I know you are a forgiving bunch and would understand if I gave you a list of reasons why I have not posted for a week. However, I won’t put you through the list. I will sum it up by saying I have procrastinated because even though I read Ecclesiastes 4 almost every morning this week, I’m just not inspired to write about it. So, I will comment only on a handful of verses. Will you please take the liberty to write about the verses that speak to you, especially if I happen to skip your favorites? Thanks!
Verse 1—The oppressed have no comforter. This really stands out to me, especially since the writer repeated it twice in the same verse. Why do the oppressed have no comforter? God loves them. He wants to be their comforter. You and I try to comfort those who are in need. Why are they not comforted? This verse says their oppressors have power so they can’t or won’t be comforted. Hmmm. Think of someone you have repeatedly tried to help, but they always end up right back where you found them. That someone could even be you and me. Why do they tend to slide backwards? Because their oppression has such power over them. Perhaps we need to help people pray against their oppression while we are trying to meet their physical and emotional needs. I know I get overwhelmed with trying to meet needs over and over again. But I can pray, and prayer is powerful because it invites our all-powerful God to defeat the oppression. Am I way off-base here?
Verses 9-12—Two are better than one. I have always liked this passage. Life is much easier and a lot more fun when you share it with others. I have often said that I would be a horrible single mom because I depend on my husband for so much. I cannot imagine the stress single parents endure, and I know several of my fellow bloggers have been there. I admire your tenacity, and I want to encourage you to hang in there, to take one moment at a time, and to find a trusted friend to walk beside you when the days are long and discouraging.
Two are better than one, and we should all be grateful for our friendships. My natural tendency is to be a loner. I would be content to stay in my house all day, every day, reading, blogging, piddling with paperwork and other stuff that probably will not impact eternity. Friendship takes a conscious effort for me. I have to be careful because I want others to take the first step to initiate friendship. Proverbs 18:24 in the King James Version says we have to be friendly to others if we are to have any friends. So God’s challenge to us today is to get out of our computer chairs and go be a friend to somebody. Let me know how it works out for you, okay!
I don't even want to blog about these verses right now because they hit too close to home for me in the season I'm at right now. I am struggling so much with oppression right now and it does become so much a part of you that it is difficult for others to help you with. I think you're right, Dana, prayer is the best thing to do. However, for me, it would be helpful to be reminded that someone is praying for me even if I may be pushing them away. That is all you have to say is I'm praying for you. I have never been to this depth of oppression that I am struggling with right now and it is a very scary place to be. And I push others away even though that's what I so desperately want is someone to walk beside me. But I do such a great job of pushing them away instead of telling them what I need. I also don't want to be someone who brings someone else down. I have felt so alone the last several months that I can't even describe it to anyone. And when you feel that alone, it hurts even worse when you do end up pushing those you care most about away. And then it just grows the depression even deeper. However, on a lighter note, for me this time has been time that I needed with God. I need to look to Him instead of others for my help to dig my way out of this pit that Satan has been trying to bury me alive in. I have needed to go through this time of feeling unloved in order to allow His love to be enough for me. But it hasn't been fun at all to feel so alone that there's no one to turn to. I am beginning to sense that there are some that are there to turn to, but I'm still very hesitant to reach out. I'm sure God has more than one lessons here for me to learn, but I have trouble learning everything the first time cuz I'm so stubborn! My verse that I have been praying this past week is Psm. 51:10 "Create in me a clean (pure) heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." I want to say I'm sorry to those who tried to help me, but I pushed them away. I'm sorry that I got more wrapped up in what lies Satan was telling me than being a friend back. I'm sorry for all the times that I should've reached out to others and didn't. There's a lot I'm sorry for and I wish I could say that it will never happen again, but I can't cuz it most likely will. Until we all get to heaven we all have a lot of forgiving to do with each other. And keep remembering that God's love is enough to overcome anything!! "JESUS LOVES ME THIS I KNOW!!!!"
ReplyDeleteOh, one more thought-- You always have two when you have God with you!! So, even when you feel all alone, if you have Christ in your heart- You are NEVER completely ALONE! That's been another lesson I've learned.
ReplyDeleteLove you all! Melissa
Oh Dana of course we understand that sometimes you can't post as often as you would like for whatever reason, it doesn't matter and it is okay! We are glad to hear from you this morning. I am just being blown away by Ecclesiates.
ReplyDeleteVerse 4 is such a strong warning against envy and being concerned about what everybody else around us has or is doing. Do I fit in? Yes I fit in the Lords arms and he implores me to seek Him with all my heart, soul, mind and strength.
I am being led all over the Bible this morning and a few verses that jumped out to me are
Acts 10:14 "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favortism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right." I don't have to look or act a certain way to have Christ's love and acceptance, help me Lord to use your eyes in that same way as I look at others.
Romans 12:16 "Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited." 18 "If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone."
