The heart of wisdom

Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven, and said, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart; you have kept with your servant David my father what you declared to him. You spoke with your mouth, and with your hand have fulfilled it this day. Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.’ Now therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David my father. “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built! Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O Lord my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you this day, that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you have said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place. (1 Kings 8:22–29)

It did not take long for God's answer to Solomon’s request for wisdom. The rest of this prayer is essentially the Gospel, requesting forgiveness for His people when they sin and asking guidance for life.

I seldom hear prayers like this. Too often request are made for health, prosperity, and comfort. These days, many Christians do not want to be sick, needy, or in distress, even though it is trials that we grow. Prayer requests are often for relief from trials even though the NT says:

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. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. . . . Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. (James 1:2–12)

After 30+ moves and many changes in life, it seems that change is often feared because it requires learning how to manage new circumstances. In other words, wanting to continue to control life rather than be plopped into something new that cannot be controlled by self-effort. This means that God must be trusted, even though running life my own way fits His description of sin:

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6) 

In the wisdom God gave him, Solomon realized that going his own way would be contrary to God's way. He eventually failed some of those tests too, just like the rest of us, but would I even know the extent of my sin if the circumstances of life did not test my loyalty to God?

Lord Jesus, You gave Solomon the wisdom to know how much he needed You and to pray this prayer. I’m feeling a great need for wisdom too. I don’t know what trials lie ahead, today or in future days, but whatever comes, I want the to deal with it Your way and not my own. “Let my heart therefore be wholly true to You, Lord our God, walking in Your statutes and keeping Your commandments, as at this day.” (1 Kings 8:61)

God uses trials to produce godliness

 

Yesterday was emotionally challenging. Many Christian teachers say that facts should lead my thoughts, then faith, but emotions are the caboose in this train. I agree when life involves negative emotions, but when facts and faith are are in place, so is joy.

What then does it mean that joy is missing? Am I thinking in error? Have I sinned and pushed aside the Holy Spirit? In my life, if joy is absent, this indicates that the Spirit is not producing His fruit and I need to find out why not.

Yesterday, His joy never left, but it existed alongside the reality that my husband’s health was in jeopardy. I felt deep concern yet at the same time a deep sense of God’s arms around me. He didn’t spell out the results of many medical tests, or tell me what would happen in hubby’s life. He only assured me of His care and how He would help me respond rightly to whatever was going to happen.

Tight spot. God holding my hand and my emotions pulled the other direction by all sorts of negative thoughts. Will he need surgery? Will he not come home? Will he be damaged beyond being able to do anything? And the Lord kept saying He would be with me…

Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. (Psalm 37:5–6)

Things are different this morning, yet I still feel the pressure of that tight spot. Reading the above verses helped. One devotional writer quotes these from another version:

Roll on Jehovah thy way, And trust upon Him, and He worketh, and hath brought out as light thy righteousness, and thy judgment as noon-day. (Young’s Literal Translation)

My mind imagines rolling my mixture of emotions on God and Him going to work to enable me to respond to all of it in a godly manner. To me, that means acting rightly in the midst of the turmoil without removing the turmoil. I think of Jesus in Gethsemane.

And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. (Luke 22:43–44)

He was given strength even as He was in agony. The Father did not remove the agony, His — or mine. But strength was there, both for His greatest trial and for my much less challenging event. If nothing else, the work that He worketh is to give joy in the craziness of a trial. He also worked to resolve the thing that caused me to feel great emotions yet let joy rule.

The devotional that I read warns against becoming so accustomed to delays to answered prayer that we expect them all the time. A tiny example… we drove into a full parking lot and I said, “Lord, it would be super to park near the door, but it is a nice day and we can walk.” And at that moment a car pulled out and we parked right in front of the door. No waiting for His answer.

Sometimes I don’t see the results. Faith is tested, yet “I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me” (Psalm 57:2) This is faith; trusting what I cannot see simply because God promises to act on my behalf!

