Mere Edges of God's Ways

"Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways, and how small a whisper we hear of Him! But the thunder of His power who can understand?"

Job 26:14

Job spoke to his friends of the awesome power and might of God, how He sees all things, hangs the earth on nothing, binds water in clouds, conceals His throne, makes heaven tremble and smites the proud.  The things Job could see as God's handiwork he referred to as the "mere edges" of his ways.  The word in Hebrew translated "parts" in the KJV is connected to fringes, scrapings, off-cuts and outskirts.  When we see the power and wisdom of God at work in nature, we are seeing a very small part of what He can do.

There is a lot I find amazing about the world God has made, like the fact the earth hangs from the north on nothing.  Everything I hang must have something to hang on or it will fall to the ground.  I have hung many pictures on walls, and even a wall alone is insufficient in itself for me to hang a picture on.  Frames require hooks, nails or screws fasted to the wall to suspend it in the air, yet God hangs the entire earth upon nothing.  As the earth hurtles through space in its orbit, it does so according to God's glorious design and governance.  The power and wisdom to do this are the scrapings, the off-cuts of His ways.

When a woodcarver skillfully scrapes away shavings of wood to produce an image of a recognisable object, our eyes do not marvel over the bits of wood that pile up on the ground.  We are drawn to wonder of the skill of a carver to use sharp tools to make quality furniture or decorations.  If carving is a skill we do not possess ourselves, we are amazed by the ability of the carver.  Anyone can make sawdust, but it takes real skill to make a bear or eagle appear from a log with a chainsaw.  Job compared the majestic, precise movements of the planetary bodies as God's off-cuts, the outer fringes of God's ways that are beyond understanding or reckoning.  Knowing the science behind gravity in no way diminishes the wisdom of God Who designed and employs it to demonstrate His power, glory and creative genius.

Job pointed out the irony that despite God's amazing wisdom and ways, we don't hear much of Him.  He is not like the bells of a church that ring or a call to prayer over a loudspeaker at set ours:  His glorious creation is a continual reminder to those who know, love and fear God of His existence and goodness towards all.  May our praise and thanksgiving be like thunder so all will hear of His grace and the Gospel.  What is impossible with men is possible with God, and Jesus Christ rose from the dead so all can understand the love God has extended to us so we sinners, by faith in Jesus, can receive forgiveness and salvation offered by God.  Since the mere edges of God's ways are beyond compare, how great and glorious God is!

Prayer is Giving

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

Philippians 4:6-7

Prayer is an action believers in God are held responsible by Him to practice ourselves.  While painting today I started thinking about the exhortation I have heard at the end of sermons, to find fellow believer and "get prayer."  The more I thought on this phrase, the less I was comfortable with it.  Prayer is not about receiving, nor should we look to others to pray for us:  we are called in everything by prayer and supplication (with thanksgiving!) to let our requests be known to God.  Corporate prayer is a wonderful blessing, to be led by the Holy Spirit in our praying together in unity.

It is a strange thing how a personal spiritual discipline that is to be embraced continually could be reduced to Christians being conditioned to seek others to pray for them.  Of course there is nothing wrong with having people pray for us, as this exhortation is seen in scripture many times.  Yet we ought to be careful not to convey prayer is something that we receive from others when it is something we ought to do ourselves.  It is good for us to humble ourselves before God and man when we make our requests to God.  We have God's full assurance of what He will do when we choose to cast our anxieties upon Him and pray with thanksgiving whether we are accompanied by others in prayer or not.

I believe it is important that people pray for themselves, not just submit to being prayed for.  Better for a person to simply say in sincere prayer to their Father in heaven, "God be merciful to me, a sinner!" than to have a brother or sister pray for 10 minutes over them.  We have the capacity by our embrace of routines and rituals to create a culture in church that veers from the main point.  Baptism in water is an example of this.  When Philip met the Ethiopian eunuch in the desert who desired to be baptised, he was not enrolled in a Sunday School class nor was there a public ceremony with family or friends invited.  We can put a large emphasis on a public display of faith before witnesses when Philip placed all the emphasis on personal belief in Jesus being the Son of God:  "If you believe with all your heart, you may." (Acts 8:37)  Baptism and prayer are personal acts of obedience as we align our hearts and lives with God.

A key to prayer is not making a public show but a heart humbled before God privately.  In the parable Jesus told the grandstanding Pharisee who prayed with himself was ignored, whilst the tax collector who would not even look to heaven due to his contrition for sin went home justified before God.  Prayer puts us in a humble posture before our God we desperately need for all things and prayer with thanksgiving aids our hearts, minds and lives align with His will.  God responds to prayer by guarding our hearts and minds with His perfect peace.  Prayer isn't something we "get" from others but what we give to God.  Praise the LORD we can pray with others as we give thanks and really give ourselves to the God who is our peace.

