Loving God Is Greater Than Knowing God Deuteronomy 6:5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. Matthew 22:37-38 Jesus answered him, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and most important commandment. Mark 12:30 So love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ Luke 10:27 He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind. And love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ ” CHECK YOURSELF DO YOU REALLY LOVE GOD? To love God is something greater than to know Him. Everlastingsalvationchurchofgod.com PayPal.me/donatetochurch PASTOR ANDRA HIGGINBOTHAM
GOD SPEAKS TO US ABOUT SELF-INDULGENCE Titus 3:3 Indeed, we, too, were once stupid, disobedient, and misled. We were slaves to many kinds of lusts and pleasures. We were mean and jealous. We were hated, and we hated each other. LET US THANK GOD WE ARE NOT HOW WE USE TO BE AND LET US THANK GOD WE ARE NOT WHERE WE USE TO BE. Romans 12:2 Don’t become like the people of this world. Instead, change the way you think. Then you will always be able to determine what God really wants—what is good, pleasing, and perfect. Galatians 5:16-17 Let me explain further. Live your life as your spiritual nature directs you. Then you will never follow through on what your corrupt nature wants. What your corrupt nature wants is contrary to what your spiritual nature wants, and what your spiritual nature wants is contrary to what your corrupt nature wants. They are opposed to each other. As a result, you don’t always do what you intend to do. LET US LIVE OUR LIFE STRIVING TO BE LIKE CHRIST. Everlastingsalvationchurchofgod.com Pastor Andra Higginbotham
The consequences of God’s anger Jeremiah 12:7–8 “I have abandoned my nation. I have left my own people. I have handed the people I love over to their enemies. My people have turned on me like a lion in the forest. They roar at me, so I hate them. 1 Kings 14:15–16 “The LORD will strike Israel like cattails which shake in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land which he gave their ancestors. He will scatter them beyond the Euphrates River because they dedicated poles to the goddess Asherah and made the LORD furious. So the LORD will desert Israel because of Jeroboam’s sins, the sins which he led Israel to commit.” 2 Chronicles 12:5–8 The prophet Shemaiah came to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah who had gathered in Jerusalem because of Shishak. Shemaiah said to them, “This is what the LORD says: You have abandoned me, so I will abandon you. I will hand you over to Shishak.” Then the commanders of Israel and the king humbled themselves. “The LORD is right!” they said. When the LORD saw that they had humbled themselves, he spoke his word to Shemaiah: “They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them. In a little while I will give them an escape. I will not use Shishak to pour my anger on Jerusalem. But they will become his servants so that they can learn the difference between serving me and serving foreign kings.” Isaiah 54:7–8 “I abandoned you for one brief moment, but I will bring you back with unlimited compassion. I hid my face from you for a moment in a burst of anger, but I will have compassion on you with everlasting kindness,” says the LORD your defender. OUR GOD IS SENDING US A STRONG MESSAGE THROUGH THESE VERSES. WERE YOU ABLE TO RECEIVE THE POINTS THAT GOD WAS MAKING? ALLOW THESE VERSES TO BE A GUIDE UNTO YOUR LIFE. Everlastingsalvationchurchofgod.com PayPal.me/donatetochurch PASTOR ANDRA HIGGINBOTHAM
God is compassionate: 2 Corinthians 1:3 Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! He is the Father who is compassionate and the God who gives comfort. Exodus 33:19 The LORD said, “I will let all my goodness pass in front of you, and there I will call out my name ‘the LORD.’ I will be kind to anyone I want to. I will be merciful to anyone I want to. Psalm 86:15 But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and merciful God. You are patient, always faithful and ready to forgive. Psalm 119:156 Your acts of compassion are many in number, O LORD. Give me a new life guided by your regulations. Joel 2:13 Tear your hearts, not your clothes. Return to the LORD your God. He is merciful and compassionate, patient, and always ready to forgive and to change his plans about disaster. LET US LIVE OUR LIFE IN A WAY THAT WILL CAUSE OUR GOD TO WANT TO BE KIND AND MERCIFUL TO US. WE SERVE A GOOD GOD, A COMPASSIONATE GOD, GLOORRYY!!! HALLELUJAH!!! Everlastingsalvationchurchofgod.com PayPal.me/donatetochurch PASTOR ANDRA HIGGINBOTHAM
