and Eve could hear God and not see Him for nobody has nor can see Him. The basic and most important command to mankind is ‘Shema’ or hear (Deuteronomy 6:4). The voice of God from heaven at the Transfiguration of Lord Jesus also commanded the same ‘Hear Him’ (Luke 9:35). The sin of Eve was to heed to her senses and eat the fruit and since then mankind has been following the senses rather than actually listening to the voice of God through His Spirit. But faith does not come in any other way except ‘hearing by the Word of God’ (Romans 10:17).
Joshua was given the key to ‘make his way prosperous’ and have good success by not letting the ‘Book of the Law’ depart from his mouth (Joshua 1:8). When we speak the Word and our ears hear that, our mind and heart receive, absorb and then follow the Word. Not only this, the only weapon of attack in the armor of God is ‘the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God’ (Ephesians 6:17). The Greek word used for sword is ‘machaira’ meaning a ‘slaughter-knife, dagger of short sword’ which is used in close battle for stabbing. Lord Jesus used this same sword to stab the devil away by quoting the Word of God to him (Matthew 4:3-11). Studying, meditating upon, understanding and living by the Sword of God is the way to escape the enemy and remain in a blessed state.
Why do we suffer despite God’s plan and promises for us? Gideon was told by the Angel of the LORD, Lord Jesus, ‘The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valour!’ (Judges 6:12). God allowed Himself to be tested twice before Gideon could move to ‘blow the trumpet’ to call the Israelites to join him. 32,000 came but at God’s call, twenty two thousand who were fearful went back. – Even from the remaining God chose only 300 to join the fight. To strengthen the faith of Gideon, God even sent him, during the night, to the Midianites camp to hear the conversation of two enemy soldiers. God is willing to ensure the victory of His people in every situation they face, which in any case is never beyond them and also provides a way of escape (1 Corinthians 10:13)
It is believed that at the Red Sea, Moses moved His staff and hit the water but nothing happened. Then a young man Nahshon, from the tribe of Judah moved forward into the water till the water reached his nose level and he was about to drown, but he did not stop. Suddenly the sea parted because God honoured his faith and the Israelites could cross over into safety. After feeding the five thousand men and their families, Lord Jesus stayed back to pray on the mountain. But on seeing the disciples struggling to cross due to a storm, just before dawn, He walked on the water to help them. Apostle Peter sought permission from the Lord to step out of the boat to go to Him on water and in faith he did Matthew 14:28-29). Our faith must be put into action, for without that we may remain stuck in our situation.
What we speak influences our life more than we realize, for ‘death and life are in the power of the tongue’ (Proverbs 18:21). What we speak is based on what we believe and though we pray to the Lord to help but then immediately start planning for alternatives, we are not expecting an answer. God wants to give His best to us and we are assured by our Lord of oneness, ‘I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you’ (John 14:20). When we are grafted into the True Vine we are also grafted into God the Father and any situation troubling His children will directly hurt Him also and He wants to get us out of our troubles. Asa, the king of Judah was a good king and followed God’s commands and removed the ‘altars of the foreign gods’ (2 Chronicles 14:2-3). What dominates our thoughts for long becomes our god and we are always trying to please him by thinking about him. We are to love the LORD our God ‘with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength’ (Mark 12:30).He must dominate my thoughts, my desires and my intentions and I must use all at my disposal to His glory and for this I have to remove some things from within me. Once I start doing this, He becomes my focus and I am capable of walking in water and achieving my destiny.
Only the one who walks in God’s ways in obedience to His Word enters into and remains in the place of His blessings; the one who maintains a close relationship with God through meditating upon His Word. Without faith it is impossible to please God and faith also is a gift from Him. The closer we move to God, the more we are filled with the light of His glory and His blessings bring joy into our life!
