Being Still
One has every right to be angry if one does everything right and bad things befall him.
Job again took up his discourse and said: “If I have made gold my trust, or called fine gold my confidence; if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, or because my hand had gotten much; if I have looked at the sun when it shone, or the moon moving in splendor, and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my mouth has kissed my hand; this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I should have been false to God above. "If I have rejoiced at the ruin of those who hated me, or exulted when evil overtook them-- I have not let my mouth sin by asking for their lives with a curse-- if those of my tent ever said, 'O that we might be sated with his flesh!'-- the stranger has not lodged in the street; I have opened my doors to the traveler-- if I have concealed my transgressions as others do, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom, because I stood in great fear of the multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors-- Oh, that I had one to hear me! (Here is my signature! let the Almighty answer me!) Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary! Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; I would bind it on me like a crown; I would give him an account of all my steps; like a prince I would approach him. "If my land has cried out against me, and its furrows have wept together; if I have eaten its yield without payment, and caused the death of its owners; let thorns grow instead of wheat, and foul weeds instead of barley." The words of Job are ended. - Job 29:1,31:24-40
But with whom should one be angry?
Back in Job's day, no one knew about Jesus, and there was no Holy Spirit advocate to guide them. They were alone in their grief and sorrow.
If God didn't talk to them directly, they were alone.
At times, we may feel alone like Job does, but we don't have to feel that way. If we take the time to be still and listen to the silence within us, we may find that the Holy Spirit is truly available for us.
In our deepest despair, a thought may come. Or it might be something we notice in the beauty of Creation around us. Or it could be the kind words of a stranger who sits beside us.
I believe that is how God works.
He sends his minions like angels to us. And his minions could be anything or anyone.
When the man on the park bench with his head in his hands needs to know that God hears his prayers, the answer could come in a passerby asking if he is OK. Can I sit with you a while?
Be the answer to someone's prayer.
It can change you inside.
More to come...