OUR GOD SPEAKS TO US ABOUT ADDICTION John 8:34 Jesus answered them, “I can guarantee this truth: Whoever lives a sinful life is a slave to sin. Philippians 3:18–19 I have often told you, and now tell you with tears in my eyes, that many live as the enemies of the cross of Christ. In the end they will be destroyed. Their own emotions are their god, and they take pride in the shameful things they do. Their minds are set on worldly things. Titus 3:3 Indeed, we, too, were once stupid, disobedient, and misled. We were slaves to many kinds of lusts and pleasures. We were mean and jealous. We were hated, and we hated each other. 2 Peter 2:19 They promise these people freedom, but they themselves are slaves to corruption. A person is a slave to whatever he gives in to. CHECK YOURSELF, WHAT SINS ARE YOU ADDICTED TO? DON’T BE A SLAVE TO SIN. Everlastingsalvationchurchofgod.com PayPal.me/donatetochurch PASTOR ANDRA HIGGINBOTHAM
God speaks to us about purification Psalm 51:10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. James 4:8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Isaiah 1:16 Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong. STOP BEING COMFORTABLE WITH THOSE SINS THAT YOU LOVE. CLEANSE YOURSELF, STOP SINNING. Everlastingsalvationchurchofgod.com PayPal.me/donatetochurch PASTOR ANDRA HIGGINBOTHAM
GOD TEACHES US ABOUT DIFFICULT PEOPLE Mark 11:25 ESV And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.” 1 Thessalonians 5:15 ESV See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Matthew 5:44 ESV But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, Matthew 18:15 ESV “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. Proverbs 22:24-25 ESV Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man, lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare. Proverbs 20:3 GW Avoiding a quarrel is honorable. After all, any stubborn fool can start a fight. ALLOW THESE VERSES TO BE A GUIDE UNTO YOUR LIFE Everlastingsalvationchurchofgod.com PayPal.me/donatetochurch PASTOR ANDRA HIGGINBOTHAM
Why Did This Happen? (I am focusing on the book of Job.) My friend is fond of saying, “There are no accidents in God’s program,” because our calamities are actually God’s carefully crafted plan. However, that assures us only momentarily: “What a relief that God is in control … [pause] … But if God is in control, why did he allow this painful thing to happen?” There are at least five reasons God brings calamity into the lives of his people. One of those takes center stage in the book of Job, so let’s consider it first. Is This God’s Judgment? The first reason God causes calamity is to discipline someone for specific sin. But be careful! It was their misapplication of this principle that led Job’s friends off track. Many make the same mistake today; therefore, let’s carefully consider this point. At first, Job didn’t demand answers from God when God brought disaster on him (1:22; 2:10). However, over time Job’s trust in God was devoured by a locust swarm of demanding “Why?” questions. Why did I not die at birth? Come forth from the womb and expire? (3:11) Why is light given to him who suffers? (3:20a) Why then have You brought me out of the womb? … [Why will] He not let my few days alone? Withdraw from me that I may have a little cheer. (10:18, 20) Have I sinned? What have I done to You, O watcher of men? Why have you set me as Your target? (7:20) When Job asked, “Why has this happened?” the theologians in Job’s world were, as we shall see presently, happy to supply him with what they believed was the right answer: “God is disciplining you for your sin.” Does God discipline people with calamity for specific sins they have committed? Yes … sometimes. King David destroyed his life in exchange for a few minutes of pleasure with Bathsheba. But his life wasn’t the only one that David destroyed. God brought calamity—the death of their infant son—on David and Bathsheba as judgment for their adultery (2 Samuel 12:15, 18). King Uzziah of Judah was struck with leprosy when he violated God’s law by trying to offer a sacrifice in the temple, something only priests from the tribe of Levi were allowed to do (2 Chronicles 26:16–19). And it wasn’t only royalty that incurred this kind of judgment. Gehazi was just a servant, but he was also struck by God with leprosy when he lied to Elisha about taking money from Naaman (2 Kings 5:20–27). Sometimes God does cause calamity in order to discipline people for specific sins. Tragically, Job’s friends misapplied that principle to Job, with devastating effect—as we shall now see. The Visit When word of Job’s catastrophes spread, there was great concern among Job’s acquaintances. Three