Comforting Others

 
We moved to our current home a year ago. Since then, ‘normal’ days have almost vanished. For someone who likes routine and predictability, this has been a trial. As a friend says, being at home doing regular tasks seems a myth.

Yesterday was planned to be like that, but we got a call from someone who was in shock. She has a super job, but her boss is moving to a new location. He expected she would go too, but it means another hour added to her already long commute. She decided not, but that decision stings and is certainly on our prayer list. 

This morning I read this verse: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted…” (Isaiah 61:1) It points to Jesus, and since I’m to be like Jesus, my heart goes out to those who experience heartbreak. But how? Some are too far away to even hug. 

Then another few words from another source. I’m not to put the focus on me, but they encourage me that God is tenaciously at work in changing me to make me more like Jesus.

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6)

The difference between the wonder of Jesus and my sense of being ignorant and useless can be overwhelming at times. I don’t think like Him or make choices like Him. I could never save myself, nor do I know how to be like Him even to “bind up the brokenhearted” no matter how much I want to help those who suffer.

I noticed just now that my Bible app did an automatic update. If it didn’t spell this out on screen, I would not know it happened; the process is quiet and without any interruptions. It occurs to me that this could resemble what God is doing. His work of change is not like bolts of lightning, but more like the dawn, like light slowly coming on and changing the dark of night to vision and the ability to do what cannot be otherwise done.

That means that my God of peace works to make me what He wants of me even using the interruptions and frustrations of life. This is what suffering is supposed to do. . . .  

For it was fitting that (the Lord), for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. (Hebrews 2:10)
For because (Jesus) himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. (Hebrews 2:18)
Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. (Hebrews 5:8)

And with that, He is showing me that trusting Him to use the changes in life to make me more like Himself is my comfort in all the interruptions and changes of each day. Wasn’t His life like that too? 
Heaven is not full of ups and downs, but for Jesus and for all of us, this world is not heaven. We may long for its perfections but in the lack of them, He wants me to learn how to cope so I can be a comfort to others who experience the hurts and surprises of life. Thank You for being the One…

who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. (2 Corinthians 1:4)

PRAY: Jesus, You are at work to free every part of me from the effects and effects of sin and are not anxious about the process. You just love me and gently use life to move my heart to be like Your heart. My life is hidden in You, not to boast in me, but in You. And when others hear about Your goodness, they feel the same comfort in knowing that You use all things for our good, to make us more like You. (Romans 8:28-29) This answers the cry of my heart too — for now I know what will comfort others.

His school of higher learning…

A childhood illness kept me out of public school and away from other children for most of grades one to seven. Later, I realized how much I did not learn from being with my peers, particularly the people skills that are learned by experience. I didn’t know what to say or do in many normal situations. I felt the awkwardness of having a blank mind or no opinion rather than knowing what my peers learned from growing up in a social setting. 

When I became a Christian in my late twenties, this lack became an acute reality. However, it was not totally negative. Instead, God used it to His advantage. I did not have many worldly ideas to unlearn. I also felt like a servant coming to Him eager to learn how to live.

Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he has mercy upon us. (Psalm 123:2)

Many other verses became a comfort to me and an encouragement when I felt stupid or not like other people, verses like these:

Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. (Psalm 25:4)
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. (Psalm 32:8)
I am your servant; give me understanding, that I may know your testimonies! (Psalm 119:125)
So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12)
Put false ways far from me and graciously teach me your law! (Psalm 119:29)

The image of having an empty platter for Him to fill became particularly strong. Many times I’ve felt like that, particularly after seeing other Christians who seemed to know very easily what to do and say, even in awkward situations. 

Struggling to be more like that, I realized two things: one is that this is not about learning it in school but about relying on the Holy Spirit. And secondly, even when feeling blank about many things, I have a great deal of pride and can be stubborn about having ‘my way’ instead of obeying God. Doing and saying the ‘right’ thing involves being humble and lowly, teachable and willing to listen to and obey the Spirit. This is not learned in grade school either.

My part involves spiritual disciplines such as Bible reading, study, and prayer, being alone with God, asking for His wisdom and trusting what He says. It helps to pray His Word, and learn of Him. Obedience is an intentional choice, but it can be stalled by unforgiveness, failure to confess my sins, and failure to be accountable to others. 

While I might have learned many things from my peers in class and on the playground, I would not have learned obedience from a changed heart. That involves lessons that come only from the Lord because He is the only one who can make the changes. This is certainly why this verse has always part of my learning experience:

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

PRAY: Lord, would being in school as a child made learning about You easier? I don’t think so. It might have given me more worldly notions that require ‘mind renewal’ (Romans 12:2) and deepened my stubborn pride, but I can’t know that. I just know that You governed my life from birth to this day, and You know what still needs to be done to transform me into the image of Your Son (Romans 8:28-29). For all that You do as my Savior and Teacher, I am deeply thankful even though I realize how far I am from that goal.

His incredible love…

Insurance policies and other legal documents use the term “an act of God” which is defined as an instance of uncontrollable natural disasters like floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, meaning  anything that is beyond the control of humans. Acts of God do not absolve people from a duty to exercise reasonable care.

