By Mary Lindow

Last year on December 21^st 2020 (which was the 1^st Day of Winter) Steve and I drove to pick up salads for our dinner. It had been a challenging month having just had his Mother pass into heaven while in WuhanCovid-19 lockdowns in a nursing facility. 

 

To be honest, we were a little weary and tender in heart, and still had preparations to do for our Family Christmas Day dinner and celebration with our Son Joel and his wife Angela and our 4 Grandchildren. Our youngest son Tim and his wife Liz were in Texas with her family. This had also been during the most severe time of lockdowns and restrictions in our State.

Everything felt hard, and dark, and mean.

 

As we were driving away after picking up salads,

my sister texted and asked if we were going to look for

the  “Christmas Star”,

Or, the two planet convergence taking place that evening at dusk. I had wanted to see this and had forgotten! So we aimed the car West and watched the sky!

 

We live at an altitude of 5290 feet above sea level and have a glorious view of the Colorado Rocky Mountains. At this specific time of year the sun sits at a very low angle in the western sky and when it dips behind the mountains, there is an almost greenish-aqua reflective light, and at 5:15 MDST we saw the "Christmas Star" or two planets very closely spaced together (to human eyes) start to take shape in the Western sky.

 

We quickly drove to a favorite hilltop location, not too far from our home where we often go to walk and enjoy a complete 360-degree view of our surrounding area and state. We thought that at night and away from city lights we’d have a great place to see this phenomenon and view it away from too many people. This event marked the first time since 1623 that the two planets Saturn and Jupiter have passed this close to one another and also marked the nearly 800 years since the planets aligned at night. As a result, some have referred to the planetary alignment as forming a "Christmas star," in reference to the Star of Bethlehem, since the event falls only a few days before Christmas.

 

As we drove in thinking we’d take the dirt road up to the hill where there was a parking area, all around us there were HUNDREDS of people parked on the dirt driveway up the hill and on the side streets of the neighborhood surrounding it!

 

HUNDREDS of people were standing on the hill, looking Westward and upward, looking for the "Christmas Star".

The most unusual thing was taking place though.

There was a hushed "awe" in this big crowd.

 

People were either talking low or they were whispering, as if this was a sacred moment not to be disrespected by loud noises. No one was talking on his or her cell phones! WOW!

 

You could feel the questions and the cries and thoughts of those standing there watching and looking up into the sky.  You could sense the desperation of many wanting to know what to do in such and strange and dark time on planet earth and wondering why this event was taking place at this time!

 

We drove around the entirety of the hill's lower neighborhood road,

looking in amazement at all of the people, and a sudden wave

of what I would call "travail" moved me to tears and prayer.

 

Steve and I began to cry out the Father to touch the souls of those looking up into the sky, knowing that all of them are fully aware of the troubled days that they were living in. We prayed that they would risk and speak from their weary hearts to the God who hung those radiant planets that were glowing in the sky, just for them, just at this very moment in time.

 

God SO Loves the World!

He sent his Son...

…So the world might know His full expression of deep commitment to the people He created with the tips of His fingers and the breath of His being.

 

We saw more than just the "Star" that night!  We saw people, engaging in wonder!

 

Of course we know it wasn’t "THE" Christmas Star shining so very brightly in the sky, on the longest and darkest day/night of the year! (The Winter Solstice), but doesn't the Lord create things that would show signs and wonders in the heavenlies?

 

WHY DID GOD ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN THAT NIGHT,

DURING THE CUSTOMARY SEASON ON EARTH WHERE PEOPLE CELEBRATE

THE BIRTH OF CHRIST, WHEN THE EARTH WAS IN SUCH TURMOIL?

(And still is!)

 

Because He knows that if He can use something to draw people to himself,

He will do it! 

 

Psalm 57:10-11 says,

“Your love is so extravagant it reaches to the heavens;
your faithfulness so astonishing it stretches to the sky!

Lord God, be exalted as you soar throughout the heavens.
May your shining glory be shown in the skies!
Let it be seen high above all the earth!”

 

Of course it’s was not the actual date of the birth of Jesus Christ in December,

nor was this the actual star that was seen by the shepherds and Wise men.

But God knows mankind knows the stories and that there was a Star to guide them, so, He wastes nothing in order to draw all men to himself.

