God answer’s Prayer

 

God answer’s Prayer

 

We live at a time in the history of this great nation where often it seems no one is listening.   But once more I am reminded and have proof that God loves and listens to his kids, so I want to share with you, this answer to our prayers.   My wife Jan told me about six months ago that she wanted to have a reunion for her side of the family, at our home in the Texas hill country.  I asked if she knew how many cousins and family would be coming and she said about 40 to 50 max, and we agreed that was achievable.

 

To set the stage for this answer to prayer, it is important to go back six months and give you a description of the climate conditions, we were in a severe drought and if you're not from Texas that means it has not rained in a prolonged period.  We had been in one of the driest, hottest Summers I can recall and grass and even trees were dying.   We had a record of sixty days of over 100 degrees and our creek at the bottom of the hill had not seen water for well over a year. Adding to the pain, we were under water rationing and the one day a week was not keeping the grass from turning brown or the scrubs from dying. 

 

We had been praying for rain for months and the clouds would come looking so full of rain but it seemed as if it was never meant to rain on our neighborhood.  As August approached, it seemed the list of family had grown from fifty to close to seventy and now it became apparent to the husband of Jan, the one with such small faith in a big God, that we had a very immense problem.  So, I did what any child would do I began to ask my Father for help.

 

This is what we asked for; rain to give life back to the land, for the rivers to fill their banks, and for the grass to turn green.  I did not want to be greedy, but I told God it sure would be nice if the creek had water and it was running full for the reunion on October 10.  By mid-September, we got a final count on who was coming to the reunion and the number was 110 and I was not sleeping well.  It was about this time it began to rain and the grass came back from the dead and the trees began to show some new life.  

 

By the Friday of October 9, we had 15 ½” of rain in our rain gauge at the house and my prayers had changed, the creek was running and the grass was green but what if it rained on Saturday the 10^th?  I said, “Lord you know we cannot put 110 people in our home, and we need October the 10th to be a cool but rain-free day.

 

We got 2” of rain on October 9, and the creek was making some beautiful music as it flowed over the rocks and dropped a couple of feet as it went down the hill, the grass is full of new growth and all we need is October 10, to be rain free.  October 10, has come and gone and it was perfect, we had close to 100 people in the house, and in the yard, some just sat and talked, others played washers, croquet, or horseshoes, but most just enjoyed eating and catching up on the eight years or more that they had been apart.  It is Sunday the 11^th and it is raining, some may call that luck, but they are wrong, it is not luck, it’s God my Father answering His child’s prayer.

 

Many of you joined us in that prayer and I wanted you to share in our praise to the Father for how He blessed us.  Also, we were blessed by our neighbors, who loaned us tables and chairs, and Cathy and Paul, who came and served our family in many ways that day, what a loving Father we serve.

 

Bob Rice

The young, full of himself Elihu

 

 

 

Job 34: 1 – 9

 

April 11, 2020

 

 

“Hear my words, you wise men,  and give ear to me, you who know; for the ear tests, words as the palate tastes food.   Let us choose what is right; let us know among ourselves what is good.   For Job has said, ‘I am in the right, and God has taken away my right;  in spite of my right I am counted a liar; my wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.’  What man is like Job, who drinks up scoffing like water, who travels in company with evildoers and walks with wicked men?   For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing that he should take delight in God.”

 

The young, full of himself Elihu has realized not only does he have wisdom that can straighten Job out, but that his three friends also could use some help.  In fact, he now is sure that Job is evil because he rubs the shoulders of wicked men and I’m not sure who he is referring to as wicked men.  He also was upset that Job is not upset that people are ridiculing him and showing him disrespect.  Could it be that Elihu is the type of man who would cross the road when seeing the man who was beaten by thieves and left to die as the priest did in (Luke 10:25-37)?

 

In verses 10 –15, it seems Elihu is on the spot about God cannot do anything wicked, that God cannot do wrong.  He and all the others were on dangerous grounds in their accusation of Job, in that God has stated Job is a man of Integrity and that no one else on the earth is close to him in being in right standing with both God and man.  

 

We often ask can or will God allow bad things to happen to good people?  I believe the account of Job gives us insight into the answer to that question.

 

“Therefore, hear me, you men of understanding: far be it from God that he should do wickedness, and from the Almighty that he should do wrong.   For according to the work of a man he will repay him, and according to his ways he will make it befall him.
Of a truth, God will not do wickedly, and the Almighty will not pervert justice.   Who gave him charge over the earth, and who laid on him^[ the whole world?   If he should set his heart to it and gather to himself his spirit and his breath,  all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust.”

