[CF Devotionals] 2011-03-10 - The Left Side

Isaiah 55:8-9 "My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,' says the Lord. 'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts." (NASB)

Many of you know from reading my writings over the years I listen to a lot of music. One song has recently gripped my heart and mind with a thought. This thought I have tried to articulate over the years on a number of different occasions. I never feel like I quite reach the core of what is locked up inside me. I feel compelled to try again.

Many of you also know I took more math courses in college than most people probably want to think about. Many of you may already be running for the exits, but please wait. The calculus book is still firmly on the shelf. One interesting thing about all the math I ever took was that there were two sides to every equation. There was a lot of time spent in these classes simplifying the equation given. In programming most languages place the variable that will contain the answer on the left side of the equation and the equation itself on the right.

I'm going to say that we live in the right side of the equation. That is the complicated side where all our simplification work - our best efforts - has been done. Even when that process has been completed what remains is still full of symbols and exponents that make it look like rocket science. Often times that is our life when it appears complicated with hurts, sadness and struggles.

But what if we could see these problems on the right side from the left side of the equation where the answer sits? God holds the answers. He knows what tomorrow holds. He knows the reason why everything that ever happens in our lives happens. From the right side we can not see the answers. We have to trust.

Can we still praise Him in the middle of those trials? More importantly can we trust Him? Remember Job who his friends could only think he had does something awful. His wife even told him to, "Curse God and die." (Job 2:9). The one who might support Job to the end could not see any other answer. But God knew that Job would remain faithful though He allowed the enemy to tourment Job in an effort to cause Job to lose faith in God. But the enemy had lost from the start because God already knew the left side of the equation and that Job would not doubt the Lord.

If the Father who loved us enough to send His only Son to die in our place to save us can we trust Him to have our best interests at heart? Job's blessings were in the hidden equation that he was living in through his time of trial.

We just past the anniversary of one of my friend's passing from this life. She had all kinds of medical issues. She needed a power chair to get around to the day she went home. But she was a warrior in prayer. She stood six foot six with strong armour and a shinning sword that she used very well. She spent hours each day praying for people and situations in her life and those she saw on television. She had managed to reach over to the left side of the equation.

Are your blessings hidden in the complex of struggles of your life?  Can you trust the God even when your life seems out of control? He put the stars and planets in their courses through the heavens, and knows you are His child and exactly what you need. He knows the desires of your heart you tell no one. He also wrote the right side of the equation of your life, and holds the answer for you. Selah.

Grace & Peace,

[email mike] jmhoskins@gmail.com