 "This is what I will do in the last days— I will pour out  MY Spirit on everybody

and cause your sons and daughters to prophesy, and your young men will see visions

and your old men will experience dreams from God. 

The Holy Spirit will come upon all my servants,

men and women alike, and they will prophesy. 

I will reveal startling signs and wonders in the sky above,

and mighty miracles on the earth below.  - Acts 2:17 -19

 

These planets would be closest to each other in the sky on Dec. 21, appearing only a tenth of a degree apart but they would remain in close alignment for a few days and would be easily visible to the naked eye when looking toward the slight southwest west just after sunset on first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere.

 

NOW! THIS IS THE PART WHERE THE KINDNESS

AND SUPERNATURAL TOUCH OF GOD,

TOOK PLACE FOR STEVE AND I!

 

We had had a very intense and sad family upset with some stressed out relatives the night before and had done a bit of damage control and counseling of everyone, but our hearts were hurting over words that had been spoken and the pain that they had caused for many. (Holidays can often bring out the dysfunctions and anger in some people who tend to not address personal issues.) We gently but firmly coached a few involved to see things more accurately and to go and correct there bad choice of words and apologize. They did, but the upset left everyone feeling grieved and raw.

 

On Christmas Eve we like to take a tray of home baked treats to a few of our neighbors and wish them a Joyful Christmas. I had asked Steve to run a final tray across the street to some neighbors who hadn’t been home earlier.  As I was standing at the kitchen sink rinsing out a bowl that had held cookie dough, I was talking to the Lord and sharing my heart and sadness with Him about missing my precious Mother in Law, the strangeness of the dark world of a bio-terror weapon that was causing such fear and sickness, and the grief I felt after the tense family situation. 

I asked Him to pour over Steve and I, his holiness and peace and I asked him to receive an offering of praise out of this sorrow, thanking him for coming to earth as a Savior in such a dark and wicked world.

 

I then had a thought that reminded me, that the “Christmas Star was still visible in the sky on that night and I realized the timing right then would be perfect to view from our front porch. We have this unusual glow in the West in the winter months when the sun is setting and I could see the hue as I walked toward our front door, which has glass in it. 

As I stepped out onto the porch I could see the two stars, which were a bit more separated at this point, but absolutely clear.

 

What took place next was something I have no explanation

as to where it came from, but the timing of it

was so precise and overwhelming

that I just stood there in awe, and wept.

 

A CHORUS OF VOICES BEGAN SINGING SILENT NIGHT, Holy Night, Son of God, Loves Pure Light, Radiant beams from thy holy face, with the dawn of Redeeming Grace, Jesus Lord at thy birth, Jesus Lord at Thy Birth.

There were no instruments accompanying the voices and it wasn’t coming from a house or car nearby. It was out in the open air and reverberating over our street, softly and simply.

 

Steve was coming back across the street about the time the voices began to sing and we stood there on our lawn looking at the stars growing brighter as the sky grew darker, and marveled at this singing.

It was just one song. Then no more. 

(We wondered if there was an outdoor service somewhere and maybe the sound was travelling, but the words were very clear and understandable.)

 

THE MOMENT WAS AS IF WE WERE SUSPENDED IN TIME, and the Presence of God softly fell on us and around us, and soothed our weary souls. 

We felt His Rest come upon us, and understood the awe that the shepherds must have experienced on that first real nativity night when, “Suddenly there appeared with the angel a great multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests!”  

-Luke 2:13-14

 

ALL I CAN TAKE AWAY FROM THESE EVENTS IS THAT GOD ALMIGHTY

SEES AND KNOWS EVERY MINUTE DETAIL OF OUR EVERY DAY.

He sees our struggles and our sorrows and our love for Him as well!

 

WE ARE IN A TIME LIKE NO OTHER TIME BEFORE ON EARTH, and yet the history of evil men and women attempting to stop the power of the Savior and the King of Heaven moving on earth among His people, has been a non-stop war since time began.

 

We are to be expecting HIS evidence in the earth with great exploits

and moves of His Dynamic Force.

 

He is not unaware of our great need for His Help and Protection from filthy and evil men and women who are given over to demonic possession.

 

We live in day and age where it will take Divine Intervention

to shake the lukewarm believer out of passivity,

and for the world to know that God is Sovereign.

 

BE READY AND EXPECT SIGNS AND WONDERS.

