Putting up with things God's way!

FRI Evening Prayer Reflection 090420 (Job 19; Acts 13:13-25)

“For about forty years God put up with Israelites in the wilderness.” That was Paul speaking about how the God of Israel chose their ancestors and made them a great nation during their stay in the land of Egypt, and how God led them out of Egypt. My heart went for that particular phrase because I never thought of it before like that: God putting up with Israelites behavior. To be honest, on one hand, it seems like accepting bad behavior is something our culture is increasingly adept at. On the other hand, popular culture tells people: “Why endure things from others? Take the easy way out! Don’t put up with it!” This is not about mere tolerance but a step beyond that. We are talking about a relationship of 40 years…This is already beyond tolerance. Parents can be helpful for us in this: Parents don’t tolerate, they learn the best way to live situations that are beyond their imagination as they arise. King David’s behavior towards his son Absalom is one example. Absalom opposed his father vehemently and died trying to overthrow him. King David never ceased to be a parent even in the end. He mourned the death of his son, none said he rejoiced because his enemy died. In Acts’ passage, Paul explained the relationship between God and Israelites and how it involved Jesus as the descendant of King David. Paul is telling a story that shows God’s super involvement in this family and nation, despite problems. 

We hear people say things like, “I am not going to put up with that.” But what can we learn from God in his relationship with Israel? Yes, we might say no size fits all. Paul says God put up with them for 40 years. Sometimes, we hear married people tell a story of how their spouse put up with them over the years. I am interested to find out a few things: Are only certain things tolerable over time? Or is it the strength of the relationship that makes one want to put up with things [inconsiderate or bad manners for example]? I am convinced that it is because of love, the strength of the relationship that makes one want to forgive, to disregard offenses/ bad habits. Maybe? Could it be that God loves us so much that he puts up with us? God wishes that we would repent and turn back to him in response to His love. The Bible tells us that God loved us first. If we love God, it’s because He loved us first, we are responding in kind by loving God. 

Job’s experience was a bitter one in His relationships. First, he was upright/righteous in a way that made God proud. In today’s passage, Job is in deep discussion with his friends who were not understanding him or his position. When others are in deep disagreement with us like they were with Job, how do we respond? It sounds like this situation was so heavy on Job. Did he put up with it? Do we put up with it when our friends leave us or unfriend us or are mean to us [which is sadly a trend]? Will our response be to unfriend them also? I am afraid this is the popular view: Some people will say: “good riddance!” But is this really what we should say? We learn in the Lord’s Prayer that we should ask God to forgive us in the same amount/way that we forgive others. The Psalmist echoes Job’s experiences especially where he says in Ps 31:11: “I have become a reproach to all my enemies and even to my neighbors, a dismay to those of my acquaintance; when they see me in the street, they avoid me.” Yes, disagreements, fallouts do happen unfortunately.

Jesus once challenged us: “If a man says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar: for he that love not his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?” This challenge concerns all of us and our feelings: Both Job’s relationship with his friends and his respect for God remained intact. I think we should learn from that. They were his friends, even if they often acted harshly with Job, but he put up with it. Not because he was weak, but because he understood that loving God meant respecting all his creatures, including the difficult ones. God knows He has put up with them as much as He has put up with us.

Are you having to put up with things? I want to encourage you for the sake of God’s love, to continue patiently; God puts up with us way more. If God didn’t, we could have been severely punished, but we were not! God is good. Be blessed!