Flight Paths

Perhaps you remember Newton’s second law of motion from high school physics (or is it the third?  Hey!  At least I can remember the law):  for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Sometimes we live our lives by this law as well.  We constantly react to what others do, and excuse it because of what the other person did first.  Christianity is a life of action not reaction.  My actions should not depend upon what other people do, but upon what is right and what is wrong.  Any time I let someone else’s behavior “cause” me to do something; I am actually letting that person control me.  How often have I said, “He made me so mad?”  No, he didn’t. I let myself get angry.  When I stand before the throne of God, I will not be judged on other people’s deeds but upon mine, no matter what the other guy did first. 

Most of us know this, and readily spout the appropriate answers when called upon in Sunday morning Bible study, but when we get out in the world things are always “different.”  No, they are not.  These things apply to my relationship with my next door neighbor, my co-workers, my family, yes, even to that driver up in front of me!  Then there is the matter of poor service in a restaurant, or a delay in the doctor’s office, or a faulty product that needs returning.  All of these offer me a chance to act as a Christian, not react as an unbeliever who has no self-control.  Yes, in our society we are allowed to voice our concerns over shoddy service and merchandise, but Christians never have the right to make a scene or be verbally abusive.  By letting others control me, I am showing how weak I truly am, not how strong.

Christians control themselves—they do not let others do it.  Is this easy?  Not with Satan constantly whispering in my ear, “He had it coming.”  Like Eve, I often listen to him.  But this is how important ignoring that whisper is:  I must constantly ask myself why I have acted as I have.  If the answer starts, “Because he/she/they…” I am condemned already.

Jesus’ Laws of Motion:

For this is acceptable, if for conscience toward God a man endures griefs, suffering wrongfully.  For what glory is it if, when you sin and are buffeted for it, you shall take it patiently?  But if, when you do well and suffer for it you shall take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.  For hereunto were you called:  because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow his steps; who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth; who, when he was reviled, reviled not again, when he suffered, threatened not, but committed himself to him that judges righteously.   1 Pet 2:19-23

And as you would that men should do to you, do you also to them likewise. And if you love those who love you, what thank have you?  For even sinners love those who love them.  And if you do good to them that do good to you, what thank have you?  For even sinners do the sane.  And if you lend to those of whom you hope to receive, what thank have you?  Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive again as much.  But love your enemies and do them good, and lend, never despairing, and your reward shall be great, and you shall be sons of the Most High, for he is kind toward the unthankful and evil.  Luke 6:31-35

Dene Ward

I bet you’ve never heard of Rizpah.  Her story actually begins in Joshua 9.

The first cities the Israelites conquered after they entered Canaan were Jericho and Ai, Joshua 6 & 8.  In spite of what we would consider primitive communications, the word spread, and just as Rahab had heard about the Red Sea, a nation of people called the Gibeonites, who lived just north of present day Jerusalem, had heard about the Israelites and Jehovah’s promise to help them drive out all the Canaanites, 9:24.  Gibeonites were Hivites, a tribe of Canaanites, so they qualified for destruction, and they knew it.

They chose several men to act as ambassadors, packed up moldy bread, old clothes and shoes, and carried old wineskins.  When they arrived at the Israelite encampment, they said, “We’ve come a long way.  Look, everything was new when we started, and our food fresh.”  They wanted to make a pact.  “We will be your servants forever, if you will spare us.”  Instead of going to God, the Israelites believed these people, and were deceived into making the covenant, swearing by Jehovah.

As their punishment, God held Israel to the deal.  Years later, Saul killed some of the Gibeonites. They came to David for justice in 1 Samuel 21.  Two of Saul’s sons by his concubine Rizpah, and five of his grandsons by his older daughter Merab were given to the Gibeonites for execution.  I cannot imagine the despair in these mothers’ hearts as their sons were taken to their deaths.  But even more, I cannot imagine the strength it took for one of them to do what came next.

The Law stated that a body should not be left hanging overnight, Deut 21:22,23.  But those men’s bodies hung out there day after day.  Rizpah took it upon herself to care for the remains, not just of her sons, but of another woman’s sons as well, until someone took notice and obeyed God’s Law.  This woman, who had been a king’s wife (a concubine is a wife of second rank), living in relative luxury for many years, sat out in the open, 24/7, chasing away vultures by day and packs of snarling, scavenging jackals by night “from the beginning of harvest till the rains fell again,” possibly as long as six months!  Now add to that physically taxing and dangerous chore the overpowering, nauseating smell and the hideous sight of seven decomposing bodies, in the heat of summer, and above all, the heart wrenching pain of knowing that two of those bodies were her sons.  Finally, David noticed, and buried them.