Test them. Be alert.

Be Ready to tell of the Wonders of His Love.

 

LET EVERY HEART PREPARE HIM ROOM!

AND

LET HEAVEN AND NATURE SING OF THE WONDERS OF HIS LOVE!

 

Duplication and sharing of this message is welcomed provided that complete message, Podcast and website information for Mary Lindow is included.

Thank you. Copyright © 2021 THE MESSENGER " ˜ Mary Lindow

www.marylindow.com

www.marylindow.podbean.com

 

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 By Mary Lindow Through The Holy Spirit

 

TODAY’S PODCAST IS GOING TO BE AN INTERESTING ONE!

What I’m sharing on this specific podcast is about a vision that I had when my husband and I were first engaged. I was staying in his parent’s home and my husband had his own house about 10 miles away. We spent a lot of time talking together and praying and just contemplating what our future would look like in the Lord, and how he was going to use us, when Steve would come over to spend time with me after work.

One evening I had gone into the living room of my in-laws to play the piano and worship and sing to the Lord, and while I was worshiping Him and enjoying being in His presence, I had what would be described as a screen being dropped out in front of my eyes take place, and I had a very visual picture to watch or as the Bible would call it, a vision.

I SAW MYSELF RUNNING ACROSS SOME SEMI-ROCKY LAND and Steve was behind me. He was trying to direct a group of individuals to stay in line and be in unity together.

All of us had what looked to be like a stretchy headband wrapped around our heads and across our foreheads. Attached on the front of these were round lights like miner’s lamps. Some of lights on the people in the line where Steve was trying to get them to come into unity and walk together would flicker and not come on brightly. Others were very bright and consistently steady.

I was running ahead like a scout and the word “forerunner” came into my mind as I was running ahead. I turned around and looked at what Steve was doing and he was trying to stop these individuals from elbowing each other and fighting over whose theology was the most correct.

 

ABOVE THE HEADS OF THESE INDIVIDUALS I NOTED THAT THERE WERE DENOMINATIONAL CHURCH ORGANIZATIONAL NAMES AND ALSO NONDENOMINATIONAL TITLES.

I turned back around and continued my scouting and forerunning and was jogging at a relaxed pace, but I knew I was heading towards something in front of me that I needed to get to.

The path had embedded rocks and bumps that I had to avoid so I wouldn’t trip. The lamp or miner’s light strapped to my forehead kept a bright light steadily beaming in front of me.

Suddenly, in front of me, was a large chasm or a gap and I had to stop and pull back so I wouldn’t fall headlong into the huge gap.

There was no possible human way to run and jump over it and I was at a dead stop staring over the edge. Intuitively, I knew I needed to get to the other side and that there was something very important for me to engage in and be a part of.

But! I didn’t see a ladder or a bridge long enough or safe enough in any direction, to try to cross over with.

 

I Heard A Voice In The Vision Tell Me To Take A Step Of Faith, and that as I walked forward, not in my own strength, not in my own might or power, but in the spirit, that I would make it safely to the other side.

I remember feeling hesitant and thinking I needed to warn Steve.

I turned around and told him I’m going to take a leap of faith to get to the other side. He looked at me and seem to understand what I was doing and turned around and tried to tell the other individuals that they were going to have to lean upon God‘s power and might and supernatural ability, to get them all to the other side. I once again turned around and backed up and took a running leap across this wide chasm. I was immediately on the other side and waited for Steve.

 

I REALIZED THAT I HAD TO DO THIS ON MY OWN WITH THE LORD, and not depend upon Steve to get me to where the Lord wanted me to be. Nor could I get him there. We were each responsible to trust in the Lord with all of our heart.

It was as if I was lifted back over the chasm for a moment so I could observe what was taking place with Steve and the others.

Several of the individuals who were irritated that others were not listening to their great rhetoric and interpretation of things, began to break loose and run forward while telling everyone how they were going to make it across the gap/chasm. Several of them literally walked off the edge of the cliff into the chasm due to not paying attention, and fell completely to the bottom.

 

OTHERS WERE FIGHTING AND SEVERAL WERE IN FEAR AND WOULD NOT ATTEMPT A LEAP OF FAITH.

They wanted to build a structure or devise a plan to get them there. Their lights were flickering very low by this point.

