In a world where financial crises come and go we must keep our eyes on the only firm foundation; the God who is bigger than every circumstance, the God who promises to meet all our needs, the God who is teaching us daily to trust Him more.
How do we get rid of our doubts? It is so easy to say, but can be so difficult to do. We can encourage ourselves by remembering past answers to prayer. And reminding ourselves of what He has done for us in days gone by, even without our prayers!
It is good to know that God does not get frustrated with us in our own frustrations, but is always ready to help us through. He has the answer to every problem we might ever face. The Greek word here used for finding fault, means reproach or taunting.
Most of us are suffering from something: sickness, depression, not seeing family, lack of work, too much work, financial restraints, and it is difficult to do as James suggests, counting it all joy! That is generally our last reaction, and is a hard thing to do from day to day.
There is certainly more than one occasion when God opened the doors of the heavens. But here we are reading about when He rained down manna after the Israelites were hungry in the desert. We must remember in these strange times that God is still in control.
The Lord is still appointing leaders worldwide, and He still brings down those who oppose Him, but that will happen more quickly as we pray. In 1 Timothy 2:2, Paul told Timothy to pray for all those in authority, and He is still saying the same thing to us.
Some of our lives are enclosed behind ancient doors. All of us have past experiences, both good and bad. Some of which we have not thought about or opened the door to for a very long time. Jesus wants to help us open those doors and let His light in.
Imagine the pageantry as chosen regiments line the route to the gate and on into the heart of the city. What a privilege it must have been in those days to be chosen to line the royal route. It is still the same when royalty travel today.
Much later in the story of Esther we find another murderous plan. How many times in history has there been a plan to destroy the people God chose as His? It has never worked and it never will. They will be His chosen people to the end of time.
As in all good fairy stories our heroine was chosen to be queen instead of Vashti. She was in that position when Mordecai overheard the conversation. He told Queen Esther what was being planned, persuaded her to report it to the king and the two officials were put to death.
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