There is a song by Shane and Shane called "Yet I will Praise Him" based on the words by Job, "Though He slay me, yet will I praise Him, though he ruin me, yet I will bless His Name." This song has been constantly in my head. I even bought the whole album. I will post the video of it here as well. (see video below)
How can you love someone who slays you? God calls us to love our enemies. Well that is one thing. Difficult enough. But what do you do when it is someone who LOVES you, who slays you? It has the sting of Judas's kiss, doesn't it? No. This is different. Judas meant harm....permanent harm. He did it out of benefit to himself. GOD on the other hand, means it for our permanent benefit and He did it at great cost to Himself. Yes, there are times when God slays us. But He slayed Himself first, He modeled for us that there are times when the benefit outweighs the expense.
Are you willing to be slain?
These are difficult days for the Followers of the Way. Beheadings. Shootings. Rapes. Buildings burnt. And sometimes it is "just" a chronic illness....causing us constant pain. Sometimes it is the death of one whom we love so much it seems as if it were our own heart that ceased to beat. What do we say to God in the privacy of our hearts when these things happen? My friend's husband recently held a gun to his head and pulled the trigger. My friend found him. I'm sure the horror of that sight will never leave her memory. What do you say to God in times like those?
You see, that is the fire.
That is the fire that purifies the gold. The gold that runs like molten fire through our veins. The searing pain of loss: loss of health., loss of love. Loss of provision. Does it also mean a loss of our faith? A loss of our God?
At times like that there are two ways to respond. One is to tell God to GET OUT. LEAVE ME ALONE. If You loved me, you never would have done that ! The other response is to throw oneself down and cry out for God to pick us up. To cry out for understanding but to accept that it may not, in this lifetime, come. It is to understand that the loving heart of God is hurting with us. It is to trust, against all reason, that God has a purpose and that the purpose is to bless us, not to harm us.....to give us a hope and a future....even if that future doesn't come until Heaven does. It is to hand God our wounded, bleeding ,, aching heart and say, "I'm yours. Do with me as you will. I know you Love me. I know that you will never needlessly, pointlessly harm me."
And that is the message of the song. "Though you slay me, Yet will I praise you. Though you ruin me, I will bless Your Name." This is true worship. It is the offering of a sacrifice of praise. The sacrifice of thanksgiving The praise and thanksgiving that are spoken through streaming snot and tears. That is beautiful in God's sight. He is not a merciless God who hurts us for his own pleasure. He hurts us for our own benefit. He hurts us so that when we respond in obedience and submission, He can pour our reward out on us. He can embrace and comfort us. He can accept our offering....the offering of praise and thanksgiving that comes from a broken wounded heart. And He will then bless us...maybe not on this earth. But certainly. Definitely. Absolutely ---in His Kingdom to come--he will pour out so much blessing on us that our heart will burst for joy. And then, there, we will see and we will understand and we will be so glad that we acted in faith and yielded our hearts into his hands for his good pleasure. Because HIS good pleasure, means OUR good pleasure.
It was not meaningless.
How can you love someone who slays you? God calls us to love our enemies. Well that is one thing. Difficult enough. But what do you do when it is someone who LOVES you, who slays you? It has the sting of Judas's kiss, doesn't it? No. This is different. Judas meant harm....permanent harm. He did it out of benefit to himself. GOD on the other hand, means it for our permanent benefit and He did it at great cost to Himself. Yes, there are times when God slays us. But He slayed Himself first, He modeled for us that there are times when the benefit outweighs the expense.
Are you willing to be slain?
These are difficult days for the Followers of the Way. Beheadings. Shootings. Rapes. Buildings burnt. And sometimes it is "just" a chronic illness....causing us constant pain. Sometimes it is the death of one whom we love so much it seems as if it were our own heart that ceased to beat. What do we say to God in the privacy of our hearts when these things happen? My friend's husband recently held a gun to his head and pulled the trigger. My friend found him. I'm sure the horror of that sight will never leave her memory. What do you say to God in times like those?
You see, that is the fire.
That is the fire that purifies the gold. The gold that runs like molten fire through our veins. The searing pain of loss: loss of health., loss of love. Loss of provision. Does it also mean a loss of our faith? A loss of our God?
At times like that there are two ways to respond. One is to tell God to GET OUT. LEAVE ME ALONE. If You loved me, you never would have done that ! The other response is to throw oneself down and cry out for God to pick us up. To cry out for understanding but to accept that it may not, in this lifetime, come. It is to understand that the loving heart of God is hurting with us. It is to trust, against all reason, that God has a purpose and that the purpose is to bless us, not to harm us.....to give us a hope and a future....even if that future doesn't come until Heaven does. It is to hand God our wounded, bleeding ,, aching heart and say, "I'm yours. Do with me as you will. I know you Love me. I know that you will never needlessly, pointlessly harm me."
And that is the message of the song. "Though you slay me, Yet will I praise you. Though you ruin me, I will bless Your Name." This is true worship. It is the offering of a sacrifice of praise. The sacrifice of thanksgiving The praise and thanksgiving that are spoken through streaming snot and tears. That is beautiful in God's sight. He is not a merciless God who hurts us for his own pleasure. He hurts us for our own benefit. He hurts us so that when we respond in obedience and submission, He can pour our reward out on us. He can embrace and comfort us. He can accept our offering....the offering of praise and thanksgiving that comes from a broken wounded heart. And He will then bless us...maybe not on this earth. But certainly. Definitely. Absolutely ---in His Kingdom to come--he will pour out so much blessing on us that our heart will burst for joy. And then, there, we will see and we will understand and we will be so glad that we acted in faith and yielded our hearts into his hands for his good pleasure. Because HIS good pleasure, means OUR good pleasure.
It was not meaningless.
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