A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother. Prov. 10:1 Solomon said this. He aught to know. Look at the family he came from. Solomon learned, from observing his older brothers, how not to be, and where you could end up in the end. King David had such sadness with his sons. What a burden they proved to be. King David had only to blame himself for the destructive outcome of his family. For you see, it was all due to the consequences of his own sins. When David took what wasn't his (Bathsheba), and murdered an innocent man (her husband, Uriah), he sealed the fate of his own family. The sword never left his house. Let's take a look at David's family. Amnon rapes Tamar, his half-sister and forever ruins her life. Absalom, his older brother, finds out about it, he waits two years, and has his brother Amnon killed. Absalom sleeps with his father's concubines in the face of all Israel, in plain sight, and forms a coo against his own father, King David. Adonijah makes several attempts to prevent his younger brother, Solomon, from becoming king. Adonijah was older and normally he would have been next in line for the throne, but God decided differently. God chose Solomon to be king. Solomon had to sternly address his own mother on the issue of her son Adonijah who tried to use her to get the position he so coveted. Solomon saw or knew some things within his own family that was unreal, horrible, and destructive. There was jealousy, envy, evil, and treacherous behavior, crimes, sexual assaults, murder, lies, and deception. What older sibling could he look to for advice let alone godly advice? He saw the character and the lack of integrity his brothers had. Some of us have experienced negative things within our own family that have forever impacted our lives. It does happen, more often than not. Just like God did in David's household, He does for others. In the midst of all the murder and mayhem, God raises up a Solomon! God is grieved when the family structure fails to be what it ought to be. Children are the innocent victims in it all. They are hard pressed to be emotionally, and psychologically whole. When you are born into a severely dysfunctional situation, you're already doomed before you get started. Children growing up in such environments become conditioned, and more than likely will repeat the cycle of dysfunction. Hope can be found in Jesus! He can help us break that cycle! He gives power, real power to escape the chains of a terrible life. You and I are not responsible for what we were born into, after all, we didn't pick our family, but we can certainly do differently. Having Christ in your life makes all the difference! You can now become what God intended you to be. You can rise above it all and lead your family into a new way of thinking and being. Bad Family Blood doesn't have to be what runs through your veins!
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"Cast your burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be move." Psalm 55:22 God assigns certain trials and situations with our names on it. He has a spiritual purpose in it all. He knows the weight of the burden and how we feel. He sees the affect it’s having on us. So, He sends His grace, that special enabling ingredient, that helps us to bear up under the strain of it all. He sends an encouraging word directly from His lips to our hearts to cheer us along the rough path. Sometimes He allows the tongues of others to spew discouragements, accusations, and negative things as He did with Job. Job’s closest friends began to tell him why he was in the situation he was in. Oh how much that must have hurt. Even Job’s wife put in her personal assessment and request under the circumstances. She felt he needed to turn on God, walk away, and just die. She was bending, buckling, and bowing under the circumstances; understandably so. I reserve criticism for Mrs. Job, because she was in great grief and under great strain. She had lost all of her beautiful children all at once. All of her hopes and dreams for them were dashed, and her future without them was extremely bleak. She was a mother in great pain. She lost all faith in God, and she wanted her husband to do the same. Things can get that tough for us when God chooses to assign trials with our names on them. I know from personal experience how hard it can get as you are trying to hold on to your faith and endure what was sent your way. I too have experienced the harsh criticisms from those looking on. It can add insult to injury, and emotionally handicap you, but God sees it all and knew everything that would happen before he sent that trial your way. God provides everything needed to endure the storm with your faith in tact, while developing more within you. He has a beautiful way of communicating with us during these times, and in those moments when He is silent, He is still speaking, although it’s hard to hear His voice. In those silent times, He wants us to remember His written word to us. There are bible verses that become precious, crucial, and powerful to us when we read and meditate on them. They give off such power, and as a result, we’re able to keep keeping on. God provides resources for us that enable us to persevere and get through the hard times. Job had some of God’s resources too. He had his faith, prayer, and the words of God that he had heard and known at that time. We have the entire word of God in the form of a bible. Only God can sustain what He has gifted to us. Looking back, I can see how the crisis, and trials of the past were ‘gifts’ to me from God. I despised them then, but I cherish them now because I’ve seen the benefit and outcome of going through hard times. We mainly learn in hindsight. Hindsight is 20/20. I have a greater measure of understanding about God and who He is. I’ve tasted of that power that raised Jesus from the dead. I ended us seeing how much He loved me and the intensity of His desire for me to come into the blessings He was holding in His hands for me. This perspective can only be gotten through enduring trials. It’s tough, but it’s worth it all. Hannah became seriously depressed and stopped eating because she was deep in the throws of a trial (1 Samuel 1). David became depressed and wanted to die because he felt that eventually his adversary, King Saul, would kill him. David stops complaining about the problem and begins to pray (Psalm 13). Job, in all of his distress, and physical illness, regrets the day he was born. He is depressed and in great sorrow. He keeps having long discourses with God and eventually, God responds (Job 3; Job 38-41). When God responds to Jobs questions, he comes into a greater knowledge and understanding of God and how He operates. He learns that God's sovereignty (God can do as He so pleases) rules! When life gets really hard packing a punch, it's perfectly okay to cry and to let your emotions go. That's why you were given tears! Cry, cry, and cry some more! You must feel the pain of your circumstances. Never try to dull the pain with anything! You must feel every aspect of your trial. God intends on using all of your trials as a ministry to others! Cast your burden on the Lord and remember this; God collects every tear you cry. "You keep track of my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in the book" (Psalm 56:8)? God records all of our tears and puts them into His bottle. He will crystalize those tears and give them back in the form of pearls! I lie to you not! I have my own set of pearls and I give you the honest side of truth! |
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