Being a good parent requires strength and sacrifice, and huge quantities of time.  It involves a lot of humbling dirty work.  But no messy diaper or pool of vomit to clean up can come close to what this woman endured for her children.  Surely with Rizpah as an example, we can do whatever is required of us for the good of our children.  We can give up our selfish desires when necessary.  We can administer tough love, even when it hurts   We can take the time to teach them right from wrong, and teach them God’s word day in and day out, rather than expecting the church to do our God-given duty for us.. 

Rizpah could not save her sons’ lives, but even after their deaths, she did more, endured more for them than some parents will do for their children who are alive and well every day in their comfortable homes.

Set your heart unto all the words which I testify unto you this day, which you shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law, for it is no vain thing for you, because it is your life…Deut 32:46,47

Dene Ward

We had a terrible time with gnats this past summer.  Despite our automatic atomizer, a dozen swarmed the lights at night and several buzzed us during dinner.  So I looked up the reproductive process of gnats and found out why.  We live in a veritable breeding ground—standing water (water buckets for the dogs), damp landscaping (mulch in the flower beds and more rain this year than any in the past ten), food (a large vegetable garden, a blueberry patch, and grape vines), and, ahem, animal residue—we live in the country, it’s everywhere.

So keeping the doors and windows shut should fix the problem, right?  No, they breed in garbage cans too.  When you live in a small rural county there is no weekly pickup.  You must carry your own garbage and trash to the dump.  To minimize the number of trips we put all the flammable items in a paper bag to burn in the “burn barrel” onsite, and the wet garbage in the kitchen can until it fills enough to empty it into the one outside.  That means our kitchen can is probably emptied less often than yours because there is no paper trash “filler,” and that means plenty of time for any gnats that whiz in a door as we enter or leave to lay eggs and hatch. I have tried spraying it every morning with insecticide, but even that does not seem to help.   

There is no getting around it.  Garbage breeds vermin of one sort or another all the time.  They simply love filth. Putting it in the garbage can, as long as the can is still inside the house, doesn’t really help a bit.  You have to remove it from the house entirely, and soon enough that the gnats cannot breed.

If we don’t want spiritual vermin, we have to get rid of the garbage in our hearts.  It doesn’t help to just try to hide it.  Make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof, Paul told the Roman brethren in 13:14.  You can’t just stash it away in case you might want to indulge again.  You have to remove it completely, and soon enough that it doesn’t breed yet more.  The Devil loves the dirt.  His minions wallow in it.  Why do we think it won’t soil us too as long as no one knows?  Would you eat a meal that was swarming with gnats and flies?

Get rid of the gnats in your soul.  The only way is to empty that garbage can inside yourself and keep it that way.

…Touch no unclean thing and I will receive you.  And I will be to you a father and you shall be to me sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.  Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us therefore cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God, 2 Cor 6:17-7:1.

Dene Ward

That is how my doctor describes me:  “She’s a puzzle every moment.”  At least that’s what he says when I am present.  I wonder what he says when I cannot hear and he is once again at a loss for what to do next.

In the past few years I have learned more about eyes than I ever wanted to know.  At least one doctor has told me I can open up my own practice soon. 

I was born severely hyperopic and nanophthalmic with anatomical narrow angle.  I also have narrow angle glaucoma, as opposed to the more common open angle variety.  The zonules in my left eye are weak.  The sclera is thick.  My corneas are among the steepest ever measured at the University Of Florida School Of Medicine, and the eyeballs the smallest.  My anterior chamber is too shallow and I have a shallow retina detachment in the right eye.  Because the angles are too narrow, the vitreous humor is backing up and raising pressure.  I have had two iridotomies, four iridoplasties, two lens replacements, and two trabeculectomies, after which I went into aqueous misdirection and needed nearly half a dozen capsulotomies and anterior hyloidotomies.  There is talk of a vitrectomy and a CPC (cytophotocoagulation) procedure.  I have one piece of hardware in my right eye and three in my left, including a capsular tension ring and a 50 micron shunt, which leaves me with an elevated bleb.  My epitheliums are being “crucified,” in the doctor’s words, by the medications.  See what I mean about learning?  Three or four years ago I only knew what a couple of those polysyllabic words meant, and not many more of the shorter ones. 

