"Behold, I go forth, but he is not; And behind, but I do not perceive it ; On the left, when he operates there, but I do not discern it ; He hides himself on the right hand, and I do not see him. "Job 23: 8,9

"Where shall I go from thy Spirit, and where shall I flee from thy presence ? If I ascend to heaven, thou art there; If I lie down in Sheol [sojourn of the dead], there you are. If I take the wings of the dawn of day, if I make my abode at the end of the sea, there also your hand will lead me and your right hand will seize me. "Psalm 139. 7-10

 
The two verses of today reflect totally opposite experiences. For Job, oppressed by a great trial, God seems to hide. For David, on the contrary, God is present at all stages of his path.
At the time of Job, God was not that near God, that Father we know today. Yet sometimes in our personal, family, or church life, we feel that God is letting certain situations deteriorate without intervening or even manifesting themselves. We think God is silent.
Yes, the plans of God can have waiting times that we find endless. Yes, it happens that God allows to do. He can make us feel his silence so that we can return to Him, so that we can trust Him totally. Then we call it the ultimate resource : "Give ear, O God, to my prayer, and do not hide from me my supplication. Hear me, and answer me "(Psalm 55: 1, 2). But silence does not mean absence, let alone abandonment.
If I have the impression that God does not answer my questions and does not intervene in my circumstances, how do I react ? By revolting me? By discouraging me ? No ! Here are some ideas :
- Accepting, like David, that God meets us anywhere and examines our spiritual state : "Probe me, O God, and know my heart ! Test me, and know my thoughts ! See if I am on the wrong path, and lead me on the path of eternity "(Ps 139: 23, 24).
- Wait peacefully for the moment of God : "I will wait upon the Lord, who hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will wait for him" (Isa. 8:17).
- And above all praise God. He does not change, his fidelity is unfailing. He loves me and always loves me !
 
Source (Please the Lord)

“Voici, je vais en avant, mais il n’y est pas ; et en arrière, mais je ne l’aperçois pas ; à gauche, quand il y opère, mais je ne le discerne pas ; il se cache à droite, et je ne le vois pas.” Job 23. 8, 9

“Où irai-je loin de ton Esprit et où fuirai-je loin de ta face ? Si je monte aux cieux, tu y es ; si je me couche au shéol [séjour des morts], t’y voilà. Si je prends les ailes de l’aube du jour, si je fais ma demeure au bout de la mer, là aussi ta main me conduira et ta droite me saisira.” Psaume 139. 7-10

"Wait for the Lord ; Fortify yourselves, and let your heart be firm : yea, wait for the Lord. " Psalm 27. 14

"Abraham, having shown patience, obtained what was promised." Hebrews 6. 15

 
In our busy lives, words like "waiting, patience" are the ones we have a hard time accepting. Often we draw up plans, then, as we seek to realize them, something happens that changes them. Were our plans false ? Or will we try to force events ? Even if we have asked the Lord to guide us, it does not mean that everything will happen as we thought.
The Lord sometimes allows obstacles to stand in our way to bring us "back on track" and to teach us confidence and patience, a "fruit of the Spirit" (Galatians 5:22).
Two opposing dangers await us then :
- To remain passively waiting for what God will do.
- To strive to arrive as quickly as possible and by our own forces to the expected result.
The balance is the same in both cases : no fruit !
According to his plans of love, God will act in our favor in our favor. Abraham understood it well (second verse of the day) ; David also said : "In the morning I will set my prayer before you, and I will wait" (Psalm 5: 3, rereading the first verse of the day).
God asks for our trust, an active confidence that anticipates the intervention of the Lord. He also desires our patience, a serene patience. Did he not always respond at the right time ? Has he not surprised us many times by his solutions ? God takes time to help those who confide in Him, while those who attempt to act on their own fail.
Trust and patience are two virtues that are cultivated ; They have nothing to do with fatalism or resignation before circumstances that can not be changed. Let us become imitators of those who by faith and patience inherit what was promised "(Heb 6:12).
We have everything in God: let us not count on our own strength, but on his own and on his resources, relying on his promises.
 
Source (Please the Lord)

"[The man] ... answered [Jesus] : ​​Master, I have kept all this from my youth. Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him : "One thing is wanting : go, sell all that you have, give to the poor, and you will have a treasure in heaven ; And come, follow me. And he, dismayed by this word, went away sad, for he had great possessions. "Mark 10: 20-22

"The true light was that which, coming into the world, enlightens every man." John 1: 9

 
This encounter puts Jesus face to face with what is usually called the rich young man. He was a Jew, zealous for God and obedient to the Law.
This man adopts a known behavior : he considers eternal life as a good that can be acquired by good conduct. He comes to see Jesus in whom he recognizes a guide. His question shows that he wishes to take stock of his spiritual situation (Mark 10:17).
In dialogue, Jesus reveals Himself as light and enlightens Him on His condition. It causes him to take a different look at himself and all men. He reminds him that man can never really reach good : "No one is good, but only one : God" (Mark 10:18).
This young man carefully observes the Law but has a real problem : he is more attached to money than to God. To highlight it, Jesus gives an unusual injunction : "Go, sell all that you have ... and come, follow me" (v.21).
The Lord enlightens this man, reveals the reason for his anxiety, while showing him a deep interest : he looks at him, he loves him, but leaves him free of his choice. Unable to obey because he is still attached to his possessions, the young man goes away sad.
By asking this man to sell all that he possesses, Jesus does not teach that this act is a means of salvation. He tries to persuade him that he needs to be saved and that for this he must give up what keeps him from following him.
It has been said : It is easier to do without what one has than to detach oneself from what one possesses ! It is so today. We need a clear look at what we are and what we are attached to.
It is the action of the Spirit that will make light in our hearts.
 
