I read a writing that a friend commented on he read in one of my writings. It must have been old and I have a few places I post at, mainly on my own site. Now this is not a close friend, matter of fact we've never spoken on the phone or met in person. We have different religious perspective, aka eschatology. We read the Bible much, much differently. We are alike however in we come pretty much straight forward with the things we believe in writings and in his case, his sermons. He is a Preacher and I think a Theologian, but definitely a Preacher. I am about as far removed from that as anybody, this is my main format of conveying my beliefs and on my Pintrest I convey some information while holding back. On my site though I rent the server so I do not hold back, but admittedly I don't write and post information like I once did. It is there I will assume he found an older writing. His way and beliefs work for him and he is pretty well set, a sincere guy and I believe well meaning. I will, out of respect, refrain from naming names as I believe he is sincere.
Where he decided to focus was on a writing or maybe writings of when I say God says Be still and know that I am God. His interpretation is correct in that God is saying wait and watch and see His power and He will handle things, but it is not complete. His assessment on my writings is that he is a bit confused as to what I wrote and perhaps I did not spell it out as clearly as I meant to. I am a member on his site and I could make straight my beliefs and challenge his words but I think he will eventually find this writing. If he does he does and if not, well thats ok too. You see sometimes it is better to leave some things well enough alone, focus on what is in common, and walk away from a small issue. His issue is with my description rather than the Bible, perhaps spun out of my beliefs on areas we differ on that I feel is important. Reading some of his books I learned some information I didn't know on the Genesis 6 part.
He writes from a different world than I do and on a different perspective, one of reading without experiencing. There are things that we try and understand at a distance, reading the words and having some understanding, yet no depth in that understanding due to experiences. Lets just say that sometimes we are surface skimmers, skimming atop the waters of a pond without going deeper than we need to be in order to have a complete understanding of what the Author is trying to convey. Perhaps that is why most of the time bad people are chosen and converted and no matter if they were good or bad, they have plenty of challenges. I'm talking about real challenges, not the ones we perceive as a challenge. I'm talking about life or death, you have done all you can humanly do, doctors have done all they know to do, and there is nothing left but God who has the power to change things. Translated, yes God and He alone has that power to right the wrongs, stop the flood, fight the enemies, do the battle for you. Thus the words "Be still and know that I am God", for one is exhausted and losing the battle, so one becomes still, as one can only do that, all else is lost.
I need to say this though, God's answer is that He may chose not to do battle for you in the physical world. If He choses not to do so it is not always a reflection of the person's status or goodness with God. It may be no because it does not fit His purpose or plans. If it be fatal, be that sickness, disease, or accident, God has not abandoned the person who is still. One of the biggest, most tragic mistakes and assumptions I see is when people judge the afflicted, injured, or defeated person as not worth of God's help. God and only God knows a person's heart and only He can judge justly. Since that measure of judgment you use will one day be used on you, think positive at best, neutral at worst. This benefits only you. I can't help but sometimes wonder if they have attributed the wrong god with God but giving Him a rod and a temper to strike down everybody. If so, that is Zeus. One must remember that God's decision to do or not do is a just one and is to serve His purpose. For the faithful it will be a true life, for the not faithful it will be the end. It is never our purpose to judge a person's faithfulness for we cannot see their heart or know their mind.
So what is the difference? What is the big deal? Bottom line, all suffering is not pointless, actually it is just the opposite. What if we are just given events and we determine if they are good or bad? The dangers of this can be a few ways. The first way is that the person in trouble may just chose to quit, stop fighting, thinking God will do their battles and they do not have to do anything. The second way is they can easily be convinced that God not doing the battle for them that they are not truly saved or worthy of His assistance. Sometimes they are told their faith just isn't strong enough. I have seen this one played out in real life. I had an Aunt who fought cancer three times and the last time took her out. She started going to church and they had her crawl to the front, upon the stage, beg and cry. As the disease advanced she was told her faith just wasn't enough. She died thinking it was her fault for a weak faith. This was a good woman. When all is lost, one has little options than being still. A person who has never been to that point need not to judge or attempt to judge that which they do not know. To do so is in serious err and God holds those who claim the Teacher degree more harshly. They teach what they do not know. God listens and hears.
Where he decided to focus was on a writing or maybe writings of when I say God says Be still and know that I am God. His interpretation is correct in that God is saying wait and watch and see His power and He will handle things, but it is not complete. His assessment on my writings is that he is a bit confused as to what I wrote and perhaps I did not spell it out as clearly as I meant to. I am a member on his site and I could make straight my beliefs and challenge his words but I think he will eventually find this writing. If he does he does and if not, well thats ok too. You see sometimes it is better to leave some things well enough alone, focus on what is in common, and walk away from a small issue. His issue is with my description rather than the Bible, perhaps spun out of my beliefs on areas we differ on that I feel is important. Reading some of his books I learned some information I didn't know on the Genesis 6 part.
He writes from a different world than I do and on a different perspective, one of reading without experiencing. There are things that we try and understand at a distance, reading the words and having some understanding, yet no depth in that understanding due to experiences. Lets just say that sometimes we are surface skimmers, skimming atop the waters of a pond without going deeper than we need to be in order to have a complete understanding of what the Author is trying to convey. Perhaps that is why most of the time bad people are chosen and converted and no matter if they were good or bad, they have plenty of challenges. I'm talking about real challenges, not the ones we perceive as a challenge. I'm talking about life or death, you have done all you can humanly do, doctors have done all they know to do, and there is nothing left but God who has the power to change things. Translated, yes God and He alone has that power to right the wrongs, stop the flood, fight the enemies, do the battle for you. Thus the words "Be still and know that I am God", for one is exhausted and losing the battle, so one becomes still, as one can only do that, all else is lost.
I need to say this though, God's answer is that He may chose not to do battle for you in the physical world. If He choses not to do so it is not always a reflection of the person's status or goodness with God. It may be no because it does not fit His purpose or plans. If it be fatal, be that sickness, disease, or accident, God has not abandoned the person who is still. One of the biggest, most tragic mistakes and assumptions I see is when people judge the afflicted, injured, or defeated person as not worth of God's help. God and only God knows a person's heart and only He can judge justly. Since that measure of judgment you use will one day be used on you, think positive at best, neutral at worst. This benefits only you. I can't help but sometimes wonder if they have attributed the wrong god with God but giving Him a rod and a temper to strike down everybody. If so, that is Zeus. One must remember that God's decision to do or not do is a just one and is to serve His purpose. For the faithful it will be a true life, for the not faithful it will be the end. It is never our purpose to judge a person's faithfulness for we cannot see their heart or know their mind.
So what is the difference? What is the big deal? Bottom line, all suffering is not pointless, actually it is just the opposite. What if we are just given events and we determine if they are good or bad? The dangers of this can be a few ways. The first way is that the person in trouble may just chose to quit, stop fighting, thinking God will do their battles and they do not have to do anything. The second way is they can easily be convinced that God not doing the battle for them that they are not truly saved or worthy of His assistance. Sometimes they are told their faith just isn't strong enough. I have seen this one played out in real life. I had an Aunt who fought cancer three times and the last time took her out. She started going to church and they had her crawl to the front, upon the stage, beg and cry. As the disease advanced she was told her faith just wasn't enough. She died thinking it was her fault for a weak faith. This was a good woman. When all is lost, one has little options than being still. A person who has never been to that point need not to judge or attempt to judge that which they do not know. To do so is in serious err and God holds those who claim the Teacher degree more harshly. They teach what they do not know. God listens and hears.
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