THINGS (PART 2)

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, ‘Enough!’: the grave, the barren womb, land, which is never satisfied with water, and fire, which never says, ‘Enough!’”

Proverbs 30:15b-16

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Life can bring us to difficult places. Live long enough and you’ll definitely find that out.

In these places, we could feel any or all of these things that we find Agur speaking about in his conversation to Ithiel in Proverbs, Chapter 30. First, look again at his words and then the four states we can find ourselves in, states that discourage and drag us down into the depths of despair.

“There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, ‘Enough!’: the grave, the barren womb, land, which is never satisfied with water, and fire, which never says, ‘Enough!’”  Proverbs 30:15b-16

1. In the grave.

People die every day, thousands upon thousands of people across the world. The grave does not take a day off in calling people to it. Its appetite is insatiable.

So strong is the pull of the grave that many people find themselves drawn to it before it is their time. They get so caught up in the troubles of life that they don’t want to live it anymore. To them, death is easier than life and so they take steps to answer the call of the grave and escape their problems.

Others are afflicted or older and have been given news that their lives are going to end. They can hear the unsatisfied call of the grave beckoning out to them every day, unsure of the day when they will answer that call but knowing it could be at any time.

2. The barren womb.

Read enough of the scriptures and you will read of women who were barren and unable to conceive children. This dilemma has not changed more than 2,000 years later. Women still struggle with infertility matters and the crushing deficiency it brings to their lives. They yearn and yearn to be mothers like those they see with children but the possibility is impossible. They cannot deliver what they cannot produce.

There is a broader application to this principle for many people cannot deliver what they cannot produce. Consider the plight of the handicapped. They cannot do all the things that a healthy person can do. There are limitations and sometimes impossibilities involved because of their disability.

Or maybe it’s the person in life who everyone has unrealistic expectations for, always placing pressure for them to deliver something they simply lack the talent to do. Not everyone is suited to do everything but that doesn’t stop people from pushing a person to where they feel like failures, like they can never satisfy anyone no matter what they do.

3. A parched land.  

I vividly remember the 14 months I spent in Djibouti, Africa. Located just 11 degrees north of the equator, it was the hottest place I have ever been with temperatures well over 100 degrees four months straight (June through September). Coupled with the oppressive heat was the complete lack of rain. Look at any rainfall charts for Djibouti and you will flat-lined on zero for these months. With that, as you may imagine, the ground becomes dry and cracked, parched and longing for a drop of moisture to fall on it from the sky.  

Life can get that way for us too sometimes. We can find ourselves in a place where things are drying up under the heat of our circumstances. We thirst for change, for a drop of hope to fall upon our weary souls and give us relief from our despondency and restore us to a place where we experience better days.

4. In the fire.

Maybe you have felt or are feeling like you are surrounded by fire that is burning all around you, so much so that you are feeling the heat and fearful of being engulfed by the flames.

One thing you learn about fire in a hurry if you study it. It needs fuel to burn and if unchecked it will not stop burning until there is no fuel left. When you are in the midst of trials, there seems to be an unending source for the fires of life to rage around you and you pray that you don’t become part of that fuel. You desperately hope for rescue, for someone to come and put out the fire before it’s too late.

Maybe you can relate to any or all of these things that Agur speaks about, things that can’t get enough of you and your life.

I know I can.

But before you think this is a depressing devotion with no good news, we’re not through yet. For the Lord God Almighty has a powerful response for each one of these states we might find ourselves in.

For the grave, He sent Jesus to conquer the grave so that death might lose its sting and anyone who would place their faith and trust in His Son would find victory over the grave just as He did (John 3:16). This truth led Steven Curtis Chapman to write the following uplifting lyrics in his song, The Glorious Unfolding:

We were made to run through fields of forever
Singing songs to our Savior and King
So let us remember this life we’re living
Is just the beginning of the beginning

For those in Christ Jesus, death and the grave is not the end but just the beginning of the beginning of life eternal with God the Father and Jesus, His Son and our Savior.  

For the one who is barren, there is hope. For the Lord has shown us that He can make the possible out of the impossible, producing outcomes where there was seemingly no way for a person to deliver. Never lose your hope in Him and what He can do in your life. Seek to carry out His will and way, meeting His expectations and you will live the joy-filled, fruit-producing life that He intends for you to have.

For the thirsty and parched, seek the living water that the Lord is ready to rain down on you, a righteous rain that will always quench you with direction and encouragement. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled (Matthew 5:6). Seek Him in prayer, study and meditate on His word, receive His Holy Spirit into your heart, mind, and soul, and find yourself drenched in His restoring goodness, grace, and love.

And for the one in the midst of the fire, know that the Lord is your protector, shield, and rescue. Just as Daniel and his friends were kept from the sure death of the Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery furnace (Daniel 3:13-26) so too is God ready to screen you from the flames of your circumstances and deliver you safely through.

Four things that we can face in life, things that can never be satisfied. Thanks be to God that He always watches over us and counters life’s difficulties with deliverance and saving grace. He’s always just a prayer away.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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