Source (Please the Lord)

"Unquestionably, the mystery of godliness is great : God was manifested in the flesh, was justified in the Spirit, was seen from the angels, was preached among the nations, was believed in the world, was raised in glory . "1 Timothy 3. 16

 
All the earthly life of our Lord Jesus took place under the gaze of angels. He was "seen" angels. The verb means to "see", "to visit", "to observe", sometimes to "assist". Indeed, throughout the earthly ministry of the Lord, the angels watched him and they assisted him on certain occasions.
The angels announced his birth to Joseph and the shepherds. They are present to contemplate the mystery of the Son of God become a baby lying in a manger.
Later, in the desert, they approach him and serve him after he alone resisted the temptations of the devil.
In Gethsemane, when the Lord is in the anguish of battle, an angel of heaven strengthens him (Luke 22:43).
At the resurrection, angels are there (Luke 24: 4, 5), the one who rolled the stone at the entrance to the tomb (Matt. 28: 2) ; Those who appeared to women to tell them that Jesus was risen (Luke 24: 4-7). Two angels are present at the moment when the Lord Jesus ascends to heaven (Acts 1:11).
The angels have seen it : indeed they have played a part in the earthly life of our Lord, and this from beginning to end. But during the three hours of darkness at Golgotha, Jesus was alone, absolutely alone, faced with the anger of God that he was suffering because he had voluntarily charged himself with our sins.
Today, the angels bow to this mystery of divine love and are the object of their contemplation (1 Pet. 1:12). A multitude of the heavenly host praised God when he was born in Bethlehem (Luke 2:13). Now redemption is the subject of their joy : they rejoice and praise God when he saves a sinner (Luke 15: 7,10).
 
Source (Please the Lord)

"The angel said to them : Do not be afraid, for behold, I tell you good news, a great subject of joy, which will be for all the people. Today in the city of David you were born Savior, who is Christ, the Lord. "Luke 2: 10-11

 
The incarnation of the Son of God (the taking of a physical body) was only for our salvation : "The Son of Man came to seek and save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). But the incarnation is not the whole story of the Gospel, it is the first step in the path of salvation, for the work of redemption ends at the cross when Jesus says : "It is accomplished ".
Everything in the life of the Son of man, between his incarnation and his crucifixion, is subject to astonishment and wonder.
- After swaddling it, Mary sleeps her firstborn son in a manger. This is how God appears on earth, in the person of a helpless baby born in a stable. The Creator of the universe enters human history, not as a conqueror, but as a little child. The first to contemplate the glory of the Lord are shepherds, poor and despised men.
- Jesus begins his life, not at Jerusalem, the capital, but at Bethlehem, a small town of Judah (Mich.5.2) ; He pursues it until thirty years in Nazareth, a despised city, and completes it three and a half years later in Jerusalem, the proud city that "kills the prophets and stonest those who are sent to it." ).
- Throughout his earthly career, Jesus lives in poverty. He has no house to rest ; Women provide for its maintenance; He must borrow a boat to speak to the crowds and a colt to enter Jerusalem ... "You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ : for you, he who was rich lived in poverty, that through his poverty you might be enriched" (2 Cor 8: 9).
- The Lord Jesus comes out of this world, crucified between two brigands. The last to accompany the Lord are two rich notables, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. They wrap the body of Jesus in a sheet of pure linen and lay it in a new sepulcher : "He was with the rich in his death ... because there was no fraud in his mouth" (Is 53 9).
The life and work of Jesus mark the victory of obedience over disobedience, of love over hatred.
 
Source (Please the Lord)

"Jesus the Nazarene ... was a mighty prophet in deed and word before God and all the people." Luke 24:19

"I composed the first story, Theophilus, on all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day he was raised to heaven." Acts 1: 1

 
Our actions are as necessary as our words. They should even precede them in order to give them weight. So it was with the Lord on earth: his words did not go without his actions.
Now that he is in heaven, his voice still reaches us through the Bible and the Holy Spirit makes us audible. But how does the Lord act ?
We find the example of his "pedagogical" approach in the first multiplication of loaves. This miracle precedes his teaching on "the true bread that comes from heaven", "he who gives life to the world" (John 6:32, 33). The Lord nourished the crowds concretely to enable them to receive spiritual nourishment for their souls.
The disciples made people sit down, then "Jesus took the loaves ; Then, after giving thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated ; So also did the fish, as much as they wished "(John 6: 11). Matthew says : "Then he broke the loaves, gave them to the disciples, and the disciples to the multitudes. They all ate and were satisfied "(Matthew 14:20). The hands of the disciples were the hands of the Lord ; Our hands are his.
It has been said : "This miracle is a spiritual lesson for the disciples of all times. There are always hungry crowds. There are always disciples with seemingly miserable resources. And there is always a compassionate Savior. Whenever the disciples are ready to give him the little they possess, he multiplies it to feed thousands of men. This is true spiritually, but we can also experience it physically. To give the little we have is to place ourselves at our disposal to enable Him to act by our means, to present to God our "bodies as living sacrifices" (Rom 12: 1).
Let us be ready to be the hands of the Lord. We think maybe not fit, but no one is by ourselves. If we are willing to put our hands at the disposal of the Lord, he will know how to use them as needed.
 
Source (Please the Lord)