Back to Ecc. 4:1 where the oppressed have no comforter, how sad. They toil all day trying to fill that void, find that comfort and it just isn't happening. We have found that comforter, giver of peace, the lifter of my head. That is not to say that we don't ever struggle but we have Christ's arms to fall back into. I don't know how or where you will lead me today Lord but let me be willing to reach out to those who need your comfort Lord.
Verse 8 "There was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. "For whom am I toiling," He is keeping to himself and he is miserable. Why does this "keeping to ourselves" come so easily? It really is not what God intended. As it continues in v. 9 about two being better than one, the help we can be to eachother, the good return on the work we do together. I had a lesson straight from God on this very thing over the weekend. I was coordinating an event and had to leave town quickly. Those around me, my friends prayed for me, and jumped in and finished up the event and it was successful! Thank you God for your body here on earth, help me to reach out to others being your hands and feet each day Lord. Thank you for your hands that have reached out to me. You are an awesome God, I love you.
The verse that I am memorizing this week with my girls is Deut. 31:6 "Be strong and courageous...For the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."
ReplyDeleteJust love this verse and wanted to share it.
Greetings Everyone! This is a tough read to some degree. I don't have an answer about your question why the oppressed don't have a comforter but the word oppressed jumped off the page at me so I decided to sit a spell with this one. The word oppression means domination, coercion, cruelty, tryanny, or subjugation. Oppress means to keep down, afflict, torment, worry, depress, distress, or burden. One dictionary reference noted that oppression meant to dominate harshly - to subject a person or a people to a harsh or cruel domination or to inflict stress on - to be a source of worry, stress or trouble to somebody. All thes words conjure up quite an imagine in your mind and you get a somewhat clear picture of what oppression is. But what does oppression do to us? If we are not careful, the oppression we may be experiencing turns inward causing our main focus to be on self. The more we focus on self the less we are able to be comforted. Unfortunately we don't realize God is trying desperately to keep us from hitting rock bottom. We learned tonight in bible study that the Discourager really piles it on the minute he sees us buckle. At that point, he comes in for the hit and he hits hard, sometimes we feel we won't ever recover. Yes we need to pray against oppression. Several of us in bible study tonight are dealing with it! It's not fun and it can be very painful. I hope this is making sense. It's getting late and I am tired. Hope all is well with each of you. Love to your family Dana and you too! Cindy
ReplyDeleteMelissa, I pray for you every time the Spirit brings you to mind. You are exactly right that we need to hear from others when they pray for us. Did you know that a study was done that showed people who were prayed for in hospitals got well quicker and more often than people who were not prayed for? Prayer is powerful, and it creates healing in our brains and hearts and bodies when we know someone else is joining us at the throne of God. Tell someone today that you prayed for them!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you are discovering that God's love is enough. He is enough for us whenever we feel abandoned by the world. He must bring us to the place where we realize He is the very air we breathe and that we cannot survive without Him. Christ Jesus IS MY LIFE (Colossians 3:4). Without Him I can do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING (John 15:5).
I like the verses Melissa and Melinda chose to memorize. I am memorizing Ephesians 4:29 because Trent asked us to in his sermon on Sunday. "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."
Melinda, thank you for sharing the verses God is using to speak to you. I'm thankful that the Body of Christ stepped up to help with the event you were planning. I agree that you have a fabulous church body. They are a tremendous blessing to our family!
Thanks for defining oppression for us, Cindy. It does paint a vivid picture. I think of a neighbor I had in Amarillo. I carried her to the doctor's office with cuts, bruises, broken ribs, and a crushed cheek bone because her husband threw a glass coffee table at her. Yet, she would not press charges against him. She was totally oppressed, enslaved, trapped by tyranny. We get caught in the same vicious cycle when we allow the enemy to control any area of our lives repeatedly. You said, "The Discourager really piles it on the minute he sees us buckle." I think it was Hilary who commented in one of her posts that it seems that satan attacks even harder when we call out to God for help. He certainly capitalizes on our weaknesses. However, Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 that God's grace is sufficient, and His power is made perfect in our weakness. When I am weak, then I am strong. Then we come full circle to Melinda's memory verse, "Be strong and courageous." God is with us! Emmanuel!
Thank you, Dana, for your prayers. I am feeling much better since I have really been spending more time with the Lord. I don't understand why I can't realize that when I'm starting to feel so oppressed that is when I need to spend more time with Him to help me out of the pit. Maybe one of these days I will learn! I'm thankful that the Lord gives me gentle reminders. I always think about a saying my grandmother once told me. "God only gives you as much as I can handle. I just wish He didn't think so much of me!" :) But it's true that is one of His promises to us that He only gives us as much as we can handle. Amen! Boy, I would hate to see what I couldn't handle after everything I've been through! Love you and miss you tons, Dana! Know that you and your family are also in my prayers!
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