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

Job 33:1-7

 

 

 

  

Job 33: 1 – 7

 

April 10, 2020

 

 

 

 

“But now, hear my speech, O Job, and listen to all my words.   Behold, I open my mouth; the tongue in my mouth speaks.  My words declare the uprightness of my heart, and what my lips know they speak sincerely. The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.   Answer me, if you can; set your words in order before me; take your stand.  Behold, I am toward God as you are; I too was pinched off from a piece of clay.  Behold, no fear of me need terrify you; my pressure will not be heavy upon you.”

 

My take on what the younger man Elihu is saying to Job, I am going to wiggle my lips and the words coming out will be from God, so listen up boy, and give a little more thought before you answer.

 

Job 33: 8 – 11

 

“Surely you have spoken in my ears, and I have heard the sound of your words.  You say, ‘I am pure, without transgression; I am clean, and there is no iniquity in me. Behold, he finds occasions against me, he counts me as his enemy, he puts my feet in the stocks and watches all my paths.”

 

Now Elihu tells Job to let me repeat your argument about God, and Elihu does a good recall of Job’s words.

 

 

Job 33: 12 – 30

 

Elihu gives us the ways he has heard God works in a person's life, but it does not seem it is his testimony, just facts he has seen or been told by a teacher.

 

Job 33 31 – 33

 

“Pay attention, O Job, listen to me; be silent, and I will speak.  If you have any words, answer me; speak, for I desire to justify you.  If not, listen to me; be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”

 

One wonders if Job has fallen asleep or turned his back on the young man, it sure sounds as if something has got him a little perplexed.  It also brings out the arrogance in the young man.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

The young Eihu has all the answers

 

 

 

 

 

 

Job 32:6-12

 

April 9, 2020

 

 

 

^“And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and said: “I am young in years, and you are aged; therefore, I was timid and afraid to declare my opinion to you.  I said, ‘Let days speak, and many years teach wisdom.’  But it is the spirit in man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand. It is not the old who are wise, nor the aged who understand what is right.  Therefore, I say, ‘Listen to me; let me also declare my opinion.’

Young and old will both give you their thoughts, but my dad a very wise man, often said “Your opinion on any matter is not of importance if the person you are speaking to has not asked for it.”  Elihu to my knowledge had not been asked for his thoughts on the matter, and I’m learning he is a wise person who wholes his tongue, especially when angry.  Elihu believes God has given him insight into the matter so he must regurgitate his thoughts over the next five chapters.

As we look at verses 11 – 22, you are going to see the young man is not been happy with his three friends nor Job and will not take the same line of assumptions as the three old men had.  He believes he has the right answers to the question and feels that if he did not speak out then he would be condemned.  He also will not give any thought to the four men for their wealth or place in society, for by doing so he would not be just.

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Integrity

 

 

 

 

Job 31

 

April 6, 2020

 

 

Job understood that when a man lost his integrity it was almost impossible to regain it.  I’m always gun-shy of the businessman who has to declare that he is honest, and full of integrity, for many of them have proved to be outright crooks.  I’ve been privileged to have friends who are men of integrity, but not one of them has ever put it on a business card or told me they are, I watch how they live and deal with others.  Job’s friends I believe were just managing themselves, if they had been Job they might have done what they were accusing him of.

 

Job 31:1 – 8, “I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?  What would be my portion from God above and my heritage from the Almighty on high?   Is not calamity for the unrighteous, and disaster for the workers of iniquity?  Does not he see my ways and number all my steps?  “If I have walked with falsehood and my foot has hastened to deceit;  (Let me be weighed in a just balance, and let God know my integrity!   if my step has turned aside from the way and my heart has gone after my eyes, and if any spot has stuck to my hands, then let me sow, and another eat,
 and let what grows for me be rooted out.”

 

This is the predicament Job is in, he is the only one, other than God, who knows he is a man of the highest integrity, and yet to this point, God is silent.   For the rest of the chapter, he recalls all the areas he has not sinned in, such as a lust for his neighbor's wife, and more so anything of his neighbors.  He goes on to tell us how he has acted on any of the complaints of his servants and he goes on to explain something each of us needs to remember, that all of us were formed in the womb by God.