Steve finally said, “I have to go”, and he too, took a running leap of faith and threw his arms upward, eyes closed, trusting in the Lord’s provision to get him over the chasm. He met me standing on the other side of this wide gap.

 

IMMEDIATELY WE BECAME MEMBERS OF A LARGE ARMY.

Everyone was dressed in a white robe and had different colors of sashes to indicate which battalion or team of army members they were marching with.

Everyone’s headband with the lamp on the front of it was brilliantly white and the lamps were shining intensely! Everyone was in order and marching in unison, with thousands of members.

 

OVERHEAD THERE WAS SOMETHING LIKE ARTILLERY FIRE TAKING PLACE IN THE SKY. 

It seemed as if there were missiles and different kinds of weaponry clashing above us, but we were all marching calmly and firmly in unity and we knew we were marching under the direction of our Leader, King, Jesus Christ.

 

Shortly after this surprising vision I “came to myself” again and sat there and pondered what I had seen, for a very long time.

Steve and I have often talked about this and have often shared the details with each other again as we l pray and ask the Lord why he would show it to us at that time, and what we were being prepared for.

 

CHRISTIAN ALLEGIANCES ARE  “STRANGE AND STRAINED AFFAIRS”

Many denominations and non-denominational groups as well as progressive and New Age influenced churches have chosen to embrace a corporate world structure and more eagerly, “hunker down” into a “murky version” of the word of God.

Many have embraced the cultural pressure to push away pure living, and interpret the word of God to fit the current day embracing of immoral sexuality and freethinking on many levels.

 

THE CURRENT BLATHERING INTELLECTUALS OF THE ERA mock and criticize those who choose to live a morally and biblically pure and truthful application of God’s word.

You know, It just not "cool or hip" right now to not be a little edgy and nasty!

 

I believe that in the vision that I had, those who were elbowing and arguing and posturing while on their way to what they felt was an event (that would be in fact an important moment in the collective body of Christ), these individuals had “dimmed” their approach to allowing their minds to be renewed and cleansed by the word of God. I believe the headbands that weakly flickered with the mining lights were symbols of what they fed their minds with, weakening their discernment.

 

THOSE WHO WERE FOCUSED ON HAVING THEIR MINDS RENEWED by the word of God, being illuminated by his word and having their minds renewed had no wavering or angst taking place.

Those that were fighting and pontificating the most, had the dimming lamps that flickered and seemed to short out, and they insisted that adaptations and adjustments could be made according to the way that they interpreted faith and how to walk with Christ.

THEY REFUSED TO LISTEN TO ANYONE ELSE AND THEY REFUSED TO HAVE ANY KIND OF UNITY, BUT NEEDED TO PUSH FORWARD TO PROVE THEIR POINT.

 

When Steve kept telling them in the vision that they had to be unified and that they had to be humble and to humbly care for one another as brothers in the Lord, they became all the more enraged, condescending, and began to rush ahead in arrogance and with great irritability.

 

ONE INDIVIDUAL WAS WALKING BACKWARDS lecturing everyone and literally fell over the cliff edge into the chasm, screaming all the way down.

 

SO WHERE ARE WE?

Anyone who is doing all they know to do to have a close walk with the Lord right now at this time, who desires to hear what the Spirit of the Lord is saying to the churches and us individually, is fully aware of the deceptive clouds of wickedness and filth hovering over the world.

 

LYING HAS BECOME AN HONORED AND CUNNING ATTRIBUTE in order to confuse, control, and break other human beings.

Sadly, many in the faith have chosen to become rabid political activists to the point that it’s all that they devour and think about day and night.

They shun anyone who will not listen to them and certainly have embraced on many levels, the message of a “one world unified socialist lifestyle”. This is where a great delusion has been allowed to deceive many. Second Thessalonians 2:11 warned us about this!

“Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false.”

 

THERE IS GOING TO BE A LOT OF GODLESSNESS IN THE LAST DAYS

In 2 Timothy 3:1-5 we have quite the strong warning about how it was going to roll out and unfold. (I think that we are already there.)

“So! Understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 

For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, but treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but they deny its power. Avoid such people.”

 

WOW! AVOID THESE PEOPLE?

These are strong and difficult words to hear aren’t they?

 

When I was forerunning ahead in the vision, I believe it was a indicator of a prophetic forerunner seeing the things to come as well as seeing what God was asking of his people, as the world became more corrupt and dark, and decisions that were difficult that were coming, were about to be made.

