Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Effective prayer”
Our Bible verse for today: “You are always righteous, O Lord, when I bring a case before you. Yet I would speak with you about your justice: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?” Jeremiah 12:1 (NIV)
Our thought for today: “Go ahead and ask God the hard questions, bring Him your complaints, He can handle it.”
Many times we come to God in prayer with the mistaken assumption that we have to be prim and proper, like well-behaved kids in Sunday school. We have to mind our “P’s” and “Q’s” and be careful not to voice any complaints or ask any questions that could come across as being in the least bit challenging.
That thinking is cute, it’s just not Biblical. Oh to be sure, we do need to approach God with the respect He deserves. But we’re also free to express our frustrations and our lack of understanding. It’s ok to ask hard questions and to complain – not just about the things of this life, but even about God Himself and about His ways.
King David did it. Take a trip through the Psalms. Many of them are “Psalms of Worship”, but many others are what we call “Psalms of Lament”. They’re filled with wailing and even whining, and lots of questions.
Job did it too. “I will say to God: Do not condemn me, but tell me what charges you have against me. Does it please you to oppress me, to spurn the work of your hands, while you smile on the schemes of the wicked?” Job 10:3
“Does it please you to oppress me … while you smile on the schemes of the wicked?” Wow! That’s heavy sarcasm. And Job got away with that?
In Jeremiah’s case God was in the process of bringing severe punishment as a form of discipline against the Jews for their idolatry and long-term unfaithfulness. While Jeremiah didn’t question the fact that the Jews clearly deserved the punishment, what did confuse him was that God was using the pagan nations (who were much worse in their sinfulness), as His instruments to punish and discipline the Jews.
Jeremiah’s complaint / accusation (which he expressed several times in the book of Jeremiah), was that it seemed pretty unfair of God to use the more sinful pagans to punish the less sinful people of God, and so Jeremiah asked God to do a little explaining. “Yet I would speak with you about your justice …”
The lesson here is that you can speak freely to God. He knows what you’re thinking and feeling anyway so it’s not as if you’re hiding anything from Him by being prim and proper, saying cute little Sunday school prayers, when in reality you’re raging inside and you want to shake your fist at Him. So be honest with Him. Tell Him what you think and what you feel. Question Him. Ask Him for explanations. He can handle it. He might not give you the answers you’re looking for, but He can handle your questions. And again, He already knows how you’re feeling anyway.
So go ahead and get it off your chest. Tell Him all about it. It’ll probably make you feel better and who knows, you may even get some answers.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 