Thoughts while overlooking the city of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.......
FOR THE BAD TIMES!
Dr. Lawrence Murray
In the 1970’s Al Green penned a song that still reverberates in some circles; it’s entitled: For The Good Times. The lyrics to this song show how he still yearns for the good times of this relationship. Now apparently she’s leaving him but he attempts to woo her back into their usual comfort zone so Al says,
“Lay your head on my pillow
Hold your warm and tender body close to mine
Hear the whisper of the raindrops
Blow softly against my window pain late at night
Make believe you love me one more time
For the good times
For the good times
I'll get along I'm sure you’ll find another
But baby please remember I'll be here
I'm gone stay right here if you should ever find that you need me
Don't say a word about tomorrow forever and ever and ever
There will be time enough for severance when you need me”
Now if this is the only frame of reference of good times then how do I expect to make it through bad times? As a matter of fact, we could carefully catalogue and chronicle many places, pleasures and pursuits that promise you a good time. You could visit Red Letter Days and experience what its like to ride on a hovercraft at top speed; you can be adventurous and take an African safari; you can visit the Vatican and experience the rich history of Rome and Catholicism. A good time can be financial stability or emotional tranquility. For some a good time is family and faith; others may just relax. Whatever you deem as a good time is really a personal preference. However, our thought is simply, What about when times are just plain bad?
Check this out! Gods people In 2 Kings 7 were in some tough, tight, and treacherous times. Interestingly, that Old Testament passage reminds us of how some people respond in bad times. Maybe this will help you as you bear up for the BAD TIMES!
SOME PEOPLE JUST BLAME OTHERS—If you remember, Ahab blamed Elijah for his bad times, You can read it in 1st Kings 18:17 & 2 Kings 6:31 that King Joram was having a bad time and blamed Elisha for the plight of the city. It was Joram’s fault; that text says that he tore his clothes and wore sackcloth and ashes. The truth of the matter is that his heart was cold and God is not impressed with that kind of stuff. Some maybe when bad times come my way I should not look at other people and shift the blame.
SOME PEOPLE JUST DOUBT GOD-just about one verse down you begin seeing the dynamics of what happens when you don’t have adequate trust in God. The officer in the text in verses one and two did not believe the word of God; unfortunately that same unbelief caused his death. Notice,
2Kings 7:17 And the king appointed the lord on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate: and the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died, as the man of God had said, who spake when the king came down to him.
2Kings 7:18 And it came to pass as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be to morrow about this time in the gate of Samaria:
2Kings 7:19 And that lord answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, if the LORD should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.
2Kings 7:20 And so it fell out unto him: for the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died.
Just understand that God will open the windows when we obey Him. So, when the bad times come and push you beyond the brink, please, keep your anchor positioned upward where Christ is seated at the right-hand of God.
SOME PEOPLE ENGAGE IN CRITICAL THINKING-Those four lepers who I think were never cleansed were very logical in their thinking. “Why sit we here until we die? They said! “If we give up we die, if we give in to the enemy we die, or we may live. Let’s just surrender to the enemy.” But hold on reader, don’t get nervous, there was no enemy, You see God scattered them earlier with a noise! I wish somebody reading this would understand that when you have bad times, sometimes you have nothing to lose…. You may need to just get up open the shades and start your day cause you have nothing to lose; you should just stop having a pity party about all your pressures, problems, and purveyors and just engage in critical thinking about your next positive move. These men in the text out of a colony of lepers in bad times refused to just sit dangling in that condition.
SOME PEOPLE DON’T MIND SHARING RESOURCES DURING BAD TIMES-The one thing I like about how chapter seven of Kings closes, those lepers moved all the way from giving up and giving in to giving out. They shared the good news of all that they found in the enemy camp. These men even helped to save their city. So what should you do when you are thrust into bad times? Well, DO NOT GIVE IN OR UP, JUST KEEP ON GIVING OUT!
You can’t beat God giving, no matter how hard you try!
Drlmurray’s Mind!
