"Not everyone gets back what they've lost...More faith wouldn't have helped."
How do you know?
OK, that's a fair question. I don't really know. It's just a hunch. It's based on the apparent level of faith I've seen some folks have, putting everything on the line, trusting God completely. And I can't even say definitively that it sometimes doesn't work, I have to admit. Maybe God's will isn't our will, sure. Maybe God wants someone to go bankrupt, or to lose their job, or their child to die. All things work together, after all. When it comes down to it, according to some, you can't tell if anything goes wrong -- ever!
And then all the promises are always "fulfilled", no matter what it seems like. This also makes them completely pointless.
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Hebrews 13:23 Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty
Well, ignoring the last line--or again,
"How do you know?" I'd say that God is not interested
in your bank account, or your job,
or your child's most happiest day, in that case...
He cares about "will one (or many) grasp this essential truth,
or that essential truth," and what is the best way to do that. Period.
After all, all those worldly things you mention
have given us...what we have now; meltdown.
Left on that path, you would prolly be
looking for flying cars next, or something.
Oh, and about that analogy and its critiques, not all stories end like the story of Job ended. Not everyone gets back what they've lost. I don't blame the victim for that, either. More faith wouldn't have helped.
Pro 23:7 "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he."
Barnes: Thinketh - The Hebrew verb is found here only, and probably means, “as he is all along in his heart, so is he (at last) in act.”
There's the rub - "as he is all along in his heart, so is he (at last) in act."
Many times the hardest circumstances show us our own heart. Just like the rich young ruler. On the outside, visible to all, he was the epitome of righteousness, but in his heart, he held on to the things he desired, not willing to let them go. Only God knows the deepest part of our hearts. Jesus showed the rich young ruler his heart.
I don't believe there is anyone here, finding themselves in a heated and trying circumstance - if they are honest - can look back and not say - "I could have handled that better. I saw a part of me that I didn't like and in the future, I want to do better."
I know I can say that. I've been wronged in situations I have had no power, control or authority to correct, but I can honestly say, in the frustrating state of wanting, praying and wishing those situations would end, I wasn't 100% on my part.
What I'm trying to say is that I could tell my sad stories and try to garner sympathy. No doubt I would get it. But if I don't include the part of myself that wasn't good, I'm not being honest with the telling. It doesn't matter how hurtful or blatantly wrong the other persons have been, I am still accountable to myself. I can only change and reverse my attitude. I can't move on unless I take charge of my attitude.
Well, ignoring the last line--or again,
"How do you know?" I'd say that God is not interested
in your bank account, or your job,
or your child's most happiest day, in that case...
He cares about "will one (or many) grasp this essential truth,
or that essential truth," and what is the best way to do that. Period.
After all, all those worldly things you mention
have given us...what we have now; meltdown.
Left on that path, you would prolly be
looking for flying cars next, or something.
Sigh.
__________________
Hebrews 13:23 Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty
We are all going to die. But, we will be judged on how we lived. You either believe or you don't, and live accordingly.
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If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14 KJV
He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? Micah 6:8 KJV
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 1 John 3:2 KJV
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