It interests me that this term is used only for disasters. Seldom do I hear sunshine, a balmy breeze, the birth of a baby, the bloom of flowers, or the soft wool of a lamb called an act of God. No wonder the idea of God loving us is difficult for many people to accept. He gets blamed for all the negative things we cannot control but evolution takes credit for the positives. Regardless, the Bible says:

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. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. (1 John 4:7–12)

This passage offers several clues to why the term “an act of God” is used as it is. One, those who know God will know that He loves people, and will love people too. But those who do not know God cannot love like He does. Many who don’t know God assume that whatever makes them uncomfortable or stressed is not good. Without knowing God, it is difficult if not impossible to see that He uses all things for the good of those He loves. We who know Him are told to be joyful in trials for God is using them to mature us. (Romans 8:28-29, James 1:2-4)

Second, the love of God sent Jesus into this world to die for our sins. The people who know this also know their sin is harmful and can ruin their lives. Eventually we learn that the love of God exposes and deals with our sin, not because He wants to hurt us but to rescue us from sin’s destructive power. His love will go to great lengths to get that job done. It includes kindness:

Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? (Romans 2:4)
For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. (2 Corinthians 7:10)

Yet His love also includes discipline:

For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives. It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:6–11)

Such discipline may come through an “act of God” that I cannot make happen nor prevent. God knows what I need to be more like Jesus, and He also knows how to get me there. It might be His incredible kindness (I have seen it in my hospital stay) or in trials that I cannot control, such as being unwell without any apparent lack of self-care on my part. He is training me to be more kind by example and to be more patient by helplessness. He teaches me that all events of life including “acts of God” open my eyes to His great love that wants only the best for me, and that best is being like Jesus. And as today’s devotional says, the first step into the life hid with Christ in God is that of entire consecration. I must do it gladly, thankfully, and enthusiastically and can, because seeing all things as acts of God is the most joyful way to live.

PRAY: Lord God, as You work all things so I might be like Jesus, I sometimes feel sorry for myself as I forget the love that motivates Your will. Mercy and genuine pity for spiritual bondage is far more important than mercy and pity for physical discomfort. I’m glad You will never stop loving me.

Love believes . . .

 

Yesterday at our ladies share and prayer group, one main topic was the prodigals in our lives. Some of them have never known Christ, but others made commitments and walked with Him for several years, then for reasons unknown to us, they abandoned their faith and wandered off in worldly pursuits. Today’s devotional is a timely one. MacArthur points to part of a verse that says “love believes . . . ”

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

One of the ladies is particularly concerned for an adult child who seems to have lost his faith. Our encouragement was two-fold. One, if he was not saved in the first place, the power of God is sufficient to bring him to the foot of the cross. The entire NT testifies to that power!

The other encouragement is realizing that he could be where he is for a purpose. I shared how one of my prodigals had been saved as a child and wandered away in his late teens. He then had many work experiences that created a reputation for him as a fair boss and a respected person. His workers listen to him.

Then one day he called to tell me he’d wandered from God long enough and was coming back . . . and he did . . . big time. He is bold in his witness and discerning regarding truth. He remembers what he’d learned and now lives as if he’d never drifted away. However, had he been like that when he started his career, his co-workers would never listen to him as they do now. God used his back-sliding to create a bridge to others who need Jesus.

This story encouraged that mother, as does this verse:

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6)

If God started a life of faith in a person, He will finish it, no matter what the ‘middle’ looks like now. For reasons unknown to us who see our prodigals wander, God is doing something in their lives, maybe just to reveal to them how much they need Him.

And this is where “believes all things” comes in, believing all that God promises. When we pray in faith and trust Him to do His will, He will answer, usually in surprising ways. When He says something like that verse, He will do it. Believing Him does not make it happen; believing Him sets our hearts at rest until it does happen.

Every Christian knows people who are far from God. We want to see them in heaven and pray for them. Sometimes we share with them or preach at them, but the bigger task and the most difficult for many is to love them (and God) — by believing all things, trusting God to do what He promises to do. Some of those promises come from the OT, such as: “All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children.” (Isaiah 54:13)

Yesterday we also talked about what God is doing in the lives of us who pray and wait. Jesus’ story of the prodigal tells how the father waited and his wayward son rose and headed home. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.” (Luke 15:20)

The temptation could be to scold with “What took you so long?” or some other negative attitude, but Jesus wants us to have His heart of welcoming sinners home with forgiveness and joy. It may take some of us awhile to get there.

Besides that, the NT is clear about dealing with the trials that come, including this one of a heavy burden for people we love who are not walking with Jesus:

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2–4)

For me, the task is to keep trusting and praying, but also to let the pressure of unanswered prayer work in me to produce a steadfast patience, a maturity of trust, a love that believes all things that God says!

PRAY: Lord, having faith in You for the prodigals in my life is a test of faith, not only for those who have wandered away from their first love, but for promises like Romans 8:28-29, that You will use this for good in my life to transform me into Your image. Remind me often that it is Your job to save souls and my job to love and obey You and to reflect who You are to the people around me. Confidence in You is a big part of what it means to love others!

PONDER: Make a list of the burdens in my heart, then add a list of promises from God that I need to believe in response to those burdens. Use Vera Wurtz’s book, “Overcoming Negative Thoughts: Sure-Footed in the Truth” if necessary.