God at Work

After Jesus miraculously healed a sick man who was unable to walk for 38 years due to an infirmity on the Sabbath, He was a man marked by the Jewish authorities.  John 5:16-18 reads, "For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath. ¹⁷ But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working." ¹⁸ Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God."  The Jews persecuted and sought to kill Jesus because He broke the Sabbath, for keeping the traditions of their fathers was the good work they aimed to do.  Jesus claimed equality with the God the Father because the works they did were the same:  miraculous, supernatural and for the good of others in love.  The people in Nazareth saw Jesus as the son of Joseph the carpenter, but the works of Jesus demonstrated God was His Father.

God created the earth, heavenly bodies and all living things in 6 days and rested from His work on the 7th day.  He spoke the world into existence by His wisdom and power, and though the act of creation was finished the work of God did not cease.  God continued to do wonders to speak to people, reveal Himself and His power, delivered the Hebrews from slavery, provided for their needs and brought them into the promised land.  The works Jesus did as Messiah and servant of all were accompanied by miraculous works only God can do.  The Jews understood certain works are strictly limited to God.  When men brought a paralytic to Jesus Luke 5:20-21 says, "When He saw their faith, He said to him, "Man, your sins are forgiven you." ²¹ And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, "Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?"  Forgiveness of sins is a work only God can do, and Jesus showed He was no blasphemer when He demonstrated His power to forgive sins by healing the paralytic with a word.

We may not see or know how God is working in a given situation, but we can rest assured He is at work in ways beyond our comprehension.  John 9:1-7 reads, "Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. ² And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" ³ Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. ⁴ I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. ⁵ As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." ⁶ When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. ⁷ And He said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing."  While disciples wondered who was to blame for the man's blindness, Jesus went about doing God's work to open the eyes of the blind as the scriptures said.  As the Light of the World Jesus worked to shine bright to those in darkness and give sight to the blind.

The Jews asked Jesus, "How can we work the works of God?"  John 6:29 says, "Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."  God was not done working after the creation of the world, and the work of Christians to believe in Jesus is not finished at conversion.  We who have believed Jesus is the Son of God, the Living Bread God has sent from heaven to forgive, save and give eternal life to all who trust in Him ought to continue believing in Him.  Faith in Jesus prompts us to walk in obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit and lay God's word to heart.  The night is coming when no man can work, but as long as we remain in the world we ought to work the works of God who saved and redeemed us.  As it is written in Ephesians 2:10, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."  By faith in Jesus may our lives be masterpieces that reveal His glorious wisdom and works for all to see.

Cause for Stumbling

"He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him."

1 John 2:10

Anyone who stands upright and walks has the potential to stumble.  We have all stumbled at times for various reasons and exhibited degrees of athleticism as we struggled to keep our feet.  Some of us have had the unpleasant experience of catching a wall or piece of furniture with a toe or have been intentionally tripped by someone else.  Those guilty of dragging their feet or not paying attention to where they were walking because they were fixated on their phones have stumbled and fallen.

When we speak of physically stumbling nearly every time there is an external contributing factor, like a slippery surface, a raised kerb or uneven ground.  It is possible for people to be "stumbled" mentally because of something we have heard or seen that trips us up, like a pastor who was inebriated with alcohol or discovering a person we respect has been secretly living a lie.  Many Jews in Jesus' day "stumbled" at the suggestion Jesus was the Son of God and salvation was by faith in Him alone and not by attempts to keep the Law.  They expected the Messiah to be a conquering king, not a suffering servant, and they thought John the Baptist a more legitimate prophet than Jesus because of His (as was supposed) illegitimate birth.

The apostle John explains not all causes of stumbling are from external factors or can be rightly blamed on others:  there can be causes of stumbling within each one of us.  The implication is our own hearts and minds can be a minefield of offence shrouded in darkness where stumbling is inevitable.  We cannot help what others will do and say, but those who are born again and follow Jesus in loving one another have "no cause for stumbling" in us.  I have found this to be absolutely true.  Should feelings of frustration, annoyance and anger rise up within me because of offences, the prime reason is I have ceased to walk in love towards others.  Loving our brother shows we walk in the light of God's grace and the Gospel of Jesus, and the stumbling blocks of keeping records of wrongs and self-righteousness is removed from us.

It is very easy to be troubled and agitated when people try to trip us up, and it is even easier to stumble when the cause of stumbling is within us due to our sinful refusal to love others.  Let us look to the God who commands us to follow Him and love one another as our example and source of love, wisdom and strength.  Hatred, selfishness and pride are internal stumbling blocks that lead to spiritual stumbling and wounds only God has the power to heal.  Having eyes opened by faith in Jesus, as we walk in humility we are enabled to see clearly how our lack of love causes us to stumble.  Praise the LORD the Light of the World Jesus Christ shines and shows us our need to walk in love, otherwise we will stumble in the dark and remain clueless the reason is within us.