Why me Lord?...the Wayfarer 8/14/16

Why me Lord?
 8/14/16

Ephesians 2:8 King James Version (KJV)

⁸ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Why me?

 This question is asked daily, and continually by just about every human being on the planet.

Most usually it is asked in the context of a negative question instead of the positive one asked by the song that provides today’s title that comes from the days of my youth through a songwriter that I love for his gift proven by the many songs that were written, though it took many years to accustom myself to the voice that accompanied that gift.

                                            Why Me

Kris Kristofferson

Why me Lord
What have I ever done
To deserve even one
Of the blessings I've known
Why me Lord
What did I ever do
That was worth love from you
And the kindness you've shown

Lord help me, Jesus
I've wasted it so
Help me, Jesus
I know what I am
Now that I know
That I've needed you so
Help me, Jesus
My soul's in your hand

Try me Lord
If you think there's a way
That I can repay
What I've taken from you
Maybe Lord
I can show someone else
What I've been through myself
On my way back to you

Lord help me, Jesus
I've wasted it so
Help me, Jesus
I know what I am
Now that I know
That I've needed you so
Help me, Jesus
My soul's in your hand
Jesus
My soul's in your hand

Like so many of the hymns I choose to reference, this one too is a means of prayer, a prayer of both repentance and acceptance of the redemption given for that repentance, acknowledgement of that redemption despite the lack of any worthiness of it….acknowledgement of the GRACE of God, delivered through the sacrifice of Christ Jesus for each willing to accept that Grace.

It also acknowledges that the soul of each lies within the hands of the one providing that Grace, whether accepted or not!

Like too many today, Job also asked “Why me”, questioning the wisdom and purpose of God.

His answer came through the whirlwind, as that answer was given in full:

Job 38:1-6 King James Version (KJV)

38 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,

² Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?

³ Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.

⁴ Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.

⁵ Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?

⁶ Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;

That answer continues on through the 34^th verse of the 41^st chapter of this book devoted to reminding us of the Omniscience of our Creator and the foolishness that constitutes the “wisdom” of our kind.

Job finally came to the conclusion, too, like the song used as title that any questioning of God is useless, as only HE has the entirety of his plan, only HE is capable of executing that plan, and it is not our place to question that plan, but to accept it rather than attempt to change or embellish it. This Truth is eternal, and unchanging… for all of mankind, whose choice is still acceptance or denial of that Truth.

Job 42

King James Version (KJV)

42 Then Job answered the Lord, and said,

² I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee.

³ Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.

⁴ Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.

⁵ I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.

⁶ Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.

⁷ And it was so, that after the Lord had spoken these words unto Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.

⁸ Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job.

⁹ So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did according as the Lord commanded them: the Lord also accepted Job.

¹⁰ And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.

¹¹ Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one an earring of gold.

¹² So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses.

¹³ He had also seven sons and three daughters.

¹⁴ And he called the name of the first, Jemima; and the name of the second, Kezia; and the name of the third, Kerenhappuch.

¹⁵ And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren.

¹⁶ After this lived Job an hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, even four generations.

¹⁷ So Job died, being old and full of days.

Job’s patience throughout his trials are still noted today, forgotten is his impatience and the “Why Me”.

What should be remembered is the answer to that “Why me”.

That answer, that GRACE given, is not ours because of our own righteousness, or our own worthiness, or our own wisdom, but is given only because of the LOVE bestowed on us by our Creator, Who loved us enough to provide a means of having that precious Grace at a cost payable only by Christ Jesus.

“Why me ?”

Asked and answered time and again, the answer unchanging, for acceptance or denial.

John 3:16-21 King James Version (KJV)

¹⁶ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

¹⁷ For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

¹⁸ He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

¹⁹ And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

²⁰ For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

²¹ But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

Acceptance, or denial.

One WAY, One TRUTH, One LIFE.

The answer to the question so often asked remains the same, and will never change.

It is the context of the question being asked that MUST be changed before that answer may be understood.

2 Timothy 1:12 King James Version (KJV)

¹² For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

Amen and Amen

.the Wayfarer