' Lean not on your own understanding....'

1. 60

   anneyoakleyposted 15 years ago

   I was so broke I couldn't afford to cry.  Because of a medical injury I had an unexpected financial trouble.  The bill was huge.  I had to pay it to get the service or die.  I had a condo that the payments were 4 months behind.  I had a car payment I couldn't keep up with along with a threat of repo.  I was working 2 jobs to make ends meet.  There were days when food wasn't an option, stress was consuming my every move, and my physical health was challenged by stomache pain, headaches and insomnia.  I couldn't think straight because my mind was always in worry mode.  How am I going to rob Peter to pay Paul. Days all blended together and disappeared without any meaning.  I could see how suicide would look like an option with no end to this misery in sight.  I knew that something HAD to change but I didn't have an answer.  I tried selling my Condo and no one took the bate.  I tried selling my car to  which I received no phone calls but did get a huge advertising bill.  Doom and gloom lingered for almost 2 years.  Until I finally let go and let God.  After trying to do it on my own which is the only way I knew how, I fell to my knees one night and begged that if there was a God, why would he do this??  Why would he have me suffer so...Why not help a girl out who is working so hard??? Then I went to bed.  Within days I had just given up.  Started calling in sick to work.  Not answering the phone.  An old friend stopped by out of concern.  She asked me "why not just let go and let God?" I laughed.  "God isn't going to go to work for me, and pay the bills for me." She said "You are trying too hard to control an out of control situation.  Pray God takes away all your worries and don't think about it again." "Yeah right...in what world?"  I said so depressed.  She was so pushy about it that I made an excuse that I had things to do and she left. After a while by myself I knew this was too big for me and again I fell to my knees.  I asked God "Please take this away from me.  I beg of you. " With that, I told myself if just for today I am not going to worry about any of the bills.  Just for today.  By the end of my shift at my first job a man walked in.  Asked for me.  Said that he really wanted my Condo and had a check in his hand over the asking amount.  My jaw was on the floor.  I wasn't sure if it was a joke.  He said that he really needed to live there because of family got my name from a neighbor. He had never even seen my condo.  I couldn't believe he was legit and I must have been with him for over 30 minutes not believing him.  After the shock passed and I accepted he said I could have 2 months to move.  As we shook hands I just kept saying "I can't believe it." He replied "God has answered my prayers because I have been praying for miracle.  My mom needed me to be close and your Condo is right next to hers."  He said "Read Proverbs 3:5,6... it says 'Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight."

   replyreport
   1. 66

      aka-djposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      I have one word for you.
      AMEN.
      I wonder what the atheists will say about this one?

      replyreport
      1. 88

         Paragliderposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         What's there to say? Some get lucky. Some don't. I'm happy for anneyoakley, but single cases make bad law. (unless you're prepared to agree that the people who don't have their prayers answered are evidence for god's non-existence?)

         replyreport
         1. 66

            aka-djposted 15 years agoin reply to this

            Lucky? Does that fit into "scientific"?

            replyreport
            1. 88

               Paragliderposted 15 years agoin reply to this

               Absolutely. 'Lucky' is one of the familiar ideas that science deals with through probability and statistics.

               replyreport
         2. 67

            Lady Guinevereposted 15 years agoin reply to this

            I agree with that! You also have many prayers that are answered in ways that you don't even realize are the answer or int he form you envisioned.  Does that make it there is a God or No God?  I think not.
            
            Funny that her story gets accolades to God Loving and mine are towords that of Satan.

            replyreport
            1. 66

               aka-djposted 15 years agoin reply to this

               I have only read a few of your posts, nowhere have I seen satan connected to it.

               replyreport
               1. 67

                  Lady Guinevereposted 15 years agoin reply to this

                  That would be in the forums and yes there is a commenction to me being or wrshipping Satan.  It is all over my hubs.
                  