PRAY: Hubby still has pain but You have shown him Your care and arranged a thorough exam that was helpful. The pain will go, but You remain, and Your love and blessing is always with us. So is that great joy, not linked to answered prayer but to the reality that You are always at work to bring forth increasing righteousness even in the pain, fears, and helpless feelings that come with trials. Bless Your holy name.

God’s joy is our strength and even more…

Last night, Christian friends came for supper, friends whose lives are transparent and joyful and who understand the deeper things of God. They came from much persecution to this country and now work with homeless and often dangerous people. Their joy is infectious and time with them fills us with the same joy. The Spirit does that, even as the trials and problems remain. Paul wrote this:

Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.” (2 Corinthians 6:1–10)

Amazing that all we would call discomfort and persecution did not ruin the power of God to fill him with and his coworkers with praise, honor, a good reputation and ministry, and even rejoicing. This is a deeper truth.

I’ve noticed how often today’s church-goers pray for removal of such things as affliction, hardship, sleepless nights and so on. Paul knew (and our friends know) that the Holy Spirit can give joy even in those situations. That is our victory. Being filled with His power. Nothing may get “fixed” but the sense of well-being and joy is fully ours.

As I write this, my emotions are those that come with faith. The devotional writer says not to rely on or depend on our emotions, but for me, I do rely on joy to tell me something. I’ve learned that if joy is not there, it means the Spirit is not filling me — and when that happens, I’m filled with some selfish idea or depending on myself rather than the Lord. He is often quick to show me what I need to confess. Doing things my way always blocks God’s way and when it does, the joy of the Lord fades into the background.

This joy isn’t about circumstances. Nothing that is difficult or sends me to my knees in prayer has changed. The unbelief of some that are close family member or friends has not changed. The world is still in a mess. But God’s joy is not about all things being right; it is about me being right with God.

PRAY: Lord Jesus, time with others who understand the power of Your Spirit to give joy even in trials is edifying and we are so grateful for the transparency and love that flows out of their lives and out of ours back to them. This kind of fellowship is rare and precious and such a great blessing. Thank You for these friends and for Your joy that not only is our strength, but also binds us together with those who realize the same wonder of Your grace and goodness to us. You care for us, no matter what.

Two kinds of comfort…

 

Consider this chain of events: The world is in a mess > It makes me feel awful > I want to be comfortable > I shut out what is going on > My world is a happier place. OR this one: The world is a mess > My heart is burdened > I realize I cannot fix it > I call out to God in prayer > He assures me that His will is done > I am at peace even though the mess does not go away.

God often comforts by removing the cause of my distress, or by giving me the ability to trust Him in the distress, but no real comfort comes if I try to get rid of it (which is beyond my power anyway) or ignore it, which can produce ulcers if nothing else.

How does God provide deeper water? It is not mysterious. In the power of the Holy Spirit, He reminds me of truth concerning Himself, a passage of Scripture, a verse from a hymn, a word from a Christian friend, a sermon, even the beauty of creation. In other words, He tells me about Himself and diverts my focus to His incredible goodness. Thinking truth about God comforts me.

Most marvelous is that God is honest, not two-faced. He is not like we humans can be with our mouth saying one thing and our mind thinking the opposite. This can show up even in my prayers so when distressed, I need to pray with integrity, not saying what sounds good but having my words match what I really think, like the psalmist who knew — God knows the heart:

Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry! Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit! (Psalm 17:1)
And not deserving the rebuke God gave to those whose words did not match their deeds:
Have you not just now called to me, ‘My father, you are the friend of my youth— will he be angry forever, will he be indignant to the end?’ Behold, you have spoken, but you have done all the evil that you could.” (Jeremiah 3:4–5)

God is not fooled by pretense. Jacob duped his father into thinking he was Esau. Those tribes apostatized from the true religion went to seek the Lord and sacrifice yet God’s prophet said of them:

With their flocks and herds they shall go to seek the Lord, but they will not find him; he has withdrawn from them. They have dealt faithlessly with the Lord; for they have borne alien children. Now the new moon shall devour them with their fields. (Hosea 5:6–7)

As if God did not know their hearts. To do such things and continue to outwardly claim faith and obedience is saying my comfort is more important so if I flatter God with my words and outer actions, I’m okay. This is deceit and an unworthy concept of God. How can I satisfy the guilt of inward sins by external service, or by a loud voice with a false heart? God is far more interested in honesty and truth than any sacrifice with pretense or for outward appearance.

