Throw Me A Bone

Good Morning, Good Afternoon, or Good Day -

Those of you who know me well will have heard these words come from my
mouth - "I wish God would just throw me a bone".  Usually I am
speaking this after a particularly hard day, week, month, or Lord help
me, year.

This morning I was reading about Lazarus - not the one whom Jesus
raised from the dead, but the one in Luke chapter 16. Here's how we
are introduced to Lazarus:

"19 "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and
lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named
Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the
rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.'

So the evil, unsaved rich man walked right past Lazarus every single
day.  He could have clothed him, treated and bound his wounds, fed
him.  He did not.  Instead, there he lay, with only the dogs to attend
to him.

At least he had the dogs!

But note what happens next, as both Lazarus and the rich man die:

22 "The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to
Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades,
where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with
Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have
pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and
cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'
25 "But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you
received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now
he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this,
between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those
who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from
there to us.'

It may seem like small comfort sometimes when you are suffering, but I
remind you today that this is not our home.  THIS IS NOT OUR HOME!
Suffering is guaranteed as a Christian - He sent Holy Spirit to help
us endure. God knows where we are.  That includes the suffering we
have done - and will do.  Here's what it says in Revelations:

"9 "I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich);
and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not,
but are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Do not fear any of those things which
you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of
you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation
ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of
life."

The reward is so much greater than the blink of an eye we are on this
planet.  It's just that this time on earth can hurt so bad sometimes.

God's promises are true.  In Genesis, God was disgusted by the state
of the earth, which He had made in perfection for Adam and Eve.  After
the fall, it all went downhill - and continues to!  He tasked Noah
with building an ark, and then God wiped every living thing that
wasn't on that ark right off the planet.

Afterwords, though, God made a promise - that promise is found in Genesis:

"13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of
the covenant between me and the earth.  14 Whenever I bring clouds
over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will
remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of
every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all
life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and
remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures
of every kind on the earth."

17 So God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have
established between me and all life on the earth."

That picture I enclosed is a close up of a photo I took this summer -
it was the first time I actually saw a rainbow IN the clouds.  I pull
it up again, because again I need to be reminded of the everlasting
covenant.

Yeah, I'm having a rough time.  But at least I'm not Lazarus, homeless
outside the gate with dogs licking my wounds.

Make sure you press in to God - know Him, know where you are going
when you die - so that this verse in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 will ring
true in your heart, and encourage your soul today:

"17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working
for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory"

Be encouraged, dear ones.