Repullulat: Life can 'bud afresh' - Greg Laurie -
http://www.wnd.com/2015/11/repullulat-life-can-bud-afresh/
Pastor Greg Laurie emphasizes God's ability to bring 'beauty out of ashes'
I heard about an industrious farmer who wanted to make some more money. He raised turkeys, and he thought, there are only two drumsticks on a turkey. If only I could find a way to get some more. So he went to work in his laboratory and came up with a turkey that had six legs.
When someone asked him how this new turkey tasted, he replied, "I don't know. We could never catch the thing."
Thanksgiving is on the way, and then we'll have that crazy event called Black Friday, where people attack each other in stores. Then the Christmas season follows, which kids especially love. There is so much excitement for them as they anticipate what is to come. They hope they will get that new toy for Christmas, and the best thing of all is they'll be out of school.
For some, however, this season is rather hopeless. It's a reminder that life maybe isn't going the way they wanted it to. Maybe it is a marker of time as they remember a certain loved one who was with them at this time last year but is not with them now. Something has happened in their lives that makes this a difficult time of year.
We need to know there is always hope. And a good way to define hope is to remember it as an acronym for holding on with patient expectation.
When I see that definition of hope, I think of Job. Talk about a guy who had a bad day. I don't know if there is anyone who has ever had a worse day than Job, apart from Jesus Christ himself going to Calvary. In one day, Job lost everything he held dear. He lost his possessions and even his health. He lost people who worked for him. And worst of all, he lost his own children.
Yet despite this horrific chain of events, Job still had hope. He said, "For there is hope for a tree, if it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its tender shoots will not cease" (14:7 NKJV).
The Laurie family I was adopted into is a Scottish clan. My father, Oscar Laurie, told me about the family crest, which is essentially a tree stump with tiny stems of growth shooting from it. The Laurie family motto is "Repullulat," which means "it buds afresh."
I thought about this and realized that describes my life. I was cut down. I was the most likely to amount to nothing. I was the most likely to end up like the notorious sinners in my family. But by the grace of God, he changed me. I was cut down, but life came out instead.
Fast-forward to 2008, when God called our son Christopher home to heaven. I was cut down again. Quite honestly, it was so devastating that I didn't know if I could survive that. But with the passing of time, and though we still miss our son with all our hearts, life has begun to bud afresh again.
Sometimes we are cut down in life, and we think this is the end. Not necessarily. God can intervene. He can bring new life. He can bring, as the Bible says, beauty out of ashes.
When the horrific news came to Job that his children had died, we read that "Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped" (Job 1:20). Seven sons and three daughters were gone, and what did Job do? He fell to the ground and worshiped.
Job had never read the book of Job. He didn't know what was going on at the time. He didn't know that God had given permission for the devil to bring calamity into his life. All Job knew was that one day he woke up, and everything that could go wrong went wrong. Yet when he heard the devastating news, he worshiped.
If Job had fallen to the ground and cried, it would have made sense. If he had fallen to the ground and began to shake his fist in anger at God, it even would have made sense. But instead he fell to the ground and worshiped. Why? Because Job was a godly man.
I believe that when godly men and women are pressed by life, prayer will come out of them. When someone says they've lost their faith through a certain crisis, my response would be, "Good. Get rid of that faith." The faith that cannot be tested is a faith that cannot be trusted. Anyone can praise God when the sky is blue and the sun is shining. But if you can praise God when the roof caves in and when the bottom drops out and when things go wrong, it says to me that you are a true follower of Jesus Christ.
When we worship even if we don't feel like it, when we worship when we are hurting, that is called the sacrifice of praise. We worship because God is deserving of our praise.
We are told in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, "In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." Notice it doesn't say, "In some things give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you," or "When you are in the mood, give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you," or "When circumstances are perfect, give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." Rather, it says, "In everything give thanks. ..." There are no exceptions. There are no excuses. Nothing is beyond those parameters. In everything give thanks.
In spite of his circumstances, Job offered his praise to God. He had an attitude of gratitude. Job didn't know the rest of his story, but this is what he did know. He knew God was good. He knew God was in control. So Job worshiped.
I don't know what circumstances you're facing today. I don't know whether you've had some pruning in your life or whether you've been cut down in some way. But I want you to know that Repullulat can be your motto, too. Your life can bud afresh. You can give thanks.
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