For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. (Hosea 6:6)
(God)  stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, (Proverbs 2:7)

That said, God does not want me to say “I am fine” to impress others (or Him) when I am hurting or setting inside. This is not integrity. Yet if I am hurting but also experiencing that ‘deeper water’ that James 1:2-4 offers, then I can honestly say “I am fine” because God has given me the joy of the Holy Spirit in my trials. It all boils down to who or what I am listening to — truth from God or the ideas of the world, my flesh, or the devil.

PRAY: Jesus, I remember reading how the way a person handles stress will predict their health (When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress by Gabor Maté) and one of those ways is faking on the outside what is going on in the inside. Your Word speaks of this also. How vital to be honest about my inner life, whether it is rocky and uncomfortable, or rocky with enough deep water from You to glide over the rocks with joy. Your truths are blessing me and today I am still joyful — my body is tired and sore, but that joy makes such a difference!

Joy in Trials?

One wonder of salvation is that God loves us. John 3:16 says it concisely and states the proof of it besides. However, as today’s reading says, many of God’s children miss the extent of that love and fall prey to the testimony of their own doubting hearts. How could God care for me? Or how could God forgive me? Or why am I not sure of being loved?

A doubting heart is the result of listening to circumstances as well as defining love in human terms. For many, love is about feeling good. It is also based on the performance of others. When they do what is pleasing, love is easy, but if their actions are not comfortable, love does not come as easily — and the reverse is assumed.

Relationships enter the mix too. I might more easily love my children, warts and all, than I would love a neighbor who is nice one day and nasty the next. When God seems like He isn’t interested in my comfort, then I wonder if He loves me — that is, it I base my interpretations on human thinking. Note, this kind of thinking is subjective and based on my ‘I wants’ — meaning it is essentially selfish and sinful.

The love of God is not about making me comfortable, but it took awhile to learn that. My parent’s love was about meeting my needs, but also doing what made me happy. God wants me to be joyful, but His version is from the Holy Spirit and does not depend on comfortable circumstances.

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)

How is this even possible? Learning this takes years and some never learn it. Grumpy Christians? Yes, because growing in love is about faith, and faith is about hearing the Word of God, and if I stop hearing (not the same as merely listening), then I stop growing in faith and growing in love, the kind of love that Jesus has.

We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. (2 Thessalonians 1:3)

So, what happens to change from being uncertain that God loves me to being so sure of it that I can be joyful in trials and love even my enemies? The answer is a bit of a surprise. A seminary professor told the class that if we could get Christians to speak what they know, that truth would become a greater part of their way of life. The NT puts it this way:

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (Ephesians 4:15-16)

Verbal testimony of known truth, including an attitude of love in speaking it, is God’s way of locking that truth and that attitude into hearts and lives. Being silent does not build faith, nor does acting in unloving ways build love — including the awareness that God loves me. Faith is solidified by saying what I believe.

For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” (Romans 10:10–11)

To put this in broader terms, sin will spoil faith and increase doubt, even doubt that God loves me. Not that He has stopped, but I have stopped thinking that He loves me. This begins a downward spiral into sorrow.

PRAY: Jesus, this is so helpful. The verses from James speak to me also about my attitude in this ‘trial of a various kind’ — the trial of moving and a million boxes. My brother moved when younger than I am now and said never to move when you are eighty. We laughed and are doing it anyway. But realizing that Your joy is possible no matter what, even if this is a lot harder to experience in total exhaustion. Remembering that You love us and are with us means a great deal. We see the evidence in many ways, including how You give us joy in this or any circumstance.

Joy in trials...

