33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unfathomable (inscrutable, unsearchable) are His judgments (His decisions)! And how untraceable (mysterious, undiscoverable) are His ways (His methods, His paths)!
34 For who has known the mind of the Lord and who has understood His thoughts, or who has [ever] been His counselor?
35 Or who has first given God anything that he might be paid back or that he could claim a recompense?
36 For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. [For all things originate with Him and come from Him; all things live through Him, and all things center in and tend to consummate and to end in Him.] To Him be glory forever! Amen (so be it). Romans 11
Pen Had beach, Camaret-sur-Mer, France by Llorenzi
Good morning, beloved,
A few weeks back, a young teenage girl went missing. She was last seen at her mailbox. The response was immediate. The mother streaked to the phone calling the police. Calling friends. Within an hour, Facebook and twitter had feeds to find this girl. The friends of this girl poured out into the neighborhood. Calling her name, crying out for her to come. People were praying. Chains of emails, shares of the Facebook posts, pictures…the afternoon which was supposed to be a calm Sunday..became a parent’s worst nightmare. And then, she was found. Explanations were sent out and thank you”s were profuse. She was safe. It was a jolt to this community.
She came home. Families clung to their loved ones. How could this happen?
We want to look at these this situation and judge the right and wrong here. We want to make it easier for our minds to handle the terrible truth that a daughter, sister..was missing. How often does my mind begin to judge a situation? We analyze. We scrutinize. We evaluate. Dear ones, this is not our place. Not at all.
According to Job 40, there is only one Judge:
10 [Since you question the manner of the Almighty’s rule] deck yourself now with the excellency and dignity [of the Supreme Ruler, and yourself undertake the government of the world if you are so wise], and array yourself with honor and majesty.
11 Pour forth the overflowings of your anger, and look on everyone who is proud and abase him;
12 Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low, and tread down the wicked where they stand [if you are so able, Job].
13 [Bury and] hide them all in the dust together; [and] shut them up [in the prison house of death].
14 [If you can do all this, Job, proving yourself of divine might] then will I [God] praise you also [and acknowledge that] your own right hand can save you.
We are not of divine might, are we? When we judge, we try to robe ourselves with excellency and dignity..but do we deserve it? No..we most certainly do not.
Romans 11:
33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unfathomable (inscrutable, unsearchable) are His judgments (His decisions)! And how untraceable (mysterious, undiscoverable) are His ways (His methods, His paths)!
34 For who has known the mind of the Lord and who has understood His thoughts, or who has [ever] been His counselor?
35 Or who has first given God anything that he might be paid back or that he could claim a recompense?
36 For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. [For all things originate with Him and come from Him; all things live through Him, and all things center in and tend to consummate and to end in Him.] To Him be glory forever! Amen (so be it).
Friends, I was so convicted of the importance of prayer. We like to say, I wish I could do more than pray. Yet, in your hands, on your knees, prayer is the most powerful thing we can do. We enter the very throne room of heaven and speak with God.
So as we peer into one another’s lives, instead of beginning the evaluation process, pray. Our constant thought be in the form of prayer for the beloved of God.
This girl was never out of the sight of our God. She was NEVER missing to God. He knows the very number of hairs on her head.
You may turn your back on God, running away as this precious lamb ran from her parents, but God will never turn His back on you. He is with you. No matter what you have done, the Father will never turn away. Remember the prodigal son. Remember you are never, ever too far away from God. You are His beloved.
There was a certain man who had two sons;
12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the part of the property that falls [to me]. And he divided the estate between them.
13 And not many days after that, the younger son gathered up all that he had and journeyed into a distant country, and there he wasted his fortune in reckless and loose [from restraint] living.
14 And when he had spent all he had, a [g]mighty famine came upon that country, and he began to fall behind and be in want.
15 So he went and forced (glued) himself upon one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed hogs.
16 And he would gladly have fed on and[h]filled his belly with the [i]carob pods that the hogs were eating, but [they could not satisfy his hunger and] nobody gave him anything [better].
17 Then when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father have enough food, and [even food] to spare, but I am perishing (dying) here of hunger!
18 I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight.
19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; [just] make me like one of your hired servants.
20 So he got up and came to his [own] father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with pity and tenderness [for him]; and he ran and embraced him and kissed him [[j]fervently].
21 And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son [I no longer deserve to be recognized as a son of yours]!
22 But the father said to his bond servants, Bring quickly the best robe (the festive robe of honor) and put it on him; and give him a ring for his hand and sandals for his feet.
23 And bring out [k]that [wheat-]fattened calf and kill it; and let us [l]revel and feast and be happy and make merry,
24 Because this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found! And they began to [m]revel and feast and make merry.
25 But his older son was in the field; and as he returned and came near the house, he heard music and dancing.
26 And having called one of the servant [boys] to him, he began to ask what this meant.
27 And he said to him, Your brother has come, and your father has killed [n]that [wheat-]fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and well.
28 But [the elder brother] was angry [with deep-seated wrath] and resolved not to go in. Then his father came out and began to plead with him,
29 But he answered his father, Look! These many years I have served you, and I have never disobeyed your command. Yet you never gave me [so much as] a [little] kid, that I might[o]revel and feast and be happy and make merry with my friends;
30 But when this son of yours arrived, who has devoured your estate with immoral women, you have killed for him [p]that [wheat-] fattened calf!
31 And the father said to him, Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.
32 But it was fitting to make merry, to [q]revel and feast and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and is alive again! He was lost and is found!
Love you, friends.
Related articles
- discipleship: dependence through prayer (shepherds-journey.com)
- The Call To Prayer (lynleahz.com)
- He is Big Enough (carolynrice.wordpress.com)
- Praying with Pain (hereticsanon.wordpress.com)
2 Comments
Thank you for the link. God bless u!
God bless you! Thank you!