We should have talked about dignity and freedom; those things count for more than money.  Money’s soon spent, and when it’s gone it leaves no mark.  But when a man loses dignity, that leaves a mark on him that stays.”
              –Elmer Kelton  (The Day the Cowboys Quit)

    “Choose a good reputation over great riches; being held in high esteem is better than silver or gold.”
              –Psalm 22:1 (NLT)
———————–
If God is in charge why do I suffer so much?  Now, one thing for sure, suffering is a matter of perspective.  I’ve heard people moan and groan over life and I have to raise my eyebrows and wonder why.  The last decade or so, I heard kids continually moan about how bad they are treated and that their life is so tough.  It makes me wonder even more as they profess Christ.  Then there are those who may really suffer trials and yet they always carry a smile and continue going forward.
    Look at the words of the Psalmist:

         “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?
          Why are You so far from helping Me,
          And from the words of My groaning?
          O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear;
          And in the night season, and am not silent.”
                   –Psalm 22:1-2 (NKJV)

Maybe that is the way you feel.  These verses depict Christ, but we surely, at times feel the same way.  But look around you at all the evil.  There are homeless, hungry, disease-ridden, and refugees from war-torn areas.  
    This makes the incarnation and the coming of Jesus to this world all the more amazing.  “The more I see of the real world, the more I see the amazing implications of the incarnation of God in Christ.  To enter our kind of world from His kind of world, even for a moment, is beyond our comprehension.” (Stephen Brown)  As a Christian we need to have some knowledge of God, and therefore, we must be in His Word.
    First of all, we do a disservice to tell new converts that now they will have fewer and smaller problems because they are Christians.  That is totally false.  Life happens to all, but there is a major difference.  We serve God, the One who is in charge.  People who become a Christian with the idea of no problems have an attitude and mind-set that are not based on reality.  There seems to be the idea that as followers of Christ we have a right to live in a world without any hurt.  In fact, the Bible teaches the opposite.

          “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you”
                   –1 Peter 4:12 (NKJV, also see John 15:18-20; 16:33)

    Why should we think that life would be full of roses and that we could just go our way tip-toeing through the tulips.  For often life is a walk through a forest of cholla and cacti.  But Christ is with us and the blessed Holy Spirit.  The false theology of Christians not having to hurt has probably caused more hurt and confusion than anything in Christianity. (Brown)  Because we are not in the Word, we have not taken the time to examine the “whole counsel of God.”  “The Bible teaches power under pressure, not power without pressure.” (Brown)
    Listen!  The chief end of our walk with Christ is not our happiness, but His glorification.  Perhaps one of the reasons that new believers fall by the wayside is due to untruthful expectations.  Listen!  We are not “unloved” because we suffer, in fact the opposite may be true; it may be happening because we are in God’s will.  I remember a former principal, that whenever “bad” things began to happen that it was always the devil fighting.  I mentioned to him that it may be because we were not doing things “right” or that we were right in the middle of God’s will.
    One other thing I have learned.  Don’t go to the Book of Job for answers as Job is a book of questions.  When God began to answer Job, He answered Him with questions.  He showed Job the majesty of His being.  Job should actually be a book of comfort for in it we see something of what might be happening in the spirit realm.  Never for a moment forget, that God is definitely in charge.

I headed west into new country simply because it was new country.”
              –Louis L’Amour  (Passin’ Through)

    “The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you.'”
              –Genesis 12:1 (NLT)
————————-
I thought I’d give you something light yet very thought provoking; some humor with a lot of truth thrown in.  It’s by Waddie Mitchell, titled “Come Don”.  Some of you will not get the situation because these kind of stores really do not exist any more.

