3 Because thy loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.
Trials no less than comforts--are the tokens of God's love. All is regulated by His infinite wisdom. You will find cause to praise Him even for the severe afflictions.
Cisterns must be broken--but the fountain of living waters is always full and always flowing!
Gourds must wither--but the tree of life has shade and fruit sufficient for us all, and at all times!
Creatures must die--but the Lord lives!
Creatures are like candles; while they burn--they waste away; and when they are extinguished, those who depend upon them are covered with darkness. But the Lord is a Sun to His people, and His bright beams of consolation can well supply the lack of the candlelight of creature comforts!
"I know, O LORD, that in faithfulness You have afflicted me. May Your unfailing love be my comfort." Psalm 119:75-76
At a meeting of Christian friends recently, I asked the question, "In my writings, do you object that I mix current events into God's word and God's message?" I do not want the cross of our Blessed Lord to become a BULLETIN BOARD on which we pin all our frustrations, our wants, needs and fears. The poet has written, "More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of." God knows all about my disability, the frustrations I go through in just living, much less getting things done. He knows what I go through with repairs on buildings, the daily challenges of running a business. I do not believe God objects to my asking him to assist me in keeping all those A/C units running in rental properties, finding people to work on buildings. I ask him, with humility, to keep water pipes from bursting, electrical wiring from wearing out. When you are blind, you must depend on other's eyesight to advise you about everything. I have found, over the years, that most of my employees do not inform me about anything because they know I might tell them to "take care of it". Everyone just wants to go through the motions in order to get a paycheck. With everything in life, not just my frustrations, every person who is productive, those on whom the employer must depend (no person can run a business by himself) must realize that cheating the one who pays you, in any way possible, leads to your spending a life walking around with a bag with holes in it, Haggai 1:6 "You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes." God is a perfect accountant. Living a life of integrity is not complicated, just tough, regardless of your position on the ladder. You can be sure that you will not go very far up the ladder, even working for someone else, when you have no investment-risk involved you lose sight of all honesty. If sighted, you see yourself in the middle.
I come from a time before air conditioning, even electric fans. We so prized shade trees that around our old country home where both me and my father were raised, were eight giant oak trees. They had been planted by my great grandfather. These great trees gave shade during the hot summer months. I still picture the shade trees in the pasture, where the cows and mules found shade from the hot sun. Under shade trees, one of the rewards of relief from hard work that instilled in many of us, life's character.
In my lifetime (84), people just want comfort, can no longer appreciate the escape from hardships and trials. We always knew that working in the hot sun would result in rest under the shade trees. In a day, I am told, where people ride around in air conditioned cars with an ice drink in one hand and a cell phone in the other, music blasting from a radio, government handouts and subsidies, no shame or concerns about anything, WHO NEEDS GOD?
My parents were children during the Great 1918 Flu Epidemic when one hundred million people died around the world. God warned us to beware of the little foxes. Song of Solomon 2:15 King James Version (KJV): "15 Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes." We have so many little foxes called viruses, that are spoiling everything. There are no cures for viruses. I understand China is concocting new, better armed viruses for biological warfare. You see, in biological warfare, just life is destroyed, the enemy keeps all the wealth of buildings and THINGS. I still remember my grandmother telling me about the death of Aunt Caddy, my great Aunt for whom my own mother was named. Aunt Caddy was the teacher at the two room school, which all the children in the community attended. When she got the 1918 Flu, my grandmother said Aunt Caddy heard them building her coffin in the barn because everyone knew when they got that flu that they would soon die. Dr. Hayes who was brave enough to venture into the community, died from the flu. With all of our knowledge and comfort, let us not forget the shade tree of salvation, redemption which God has provided for his own.
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