I have many friends that are really adorable. But among them, 2 of my male friends are standing out to the category of very beloved friends. I have observed them year after year serving the Lord with joy. These are men who love the Lord and His word. Men who refuse to err. They love their kids and their wives and refuse to go to heaven without them.
Yes refuse to go to heaven without their wives...why did I say that? Because their wives have wondered away from God . Both wives have left their families bringing such pain and suffering to their children, and to the heart of the husbands that still love them. Both have left their homes during a global economic crisis , where more than ever one spouse needs the support of the other to make it.
Last night I sat with one of them and asked how things were going with him. My heart was melting with simpathy when this man fully opened up about what he described as his shame: "Sometimes I feel so ashamed, to even enter God's house, I feel like everybody is looking at my humilliation,, I feel like I wish I could just hide,,,sometimes I wonder if, I mean if God has forgotten me,,,,I'm out of work right now,,, the men I know are putting such pressure for me to go on dates and remarry someone, they say its been a whole year,,,yet I feel awful just to think about it...she was the only woman I ever had ...I though I was a good man, I have worked so hard, has God forgotten me, what have I done wrong?"
Every one of his words echoed in my heart, I knew that shame, I knew it well, so almost munbling I replied: You have done nothing wrong, and God will see you through, the job will come, things will happen, trust, the kids will stop hurting as God ministers to them, please continue to trust. And don't feel ashamed, for you're enduring the test, You say all is lost and yet here you are serving and worshipping your God, even after all this, so all of this will change for your sake, trust...
This morning I woke up dead tired, I knew I was going to be late for work. Then I found out that the sky was falling. Rain had covered Danbury with an ashy brown horizon. This is the kind of day that should be forgotten. Drove by the gas station, nothing. Not one of the laughing seagulls were there. They know better. I wish this day would pass quickly, and the trials of me and my 2 friends too. I tought of the rain, I tought of being rejected. No joy.
But wait, there is a way. Some bell rang, something old. Yes! I remenber now! A preaching from a long time ago... Yes pastor Ophir's favorite
Habakkuk 3:17-18
Though the fig tree may not blossom,
Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail,
And the fields yield no food;
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,
And there be no herd in the stalls—
Yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
No comments:
Post a Comment