But the more I learn, the more amazed I am by the complexity of the human eye, and the foolishness of so-called learned men who believe it all just “happened.”  If one part of your eye does not work right, you will probably lose your vision.  So how in the world did the eyeball evolve?  The eyeball had to exist and work right from the beginning or those blind creatures would not have survived long enough to reproduce and adapt.  Here is the real puzzle:  How can anyone believe that something as amazing as the human body just happened by accident? 

 Pardon me if I choose to be a little less foolish and believe in a Creator.  The very complexity of all creation and the various relationships that must exist for both sides to survive scream Eternal Intelligence far louder than I ever could.

Tell your children.  Tell your neighbors.  Creationists are not ignorant fanatics.  In fact, we are the only ones who make any sense at all.

For you did form my inward parts;
            You did cover me in my mother’s womb.
I will give thanks unto you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
            Wonderful are your works;
And that my soul knows right well.  Psalm 139:13, 14

Dene Ward

The last time Silas came to visit, shortly before his third birthday, Chloe scared him to death.  What did she do?  Nothing.  Our sweet-faced red heeler simply existed and Silas wasn’t too keen on being in the same yard with her, not even a five acre yard.
           
Then he discovered that Chloe was even more afraid of him.  She would cautiously creep out from under the porch when we all went outside, but always made sure I was between her and that frightening little human.  What had Silas done to her?  Nothing.  He couldn’t get close enough to do anything to her. 

When he finally understood, he thoroughly enjoyed his time outdoors.  He picked flowers for his mommy.  He loaded the bird feeder.  He looked for big hunks of bark that had fallen off the sycamore, broke them into three pieces—one for granddad, one for grandma, and one for himself—and led a countdown: 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1—whee!—at which point we all threw our hunks of paper-thin bark into the air, over and over and over until there wasn’t a piece of bark bigger than a quarter to be found anywhere.

Then he walked around to the side of the house and found the two old bathtubs Keith soaks his smoker wood in.  “Oh!” he cried.  “A pool!”

First, he simply stood there splashing the water.  Then he eyed an old coffee can and some plastic flower pots, and began dipping into the tub and pouring the water back in and, in the process, all over himself. 

Then he eyed Chloe, the dog that no longer scared him.  You could almost see the wheels turning.  He dipped again into the tub and sat the can on its edge.  “Chlo-eeeee,” he called in a singsong voice.  “I have something fooooooor yooooooooou.”  He picked up the can and headed straight for the dog, sloshing water with every step.

I knew exactly what he was going to do, and so did Chloe.  She took off running.

Funny how one simple piece of knowledge was so empowering.  When Silas learned that Chloe was so afraid of him, he was no longer afraid of her.  But it isn’t just the knowing; it’s the believing.

How many times do we fail because we simply don’t believe what we’ve been promised?

With every temptation there is a way of escape, 1 Cor 10:13.  We are equipped with armor that will enable us to stand against the Devil, Eph 6:11-20.  We are guarded by the power of God unto a salvation that is ready and waiting, 1 Pet 1:5.  Our faith stands in the power of God, 1 Cor 2:5.  We are supported in our afflictions by the power of God, 2 Cor 6:7.  His power works in us, and we are strengthened by it, the same power that raised Christ from the dead, Eph 3:16,20.

Do you think Satan isn’t afraid of you?  The devils believe also, and tremble, James says, 2:19.  Since it is Christ’s power that rests on you and not your own, 2 Cor 12:9, what makes you think you aren’t a fearsome entity as well?  The only thing that would hinder it is disbelief in the promises of God.

Our weapons are mighty, 2 Cor 10:4,5, far more so than a bucket of water in the hand of a toddler, and we should be ready and willing to use them.  Yes, we should face the devil with care, just as we would a rattlesnake, but his fate is already sealed.  All we have to do is believe it.

…we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. Colossians 1:9-12

Dene Ward

            In spite of the fact that my husband claims to be a Southerner (he is really an Arkansas hillbilly and I had to teach him the proper way to eat grits), he regularly makes fun of my accent.  This from the guy to whom perfect strangers point and say with amazement, "You sound just like Jimmy Stewart!"  He says folks from the Deep South are the only ones who can take a three letter word, put three syllables in it, and take three full seconds to say it.  Ham, for instance:  hay-ee-yum.

            Actually I have noticed how my speech has changed over my lifetime.  I was born around Orlando, not the Orlando you know now, but pre-Disney Orlando, which was a small town then, full of people with rural roots, and only a few pretentious folks over in the Winter Park section-the white-gloved folks who knew how to stick their pinkies out when they drank tea.  Back then I probably had a true Southern accent.

