Day 7/3 – Sensing a Need

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Thoughts from the Diary of a Desperate Man by Walter A Henrichsen (“Walt”)
Sensing a Need
Day One Hundred Eighty-four

“So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill.” John 4:46

Jesus was returning to Galilee from Jerusalem. He stopped in Cana, ten miles north of Nazareth and about 25 miles from Capernaum. Here in Cana a nobleman from Capernaum met Him desperate for help; he feared his son was about to die from some illness. Without a sick son he probably wouldn’t have thought much about Jesus, and would not have walked the 25 miles to see Him. Although many see tribulation as an indication that God has forsaken them, in reality it is the grace of God in disguise.

The sun melts butter and hardens clay. Blessed are the troubled who allow their tribulation to soften their heart to repentance. Notice how often God uses our children to get our attention. Christianity is a religion of rescue. It is designed for the desperate.

When you meet people like the nobleman, who are burdened with their need, involve yourself in their lives as an act of Christ’s love. But always use the encounter as an opportunity to point them to Jesus. It would be sad indeed if the Savior softened their hearts in their calamity, only to find that you did not use it as an opportunity to share the gospel.

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Job 25-27 Acts 12 (New King James Version)

Job 25-27
Bildad: How Can Man Be Righteous?
25 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:
2
“Dominion and fear belong to Him;
He makes peace in His high places.
3
[a]Is there any number to His armies?
Upon whom does His light not rise?
4
How then can man be righteous before God?
Or how can he be pure who is born of a woman?
5
If even the moon does not shine,
And the stars are not pure in His sight,
6
How much less man, who is a maggot,
And a son of man, who is a worm?”
Job: Man’s Frailty and God’s Majesty
26 But Job answered and said:
2
“How have you helped him who is without power?
How have you saved the arm that has no strength?
3
How have you counseled one who has no wisdom?
And how have you declared sound advice to many?
4
To whom have you uttered words?
And whose spirit came from you?
5
“The dead tremble,
Those under the waters and those inhabiting them.
6
Sheol is naked before Him,
And Destruction has no covering.
7
He stretches out the north over empty space;
He hangs the earth on nothing.
8
He binds up the water in His thick clouds,
Yet the clouds [b]are not broken under it.
9
He covers the face of His throne,
And spreads His cloud over it.
10
He drew a circular horizon on the face of the waters,
At the boundary of light and darkness.
11
The pillars of heaven tremble,
And are [c]astonished at His rebuke.
12
He stirs up the sea with His power,
And by His understanding He breaks up [d]the storm.
13
By His Spirit He adorned the heavens;
His hand pierced the fleeing serpent.
14
Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways,
And how small a whisper we hear of Him!
But the thunder of His power who can understand?”
Job Maintains His Integrity
27 Moreover Job continued his discourse, and said:
2
“As God lives, who has taken away my justice,
And the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter,
3
As long as my breath is in me,
And the breath of God in my nostrils,
4
My lips will not speak wickedness,
Nor my tongue utter deceit.
5
Far be it from me
That I should say you are right;
Till I die I will not put away my integrity from me.
6
My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go;
My heart shall not [e]reproach me as long as I live.
7
“May my enemy be like the wicked,
And he who rises up against me like the unrighteous.
8
For what is the hope of the hypocrite,
Though he may gain much,
If God takes away his life?
9
Will God hear his cry
When trouble comes upon him?
10
Will he delight himself in the Almighty?
Will he always call on God?
11
“I will teach you [f]about the hand of God;
What is with the Almighty I will not conceal.
12
Surely all of you have seen it;
Why then do you behave with complete nonsense?
13
“This is the portion of a wicked man with God,
And the heritage of oppressors, received from the Almighty:
14
If his children are multiplied, it is for the sword;
And his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.
15
Those who survive him shall be buried in death,
And their[g] widows shall not weep,
16
Though he heaps up silver like dust,
And piles up clothing like clay—
17
He may pile it up, but the just will wear it,
And the innocent will divide the silver.
18
He builds his house like a [h]moth,
Like a [i]booth which a watchman makes.
19
The rich man will lie down,
[j]But not be gathered up;
He opens his eyes,
And he is no more.
20
Terrors overtake him like a flood;
A tempest steals him away in the night.
21
The east wind carries him away, and he is gone;
It sweeps him out of his place.
22
It hurls against him and does not spare;
He flees desperately from its [k]power.
23
Men shall clap their hands at him,
And shall hiss him out of his place.
Footnotes:
• Job 25:3 Can His armies be counted?
• Job 26:8 do not break
• Job 26:11 amazed
• Job 26:12 Heb. rahab
• Job 27:6 reprove
• Job 27:11 Or by
• Job 27:15 Lit. his
• Job 27:18 So with MT, Vg.; LXX, Syr. spider (cf. 8:14); Tg. decay
• Job 27:18 Temporary shelter
• Job 27:19 So with MT, Tg.; LXX, Syr. But shall not add (i.e., do it again); Vg. But take away nothing
• Job 27:22 Lit. hand

Acts 12
Herod’s Violence to the Church
12 Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. 2 Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword. 3 And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also. Now it was during the Days of Unleavened Bread. 4 So when he had arrested him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four [a]squads of soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before the people after Passover.
Peter Freed from Prison
5 Peter was therefore kept in prison, but [b]constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. 6 And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were [c]keeping the prison. 7 Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, “Arise quickly!” And his chains fell off his hands. 8 Then the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and tie on your sandals”; and so he did. And he said to him, “Put on your garment and follow me.” 9 So he went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. 10 When they were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.
11 And when Peter had come to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.”
12 So, when he had considered this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying. 13 And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a girl named Rhoda came to answer. 14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her gladness she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter stood before the gate. 15 But they said to her, “You are beside yourself!” Yet she kept insisting that it was so. So they said, “It is his angel.”
16 Now Peter continued knocking; and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 17 But motioning to them with his hand to keep silent, he declared to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, “Go, tell these things to James and to the brethren.” And he departed and went to another place.
18 Then, as soon as it was day, there was no small [d]stir among the soldiers about what had become of Peter. 19 But when Herod had searched for him and not found him, he examined the guards and commanded that they should be put to death.
And he went down from Judea to Caesarea, and stayed there.
Herod’s Violent Death
20 Now Herod had been very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon; but they came to him with one accord, and having made Blastus [e]the king’s personal aide their friend, they asked for peace, because their country was [f]supplied with food by the king’s country.
21 So on a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat on his throne and gave an oration to them. 22 And the people kept shouting, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” 23 Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and [g]died.
24 But the word of God grew and multiplied.
Barnabas and Saul Appointed
25 And Barnabas and Saul returned [h]from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their ministry, and they also took with them John whose surname was Mark.
Footnotes:
• Acts 12:4 Gr. tetrads, squads of four
• Acts 12:5 NU constantly or earnestly
• Acts 12:6 guarding
• Acts 12:18 disturbance
• Acts 12:20 who was in charge of the king’s bedchamber
• Acts 12:20 Lit. nourished
• Acts 12:23 breathed his last
• Acts 12:25 NU, M to