    I saw emotions well up in him as she pointed with a grin
    Sayin’, “Sign here at the bottom please” while handing him a pen
    I could tell he needed venting, or I feared he would explode
    So I dug in for the onslaught while he proceeded to unload
    His opinions on that young gal, how this country should be run
    How lawyers should be something scarce, how business should be done
    How you didn’t need no contract when a man’s word was an oath
    Which was worth a whole lot more than any paper signed by both
    How at one time giant deals were closed by simply shaking hands
    Cuz you could stake your livelihood upon the honor of a man
    An’ how neighbor didn’t merely mean some people living near
    An’ how all could walk the streets at night without a nagging fear
    ‘Cause citizens could arm themselves an’ crimes weren’t blamed on guns
    But on the crimesters that committed them an’ bad ones still got hung
    An’ how a shyster’s reign was short lived, ’cause a town would run ’em off
    An’ how your thugs an’ thieves would land in jail, ’cause judges weren’t so soft
    An’ how divorce was near unheard of, an’ how kids were raised at home
    An’ how there weren’t these old folk centers, ’cause we took care of our own
    An’ how yer cars an’ tools weren’t thrown away, ’cause things were built to last
    An’ how a man would tip his hat out on the street when ladies passed
    That young gal’s eyes were glazin’ as she stood there in a stare
    I was gettin’ kinda antsy an’ was wanting out of there
    But he went on about…fat cowboys, how they once were hard an’ lean
    Before they all used trucks an’ goose necks an’ how strikes were seldom seen
    An’ how if you were able bodied then you found yourself some work
    Because them welfare checks weren’t handed out to anyone that shirk’d
    An’ how you didn’t need no resume to land yourself a job
    An’ how a public office wasn’t just a legal way to rob
    An’ how to visit to your doctor didn’t cost an arm an’ leg
    An’ how an appointment with your banker wouldn’t dictate that you beg
    An’ how insurance was affordable ’cause folks weren’t out to sue
    Because they weren’t expecting ten times more than they were rightly due
    An’ how a liberal press weren’t handing us a constant bill o’fare
    An’ how yer taxes wouldn’t break ya ’cause we all paid our fair share
    But then the public trough weren’t feeding near so many bureaucrats
    An’ yes the government was small once, now it’s like a swarm of gnats
    An’ how it just keeps on growin’, an’ how the working man can’t win
    An’ how the deficit won’t shrink ’til they spend less than they bring in
    And where democracy is strugglin’ we must lend a helpin’ hand
    An’ how it ain’t right that some foreigners are buying up this land
    He’d gone on for twenty minutes ‘fore he took himself a breath
    I thought I’d better stop him ‘fore he talks that gal to death
    So I said, “Don yer right on all counts, but we really oughta go
    An’ if you don’t sign that there contract…we can’t rent the video”

Grin an’ have a good weekend!

It was in my mind to try to foresee what might happen, and so be prepared for it.  There’s no way I know of that a body can foresee the future, but sometimes he can read it pretty well if he knows the way folks think.”
              –Louis L’Amour  (Mustang Man)

    “But if they refuse to make peace and prepare to fight, you must attack the town.”
              –Deuteronomy 20:12(NLT)
————————
              “Down in the valley, the valley so low,
               Hang your head over, hear the wind blow….”
                     –unknown