of them, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar—wisdom experts like Job himself—determined that they would visit Job in an attempt to comfort him. When they arrived at Job’s house, they were shocked by what they found. When they lifted up their eyes at a distance and did not recognize him, they raised their voices and wept. And each of them tore his robe and they threw dust over their heads toward the sky. Then they sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights with no one speaking a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great. (2:12–13) Enthroned on ashes and covered with maggots, filth, scabs, and oozing sores, Job was unrecognizable to his friends. His complaint, “So am I allotted months of vanity” (7:3), suggests that he had been in this pitiful state for several months before they arrived. In 7:14 Job spoke of hallucinations, a common result of significant sleep loss. He had no hope and would have given anything for a restful night’s sleep. When I lie down I say, “When shall I arise?” But the night continues, and I am continually tossing until dawn. My flesh is clothed with worms and a crust of dirt, my skin hardens and runs … My days … come to an end without hope. (7:4–6) Observing Job’s misery, his friends broke their silence. Unanimously accepting that God was in control, they took it upon themselves to explain why God had ruined Job. As we consider this, you must grasp a significant point: Job’s friends were both right and wrong at the same time. They were correct in saying that God does use calamity to discipline specific sin. Their mistake, however, was assuming that that is the only reason God brings calamity, and therefore, that it must be true in Job’s case. Eliphaz was the first to speak. His opening salvo is a summary of everything he and his companions would say in the next twenty chapters. Remember now, who ever perished being innocent? Or where were the upright destroyed? According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble harvest it. By the breath of God they perish and by the blast of His anger they come to an end. (4:7–9) Eliphaz had a simple theology of calamity. If you live rightly, God blesses you. If you live badly, God drops a bomb on you. Job had obviously taken a direct hit from the biggest bomb in God’s arsenal; therefore, he must have been living badly. Convinced that they were right, Eliphaz and his friends tightened their philosophical fingers around Job’s throat with clear references to his agonizing physical condition. • Eliphaz: “Affliction does not come from the dust … The wicked man writhes in pain all his days” (5:6; 15:20). • Bildad: “Indeed, the light of the wicked goes out … His skin is devoured by disease” (18:5, 13). • Zophar: “If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away … then, indeed, you could lift up your face without moral defect” (11:14–15). The relentless accusations of Job’s friends had the same effect on Job that accusations of a lack of faith or hidden sin have on sick or hurting Christians today. They frustrated and dispirited him. You smear with lies; you are all worthless physicians. O that you would be completely silent, and that it would become your wisdom! (13:4–5) My spirit is broken, my days are extinguished, the grave is ready for me. Surely mockers are with me, and my eye gazes on their provocation. (17:1–2) Job’s calamities were devastating enough without his friends heaping insult on agony. Instead of untrue accusations, Job longed for comfort from them: For the despairing man there should be kindness from his friend; so that he does not forsake the fear of the Almighty. (6:14) Job’s resistance to their accusations infuriated his friends; therefore, Eliphaz eventually stripped off the gloves and let Job have it right on the chin. Is it because of your reverence that He reproves you, that He enters into judgment against you? Is not your wickedness great? (22:4–5a) “Job, do you think God has done all this to you because you are such a great guy? Because you are so godly? That’s ridiculous, Job!” Actually, it wasn’t ridiculous at all. How had God described Job in chapters 1 and 2? “There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil” (1:8; 2:3). Derek Kidner has rightly said of Job, “It was his very innocence that exposed him to the ordeal.” 