JOB: Is God the villain?

I was watching a movie called, “A Serious Man”, it was very critical acclaimed and was nominated for Best Picture. Many people have called it a modern day tale of JOB. However many critics seemed to believe the Coen Brothers were attempting to show God is a heartless, evil, deity. The Coen’s never said that but many critics and viewers alike took the opportunity to angrily rant about God and religion.

To me this is a common problem in society, people want to find one part to a problem to magically fix everything. They blame the gun, not the attacker, the alcohol not the man who decided to drink it then drive, and of course God. Taking the dangerous things I mentioned away from people will never stop the Evil, only God is the answer to that. Take God away and there is no stopping the evil.

In the story of JOB, Satan is the villain, not God, God loved JOB and believed he would stay loyal through everything. At the end God told JOB that he had no right to question him because he is the creator, he is our father. Even though JOB did question him, God gave him double everything he had. God loved JOB and he loves us.

He didn’t intend us to go through this pain, Adam and Eve rebelled and we continue to do so through sin. The Old Testament is filled with laws and punishments because that is the society that people created. All of these laws and punishments did not come into place until people disobey God.

God did not want us to suffer, so he sent his son, Jesus who redeemed the World. Our debt is paid, no more judgment for those who accept the lord, he has forgiven us.

Can’t we all do the same?  How can we judge others when God no longer judges us? How can we tell people to be thrown in jail for the rest of their lives because “they will never change” or be killed for their actions when we have been forgiven for ours? We must remember Jesus said in Matthew 7:1 “Do not judge, or you will be judged” and in Matthew 6:15 “But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive yours.”

So is it worth to throw away Jesus’ sacrifice over your own anger and hatred? Let’s do everything in our power to continue to show love to others, forgive, don’t judge. Show that God isn’t what these people claim he is. Show his love and compassion. You as a servant of God are representing his image to them, if you behave the way they view God, you will be justifying their arguments.

Have a blessed week

-Chris

Taming the Tongue

Taming the Tongue

After a few small incidents with other people recently that turned into big problems, I had a thought. Little men, who encounter little problems often, turn them into big problems because of their desire to become big men.

It’s really difficult to hold back and not argue with people like that but you have to remember that God wants us to turn the other cheek, or at least try to.

James 3:8 says “8but no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.” It’s impossible to never argue but we need to remember God wants us to remember the harm words can do.

Remember Jesus said “Listen and understand. A man is not defiled by what enters his mouth, but by what comes out of it.” We must choose our words wisely, not seek out confrontation. This is not what Christ wants.

Let’s continue to show love to everyone, not discriminate based off of personal feelings, confrontations or lifestyle choices. Let’s be the servants God wants us to be not who we want to be.

Have a blessed week.

Worn Out

What gets you worn down? The answer for me is A LOT of things. I am constantly worn down. I struggle with depression, anxiety and obsessive, compulsive behavior. I am constantly worrying about the what if’s in life or how horrible something could go. I make schedules, write out pros and cons, check locks over and over again, reorganize things, I will probably re-read this five or six times before I hit post.

I try all these human made things to make my life the best or most efficient it could possibly be but it just ends up wearing me out worse. I’ll tell myself just to turn to God but then I feel guilty for things I have done, or situations I wasn’t being a good Christian. This leads to me just wanting to shut off from the World and many times from God.

The truth is, that no amount of planning or checking or figuring out the best solution will work as well as taking your problem to God. Take everything to him and let go of your worry. Let go of all the built up anger for people in your life, let go of all the guilt about your own life and trust in him. Don’t focus on pleasing others, do what God wants.

Most importantly, forgive. Forgive others for what they have done to you and forgive yourself for what you feel you have done wrong. Remember as Christ was dying he asked the father to forgive the people responsible for his pain.

Find peace in your life.

God Bless