Angels are near me
They want to take me home
To silence my tears
That so often fall.
They want me to see You
Grieving beyond the veil
To make it known
You can feel my pain.
They whisper to tell me
But my grief is too deep
And I cannot hear
all the words they speak.
When a moment of light
Breaks deep in my heart
They tell me of tears You weep
while we are apart.
-
CATHRYNE
ALLEN
(Artist Unknown)
You assure me
As your potter hands keep moulding me
Of who I will one day be,
But I see the kiln burning
And the heat of it is frightening me.
The exacting fire of faith
Is asking too much of me
I tremble at the grand design of life
And all that it wants from me.
I want to be spared,
I want to believe In Your faith in me,
But I am so weak in this doom of humanity
I want to escape the fires awaiting
me.
You tell me You endured
The hell fires of suffering;
As the clay in me begins to burn and
I am sacrificed as Your holy offering.
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
Imagine God
called you ‘perfect and upright’. What kind of a life would you have led to
earn such accolades? This is what the
Lord called Job and what he did to deserve it (Job 1:1):
-
As supreme magistrate he ‘chose out people’s
way’, adjusted their differences, and ‘sat chief’, presiding in all their civil
assemblies.
-
As captain general he dwelt ‘as a king in the
midst of his troops’, preserving order and discipline, and seeing that his fellow
soldiers were provided with requisites for their warfare, and the necessaries
of life.
-
As a man he did not think himself superior to
the meanest offices in domestic life, to relieve or support his fellow
creatures, he went about ‘comforting the mourners’ visiting the sick and
afflicted and ministering to their wants and seeing that the ‘wounded’ were
properly attended.
-
Old Testament Student Manual Book 2, p 30
In a more
detailed scriptural account, this was the life of Job:
He was upright (1:1)
He feared God (1:1)
He avoided evil (1:1)
He instructed many (4:3)
He strengthened weak hands (4:3)
He supported those who were falling (4:4)
He strengthened the feeble knees (4:4)
He walked in the Lord's ways (23:10)
He did not turn away from the commandments (23:11)
He loved the Lord's words more than food (23:12)
He delivered the poor (29:12)
He cared for the orphans (29:12)
He helped those whom no one else would help (29:12)
He gave the widow cause to sing with joy (29:13)
He was eyes to the blind (29:15)
He was feet to the lame (29:15)
He was father to the poor (29:16)
He searched for people in need of his assistance (29:16)
He never found joy in the suffering of his enemies (31:29)
He never wished evil on his enemies (31:30)
He opened his home to strangers (31:32)
He did not try to hide his sins (31:33)
He would not follow a multitude to do evil (31:34)
He refused to be silent because of the disapproval of others (31:34)
So Job was righteous, did good continually, was incredibly
respected in the community and he was fabulously wealthy. You could say, his
life was perfect. Hence the whole argument that Satan presented. When the Lord
held Job up as an example of perfection, Satan challenged with something to
this effect: "Of course he is good when you are blessing him left, right
and center. It's easy to be good when you have a perfect life, but take all
that away and see how much he is going to love you and believe in you."
So Job went from the pinnacle of society to living in rags on the
outskirts of the city, in constant pain, not understanding what has happened to
him. Basically he went from the picture of perfection to this:
"From the symptoms, some have said that it appears that he
had elephantiasis. Sore boils, one of the symptoms of this disease, had
attacked Job's body, forming large pustules which itched so greatly that a
piece of pottery was used to scrape them. Job's face was so disfigured that his
friends could not recognise him. Worms or maggots were bred in the sores (7:5).
His breath became so foul and his body emitted such an odor, that even his
friends abhorred him (19:17ff), and he sought refuge outside the city on the
refuse heap where outcasts and lepers lived.
“Pain was his constant companion (30:17,30) as were also
terrifying nightmares (7:14). Whereas, formerly old, young, princes and nobles
alike honored Job, he now felt abused by those whom society itself rejects; who
live on the outskirts of town, among the bushes, along the ditchbanks or in
caves" (Keith H. Meservy, "Job: 'Yet Will I Trust In Him'",
Sixth Annual Sidney B. Sperry Symposium, BYU, January 1978)
The lessons we can learn from this man’s experience are extensive.
Over the years I have written 9 blogs about his life. This year I am looking at
him from the vantage of wisdom that often comes with experience and age…..not
that I am anywhere near the calibre of Job but now I understand something about
suffering....
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art: Job - Archimedes by Italian Baroque Artist Luca Giordano)
I have
always liked this picture of Jesus with a white dove. I have wondered what the
artist tried to say with it. She titled the piece, The Creator. Yes, He created
everything, including the birds of the air, but why was the white dove featured
to represent all creation? I knew that scripturally a white dove is a symbol of
the Holy Ghost. I researched further and found out that there are many positive
attributes that are associated with white doves such as: hope, honesty, purity
and peace. When I read the last attribute, I immediately remembered that famous
scripture: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world
giveth, give I unto you.” (John 14:27). And so now I tend to think that the
focus of this painting is on Christ who represents all these attributes but especially
that of peace.
What did
the Saviour mean when He said, ‘my peace I give unto you’? It means, if you
know Me, you will have peace; if you follow Me, you will have peace; if you
seek Me, you will have peace; if you live my Gospel, you will have peace; if
you allow me to help you do what you cannot do, you will have peace; if you
allow me to make of you, what you should be, you will have peace. This kind of
peace does not come from the world, hence the proclamation, ‘not as the world
giveth’. We cannot have peace if we have our feet in both camps because we
receive wages of the master we obey.
My greatest
witness of Christ’s peace came through my experience with forgiveness. Some
people have a forgiving nature all around, some can forgive small acts, some
hold a grudge about anything and everything. The hardest to forgive is an
offence perpetrated against you that hurts the most. These offences fall into
the category of ‘too hard to forgive’ but they are not impossible because there
is a way.
The whole premise
of the Atonement rests on the principle of forgiveness. The Saviour died so
that forgiveness would be possible. Forgiveness is central to His character. There
is nothing like peace that forgiveness can bring to your heart. I speak from
experience and my personal frame of reference. I had an opportunity many years
ago to seek His ability to forgive when I could not do so on my own merit. The
emotional pain I was in during the crucible of my life was beyond me to repair
but I knew someone who could. I sought the gift of forgiveness, through my
faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, multiple times a day. The pain was
extreme but when the peace came, it was a freedom I had not known before. This
experience in my life was the defining moment of my true discipleship.
Imagine
what kind of peace the world can offer. It is a world where tribulation abounds
and suffering is rife. Even the most righteous are not exempt from a world of opposition
but endurance and overcoming of the world is possible through Him who has
overcome it all. If you are in a boat that is enduring a storm, there is hope. Whatever
the crucible of your life, it will be your defining moment that will lead you
to know the Prince of Peace.
He, who with His word caused the
earth to be,
Spoke to the Galilean tempest: “Peace,
be still”.
He who has all things under His command,
Calmed the troubled sea of dismay
in the souls of men.
He, who holds all humanity in the
palm of His hand,
Caused the waves of the sea to
whisper His name.
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art: The Creator by Liz Lemon Swindle)