 

THE ENTIRE TIME I WAS RUNNING I WAS WATCHING AND LOOKING TO MAKE SURE THAT MY FEET WOULD NOT TRIP, and when I came to the edge of the chasm I knew that I had to completely abandon myself, to everything that I could possibly fashion or create in my mind, leaving behind the hopeful use of any personal skills to get to the other side of where God wanted me to be.

 

THERE WAS NO POSSIBILITY TO RUN AND JUMP AND MAKE IT ON MY OWN.

I had to abandon myself to the fact that God said to take a leap of faith. That I must trust Him spirit, soul, and body, to be moved into position in His kingdom where I would be in unity marching with His great army of servants.

Somehow in my spirit, in the vision, I knew that Steve was going to be okay and also knew that we had to individually make a choice to trust God completely with our lives, no matter what difficulties we were about to face.

There was great sadness on Steve’s face when he turned around and knew he had to now leave those who were rushing ahead and jumping or still arguing on the edge of the chasm, and that it was his time to risk everything and take a step of faith out into the unknown.

The minute Steve arrived on the other side of the chasm with me we were side-by-side marching to the sound of thousands of feet in unison and voices praising God. There was a look of determination and sobriety on every face that was in every battalion of people, but everyone knew why they were there, and what they were being assigned to.

The flashes of light and military type of war going on above us was constant but no one broke rank and everyone was marching in the battalion that they were a part of. Praise and powerful prayers were coming out of all of all of the people’s mouths as they raised their hands forward in honor of what was up ahead, which I believe was King Jesus himself.

 

In Joel 2:11 it says

“The Lord utters his voice before his army,

For his camp is exceedingly great;

He who executes his word is powerful.

For the day of the Lord is great and very awesome;

Who can endure it?”

 

NOW, I WILL NOT PRESUME TO TRY TO UNPACK ALL THAT IS GOING ON IN THE EARTH TODAY, nor will I say that I understand all of the applications of the book of Revelation or End Time thoughts.

What I will say is that the Lord has told us that the difficult days would come and that antichrists and deceivers would rise up from among us, even trying to deceive the very elect, God’s own precious, set apart children.

 

1 John 4:3 tells this clearly!

Every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.

This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.

 

You see, This is a time where God is already showing those who have ears to hear what He is saying and that we are being called to take great steps and leaps of trust and faith in Him, like we have never, EVER done before.

 

IT’S SCARY OUT THERE IN THE WORLD, and tyrants and wicked men and women defy and mock anything that interferes with their corruption and filth. They are absolutely not interested in the sound of the voice of the Lord or in his people challenging them. But this is where our faith and trust in God must exceed and excel.

 

It is a time where you and I must continually and constantly renew our minds by intentionally reading and listening to the word of God.

 

HOW MANY TIMES A DAY DO PEOPLE CHECK THE SOCIAL MEDIA UPDATES and news feeds on their phones and I Pads? Is this where the light of Christ is found and minds are renewed?

No. It’s a place where distractions and debates and the opinions of man drown out truth and any trust in God.

 

RUN AWAY FROM THE PACK

Believers! Get a firm pace going in your pursuit of the truth!

Be aware of those snares and rocks placed there to intentionally get you to change course or quit and become part of the world’s narratives!

 

There’s no need to figure out what you are going to do

in tough times if you stay close to the word and voice of God!

 

He absolutely WILL guide you, and His word IS the lamp for your feet and the light that will keep your path lit up as you journey through dark days!

 

Psalm 119:105 

"Your word is a lamp to my feet
, AND a light to my path.

 

IN CLOSING, I ENCOURAGE YOU TO ALLOW THE LORD, TO DO A DEEP PURGING AND SEARCHING OF YOUR HEART.

Don’t push away where he is trying to get you to give up your own, personal opinions about how things are to be done in a time where recklessness and chaos are rewarded.

Get quiet and be still in his presence, and ask him to tell you exactly what to do.

 

HE WILL DIRECT YOU THROUGH HIS WORD!

He will bring people across your path who are either like-minded or who will point the way to absolute sustaining truth.

Stay away from those who are so full of themselves, and who love the sound of their own voices, so that there is no room for tenderness and dialogue for a soul that is hungering after God.

