Why is Herod still chasing me?
Often it is hard to see that God is working in our lives. When we endure serious challenges for a long time, we feel He has forgotten us, doesn’t care about us, or that we have seriously let Him down – so much so that he no longer will deliver us when we call on Him.
We follow His command to cast our cares upon Him, we pray and make our problems known to him, and we ask for our situation to change because he did say “we have not because we didn’t ask”.
Yet here we are – still facing the same problem – and there is no end in sight.
Hard to believe.
Doesn’t He realize it is ME?
I have named it, claimed it, commanded it to move, decreed, believed, took authority over it…
Nothing.
What is going on? What sin have I committed that is keeping my answer from me? Is my faith too small?
Perhaps – or maybe you are right where He needs you.
I can’t think of any people closer to God than Joseph and Mary and Jesus – yet in the midst of that wonderful story – there is Herod – and he sincerely tries to destroy all of them. It seems to me that God could have protected them by taking out Herod and his whole family – one strategically placed meteor and no more problem. But God didn’t do it that way. Why not? God’s only son is forced to high tail it to Egypt to save himself. Why? Why does God allow these inconvenient seasons to go on and on and on. Even worse, when Herod finally dies – when that problem is finally removed – another Herod comes along right behind him.
It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. But God OFTEN works this way. Peter was enjoying a good time with Jesus one evening, when Jesus let him in on some serious things going on in the spiritual realm. He told Peter that Satan asked for an audience with God and asked to “sift him like wheat”. Now as one of Jesus’ chosen twelve, the one that was first to recognize that he was The Christ, the Son of the Living God, we can expect Peter to receive special treatment. Surely Jesus told Satan, “No Way” – and dispatched Satan swiftly.
Right?
Amazingly, Jesus said “I’m going to be praying for you Peter”. He’s got my permission. It’s going to be tough – real tough. But WHEN you come through it – I will use you in a greater way than before. There was no doubt that he was going to come through it. There was no doubt that Mary and Joseph and Jesus would come back from Egypt.
There is no doubt that even when you go through the valley of the shadow of death – you WILL COME THROUGH it! And God will be with you every step of the way.
Often it is hard to see that God is working in our lives. When we endure serious challenges for a long time, we feel He has forgotten us, doesn’t care about us, or that we have seriously let Him down – so much so that he no longer will deliver us when we call on Him.
We follow His command to cast our cares upon Him, we pray and make our problems known to him, and we ask for our situation to change because he did say “we have not because we didn’t ask”.
Yet here we are – still facing the same problem – and there is no end in sight.
Hard to believe.
Doesn’t He realize it is ME?
I have named it, claimed it, commanded it to move, decreed, believed, took authority over it…
Nothing.
What is going on? What sin have I committed that is keeping my answer from me? Is my faith too small?
Perhaps – or maybe you are right where He needs you.
I can’t think of any people closer to God than Joseph and Mary and Jesus – yet in the midst of that wonderful story – there is Herod – and he sincerely tries to destroy all of them. It seems to me that God could have protected them by taking out Herod and his whole family – one strategically placed meteor and no more problem. But God didn’t do it that way. Why not? God’s only son is forced to high tail it to Egypt to save himself. Why? Why does God allow these inconvenient seasons to go on and on and on. Even worse, when Herod finally dies – when that problem is finally removed – another Herod comes along right behind him.
It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. But God OFTEN works this way. Peter was enjoying a good time with Jesus one evening, when Jesus let him in on some serious things going on in the spiritual realm. He told Peter that Satan asked for an audience with God and asked to “sift him like wheat”. Now as one of Jesus’ chosen twelve, the one that was first to recognize that he was The Christ, the Son of the Living God, we can expect Peter to receive special treatment. Surely Jesus told Satan, “No Way” – and dispatched Satan swiftly.
Right?
Amazingly, Jesus said “I’m going to be praying for you Peter”. He’s got my permission. It’s going to be tough – real tough. But WHEN you come through it – I will use you in a greater way than before. There was no doubt that he was going to come through it. There was no doubt that Mary and Joseph and Jesus would come back from Egypt.
There is no doubt that even when you go through the valley of the shadow of death – you WILL COME THROUGH it! And God will be with you every step of the way.
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