 

Job goes on to tell how he has ministered to the widow, the fatherless, and the poor, and you and I would be wise to do so for they are dear to God the Father.  He talks about not putting his trust in gold or wealth, but only in God.  Job goes on to state he has never put trust in anything but God, and if he had he should get worse treatment than he has received.  Job goes on to state that he did not rejoice when his enemy was brought low, and that all that came to his table had all they needed to eat.  In fact, he goes on to say no stranger has had to sleep on the street, for they have been given a bed in his home for the night.

 

Now he asks, will anyone hear my case?  He asks, will the Almighty answer me?  Job is bold but ignorant of God and His ways, and said, I will tell Him all my steps as if God has not seen them, each and every one.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

Society will always have this kind of People

  

Job 30

 

April 5, 2020

 

 

As I began to read the words of Job in Chapter 30, these thoughts came into my mind, I know people like this, but many are not worthless, nor are their parents, they have bought into a lie.  Before going there, allow Job to share his story.  It is good to recall that it was not all that long ago that the nobles, the old and young, and the officials came to Job for counsel.  Now that he has lost his place at the city gates, his children, his wealth, out come the riffraff of society to take advantage of Job.

 

“But now they laugh at me, men who are younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.  What could I gain from the strength of their hands, men whose vigor is gone?  Through want and hard hunger, they gnaw the dry ground by night in waste and desolation; they pick saltwort and the leaves of bushes, and the roots of the broom tree for their food.  They are driven out from human company; they shout after them as after a thief.”

 

Society will always have this kind of people, but they are not the ones that can change lives.  Do you recall the '60s, no one thought those dope-smoking hippies would someday be in charge of our Government, but out of that came Bill Clinton, I’m not sure Job would allow him around his dogs.  I sure would not have allowed him in my home, I had a daughter and wife to protect.  Yes, we as a people should be very concerned about the young people who desire us who work to give them free school, free health benefits, and even allow them to sit at home and do nothing while someone else pays for it.  Most of them are getting degrees that are of no worth to them or anyone, and yes, someday they will be running the show.  I will be gone by then, but we are witnesses to what happens when a barmaid becomes a Congresswoman, what a disgrace!

 

My dad loved history, and he often said the reason we repeat history is we never learn from it.  What can we learn from Job 30?  For one thing, learn to pray, and seek the face of God, seek His will and not yours.  Also, remember Job was so low in pain and sorrow he could not believe that God would renew his strength and vitality, and the pain of his friends accusing him of being wicked.  Job may be as many who are losing everything such as Job, and freedom to work at this time in our history of this virus pandemic.  He believed God was the one doing this to him, and he had no peace in the day or at night.  He was wrong and so are you, for God is still writing your story, so remember to give thanks, my life changed coming back home in 1970 to where our house had been, and it was all over our five acres.  As I sat in the car at our mailbox that was still standing and looked down that long driveway, the Lord spoke in a voice I could hear, and He said now give me thanks, and I did.  It is a great story of what God did for Jan, Natalie, and me after that, maybe someday I’ll share with you about a big God, who loves you in ways you cannot understand.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

He was treated like a King

 

Job 29

 

April 3, 2020

 

 

One must remember Job’s not blowing smoke, he may not even be bragging, as Sargent Friday said on a detective show on TV, just the facts, and Job is reporting the facts.  As I read this, I understood God’s words to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job?  No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil.” 

 Let’s look at a part of Job’s final claim of innocence; “And Job again took up his discourse, and said: “Oh, that I were as in the months of old, as in the days when God watched over me when his lamp shone upon my head, and by his light I walked through darkness, as I was in my prime,  when the friendship of God was upon my tent, when the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were all around me, when my steps were washed with butter, and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!  When I went out to the gate of the city, when I prepared my seat in the square, the young men saw me and withdrew, and the aged rose and stood; the princes refrained from talking and laid their hand on their mouth; the voice of the nobles was hushed, and their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth.  When the ear heard, it called me blessed, and when the eye saw, it approved, because I delivered the poor who cried for help and the fatherless who had none to help him. The blessing of him who was about to perish came upon me, and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.  I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban.” 

 If you have ever been in the presence of a man like Job, you observe what He says about the town men getting up when he comes to the city gates.  Job tells us that both young and old, city leaders all highly valued Job’s approval.  Job was not only a wise man, but a very powerful man and they treated him like a king. 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice