Joy in Trials?

 
Last night I dreamt about eternity that included visits with people that I have known. Each of them had a quilt-like collection of memories that pertained to their relationship with me. Not one detail was forgotten and their thoughtful remarks showed great kindness. When I woke, it seemed to me that all negative memories were absent from that dream, and of course the Bible says that…  

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:4)

This morning, several readings talk about trials. One focused on the love of God being eternal, not depending on my performance. He loves because He is love. Love is His very nature.

Another reading talked about God’s goodness in trials. It referred to the stones on “Pebble Beach”  on the California coast, telling how a long line of white surf comes up, roaring and hammering among  the stones on the shore. These stones “are caught in the arms of the pitiless waves, and tossed and rolled, and rubbed together, and ground against the sharp-grained cliffs. Day and night forever the ceaseless attrition goes on — never any rest.”

Tourists come from around the world to gather the round and beautiful stones, treasuring them as souvenirs. However, around the point of a nearby cliff that breaks off the force of the sea, there is a quiet cove sheltered from the storms. Lying in the sun is an abundance of pebbles that are never chosen and taken home. Having escaped the turmoil of the waves, they remain in quiet peace and are left without that trial — but they are rough and not at all beautiful.

This is timely. I’m being tried with challenges never before faced and these trials feel like the relentless pounding of a high surf. I’d like some peace and quiet, yet Jesus had something to say about my situation, and a warning about thinking the Christian life should be an easy one:

Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. (Matthew 7:13–15)

Another reading makes the comment to be thankful that God gives me difficult things to do. It says that  salvation is a glad thing, but also a heroic, holy thing that is testing me and also refining me, like those pebbles on the beach. Trials are part of the process whereby Jesus is bringing many “sons unto glory” (Hebrews 2:10) and God will not shield me from the wild surf of life if that is what it takes to transform my life. This is God’s grace. He wants me to ‘ornament’ His glory, not remain in my ‘rough and angular’ ugly state.

Verse 15 is a warning: beware of those who preach what is called ‘the prosperity gospel’ that Jesus wants me to be healthy, wealthy, and comfortable, for this is not a description of the life of Christ nor what Christians experience.

Not that He was sick, but Jesus persisted under suffering, as these verses say: “…for the joy that was set before him (he) endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood” (Hebrews 12:1–4) Also, remembering that sin is various forms of wanting my own way.

PRAY: Jesus, Your love is more than that mushy elation when someone makes a person feel like the center of the universe. How vain I can be. Trials remind me of who I am, a creature who needs Your grace to even breathe, never mind face the wind and waves of life. Forgive my selfish complaining and enable me to also live for the joy that is set before me… Amen!

Not sure how to be a peacemaker…

 

A paragraph in today’s reading again reminds me of the importance of being filled with God’s Spirit  and living by His power. It says:

A cross Christian; an anxious Christian; a discouraged, gloomy Christian; a doubting Christian; a complaining Christian; an exacting Christian; a selfish Christian; a cruel, hard-hearted Christian; a self-indulgent Christian; a Christian with a sharp tongue or bitter spirit—all these may be very earnest in their work and have honorable places in the church, but they are not Christlike Christians.

I’m not to do my own thing. Being like Jesus is being joyful, at peace, confident in God’s care, thankful, careful, unselfish, soft-hearted, unconcerned for myself, thoughtful in speech, prayerful, understanding others, meeting needs… a long list of virtue and grace. It is not just serving others but loving from the heart, both my God and His people, and having a heart of mercy toward those still in darkness and bound in sin.

This week we experienced some time with people who do much for the Lord in public but in private they were disagreeable and not like Jesus in their attitude toward some of the people they serve. It was an awkward place to be. I wanted to defend those criticized and rebuke those doing the complaining, yet the complainers need mercy and grace too. Those they attacked have a deep faith in the Lord that was being misinterpreted. I thought of this verse:

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. (Matthew 5:9)

How do I do that? How can those who justify their frustrations with their history of service be shown that good works do not make up for unkind accusations? How can I, who am also a sinner, tell others that their heart attitude is far more valuable to God than all that they do in His name? Besides that, these are people who name Jesus as their Savior and are not outsiders who know nothing about grace. For this You warn me:

Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. (Romans 14:4)

Tread lightly. Pray with compassion. Allow the Holy Spirit to do what needs to be done — and speak only if He tells me to speak. But most importantly, learn from this to be filled with God’s Spirit all the time, living by His grace and power for I don’t know who will ring the doorbell next, or who will phone or text, or who will ask me blunt questions. Life is not predictable. Surprises happen. The only way to be ready for anything is to keep focus:

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock. (Isaiah 26:3–4)

This passage from the NT says the same thing, adding that a focus on Jesus also reminds me that my problems are nothing like what He endured. Focusing on Him keeps me from feeling sorry for myself…

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. (Hebrews 12:1–4)

PRAY: Jesus, right now You are not compelling me to “do something” but to pray and trust You to be the heart-changer. While being a peace-maker is appealing and the stuff of Christlike servants, it could easily take my focus off You and be an ego-builder for me. I wait on You for direction, yet hope for a lovely surprise. Those who seem to be walking in the flesh are Your children and You are able to make them stand. That also includes me.

