Coffee With The Lord

Sometimes we wonder whether or not prayer works – whether God actually hears our prayers and answers.  Well, perhaps we should ask Hezekiah, king of Judah!

Sennacherib, king of Assyria (the most powerful nation of the world at that time) had attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and conquered them.  Next on his list was Jerusalem.  Assyria was notorious for their cruelty in war.  In Isaiah 36, Sennacherib taunts Hezekiah, belittles Jehovah and sends a threatening letter.  Hezekiah reads the letter, goes up to the temple of the Lord, spreads it out before the Lord and prays, pouring out the anguish of his heart to the Lord. (Isaiah 37.14-20)

This is what the Bible says… “Then Isaiah (the prophet), son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: BECAUSE YOU HAVE PRAYED TO ME… Who is it you, Sennacherib,  have ridiculed and blasphemed?  Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!  … But I know where you are and when you come and go and how you rage against me.  And because your insolence has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will make you return by the way you came!’ … “Therefore, this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria: ‘He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here.  He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it.  By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city,’ declares the Lord.  ‘I will defend this city and save it, for My sake and for the sake of David my servant!”

“Then the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning–there were all the dead bodies! So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there!  One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer cut him down with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.”  (From Isaiah 37 NIV)

Got a problem that is bigger than you are – a situation that seems impossible and almost paralyzes you with fear?  You might want to take it to the Lord in prayer!  Just say’n 🙂

Once more I am blown away by the positive life-perspective of Joseph in the Bible!  What an example of faith and confidence in the providence of God!

Now I know some who experience injustice, inflicted pain and even oppression who embitter and scream out, “unfair! unfair!! unfair!!!  They become emotionally fixated on the negative and hurtful experiences of life to the point they can see little else.  If they continue in their fixation they shrivel up in life and go to the grave dehydrated little balls of bitterness.

Joseph, in the Bible could have done that… Sold into slavery by his brothers, falsely accused of sexual misconduct by his master’s wife, unjustly sent to prison, forgotten by those he had helped, separated from his father for years through no fault of his own… It could have embittered him… 

But it didn’t!!!  In my Bible reading today, Joseph exhibited a life-perspective that was different!  A life-perspective I want – a way of seeing things (even painful and unfair things) I want to embrace!  Listen to him as he speaks to his brothers – the ones who sold him into slavery…

“So Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Come near to me, please.’ And they came near. And he said, ‘I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt.  And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.  For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest.  And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.  So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.’” (Genesis 45:4–8 ESV)

Joseph’s life-perspective reminds me of an assurance given by Apostle Paul in the Bible to those who trust God in the face of painful (and even unfair) life experiences…

“And we know that for those who love God ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD, for those who are called according to His purpose… What then shall we say to these things?  If God is for us, who can be against us? … Who can separate us from the love of Christ? … In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us!  For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord!” (from Romans 8:28-39)

With God’s help, I’m going to embrace that life-perspective!

Life is stressful these days!  I don’t have to remind you of that, do I?  The pace of life… the atmosphere of life… the demands of family and vocation… the pressures others place upon us… politics… dreaded physical problems… all are potential “ulcer makers” and the stuff of “emotional-breakdowns.”  “Burnout” is a popular term related to the cultural context in which we live today.

There is an answer!  It is possible to live from a “quiet center!”  Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest!  Take my yoke upon you! Let me teach you!  I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”  (From Matthew 11:28–30 New Living Translation)

“Soul rest!”  Imagine it… deep down within… a center of life that delivers peace, rest, competency, confidence, trust, and strength, in the midst of the stress-filled world we live in.  Jesus provides it!  Jesus teaches it!  Jesus is the secret of it!  (Check out verse 27 of the same passage!)

And you don’t have to be thought of as wise, influential, rich or famous to have it?  In fact, my experience is, some of the poorest people, those looked upon as quite ordinary, individuals with average intellect and education (even some thought of as quite “simple,” are the very ones who possess this “secret” and exhibit it!  And you know what?  That is precisely what Jesus declared in this very passage!  Here’s how it starts…

“At that time Jesus prayed this prayer: ‘O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike!  Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way!”

Now, a Christian therapist may be helpful in discovering and applying it to your life.  But even more than a therapist, the need is Jesus!  He provides the secret to this kind of life.  He said, “Come to Me… Learn from Me!”  I intend to do that EVERY DAY in the stress producing culture I live in!  “I have decided to follow Jesus!”  I learning from Him how to experience “soul rest” in this “pressure cooker” world in which we live!

(Pic and quoted verse from Clare Castaneda in Pinterest)