Thoughts
that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking
Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to
the audio file.
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"Those stuck holding onto the premise that the holy deserve only blessing or good are doomed to see victim thinking dominating their lives and impacting their identity. So was the case with Job and Job’s friends."
As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 53.
Much of the book of Job in the Bible is filled with one person after another trying to convince each other about how good or how bad they are in God's eyes. On one side you have the righteous camp of people trying to make sense of the bad times that it entered into Job's life by trying to prove that there must be some hidden badness that God is trying to weed out as a result of the challenging circumstances that Job faced. On the other side you had poor Job just trying to make it through another day as a result of the numerous calamities that came against him and his family in such a short time.
These so called friends of Job were, at times, desperate to find this sin in his life so as to be able to come to some sense of justification as to why God would chose to take such radical actions in Job's life. I believe they were desperate to find that sin because the alternative of, "God being God" just wasn't an option they were willing to consider in their lives. After all, if God would allow such badness to happen in the life of a righteous man how safe is they're comfortable lifestyle before the same God?
Living in a world where only good happens to good people and bad happens to the bad is a fool's paradise. This world just doesn't exist. Good and bad happen to the good and to the bad. Victim thinking is sure to follow if we believe our right living demands that our comfortable life not be challenged. God is not in any way against us having a comfortable life. He is more concerned with our character and with his plan to reach all on this earth than to be focused on the day today comforts we may crave.
Don't misinterpret that last paragraph as meaning God doesn't care for us or for what we care for. That's a lie that Satan wants us to believe when we face hard times in our life. The fact is God loves us, knows everything about us, and knows exactly what we need in our lives right now for God's plan to be seen most powerfully in and through our world. Sometimes the temporary challenges we face in this world are there for a purpose greater than we will see in this lifetime.
Here's what the bible says on this subject.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV)
Sometimes the troubles in the face are there so that we can receive comfort from God. What's the purpose of the comfort of God? It's not to make us comfortable because we deserve that comfort, but as our reading says, His comfort is there so that we can be a comfort to others.
I know this truth doesn't eliminate the pain we feel as a go-through challenging times. In fact, this truth isn't motivation enough for me to ever want to trade my comfortable times for any challenges in this life. This doesn't make me bad, or wrong, or unacceptable, or unlovable - that reality in my life makes me human.
What the truths explained in our Bible reading does for the victor is to give us hope. There is hope in knowing that God is with us and that He wants to comfort us. There is also hoping knowing that the challenging times we face are there for reason - to be put in as best a position as possible to be a comfort to others.
Look, good times as well as bad are going to be a part of our lives. I simply don't believe that God is rewarding me for being good with good times in my life and it just doesn't match up to the plan of salvation God is made so clear to us that He would be punishing us with bad times as a result of the badness in our lives. Believing in a reward and punishment system of God is a space where victim thinking thrives.
Is my hope that today you have hope. If you're facing a bad time right now hang onto two facts; one, God is there to be your comforter during this challenging time, and two, you're being prepared for something bigger, something longer lasting that's coming in the near future. Hold on to these two facts and hang on to God as you face the storms that might be brewing in your life today.
**********
"Those stuck holding onto the premise that the holy deserve only blessing or good are doomed to see victim thinking dominating their lives and impacting their identity. So was the case with Job and Job’s friends."
As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 53.
Much of the book of Job in the Bible is filled with one person after another trying to convince each other about how good or how bad they are in God's eyes. On one side you have the righteous camp of people trying to make sense of the bad times that it entered into Job's life by trying to prove that there must be some hidden badness that God is trying to weed out as a result of the challenging circumstances that Job faced. On the other side you had poor Job just trying to make it through another day as a result of the numerous calamities that came against him and his family in such a short time.
These so called friends of Job were, at times, desperate to find this sin in his life so as to be able to come to some sense of justification as to why God would chose to take such radical actions in Job's life. I believe they were desperate to find that sin because the alternative of, "God being God" just wasn't an option they were willing to consider in their lives. After all, if God would allow such badness to happen in the life of a righteous man how safe is they're comfortable lifestyle before the same God?
Living in a world where only good happens to good people and bad happens to the bad is a fool's paradise. This world just doesn't exist. Good and bad happen to the good and to the bad. Victim thinking is sure to follow if we believe our right living demands that our comfortable life not be challenged. God is not in any way against us having a comfortable life. He is more concerned with our character and with his plan to reach all on this earth than to be focused on the day today comforts we may crave.
Don't misinterpret that last paragraph as meaning God doesn't care for us or for what we care for. That's a lie that Satan wants us to believe when we face hard times in our life. The fact is God loves us, knows everything about us, and knows exactly what we need in our lives right now for God's plan to be seen most powerfully in and through our world. Sometimes the temporary challenges we face in this world are there for a purpose greater than we will see in this lifetime.
Here's what the bible says on this subject.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV)
Sometimes the troubles in the face are there so that we can receive comfort from God. What's the purpose of the comfort of God? It's not to make us comfortable because we deserve that comfort, but as our reading says, His comfort is there so that we can be a comfort to others.
I know this truth doesn't eliminate the pain we feel as a go-through challenging times. In fact, this truth isn't motivation enough for me to ever want to trade my comfortable times for any challenges in this life. This doesn't make me bad, or wrong, or unacceptable, or unlovable - that reality in my life makes me human.
What the truths explained in our Bible reading does for the victor is to give us hope. There is hope in knowing that God is with us and that He wants to comfort us. There is also hoping knowing that the challenging times we face are there for reason - to be put in as best a position as possible to be a comfort to others.
Look, good times as well as bad are going to be a part of our lives. I simply don't believe that God is rewarding me for being good with good times in my life and it just doesn't match up to the plan of salvation God is made so clear to us that He would be punishing us with bad times as a result of the badness in our lives. Believing in a reward and punishment system of God is a space where victim thinking thrives.
Is my hope that today you have hope. If you're facing a bad time right now hang onto two facts; one, God is there to be your comforter during this challenging time, and two, you're being prepared for something bigger, something longer lasting that's coming in the near future. Hold on to these two facts and hang on to God as you face the storms that might be brewing in your life today.
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