            I spent the last eight years of my growing up life and the first year of married life in Tampa, so my accent began to even out some.  Then two years in Illinois farmland put a real spin on it.  For the last 26 years I have lived back in Florida-not the cosmopolitan Florida the rest of the world knows about, but rural, north central Florida, where the possums and coons still rummage at night, the bobcats scream, and the hound dogs bay at the moon.  I don't think I have pronounced the "g" on an -ing word in at least 20 years.            God's people have had similar problems throughout the ages.  Nehemiah was horrified at the effect foreign people were having on his brethren, and used their language problem as a symbol for things much worse:  In those days also I saw the Jews that had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab; and their children spoke half in the speech of Ashdod and could not speak in the Jews' language, but according to the language of each people.  Neh 13:23,24.

            I have always heard this passage used to point out that some use Bible words the wrong way, mixing up pastors with preachers, and fellowship with donuts.  But it is more important for me in my daily life to think about this:  I should not allow the language around me to affect the way I speak.  God's children should be speaking blessing, not cursing; words of understanding, not words of judgment; words of praise, not words of criticism.  Can I turn a cashier's day around with a friendly hello rather than a cold empty look?  Can I make a waitress's feet hurt a little less with friendly conversation, rather than a gruff complaint?  Can I give my wavering brother or sister an encouraging word rather than an unfeeling push over the edge of temptation?  The condemnation of the language of Ashdod means a whole lot more than just mixing up a few definitions.

            Today, and every day Lord, help my accent to be that of a Christian.

A soft answer turns away wrath.The tongue of the wise utters knowledge correctly.A gentle tongue is a tree of life.A man has joy by the answer of his mouth, and a word spoken in due season, how good it is.Pleasant words are like a honeycomb:  sweet to the soul and health to the bones.  Selected lines from Proverbs 15 and 16.

Dene Ward

            When I was younger and looked at house plans, I used to see small rooms called "mud rooms" on the blueprints.  I never really understood them until I lived two years in Illinois.  In Florida the ground never freezes.  It is wet with the dew most mornings and dries before noon.  Up north the ground must thaw out every spring, and just like that frozen container of homemade tomato sauce on my kitchen counter, it stays wet until it does.  Day after day I wiped up mud and scraped off boots.  Now I really understood mud rooms and wished for one.  At least all the guests were aware of the problem as well and left their shoes at the door without having to be asked.

            That reminds me of the symbolism involved in Ex 3:5:  Take off your shoes from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.  While I cherish the confidence to approach God as a loving Father, while I am thrilled to see our young people revel in that closeness, I worry that we have forgotten what awe and reverence really mean, that we do not understand the requirements of holiness.  Our lives have gotten so casual we cannot even comprehend the difference between the sacred and the profane-it has nothing to do with four letter words.  It means we give our service to God-every day, not just on Sundays--special care, special preparation, and special effort, not just some haphazard, slapdash, last minute, half-hearted stab at it.  It means there is a part of me that is afraid not to take off my muddy shoes before I enter into God's presence.  And that fear is not a watered down variety called simply "respect."  Even in a vision, the prophet Isaiah was so awestruck by God's presence that he exclaimed, Woe is me for I am undone, for I am a man of unclean lips who dwells in the midst of a people of unclean lips and I have seen the King, Jehovah of hosts Isa 6:5.

The same book that proclaims that we can come in boldness (Heb 4:16), states that we should approach with reverence and awe because Our God is a consuming fire (Heb 12:28,29).  Paul also says in 1 Cor 5:11 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord...  It is this sort of fear that will motivate me to holy living when my will power weakens, and love and gratitude are not quite enough to do the job.   

Don't ever forget to take off those muddy shoes before coming before the Creator of the Universe.

For great is Jehovah and greatly to be praised:

He is to be feared above all gods.

For all the gods of the peoples are idols,

But Jehovah made the heavens.

Honor and majesty are before him:

Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

Ascribe unto Jehovah, you kindred of the peoples,

Ascribe unto Jehovah glory and strength.

Ascribe unto Jehovah the glory due to his name:

Bring an offering and come into his courts.

Oh worship Jehovah in holy array:

Tremble before him all the earth.

Psalm 96:4-9

Dene Ward

            What do you do in your spare time?  Yes, I hear you laughing, but I have come to the conclusion that as Christians we need to make sure we have some of that precious commodity.  Not because "I just have to have some time for me," but because I just have to have some time with God. 

