Are You on God's Side?

The difference between Job and many of us is that his first reaction to suffering was worship. Many of us have to be reminded of God’s love and sovereignty when we encounter suffering. How is it that Job could respond in worship right away? Because he spent his days getting to know God. We often think we know God because we go to Bible studies and church, but when suffering comes, it reveals our true beliefs about God. If we believe that God exists to make our lives more pleasurable and easy, then we will quickly turn our backs on God when trials come. If we believe that God is in control, but we don’t understand what that looks like, we can become confused and angry when life didn’t turn out like we planned.  We have to take the time to personally know God and establish our theological beliefs in order to build a firm foundation. That way, when storms come, we will not crumble. While going to Bible studies and church services are important, they cannot be the only way that we connect to God. We need to study God’s word, spend time in prayer and meditation, we need to fast and worship. We build a firm foundation by spending daily time with God. This isn’t a quick process. Just as you might go to the gym for a month before you see any kind of small change, we have to work out our faith in order to build that “muscle.” We train so that we are ready to face any kind of trial or temptation that will come. The world will always compete for our time and attention. We must be proactive and intentional about giving God our time and attention in order to walk in daily obedience to his commands. Only then will we respond to our trials with immediate worship. Reflection/Discussion Question: What daily practice can you implement to grow your relationship with God?

What words would you use to describe your relationship with Jesus? What words would people use to describe you? Paul lived a life of sacrificial commitment. Can the same be said about you? Sometimes we like to separate ourselves from Paul so that we don’t feel the obligation of listening to what he has to say or following his lifestyle. We call Paul “extreme” and distance ourselves from the sacrificial commitment that marked his life. We crave comfort and Paul’s life threatens that comfort. We may be able to find a way of side-stepping Paul’s commands, but we can’t ignore Jesus. Jesus died on the cross to take the punishment we deserved, but we are called to follow Jesus even to the cross. There we will find forgiveness of sins, but we will also see the way Christ calls us to live. The way to victory is through death. The way of Christ is sacrificial commitment to God’s will. It means willingly laying aside everything that gets in the way of accomplishing God’s will. It means dying to ourselves—our pride, our sin, our selfishness—and living our new lives in Christ.  The cross completely changed the way Paul lived. In Philippians 3 he writes, “But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:7-8, NIV). Sacrifice is painful, uncomfortable, and inconvenient. But if we have the same mindset as Paul, that everything else in our lives is worthless compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ, then we can live the life of sacrificial commitment that God calls us to.  Reflection/Discussion Question: What is/would be most difficult for you to sacrifice for the sake of Christ?