1 Unfortunately, the reductionistic view of calamity held by Job’s friends is still with us. You know the scenario. A Christian is in the hospital with a devastating illness such as cancer, and some well-meaning acquaintances show up and say, “If you had enough faith, you would be healed” or “You must have secret sin in your life. That’s why this is happening to you.” To face calamity, you must embrace this lesson from the book of Job: a catastrophe in health, finances, or family doesn’t necessarily mean that God is angry at you. Occasionally God does use calamity to discipline a specific sin; however, Job’s terrible losses and ravaged body had nothing to do with a lack of faith or hidden iniquity. In fact, at the end of Job’s book God was righteously angry at Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar for insisting that Job’s calamities must have been the result of his secret sin (42:7). Our Lord Jesus Christ was also no friend of Eliphaz’s criminally simplistic, “You must have been bad” view of calamity, something his disciples learned in John 9. As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” (John 9:1–2) The disciples had exactly the same theology of sickness as Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. Jesus was quick to correct it: It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him. (9:3) Many Christians today fall into the trap of Job’s three friends, assuming that calamity comes for only one reason. As a result, they often unjustly accuse suffering people, stealing their hope that, in the midst of their tragedy, God still loves them. To steal that hope is a theft more cruel than any other. God’s fury with Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar in Job 42:7 serves as a warning against it. If there is no obvious cause-and-effect relationship between your calamity and a specific sin, you don’t have to torture yourself trying to divine what the sin is for which God is disciplining you. Of course, if you are harboring sin you need to repent from, by all means do so! But don’t fall into the trap of Job’s friends, accusing others (or yourself) of being out of God’s favor because they or you have experienced a tragedy. Cancer, crime, or car accidents aren’t proof that God is angry at you. “But,” you ask, “if God isn’t disciplining me for a specific sin, why did he allow this to happen?” Let’s step aside from the book of Job for a moment to answer that question from the rest of Scripture. PART 2 COMING SOON. THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF A VERY DEEP STUDY; I HOPE YOU ENJOY IT. AND RECEIVE FROM IT. Everlastingsalvationchurchofgod.com PayPal.me/donatetochurch PASTOR ANDRA HIGGINBOTHAM
WHY DID THIS HAPPEN PART 2 Other Reasons God Brings Calamity After disciplining a specific sin, a second reason God brings calamity is because of human sin generally. In Genesis 3, Adam pulled the keystone out of the arch of creation with his sin, and ever since, bricks have been falling on our heads. When Adam sinned, the whole universe was plunged into futility and enslaved to corruption (Romans 8:20–22). In our bodies that means pain and infections. In our work that means weeds, forms in triplicate, and software that self-destructs during an important sales presentation. In relationships it means parental distraction, teenage disruption, and messy divorces. We can praise God that Jesus Christ has defeated the Curse and has accomplished its ultimate removal through his death on the cross. The book of Revelation describes heaven with these seven powerful words: There will no longer be any curse. (Revelation 22:3) But in the meantime, we can be sure that one reason calamity comes is because of human sinfulness generally. Under Construction A third reason God brings calamity is to mature believers in Jesus Christ (if you have not yet put your faith in Christ for the forgiveness of sin, God is using your trial, not to mature you in Christ, but to move you toward Christ). As a believer in Jesus Christ, you can be sure that, whatever happens, God is causing it to bring his Christ-reflecting and Christ-exalting work in you one step closer to completion. Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2–4) To make a sword requires heating and beating. In the same way, comfort, peace, and ease don’t produce spiritually strong, flexible, sharp Christians. Only the heating and beating of God-given trials manufactures resilient, Christlike character—a blade strong enough and sharp enough to be truly useful in the hand of God. Just as a weight lifter doesn’t become stronger unless he exhausts his muscles moving chunks of iron, so spiritual progress comes only when God the Coach increases the intensity for us through painful trials. When he does so, the result is stronger faith, greater compassion, and enduring patience—firmer spiritual muscles in every way. Faith on Parade A fourth reason God brings