“These foes (your myriad of Goliaths) stand and mock us because we have nothing to defeat them with. No weapon of earthly origin we’ve tried has had a lasting effect. That’s because earthly problems with spiritual causes will never be vanquished by spiritual people using earthly means alone.”- Brian Jones
His (Job’s) wife said to him, “Are you still holding onto your integrity? Curse God and die.” He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.”- Job 2:9-10
Brian Jones continues Chapter 6 of Finding Favor as he observes that Christians face a myriad of Goliaths in their everyday lives. These Goliaths include anxiety, depression, loneliness, discouragement, and unsatisfying work. Yet, Pastor Jones stresses, using earthly means alone never vanquishes earthly problems with spiritual causes.
Most noteworthy, Brian asserts, sometimes personal affliction indicates the manifestation of God’s favor. Also, the author exhorts, God’s favor functions as the shield that protects and blesses you. Therefore, Pastor Jones believes, our greatest pain often equals God’s greatest blessing. Thus, Brian posits, his debilitating head pain didn’t come knocking in order to teach him to seek God’s favor. Rather, God favored him with pain. That favor, in turn, caused Brian to seek why he’d been blessed to receive it.
In conclusion, Pastor Jones notes one of the greatest tragedies of the Christian faith. He finds that many Christians make assumptions regarding why God allows suffering. However, they fail to read what God says about suffering. Specifically, God says a lot about suffering in the book of Job.
Like Job, we all encounter “in all this” seasons in our lives. During those seasons, it appears to those around us that we’ve been cursed. While the source doesn’t matter, what does matter is that we seem to suffer for no apparent reason. At such times, one shouldn’t attempt to fill the gap with human words. For, as Brian explains later, like Job, God blesses all of your life.
Today’s question: What Bible verses help you battle earthly problems with spiritual causes? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Where God tears great gaps”