 

YOU AND I ARE RIGHT NOW, A PART OF THE GREAT ARMY OF GOD.

We are to march to the sound of His voice and have our voices raised in praise of who He is and in declaration that we are of another Kingdom.

Even if it seems as if nothing is changing or that God is at a distance, we are not to walk by how we feel, or how things look around us.

We are to be determined to be in union and in communication by the spirit with the Spirit of the living God.

 

Ask the Lord to draw you close to him.

Choose to run after him!

 

Don’t wait for others to lead you or guide you to answer the questions that you have in your heart right now. Jesus by the Holy Spirit is able to speak clearly to you and he is able to give you direction, because, He IS the great I AM.

He IS wisdom.

He IS light!

And, He has promised…

…To never leave us in the dark.

 

Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world.

Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness,

But will have the light of life.” - John 8:12

 

Duplication and sharing of this message is welcomed provided that complete message, Podcast and website information for Mary Lindow is included.

 

Thank you. Copyright © 2021 THE MESSENGER " ˜ Mary Lindow

www.marylindow.com

www.marylindow.podbean.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I KNOW SUFFERING IS EXHAUSTING AND PAIN HURTS! That is why it is called pain and suffering. If there were an escape a person of great wisdom and insight would have done it already!

By Mary Lindow

SUFFERING AND SORROW ARE A PART OF LIFE

Knowing this, however, doesn’t make it any easier to cope when you find yourself in the midst of the deepest, darkest trials of faith, and mentally anguish and strain.

Don’t you wish Christianity could make you exempt from suffering? That would be great, but as most of us have learned, following our faith doesn’t give us a free ride.

We catch as much trouble as unbelievers—often more.

The difference, of course, is that we can turn to Jesus when things go wrong. Unbelievers might argue that we’re only turning to our imagination, but we know better.

At some time in your life, however, suffering will hit you so hard that you won’t be able to do any of those things, and that dark time will probably visit you more than once.

“Even in darkness, light dawns for the upright,

for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man.”

Psalm 112:4

 

WE ALL WANT THINGS WE DON’T GET.

Maybe it’s a person you’re sure would make a perfect spouse, and the relationship crumbles apart. Maybe it’s a better job or promotion, and you don’t make the cut. Or it might be a goal you poured your time and energy into, and it doesn’t come to pass or others sabotage it all.
All of us have prayed for the recovery of loved ones who were ill, but they died anyway.

It takes real spiritual maturity to stay faithful when things go wrong, but severing our relationship with God punishes us, not him. It’s self-destructive behavior that can put us on the path to a miserable life. The parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) teaches us that God always wants us to come back to him.

Whether your problem is discouragement, illness or aging, sometimes all you have left is Jesus.

When you’re angry and bitter, you can still cling to Jesus in the midst of your tears. You can grab onto him and refuse to let go until he brings you through it. You’ll find, to your surprise that he holds on to you even tighter than you hold on to him.

 

JESUS UNDERSTANDS SORROW

He knows about being hurt. He remembers the terrible moment on the cross when his Father was forced to abandon him, because he was filthy from taking on our sins. Jesus won’t let you go.

And as you age and start down the path from this life to the next, Jesus will take your hand to guide you. He appreciates all that you have done for him through the years, but what he has always wanted most is your love.

So there you are in the middle of one of life’s train-wrecks-dazed, wounded, wondering what shoe-or bomb-will be dropping next, and up walks Job’s comforters.

We all remember Job from the Bible. A rich, powerful man, a great father and good in every way was Job.

Then, in a series of overlapping upheavals, he lost everything and everybody except his wife-who turned out to be a whole lot less than sympathetic in her changed status.

Battered Job ends up sitting alone on a pile of dirt, scratching his boil-covered body with some broken pottery.

 

WE CAN IDENTIFY WITH POOR JOB.

Life drags us through some tough times of loss that make us feel every bit like Job. Caught in a vortex of pain, and wondering if we’ll ever make it to safety.

And, boy, do we recognize Job’s so-called friends who showed up to by all accounts offer support and comfort. As they sat with Job in his misery, they took turns playing a self-centered, self-righteous, can-you-top-this game of knowing for certain that every bit of Job ‘s disaster had to be his own fault or a lack of trust in God. They weren’t sure how or why because Job seemed so decent, but deep down, they insisted, he just couldn’t be all he pretended to be.

