My family has been through a long season of struggle. After a series of life-class setbacks, the final blow came with the failure of a business and my inability to get reemployed. That resulted in the loss of our life savings and many other deep struggles. Well, such is life. God has been faithful anyway and He has always provided our daily bread. He has also used our experience to shape us to His will and to equip us for whatever lies ahead.
Yesterday my wife had an honest moment with me. Now that we are at the bottom of the barrel she questioned whether I was doing enough to address the crisis. The fact that I have faced countless disappointments, is besides the point, but as she expressed disappointment in me for failing to meet her needs, I in turn said, “I feel the same about God”.
Let me explain. Biblically, as a woman looks to her man, so he looks to God. As she has expectations of her husband, so he in turn has expectations of God. The frustrations that Paula now feels brings into stark perspective the restlessness I too feel. It makes our struggle both human and real.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not having a go at God, I am merely bringing things into perspective.
The world takes God out of the equation and imposes undue expectations on husbands. Indeed, it is so entrenched in society that men bear enough shame when found wanting, to send them into states of madness or desperation. However, when God is restored to His rightful place in the order of life and family, the demands of society are tempered. The burden of a man then shifts from primary provider to that of family priest and shepherd.
Fact is that God’s ways are hard to find and He has always imposed adversity on His people. When He led Abraham and Sarah into a lonely wilderness, she lost all the support systems that once sustained her, but Abraham obeyed God and went the distance anyway. I could also talk of Moses, David, Jacob and others, suffice to say that God casts us into struggles for His own reasons.
To me it has been marvelous to compare notes with others and reflect on how adversity has simplified our lives, taught us deeper values, drawn us closer to each other and strengthened, not weakened, our faith. God knows what He is doing and His ways will be vindicated, but in the process, will He not also vindicate the righteous and raise us up in due course?
I have to believe He is faithful and that we will never see the righteous forsaken or His seed begging for bread. I must also come to terms with the humbling that a process of dependency on God works in us, knowing that it will ultimately be for His glory. All He requires from us is a faith that persists through the trials so He can finish what He has started in us.
(c) Peter Eleazar @ http://www.4u2live.net/
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