God’s Absolute Faithfulness

A pastor was asked if temptation was a sin. He replied, “You cannot stop a bird from flying over your head, but you don’t have to let it build a nest in your hair.”

He implied that the world, the flesh, and the devil will call out to me in various ways, but I must not dwell on what they say, suggest, or how they make their appeal. I  cannot stop those suggestions nor can I block any doubts that come to me any more than I can hinder someone from saying nasty words as I walk by, yet I am not doing anything wrong by hearing the temptation. I can refuse to listen.

It is the same with doubts. I can dwell on them, join in with them, consent to them and adopt them as true — or I can turn from them and to the truth that God gives me.

The world might say, ‘Faith in God is foolish. Being a Christian has too many rules and spoils your fun.’ Do I know the truth that smacks down that line?

The flesh might say, ‘God is not in charge of your life. If He was good, this … would never be happening to you. There is no reason for you to be suffering. Escape…’ Do I know the truth about God’s power and sovereignty, about His love for me and the purpose of suffering?

The devil continually bombards me with stuff like: ‘God does not really want the best for you. This isn’t really so bad; everyone does it so it must be okay.’ Can I reply to those slanders of God with truth that hits them out of my mind?

Today’s devotional puts emphasis on the value of reading and knowing the Word of God for it also tells me what God is like and reminds me of what He has already done. It gives me answers to the subtle and not so subtle suggestions that come to me as temptations to doubt Him. While I have a choice and can believe the lies, I also know that doing so robs me of joy and the goodness of knowing my God is faithful.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:23)

Yet there is another ‘lie’ that is often missed. It is the lie that says, ‘You can do it, You’ve got this’ and other versions that say I am able to handle anything if I just decide to do so and try harder. The Word of God says otherwise as does my own experience. I cannot be godly or battle sin without Jesus Christ. My confidence can never be in my own strength. Instead, the victory over temptation comes with a confession of weakness, never a determination to try harder. In the battle against lies and temptations, the only way to win is by yielding to God, by looking to Jesus.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. (Hebrews 12:1–4)

Jesus is the Savior. I am not. He is faithful. I am not. He will “sustain me to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom I was called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:4–9) Note also the order of actions in this verse:

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)

I cannot rid myself of the devil and his lies, nor the world and its thinking, nor the flesh as it tries to resurrect itself from being dead unless I am submitted to God first, then resisting the lies of temptation. Trusting and believing is only part of the weapon; obedience is the sharpest sword to put doubts and nest-building from happening, perhaps even from showing up.

PRAY: Jesus, I need You to keep me safe from the lies that fly about me, even the lie that ‘try harder’ will work. Enable me to practice a continuous habit of believing You and having discernment against temptation and doubt. Only You can make them vanish and replace them with the glory of Your absolute faithfulness.  

Love endures with discernment

 

Last night we watched a television episode where one of the characters wanted to be helpful. She was in a dangerous situation but without experience or training she did not realize the danger or her vulnerability. She just wanted to help and nearly died because of her ignorance. The word ‘childlike’ comes to mind. Even though this was fiction and acting, I gripped my seat and hoped she would not be harmed.

Today’s devotional is about love enduring when in incredible opposition. The character in the TV show was in that situation, but her endurance was ambition, not love. She was not concerned for the well-being of those who threatened her as well as being oblivious to the danger. Her situation was the opposite of what the NT describes as love:

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 Corinthians 13:7)

The example given is Stephen who preached the Gospel but was hated for it. His enemies stoned him to death and as he fell, he cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” (Acts 7:60).

Without love, most people would never forgive or ask God to forgive, but Stephen followed the example of Jesus who prayed while dying on the cross, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). Jesus had good reason to endure and I am to do the same . . .

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. (Hebrews 12:1–4)

For me, loving others is often a sacrifice of time, energy, or resources. It involves believing the best about others and trusting God to work out any complicating issues. For instance, someone is demanding my attention to meet her needs the way she wants them met. I’m relying on Jesus to help me sort that out. Is it love to do what she wants done? Or are those demands confusing the instructions from the Holy Spirit as to how God wants me to respond? I do realize that I must love her and not do wrong toward her:

Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. (Romans 13:8–10)

I also know that love comes from the Holy Spirit. Romans 5:5 and Galatians 5:22 make that clear. It is also normal Christian behavior:

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:7–10)

This love is to be “earnest and from a pure heart” and a love that puts a ‘roof over’ the sin of others. (1 Peter 1:22; 4:8) It is part of how I demonstrate my love for God.

At the same time, the people of His day wanted Jesus to show the love of God to them by setting them free from Roman rule. Instead, He set them free from sin, getting to the bottom line of their need and not going along with them telling Him how to love them. This clarifies my confusion. I must listen to what the Lord is telling me concerning the greatest need of others. It may be what I’m being asked to do, but because the request seems very selfish, God very likely has another plan.

PRAY: Jesus, I asked for clarification on this puzzle and You have shown me that love is not blind or ignorant or based on what I think or what needy people think. You gave me this verse days ago that says my “love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment” (Philippians 1:9), so my prayer is for greater understanding of what is going on with this person so I know what You are wanting me to do that is the best way to express Your love for her.

PONDER: Pay attention to the Holy Spirit and to the above Scripture as well as to what people say about their needs. Make sure no selfishness is involved, especially in me.