                  Did anyone one know that Satan is NOT in the Hebrew Bible?  Niether is the word Devil?  Only when they chose the manuscripts to go into the Bible that we have today does it mention anything like those.  They were added and not from the original texts.
                  The name Satan was from the orginal word Sat-an, not SA-tan.  It meant God's adversay and not against him but with and for him.  He was the judge of men's crimes etc.  He wasn't thrown out of heaven becasue he was bad--he was thrown out because when God made humans, he told Sat-an to worship them.  Of courxe Sat-an dind't want to because he was God's First Angel and God therw hikm out of heaven. n He is not an evil being.  Furthermore it was not Sat-an that fooled Eve in the Garden, but a lowly serpent.
                  People need to do reearch and not believe MEN blindly.  Research Lillith too as she was Adam's first wife as in they were made  man and women in their images.  Eve was made later when Lillith decides NOT to do as Adam told her to.
                  
                  Thse of us who look for something aren't looking for Satan, but for the Loving God that was in the beginning!  He is all and everything and in and around everything.  Those who are told differently are are the ones who are blind to life.  When we search and seek hikm out there will he be--nowhere does it say there will Satan be.

                  replyreport
                  1. 66

                     Make Moneyposted 15 years agoin reply to this

                     I have felt consoled after prayer, as if God is saying it's not as bad as you think or everything will be alright.  Does that show that God has answered my prayers?  Some would say no but it has left a calming feeling. 
                     
                     
                     
                     Hi LG, if you are referring to the first 5 books of the Old Testament, the words satan or the devil are not in them.  But the word satan is in the Old Testament 13 times and the word devil is in the Old Testament 14 times.  So the Israelites of the Old Testament did believe there is satan and the devil.

                     replyreport
                     1. 67

                        Lady Guinevereposted 15 years agoin reply to this

                        No I mean in the original Hebrew, not any of those translations you may be speaking of.  Sat-AN (pay attetnion to the pronounciation,not the spelling) was not what you call the SATAN of the translations.  I xplained that earlier what it meant.

                        replyreport
                     2. 0

                        sandra rinckposted 15 years agoin reply to this

                        Mike, how many times the word Serpent appear in the Torah or original Hebrew translation, Old Testament or otherwise?

                        replyreport
            2. 88

               Paragliderposted 15 years agoin reply to this

               LG and aka-dj - some people pray for things and some don't. Things happen, good and bad, to people from both camps. Some choose to believe their prayers are answered. That's their choice. But their believing it doesn't constitute proof.

               replyreport
         3. 66

            aka-djposted 15 years agoin reply to this

            To be serious though, that's not a case for an argument any more than somone asking me a question that I choose not to respond to. Does that mean I don't exist either?

            replyreport
            1. 88

               Paragliderposted 15 years agoin reply to this

               My point exactly. I was showing you that the counter argument was every bit as specious as the argument.

               replyreport
         4. 0

            sandra rinckposted 15 years agoin reply to this

            (John 11:11-14) ... So Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died. I am glad for you that I wasn’t there so that you may believe.
            
            -note; God at times is not around so that one can have faith to believe on your own.
            
            I am prepared to say that people who do not have their prayers answered immediately get them answered in time but for some, when the prayer isn't immediately answered they give up but people insist on instant gratification... so after some have given up on God and their prayers have been answered they then assume that God had nothing to do with it.
            
            So what is interesting is that for some at some point prayed to God and gave up but as God always answers, maybe not right away, when they are they believe it was not God.  So the question is why did you pray for it to God and then when it was answered you don't believe?

            replyreport
            1. 80

               BDazzlerposted 15 years agoin reply to this

               Great thoughts Sandy!  "So the question is why did you pray for it to God and then when it was answered you don't believe?  " ... that's key it moves from the theoretical to personal, and we are responsible for our own personal experiences.

               replyreport
               1. 0

                  sandra rinckposted 15 years agoin reply to this

                  Or maybe the question I am asking is why did some pray to God in the first place? 

                  replyreport
            2. 88

               Paragliderposted 15 years agoin reply to this

               How can an omnipresent god not be around at times? Sleeping maybe
               
               I think you are right in your description of how different praying people react to subsequent events, but I don't see any reason to link human psychology to acts of any god.

               replyreport
               1. 80

                  BDazzlerposted 15 years agoin reply to this

                  Don't mistake lack of apparent action for lack of presence.  I'm pretty sure Sandy is saying it seems like God's not around.
                  
