Saturday, July 16th

I studied out of "Cry of the Soul" again today. I worked on Chapter 11, and what a good start. I find this book really helpful. We looked at Psalm 77:1-9, which states:

1 I cried out to God for help; I cried out to God to hear me.
2 When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; at night I stretched out untiring hands and my soul refused to be comforted.
3 I remembered you, O God, and I groaned; I mused, and my spirit grew faint.
4 You kept my eyes from closing; I was too troubled to speak.
5 I thought about the former days, the years of long ago;
6 I remembered my songs in the night. My heart mused and my spirit inquired:
7 "Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never show his favor again?
8 Has his unfailing love vanished forever? Has his promise failed for all time?
9 Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has he in anger withheld his compassion?"

The book quotes this scripture and talks about how God has done all sorts of horrible things to this person and this person in turn is questioning God. I disagree that God did these things, but I do believe that God allowed them to happen to bring something good for the future. These two scriptures came to mind:

Romans 8:28 says:
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

James 1:13-15 Says:
13When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

When we find ourselves in a funk, it is because we somehow placed ourself in a bad situation. Granted Job didn't do anything wrong, so that's when Romans 8:28 comes to mind, but how often is God going to let Satan throw stuff like that on us? Only as much as we can handle:

1 Corinthians 10:13 says:
13No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

So when we find ourself in a situation that we can not handle, then I would think that maybe we somehow unrighteously placed ourselves in it. I would like to hear some thoughts on this, but this is what my thoughts of my quiet time.