April 5, 2011

Psalm 74:1-17 (Click to see scripture)

Bible in One Year Passages:
Mark 1:35-45, 1 Corinthians 3:10-23, Joshua 9-10

Journal Entry

Scripture

Psalm 74:9-11 We do not see our signs; there is no longer any prophet,and there is none among us who knows how long. How long, O God, is the foe to scoff? Is the enemy to revile your name forever? Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand? Take it from the fold of your garment and destroy them!

Observation

Asaph asks poignant questions. Signs that were meant to commemorate and remind the Isaraelites of God's goodness and his mighty works were destroyed. Prophets were gone or non-existant. No one could make sense out of what was happening or for how long. The enemies desecrated and profaned God's temple. Their offense was against God himself and yet God did not take action. There is confusion and frustration. One could even argue that he is rebuking God for his inaction.

Application

It was many years ago. I got a call one evening. It was a friend of mine who asked, "Why do you think my son might have poor balance?" In the insuing weeks, they saught medical care and found that he had brain tumor. Surgery, radiation and rehab followed. After about a year or so, he fully recovered. Several years later, I got a call from another friend. He told me that there was a car accident for the family with the boy who had brain tumor. The tire blew while they were on the freeway causing the van to roll and the boy was killed. At the gathering in his house, we didn't have the words to comfort his parents. We hugged and cried. We sang praise songs and hymns...

Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do bad things happen to church and Christians? We want to know and understand. Ironically, when Jesus told his disciples that he must be killed and be raised again on the third day, Peter rebuked him, saying, "Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you." Peter could not handle the knowlege. This same Peter later wrote, "With the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." It is no wonder that I can't fully understand. To me, one day is simply one day. Back to the story...

As we gathered at my friend's house to comfort them, one couple entered the home. This couple had just lost their daughter through drowning. When these couples hugged and cried, there was a deep sense of understanding. There was a sense of unloading of some of the pain. God suffered and knows our pain. God went through all of the turmoil of suffering and pain in Jesus' life, death and resurrection. God is not removed and uninvolved.

I think that I will always want to know why and how. And I will seek such answers. But when answers are not forthcoming, I will still rest in the knowlege that God knows what I think and how I feel because He has gone through it himself. Knowing this, I will not lose faith by anything that happens today.

Prayer

Father, thank you for giving me the thirst for knowlege. Thank you for giving me the emotions to feel love and pain. I won't pretend to be strong. I don't really want to be tested to see how much I can bear. But I trust that you know what is good for me and what I can handle. I ask that you give me greater measure of your Spirit to handle anything that comes my way.

--Jason Kim