Comment: We are
decision makers, are we not? As small a decision is; should I go to the market,
or should I stay home and wait for a better day? Should I climb Mount
Washington, or go to Block Island for a vacation day? From the smallest of action
of deciding, to the most important we are totally involved. So, most of the
time our days are planned and very routine. As the evening nears for a time for
rest, we may take a quick inventory of those decisions and fill out the report
card in our mind with various degrees of pass or failure, and sleep gives way
to the next day. This routine keeps life interesting and ongoing. However,
there are days that are “life changing”! These days are not the normal plan of
anyone’s day and these days are not “fate”.
Devotional: Notice the decision of Queen Esther in the Old
Testament Book Esther. This is a wonderful narration of a woman who decided
against all odds to defend her nation against human aggression and demonic evil.
Her decision began with confronting the powerful King of twenty-seven provinces
from India to Ethiopia, King Ahasuerus (Esther 4:1-17).
Now what about the man Job, the next Old Testament Book “Job”
records (in the opening chapters) a couple of days in this man’s life where he
lost everything dear to his life. All of Job’s plans and decisions in life came abruptly
to an end. So bad were these days that his wife (in aggressive and evil behavior)
said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die! (Job
2:9). In words of today, “This is all your fault Job, I wish you were dead”
Earth shattering events in the lives of people, whether
small or great, professional or needy. Men and women are confronted
with decisions that are not in the normal plan of the day. One more look now
at another man. He is known to us only as the Philippian Jailer. The apostle
Paul and his companion Silas were placed in jail for praying for a young girl, possessed
with an evil spirit. See Acts 16:16-24 for the context of this event.
As the events unfold that day, Paul and Silas were illegally
arrested, flogged and placed in the inner prison and their feet were placed in ‘stocks’.
Again, aggressive human behavior an demonic evil are present. God steps in to
this event with an earthquake, Paul and Silas at this moment were praying and
singing hymns; their decision was the best one anyone could make, was it not?
See Acts 16:25-34, the jailer who thought his life was over, found New Life and
so did his family.
All the people we looked at this morning faced “life
threatening events because of the presence of human aggression and demonic evil”.
Whether we wish to believe it or not, or water these life
changing events down with philological gobligook, or humanistic viewpoints;
these things currently happen in our lives daily. Only God has victory over
human aggression and demonic evil.
As in the case in all human history, the current events of our day on this earth are full of
human aggression and demonic evil. We are faced individually and nationally
with decisions that are ‘outside the norm of our daily plan’ we only have TWO
choices, either we will TURN TO GOD WHO NEVER FAILS TO BE VICTORIOUS. Or we
will fill our head with the gobligook of aggression and evil and suffer the
agony of defeat.
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