                  Your question does, however, bring up an interesting side point, why is there an almost universal consensus among psychologists that humans "need" something like God.  Perhaps it's at the tippy top or lowest base of Maslow's  pyramid, but it always seems to creep in somewhere... spirits, gods, ancestors something in us needs 'something more' ...
                  
                  The need itself proves nothing, but from the strictly materialistic perspective, it's an interesting evolutionary quirk, no?

                  replyreport
                  1. 88

                     Paragliderposted 15 years agoin reply to this

                     Where 'something like God' can mean a perfectly executed cover drive, a rainbow in a storm sky, the slow movement in a Mozart string quartet, a perfect night sky, the whip of a greenheart cane fly rod, and so on. With consciousness, can come aestheticism, in many forms. I think, with Maslow (since you mention him), there's a human need for fulfilment. He would have said self-actualisation. God works for some. Not all (and not me).

                     replyreport
               2. 0

                  sandra rinckposted 15 years agoin reply to this

                  I think it is a fair question, then again what can an omnipresent, omnipotent etc. God not do?  And to not be around for the purpose of understanding or for finding strength or faith in oneself is also an important message wouldn't you think?   
                  
                  It's not only about believing in God but also about believing in the strengths that God has given to us or the Spirit that is within us to do even when we feel abandoned or alone.  If this is still not a good reason for God not being around when a person is calling, then to me it is second guessing not only yourself but also God. 
                  
                  But Bdaz is right to say "seems" because for us it is not a question as to whether or not God is asleep but the use of the spiritual strengths that we have inside and out.
                  
                  The links I see in human psychology and to acts of God isn't to say that only the lowly or confused need God to soothe their souls and stuff but it comes from the "knowledge" of what it means to be freed from mans oppressions and the strengths that we find in the belief in God is that we are capable of doing things without God but with God we can do so much more.
                  
                  Though I am sure that a lot of people don't understand what we are talking about and actually teeter back and forth because as life and human psychology would have it, those believing in God are dorks or incapable of being self sufficient but in the end we searched life for so much more than what can be seen but sought to understand what more there really is. 

                  replyreport
         5. 57

            Mark Knowlesposted 15 years agoin reply to this

            Well this atheist wonders why god only gets the credit for the few that things work out for. When hundreds die in a plane crash it is just one of those unlucky accidents, but the one survivor is proof of god's love for his creation.
            
            As for not leaning on your own understanding and trusting god to provide -

            replyreport
2. 59

   JennifersJumpersposted 15 years ago

   I too say "Amen."  It's something how God works.  I can pray for something and not get it, and other times I can just say something like, "I sure wish I had a..... (fill in the blank)" and it shows up by the end of the day.  It just goes to show, He knows what I do and don't need.

   replyreport
   1. 67

      Lady Guinevereposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Law of attraction--cause and effect--Karma

      replyreport
3. 66

   Make Moneyposted 15 years ago

   26 times in the Old Testament Sandra.  12 of those times are in the first 5 books. 

   replyreport
   1. 0

      sandra rinckposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks Mike, and of the 26 times that Serpent appears, how many different characteristics given to describe the Serpent? 

      replyreport
      1. 66

         Make Moneyposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         Aw come on Sandra, you are putting me to work.
         
         You can go to each verse from the link above.  Okay here's a start.
         
         Genesis 3:1 says the serpent was more subtle than any of the beasts.  In Genesis 3:4 the serpent lied to the woman.  In Genesis 3:13 the woman tells God that the serpent deceived her.  In Genesis 3:14 God cursed the serpent for doing these things.  And on and on.  Sounds like satan or the devil to me.

         replyreport
         1. 0

            sandra rinckposted 15 years agoin reply to this

            Exactly what I was getting at.  Sat-An is also named this way as well.    thanks Mike, sorry to put you to work.

            replyreport
            1. 66

               Make Moneyposted 15 years agoin reply to this

               No problem Sandra, I figured that's what you were getting at.

               replyreport
4. 88

   Paragliderposted 15 years ago

   What about San-ta ?

   replyreport
   1. 66

      Make Moneyposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Sat-an not San-ta.  LG says Sat-an is how Satan was spelled in original Hebrew.   
      
      

      replyreport
5. 68

   Leah Wingertposted 15 years ago

   Brava for your faith sister.  It is sometimes hard to have through the storm.

   replyreport