calamity into the lives of believers is to prove our faith, both to ourselves and to others. How did God prove that Satan’s accusations against Job were slanderous? God tested Job, and Job’s endurance proved Satan to be wrong. Peter told his readers that they had been embroiled in trials because the proof of their faith was more precious than gold. And when their faith eventually came through the crucible pure and strong, Peter said that their endurance would result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:6–7) We had a woman in our church who had cancer twelve different times before she finally went to be with the Lord. It was hard in every way—physically, emotionally, and spiritually. But as we watched her resilient, God-given cheerfulness, we couldn’t help but be encouraged. The proof of her faith in Christ spurred us to trust the Lord more ourselves. Unanticipated Good A fifth reason God brings calamity into the lives of his people is to bring about unanticipated good. The Bible is full of such surprises. The classic example? Joseph (Genesis 37–50). His brothers kidnapped him and sold him into slavery just as they might have auctioned off a cow or goat to the highest bidder. No doubt as the slave traders’ camel caravan humped its way toward Egypt (and at various awkward points after that) Joseph asked, “Why has God done this?” Answer: unexpected good. Eventually God used Joseph’s kidnapping, slavery, and unjust imprisonment to put him in a position to keep his family from starvation. Decades later, Joseph said to his brothers, As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive. (Genesis 50:20) No one could have guessed it at the time, but good was God’s plan for Joseph’s calamities all along. Ruth provides another example. Tragedy doesn’t come much worse than having your father-in-law, brother-in-law, and husband die in rapid succession, leaving you and your mother-in-law impoverished and hopeless. How did God use that heartrending situation? Ruth went to a place she would never otherwise have gone to (Bethlehem), met a man she would never otherwise have met (Boaz), married him, and became the great-grandmother of King David and part of the Messiah’s line. Unexpected good. It’s all over the Bible—apparently unsalvageable disasters are often the first step in God’s plan for bringing good. All this helps us see that calamity isn’t arbitrary. God uses it for specific purposes: occasionally to discipline specific sin, but more often to make us dissatisfied enough with this sinful world to seek something (or Someone) better, to harden us in the furnace of troubles just as a blacksmith tempers a sword, to prove our faith, and to bring good that no one could have predicted. Up to this point, we have discovered that God is in control and we have identified the biblical reasons why he causes calamity. But how should we respond when God stokes the forge, pumps the bellows, and swings the hammer, relentlessly shaping and sharpening the sword of our faith in Christ? I HOPE YOU RECEIVED FROM AND ENJOYED THIS DEEP STUDY. WOULD YOU LIKE US TO CONTINUE THIS TYPE OF DEEP STUDY? PART 3 COMING SOON. Everlastingsalvationchurchofgod.com PayPal.me/donatetochurch PASTOR ANDRA HIGGINBOTHAM
WHY DID THIS HAPPEN PART 3 Why Job Stumbled Job started so well. His faith was as invulnerable to Satan’s onslaughts as a turtle snuggled up inside its shell is to the frantic pawings of a dog. Job tucked his head and feet inside his faith in God and said, “The Lord gives, the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” What went wrong? There are at least four reasons Job’s trust in God took a tumble. First, he listened to bad counsel. Avoid Bad Counsel If you are going to handle your calamity in a wise, God-honoring manner, you must ignore well-intentioned but unbiblical counsel. If Job’s counselors had been from the church in our era, they probably would have said, “Job, look at these terrible things that are happening to you. We have to break the generational curses that have power over your life. We have to cast out the demons of skin disease. You need to send 500 dollars to the faith-healer, I. M. Acharlatan, at Better-for-a-Buck Ministries.” People will say all kinds of crazy things to you when calamity strikes (“Don’t worry, God didn’t know this was going to happen.” Really? Now I am worried!). Don’t let their well-intended but unbiblical counsel trip you up spiritually and send you sprawling. To handle calamity, you must ignore unbiblical advice with a gentle smile and a thank you. People speak to you because they care; receive their counsel with a gracious attitude, but