            So what would we do if we had a few spare minutes alone?  Prayer comes to mind, of course, but another important activity is meditating, or musing on God's word.  In Gen 24:63 Isaac went out in the evening to the fields where he could be alone to meditate.  David made time too, even in the midst of tending sheep, leading an army, and running a kingdom.  When he was in the wilderness he meditated in the night watches, Psa 63:6.  He anxiously looked forward to those times, Psa 119:148. 

            Perhaps it is most difficult for mothers to find time to meditate.  Our entire day, from the moment we arise to the moment our heads hit the pillow again at night, is filled with "Mom, can you.,"  "Honey, will you.," and, "Ma'am you need to." until our minds are run ragged.  But even when we are alone we sabotage ourselves.  When the family leaves for work and school and the baby is napping, we turn on the TV "for company."  When we drive, we turn on the radio.  When we exercise, we slip on the headphones.  I have decided that one of the nicest things God did for me was to not furnish me with a dishwasher.  Do you know how much meditation can be accomplished over a sink full of soapy water?

Mary, as young and inexperienced as she was, gives us the perfect example--even as a new mother making the time to meditate, pondering things in her heart, Luke 2:19,51.  The word "ponder" means to put one thing with another.  But look at these other places where the same word is used (but translated by another English word), all in the book of Acts:  4:15-they conferred among themselves; 17:18-certain philosophers encountered him; 18:27-he helped them; 20:14-when he met us.  In all these cases words or people were put together (pondered) with a purpose-to learn, to assist, to come to an understanding.  So pondering God's word is an attempt "to put it all together" in our minds.  Anyone who thinks they can read it through once and get the whole picture will be sadly disappointed!

             Meditation is not for the shallow-minded, but you do not need to be an intellectual either.  The greatest benefit of meditation is the sheer depth of understanding one can eventually come to about God, the nature of his kingdom, and the beauty of his plan, Psa 143:5.  One can find himself in a place he never dreamed existed years before when he so confidently knew all the Bible stories, the "plan of salvation," and "the five acts of worship," Psa 49:3; 119:99.  And he can still see below him an awe-inspiring depth that makes Bible study once again vital and exciting, Psa 119:15.  Meditation can spawn a prayer, Psa 5:1-3, making that part of our lives richer and deeper as well.  And in the end it can bring us acceptance by our God, Psa 19:14.

            So make some spare time today.  Get up earlier, stay up later, take off those earphones or turn off the radio.  Spend some time meditating.  You don't have to twist yourself into a pretzel to gain a deeper understanding of the True God and his Word.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners nor sits in the seat of scoffers.  But his delight is in the law of Jehovah, and in his law does he meditate day and night.  And he shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also does not wither; and whatsoever he does shall prosper.  Psalm 1:1-3

Dene Ward

All my life I have heard David and Peter used as the supreme examples of how great men of God can still fall and repent, and truly they are fine examples.  In fact, I often look at Peter as an example of how the church should receive the penitent as well.  I bet there is not a church in America today that would choose him as an elder.  Someone would always be remembering his past against him.  God didn’t (1 Pet 5:1), and we need to remember God’s disdain for those who will not forgive as He does.

But here is a person I bet you never thought of—Judah.  We become so focused on Joseph in the latter chapters of Genesis that we miss a great lesson in this man—how far one can fall, but how much good he can still accomplish if he will only return to God.

If ever there was a man who could blame his parents and his upbringing for his mistakes, here is the one.  Judah was an unfavored son of an unfavored wife.  His father never even tried to hide his partiality; he virtually rubbed his older ten sons’ noses in it.  (And I suppose it never crossed their father’s mind that if he had given the same love and attention to the others, maybe they would have turned out as well as the two he favored.)  Finally, the brothers got rid of their nemesis, the favored brother Joseph, and Judah was right in the mix, Gen 37:25-28. 

Then he left the family.  Maybe he was sick and tired of the whole lot.  Maybe he was trying to outrun his guilt.  Maybe it was a little of both.  He made some sort of alliance with “a certain Adullamite whose name was Hirah,” and married a Canaanite woman, 38:1-8.  I doubt there was anything else he could have done that would have defied his father more, for in this family, whom you married had been important for generations.

You can read the next few verses in Genesis 38 for yourself if you are not familiar enough with them, how Judah had wicked sons whom God destroyed, and how he eventually cheated his daughter-in-law out of the husband and child the local law said she should have had, a law God killed Judah’s son Onan for breaking and eventually incorporated into the law of Moses (Deut 25).  So Tamar, the daughter-in-law, disguised herself as a harlot and seduced her father-in-law so she could have the child the law (and the future Law) demanded. 