One of the grandest sights is coming into Boulder on US Highway 36.  At the top of the last hill is a marvelous scene as the city of Boulder unfolds before your eyes.  My hometown is down in the valley, nestled against the Front Range; it used to be a small, quaint little town, but now it sprawls across the whole valley.  Valleys can be lush places where a person can go to relax and get away from the toils and troubles of life.  However, many times in literature and in Scripture they relate to a place of trial and testing.
    Valleys tend to represent testing times in our lives.  They are often dry that’s why when we find ourselves in a dry valley in life we need to pray for the Lord to send refreshing.  God will “send springs into the valleys; they flow among the hills.” (Psalm 104:10)  These springs or streams will send season of refreshing and will bring the dry region back to life.  
    Some valleys are small and are easy to traverse.  Some of life’s troubles are that way, and we get through them rather quickly.  Then there are those valleys that are extensive, such as Death Valley.  A low spot on the continent that is very dry and life is hard to maintain there.  Some valleys that we must travel through are like that–long, deep, dry, and will try our very spirits as well as our life.
    There is also that time, in fact there may be several times in life when a person might face death, but there will be at least one time when it will happen.  Scripture refers to it as a “valley.”  “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil:  for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4).
    I read yesterday a wonderful description of a valley.  David Copperfield faces the immensity of a valley that he is walking through while grieving his wife’s death.  Read the passage and see if you understand that there is “someone unseen” walking with him.
         “I came, one evening before sunset, down into a valley… .  In the course of my descent to it, by the winding track along the mountain-side, from which I saw it shining far below, I think some long-unwanted sense of beauty and tranquility, some softening influence awakened by its peace, moved faintly in my breast.  I remember pausing once, with a kind of sorrow that was not all oppressive, not quite despairing.  I remember almost hoping that some better change was possible within me.
          I came into the valley, as the evening sun was shining on the remote heights of snow, that closed it in, like eternal clouds.  The bases of the mountains forming the gorge in which the little village lay, were richly green; and high above this gentler vegetation, grew forests of dark fir… .  Above these, were range upon range of craggy steeps…and smooth verdure-specks of pasture, all gradually blending with the crowning snow.  Dotted here and there on the mountain’s-side, each tiny dot a home, were lonely wooden cottages, so dwarfed by the towering heights that they appeared too small for toys.  So did even the clustered village in the valley, with its wooden bridge across the stream, where the stream tumbled over broken rocks, and roared away among the trees.  In the quiet air, there was a sound of distant singing–shepherd voices; but, as one bright evening cloud floated midway along the mountain’s-side, I could almost have believed it came from there, and was not earthly music.”
                   –Charles Dickens  (David Copperfield, taken from A Charles Dickens Devotional, by Thomas Nelson)
———————
    On top of the desk, he laid the badge of a Texas Ranger.  “I’m assigning you the mission of finding Elias Butler and saving his soul.  Because of what he was forced to do at Mal de Ojo, he thinks he is doomed to perdition… .”
    “I believe that God has all sorts of jobs for people,” said Forrest.
    “Exactly!” said McNelly forcefully.  “That is why you must find Butler.  He, like you, was made to bring law and order to the wilds of the West.  This is a vast, lawless land, and needs strong people with strong principles.”
(excerpt from REDEMPTION)

You need to get yourself on over to Amazon and purchase your copy of Book 3 in the Life of Elias Butler.

Look at the headlines, watch the news (wait, maybe you shouldn’t) but if you do you’ll soon see that the world is confused.  Worldviews are many and are not consistent.  Insanity abounds, moral codes are void; there is chaos, wars, and rumors of wars.  Yet we can walk in the midst of this craziness because we have Someone beside us; Someone who is leading us no matter the situation.

         “He leadeth me!  O blessed tho’t!
          O words with heav’nly comfort fraught!
          Whate’er I do, where’re I be,
          Still ’tis God’s hand that leadeth me.”
                   –Joseph H. Gilmore

The thought in itself is indeed, blessed.  No matter where or what, Christ is there leading us through it.  I have often said that God does not deliver us out of our problems or situations (when He does it is called a miracle) but rather He goes through them with us.  We can be in the “slough of despair”, in the midst of doom and gloom and He is there leading us.  We can be on the mountain top with exceeding joy in our hearts and He is there leading us.

         “Sometimes ‘mid scenes of deepest gloom,
          Sometimes where Eden’s bowers bloom,
          By waters still, o’er troubled sea,–
          Still ’tis His hand that leadeth me!”

Paul tells us to be content in whatever state we find ourselves.  The only way that can happen is to trust in Jesus and let Him lead us.  Wherever we find ourselves, do not let go of His hand for that may be the only way you can get through the situation.  Have you ever been walking along, and all of a sudden you feel His hand grasp you tighter?  The grip is sure, and you know that He will not let you go.  Don’t complain that He is holding you too tight, but recognize the security in the grasp of His hand.

         “Lord, I would clasp Thy hand in mine,
          Nor ever murmur nor repine,
          Content, whatever lot I see,
          Since ’tis my God that leadeth me!”

“Are we really going into that storm?” you ask.  Oh no, not the wilderness!  Don’t complain or murmur but rest secure that it is the Lord leading you.  One day, each of us will face that great unknown–death.  It will come, but realize that in death there is victory, for the Lord will lead you across the vale into His presence forevermore.

         “And when my task on earth is done,
          When, by Thy grace, the victory’s won,
          E’en death’s cold wave I will not flee,
          Since God thro’ Jordan leadeth me.

                   He leadeth me, He leadeth me,
                   By His own hand He leadeth me:
                   His faithful follower I would be,
                   For by His hand He leadeth me.”