 

One of my dear friends is care-giver for her hubby who has dementia. At times, he seems ‘normal’ but he can be a handful. She says this is to develop patience in her life. Another friend said the same thing last week, that she married her hubby so God could develop her patience. A few months ago we cerebrated our 53rd anniversary. When asked what the secret is for a long marriage, my hubby said “Forgiveness and patience.”

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)

Some translations say that trials develop patience, another term for being steadfast. And not all trials involve marriage! Just watching the news shows many far worse, like the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, the devastation in the southern USA, random murders of children, and many other horrific events.

Another verse says: “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance.” (Romans 5:3) This is another word that means patience. And for many situations, this seems totally impossible.

Our biggest problem? Most people would rather have the problem fixed or gone. A professor who taught biblical counseling revealed that when people come for counseling, as soon as they find out that they must deal with their past or their own heart, they quit coming because all they want is a solution to their current problem.

Today’s devotional again reminds me to take each thing that is wrong in my life as an opportunity to rise closer to God. It says that no matter who the originator of the wrong may be, whether people, or events, or even devils, by the time a trial reaches me it is meant to carry me to heavenly places of triumph in the Lord.

I agree. Even though God’s will may be hidden in the trial, I can shut out all second causes and find the Lord in whatever is happening. It is suggested to repeat “Thy will be done! Thy will be done!” Yet however I respond, I can submit to Him and trust Him. He will carry me through the trial and lift me above any normal human (and fleshy) responses to it. His power is amazing.

PRAY: Jesus, today brings more bad and good news. Two family members have been hit with Covid. We had a complex problem with transferring money. Our day was long and tiring. But answers for that problem and other issues regarding our relocation are being resolved. We are aware and thankful for Your care (often in surprising ways) and Your wisdom, freely offered as we ask for it…

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. (James 1:5)

For this and for all You give us, we are thankful. You do fill us with joy in trials, and in return, we give You glory!

Surrender…

I once read of two alcoholics who were given faith in Christ and eternal life. They met twenty years later and one said to the other that he had been saved all that time and never once was tempted to drink again. The other man smiled and told him he had been saved all that time also, and never drank again, even though he was tempted every day. The question is: who had the greater victory?

This week, I spoke of a man who walks with a cane and has been pulled back from death several times. He is diabetic, has knee and hip problems, and moves slowly. However, when asked how he is doing, he is joyful and always says, “I’m fine.” We chatted about this and he agreed that there is a secret to joy — God gives it even if the pain is not taken away.

As I spoke of his attitude to others, one person said, “If he would just admit his pain then others would pray that he would be healed.” That statement shocked me. Again, who has the greater victory? The one whose life has no problems and is always comfortable, or the one whose life is filled with trials and they are filled with joy in spite of them?

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)

These verses and the Apostle Paul’s stories of his trials convince me that the greater victory is not total comfort or any other human or worldly source of well-being, but the grace of God that gives strength in weakness, and in fact, uses those who are weak as a testimony to His power and love. There are many ‘healthy and happy’ sinners, but a scarcity of Christians who can be joyful in trials.

I’m preaching to myself too. We are moving and that involves de-cluttering, filling boxes, shoving furniture around, and all sorts of work. I cannot pray that God will send a band of angels to do all that for us. However, He is guiding us through the process and giving us surprises each day. We offered several items for sale and those we thought no one would want were the first to go. Changes to the new place have been scheduled for the most convenient days, and business people who could not help us directed us to their competitors who could. Stuff like that. And strength for each day. When I purged some books, the Holy Spirit kept nudging me what to keep and what to pass along to others.

Being and feeling helpless is not my enemy. My enemy is the notion that I have to have everything working the way I want it to along with confidence that ‘I can do this’ but God works far more when I admit that I cannot and rely on Him.

PRAY: Lord, help the person who missed the point of joy in trials to see that yielding to Your will in trials is far more of a miracle than making trials go away. You faced the greatest trial, one that we will never experience, and sweat drops of blood at the prospect. Nevertheless, You said, “Not my will but Thine be done.” May You grant me the same willingness to press on, no matter what You ask me to do.