When Judah went to Tamar, she was disguised not as an ordinary harlot, but as a temple harlot, another sign of how far Judah had fallen.  As a surety for payment he used a signet, a seal worn on a cord around the neck which acted as a personal signature, and his staff, the rod that figured in business transactions and symbolized family or tribal headship.  When Tamar disappeared, Judah did not try to find the “harlot” to pay her, but let her keep these two items, voluntarily giving up the symbols of his family, in effect cutting off his relationship with them for good.  Not only was he no longer in their presence, but he no longer even claimed a connection with the family God had chosen.

When Tamar’s pregnancy was discovered, so was Judah’s sin because she carried his ID in her hands.  “She is more righteous than I.” he admitted.  The enormity of how far he had fallen finally hit him, as well as the realization that he was the one responsible for his actions, not his biased father; and that if his older brothers were unsuitable to lead the family due to their own sins (Gen 34 and 35:22), then he must.

Judah not only returned to his family, he became pre-eminent among them.  He is the one who offered himself as a surety to Jacob when they took Benjamin to Egypt (Gen 43:2-10).  He is the one who pled their case before the Egyptian ruler they did not recognize as Joseph (44:14-17).  He is the one who offered to stay in prison if Joseph would just let Benjamin go home, showing great concern for his father’s welfare (44:18-34), a father, you remember, who had treated him badly. 

He became “a lion’s whelp” in the inspired words of Jacob, 49:9, and this lion-hearted man became the tribal father of the Messiah, his tribe the royal tribe from whom the only good kings God’s people ever had came, and his tribe the only one left physically and politically intact when the Messiah finally arrived--Judea. 

And so here is another example for us of how forgiving and loving a God we have.  It should give us hope that God is patient while we slip and fall, and that he can still make use of even those we consider the greatest of sinners, including ourselves.

The blessing of Jacob: 
Judah, you shall your brothers praise, your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons will bow down before you.  Judah is a lion’s whelp; from the prey, my son, you have gone up; he stoops down, he couches as a lion and as a lioness.  Who shall rouse him up?  The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet till Shiloh come; and unto him shall the obedience of the peoples be, Gen 49:8-10.

…Reuben the firstborn of Jacob, for he was the firstborn, but inasmuch as he defiled his father’s couch, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel.  And the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright, for Judah prevailed above his brothers, and of him came the prince. 
1 Chron 5:1, 2.

Jesus…being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli….the son of Nathan, the son of David, the son of Jesse…the son of Judah, the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham…the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God,  Luke 3:23, 31-34, 38.

       Welcome to the world,  Judah Samuel Ward!

Dene Ward

Why doesn’t God do something about all the suffering in the world?  Why do evil people prosper while good people struggle in pain and poverty?  These and similar questions attack the faith of all sensitive believers. Children die in agony and we cry, “Where is God?” and faith is weakened. The universe expands onward as we revolve around an insignificant star in one small galaxy among thousands and wonder, “Does the God who made all this even know I exist? How can he care about me, one of billions of people?”

The Bible never explains the problem of suffering, but it answers all these doubts in one name, Jesus. How much does God care? He sent his own Son. And the nature of that care was demonstrated repeatedly by “God in the flesh” as 11 times his biographers record that he had compassion on multitudes (Matt 15:32), on the father of a demon-possessed boy (Mark 9:22), on the widow whose son had died (Luke 7:13), on an untouchable leper whom  he healed with a touch (Mark 1:41).

Further, the care shown by the one who said, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father” (John 14:9), was individual and personal, caring. Though he preached to crowds, Jesus is best remembered for his one on one ministry. He spoke to the woman who came to the well alone because she was ostracized (John 4); He healed a lame man, (John 5) and a blind man (John 9); He wept with the mourners (John 11:35); loved a rich ruler who left him (Mark 10) and many more. And, ultimately, he died knowing that few would be saved. He suffered the cross in a way that was personally aimed at those who choose to hear and obey, that these few, as he did, may conquer suffering and Death.

Life is not fair and asking, “Why?” may be the wrong approach. God never answers why there is suffering in the world. He does not intervene to end all sickness and injustice. He just wraps us up in the arms of His love that sent his only begotten Son. Jesus demonstrates absolutely that the God of this awesome universe cares, and that he cares more than any man ever cared, and that HE cares about you personally.

The firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, The Lord knows them that are his. 2 Tim 2:19 

Keith Ward