 

THIS IS FAMILIAR TERRITORY

You get fired, and friends smirk knowingly when you try to explain the political nature of the event. Your child gets into difficulty-well; you know the kind of comfort you’ll get from friends about that. (It probably started sometime during potty training.)

Yet others try to “help” you with what I call “prayer lecturing.” While praying “for and with you” they let you (and God) know just how lucky you should be to even have running water, had a meal that day and more! Not really comforting in any way, and very very short on compassion.

Yet, from the story, it’s clear that Job was completely innocent.

Dreadful things do happen to completely innocent people, good people.
Because of their opinion of Job’s guilt, history has bestowed his friends- (and their current replicas) – the label, “Job’s comforters.”
So-called friends who add to a suffering person’s anguish by piling on false charges of blame and guilt and harsh reprimand for daring to show sadness or agony.

You may never have met anybody like Job, but you’ve met his comforters on more than one occasion. They seem to be everywhere.

 

WE CAN CHARGE SOME OF IT OFF TO JEALOUSY

Job had everything a person could dream of wanting-and then some-so jealousy was never more than a stone’s throw away. The green-eyed monster is a little more subtle with people living everyday, typical lives, but jealousy doesn’t need much ground to take root and grow with vigor.

 

WE DON’T WANT TO ADMIT BAD THINGS MAY HAPPEN TO US!

If bad things happen to people who don’t deserve them, they could happen to anybody, including me. If I don’t want bad things to happen to me, (who does?), I have to persuade myself and everybody around me that the victim’s actions caused the problem. If blame can be assigned, then I’ll be safe as long as I’m good.

In other words, if I can claim that the cause of your problem is something you do that I don’t do, then what happened to you can’t happen to me. There is, of course, no logic to this, but it brings some shaky comfort to frightened hearts.
We see this thinking at work when people stare numbly at adversity and ask, “What did I do to deserve this?” Sometimes the answer is, “nothing.”

 

HAVE YOU EVER ASKED YOURSELF "WHY ME?"

And it doesn’t have to be bad; you could be excited from something wonderful. Most often then not, I ask myself this after something I am looking forward to goes wrong.

Even at times when something goes wrong I lay awake at night and my thoughts wonder to what previously occurred. I am sure everyone does it at times, wishing for another try or chance.

You may lay awake thinking about your suffering, part of life’s suffering is misery’s shadow persisting/hanging on; not only do you suffer but you have to think about suffering.

I can’t prove this with statistics or find it any book I know of, yet I would say that more people either come to the faith or fall away because of this reason above all; the disturbance of suffering.

YOU SEE GOD USES TIMES OF SUFFERING…

...TO TEACH AND GROW US.

If you allow yourself to recount your sufferings, did you not learn more about faith while suffering then any other time?
 It has been said that; “Blessings are God’s whispers, he speaks in our conscience, but shouts to us in our suffering.”

“O my Comforter in sorrow,

My heart is faint within me.”

Jeremiah 8:18

Suffering becomes the only way to realize our hollow spiritual self. Pain is unmasked, and every person knows when something is not right when they are hurting. Pain insists upon being attended to.

So when you travel down this line of thought you come to the idea, why do I or someone else suffer when others don’t?

 

I KNOW SUFFERING IS EXHAUSTING AND PAIN HURTS

That is why it is called pain and suffering. If there were an escape a person of great wisdom and insight would have done it already. Yet Discipleship demands such trials to compel us towards renewal.

Read Hebrews 2:10

“God, for whom and through whom everything was made,

chose to bring many children into glory.

And it was only right that he should make Jesus, through his suffering,

a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation.”

The real question is what to do when life has just punched us a good one, and Job’s comforters show up at our door.

Nobody says we have to let them in.

And certainly nobody says we have to entertain them.

And, most positively, nobody says we have to believe them.

“For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives,

So also through Christ our comfort overflows.”
2 Corinthians 1:5

We can sort out the who’s-to-blame-for-what after we get some solid ground under our feet and a little energy back into our lives.

But we still won’t want Job’s comforters anywhere around us…

...We will want people who care.

"Compassion"

To me not to be kind
 is evil of the mind.

No need to pray or preach,

Let us our children teach
 with every fond caress,

Pity and gentleness:

So in the end may we
God’s Kingdom cause to be.

Author - R.W. Service

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