2021-05-18
Job 10:12 ABA
Daar is geen kuur vir pyn van die verlede soos huidige begeerte nie. Wanneer die verlange na iets kragtig genoeg is, kan dit die pyn van die verlede uitwis, wat jou in staat stel om weer met hernude energie en doelgerigtheid op te staan. As jy enige vrou vra of die pyn van kindergeboorte die moeite werd was, is die kans goed dat sy dit weer sal doen net om die vreugde van ‘n baba in haar arms weer te kan ervaar.
Miskien het jy ‘n tragedie ervaar wat jou onverskillig teenoor die toekoms gelaat het, of ‘n gebroke hart wat jou van pyn laat steier het. Die vrees om seer te kry kan baie groot wees; ‘n kind wat gebrand het vrees die vlamme. Jy kan egter nie die res van jou lewe in vrees leef nie. Job het sy gesondheid, sy rykdom en al sy kinders in ‘n enkele dag verloor. Hoe het hy daardeur gekom? Hy het gesê: ‘…U het vir my gedoen wat U moes doen, U het vir my gesorg.’
God is nog nie klaar met jou nie. Hy sal vir jou sorg! Job se verhaal eindig met die volgende woorde: ‘…die Here het hom twee keer soveel gegee as wat hy voorheen gehad het’ (Job 42:10 NLV). God kan dieselfde vir jou doen. Hou moed – Hy het ‘n beter toekoms vir jou in gedagte: ‘As jy net jou hart aan Hom wil wy en jou hande lig in gebed! Raak ontslae van jou sondes. Los alle ongeregtigheid agter jou. Dan sal jou gesig verhelder in onskuld. Jy sal sterk wees en vry van angs. Jy sal jou swaarkry vergeet. Dit sal wees soos water onderdeur ‘n brug’ (Job 11:13-16 NLV).
Sielskos: Heb 9:1-11:16; Mark 9:38-50; Ps 75; Spr 11:23
Philippians 1:6 NCV
Each one of us is a work-in-progress, and our stories are not finished yet. Maybe you’ve experienced a tragedy that has left you feeling indifferent about the future, or a heartbreak that’s still as painful as the day it happened. You might have tried to rationalise it by telling yourself, ‘As long as I don’t care, it won’t hurt.’
Whatever the cause of our pain, the fear of being hurt again is very real. God understands this, and He doesn’t want us to live the rest of our lives in fear. He wants to help us start again, to trust Him, and to allow Him to walk with us into something better.
Job lost his health, his wealth, and his children in a single day. But he got through his pain by choosing to praise God. He said, ‘You gave me life and showed me your unfailing love. My life was preserved by your care’ (Job 10:12 NLT). Job’s story ends with these words: ‘The Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before’ (Job 42:10 KJV).
And God can do the same for each one of us. He’s still at work within us, and He’ll restore what we’ve lost and lead us to a better future: ‘If you devote your heart to him and stretch out your hands to him, if you put away the sin that is in your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent, then, free of fault, you will lift up your face; you will stand firm and without fear. You will surely forget your trouble, recalling it only as waters gone by’ (Job 11:13-16 NIV).
Heb 9:1-11:16; Mark 9:38-50; Ps 75; Prov 11:23
2021-05-17
Ephesians 3:20 NKJV
Next time you see a big oak tree, remind yourself that it began as a tiny acorn. What you have to offer today may seem small, but when God blesses it, it can grow.
In 1912, Dr. Russell Conwell, pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Philadelphia, told about a Sunday school student named Hattie May Wiatt. Because of overcrowding, Dr. Conwell had told Hattie May he would love to have buildings large enough for everyone to attend. When Hattie May became ill and died, Conwell was asked to preach at her funeral. The girl’s mother told him Hattie May had been saving her money to help build a bigger church. Hattie’s purse contained coins amounting to fifty-seven cents. Conwell exchanged them for fifty-seven pennies, which he put on display and “sold.” With the proceeds, a nearby house was purchased for a children’s wing for the church. Inspired by Hattie’s story, more money came in, and out of her fifty-seven cents eventually came the buildings of Temple Baptist Church, Temple University, and Good Samaritan Hospital.