don’t let their unbiblical advice throw you into a tailspin like Job did. BE CAREFUL WHO YOU TAKE ADVICE FROM. SEPERATE THE GODLY ADVICE FROM THE UNGODLY ADVICE. Time Keeps On Tickin’ A second reason Job went off the rails was that he let the termite of time gnaw at his faith. According to Job 7:3, Job’s grief and the burning torment of his physical ailments had extended for months by the time his friends arrived. Job’s suffering felt eternal; the sheer duration of it was wearing him down. Like an eager marathon runner, Job bolted off the starting line of faith, but as the race of responding to his calamity stretched out mile after mile and day after day, Job’s faith began to stumble and stagger. Time is a killer in trials. Like Job, we start with strong faith, but as we tick off days on the calendar, turn over the page to a new month, eventually buy a new calendar for next year, and then a new one for the year after that, we can easily despair. Time makes trials hard. How can you keep time from weakening your faith? Daily Reliance Upon Grace Jesus addresses this issue when he says, Do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:34) His point is that God gives grace one day at a time—for today, not for tomorrow. Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden, the God who is our salvation. (Psalm 68:19) The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22–23) God’s grace is perfectly sufficient to tackle the challenges of the day he gives that grace. But his grace will always prove inadequate if you try to spread it across tomorrow’s problems as well. It’s like buttering bread—the dab of butter that’s more than adequate to cover one slice gets a bit thin if you try to spread it over a whole loaf. In the same way, don’t try to spread God’s strength for today over tomorrow, next month, or next year. Planning ahead is fine; worrying ahead isn’t. Handle today with a joyful, dependent, God-trusting attitude. Tomorrow will have new troubles and new grace. But sometimes even a single day feels too long to face. What do you do then? Do the next right thing. That is Jesus’s principle, honed to a needle’s point. Sufficient is the trouble for the minute. Whatever the next right thing is—getting out of bed, cooking a meal, or going to work—do it, trusting God’s grace. The Expectations Trap In chapter 29, Job listed his many accomplishments. For example: • He was a respected civic leader: “When I went out to the gate of the city … the old men arose and stood” (29:7–8). • He was adored by the poor and disadvantaged because of his philanthropy: “I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame” (29:15). • In summary he declared, “My steps were bathed in butter, and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!” (29:6). Because of his success and his great kindness to others, Job had built up some expectations—things he believed God owed him because he had been good. In chapter 30, Job had this flash of insight into his confused and angry heart. When I expected good, then evil came; when I waited for light, then darkness came. I am seething within and cannot relax; days of affliction confront me. (30:26–27) Job had stepped directly into the expectations trap. Job expected good from God because he had been good, and when God didn’t deliver, Job was left seething. It’s an easy trap to fall into when calamity strikes. “All I wanted was a happy family, and now my daughter is divorced … my son is rebelling … my husband has left me. What did I do to deserve this?” The expectation? If I’m a good wife and mother, God owes me a happy family, as I define it. A friend of mine whose child has Down Syndrome once shared with me that expectations are one of the greatest struggles faced by parents of handicapped children: “All I wanted was to watch my boy play sports, see him go to college, get married, and have a successful career. Now I have a son who will never pass grade two.” Expectations can be a real problem when we face calamity. Job’s summary is both pathetic and perfect: “When I expected good, then evil came” (30:26). The expectation that God owes me good if I have been good is dangerous because it leads to feelings of betrayal and anger at God. God, however, never promises endless good if we are a devoted mother, a patient father, a faithful taxpayer, or if we don’t run with the wrong crowd at school. To handle calamity rightly, Christians must avoid Job’s mistake of building up the expectation that “God owes me because I’ve tried to be good.” FOOD FOR THOUGHT Everlastingsalvationchurchofgod.com PayPal.me/donatetochurch PASTOR ANDRA HIGGINBOTHAM