Perhaps you feel your gifts, your time, your talents, and your efforts are too small to make a difference. But when you give them completely to God and ask Him to bless them, you discover that He’s both a great mathematician and a great multiplier. He can take your words, your endeavors, and your resources and multiply them beyond anything you can imagine. “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” (v. 20 NKJV).
Soul food: Lev 23:15-22; Acts 2:1-18
Efesiërs 3:20 NLV
Die volgende keer wat jy ‘n groot eikeboom sien, herinner jouself daaraan dat hy as ‘n klein akker begin het. Dit wat jy kan bied mag dalk klein lyk, maar wanneer God dit seën, kan dit groei.
In 1912 het dr Russell Conwell, ‘n pastoor van die Grace Baptist Kerk in Philadelphia, die verhaal van ‘n Sondagskoolleerder genaamd Hattie May Wiatt vertel. Omdat hulle so baie gemeentelede was, het dr Conwell aan Hattie May genoem dat hy graag ‘n kerkgebou wou hê wat groot genoeg was om al die gemeentelede te akkomodeer. Toe Hattie May siek geword het en gesterf het, is Conwell gevra om by haar begrafnis te preek. Die dogtertjie se ma het hom vertel dat Hattie May haar geld gespaar het om te help met die bou van ‘n groter kerk. In Hattie se beursie was daar sewe-en-vyftig sent. Conwell het die sente geneem en hulle uitgestal en ‘verkoop.’ Met die wins daarvan, is ‘n nabygeleë huis aangekoop vir die kindervleuel van die kerk. Mense is deur Hattie se storie geïnspireer, meer geld is ingesamel en uit haar sewe-en-vyftig sent is die Temple Baptiste Kerk, Temple Universiteit en die Good Samaritan Hospitaal uiteindelik gebou.
Miskien voel jy dat jou gawes, jou tyd, jou talente en jou inspanning te klein is om ‘n verskil te maak. As jy dit egter aan God oorgee en Hom vra om dit te seën, sal jy agterkom dat Hy ‘n groot wiskundige en ‘n wonderlike vermenigvuldiger is. Hy kan jou woorde, jou pogings en jou hulpbronne neem en hulle ver bo enigiets wat jy jouself kan indink, vermeerder. ‘Hy moet geprys word – Hy wat mag het om deur die krag wat in ons werk, oneindig meer te doen as wat ons vra of dink om te vra.’
Sielskos: Lev 23:15-22; Hand 2:1-18
Ephesians 3:20 NCV
Next time you see a big tree, remind yourself that it began as a tiny seed. What you have to offer today may seem small, but when God blesses it, it can grow.
Jesus had been preaching to a massive crowd of people, and as it was late in the day, the disciples wanted to send them away so they could get something to eat. There were at least 5,000 people there that day (it’s possible that the actual number was far higher), so there was no way the disciples could afford to buy food for the whole crowd. All they could find were five loaves of bread and two fish belonging to a boy (see John 6:9) – it would hardly feed Jesus and the disciples, let alone the rest of the people there. But when Jesus took the small amount of food the boy offered and blessed it, there was enough for everyone to have as much as they wanted, and still have plenty left over.
We might feel that our gifts, our time, our talents, and our efforts are too small to make a difference. But when we give them completely to God and ask Him to bless them, we’ll discover that He’s a great multiplier. He can take our words, our efforts, and our resources, and multiply them beyond anything we could imagine. ‘With God’s power working in us, God can do much, much more than anything we can ask or imagine. We mustn’t be ashamed of what we have to offer God, because He sees its potential to grow and bless others in His kingdom.
Lev 23:15-22; Acts 2:1-18