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!

Wait — there is more to the story

Being unwell gives me time to think. These devotions also prod thoughts. Yesterday I wondered about the promises of God’s goodness and blessing in contrast to this instruction from the NT:

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)

In most minds, trials and joy do not mix. Theologically they do. It makes sense that we learn most when most pressed to trust God, most pushed by difficulties that we no longer have any answers or ways to bring life back to normal or forward to better than it is with the trial. In other words, it is preferable to be comfortable rather than stressed, and when stressed it seems that our loving Father should remove the problem.

But what if He does not? Think of believers in places of persecution. Think of those whose children have incurable disease. Think of those who have lost everything. Even the Bible stories speak of unrelenting trials, like Joseph sold into slavery by his brothers and Job who lost his children and possessions as well as his health. In reading the total story, the good will of God shows up. Joseph seemed to wait for it. Job complained and questioned. Others suffered in silence.

Yesterday I thought about my lack of knowing what my suffering means, but one thing came out of the pondering; I may not know what God is doing with me or with my friends who are suffering, but I do know that He wants all of His children to be filled with His Spirit. This is where our joy comes from, not from the comforts of life. Today’s devotional says this:

The religion of the Lord Jesus Christ was meant to be full of comfort. Every newly converted soul, in the first joy of conversion, fully expects it. And yet it seems as if for a great number of Christians, their religious lives are the most uncomfortable part of their existence. Does the fault of this state of things lie with the Lord? Has He promised more than He is able to supply?

It goes on to say that we suffer from a great deal of over-advertisement and this tends to give many of God’s people the sense that Christ offered more in His gospel than He has to give. Why this? Has the kingdom of God been over-advertised, or is it only that it has been under-believed? Is part of our problem the fact that we have not arrived at the last chapter of our story and we are simply impatient? The Bible does say:

But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— (1 Corinthians 2:9)

God took Joseph into slavery and eventually into leadership in Egypt where he was able to save his people during a famine. As he told his brothers, they meant it for evil but God used it for good.

God never did tell Job about the challenge of Satan and the proof that the faith He gave Job would hold firm, yet at the end of his story, Job humbly admitted his failures, prayed for his accusing friends, and was given back more than had been taken away.

God keeps His promises. My problem is impatience and often the failure to remember that joy is not about circumstances but the fruit of the Spirit who will fill me with Himself no matter what is going on in my world. Yielding to Him and asking for that fullness is always the right choice. With Him in charge, the situation may not change, but I will stop feeling sorry for myself and experience His love and concern for others, expressed by: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” (Galatians 5:22–24)

PRAY: Jesus, You used a dream last night to show me how to stop those coughing attacks. What a lovely surprise, totally unexpected even though I’d asked for sound sleep. While I still don’t know the purpose of this trial, I do know that You are enough to bring good out of it. Help me be content with the fruit of the Spirit and not try to figure out anything other than just trusting You to take care of me and those I’m concerned for as You work in our lives.

Joy in Trials?

 

Last night we had a long visit with a couple who work at al local mission for homeless people. They were discouraged as they told us the attitude of most who come to the shelter for food and a bed. Very few are thankful, not even those who get a regular cash gift from the government. They only want more of everything and order their caregivers around as if they were slaves rather than people who are concerned for their well-being.

Today’s devotional is how the author went to a friend hoping she could get help and advice. However, the friend had only one answer, no matter how difficult the problem was and how graphic the author’s explanation. The friend kept saying, “Yes, I know; but there is God.”

This came to mind last night even before reading it today. The conversation was all about the problems of working with unreasonable and unthoughtful people until we began talking about the power of God. Yes, we agreed that our world is in a mess and many have rejected God’s mercy and grace, just curse Him and everyone else. However, God is God.

If it had not been the Lord who was on our side— let Israel now say— if it had not been the Lord who was on our side when people rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their anger was kindled against us; then the flood would have swept us away, the torrent would have gone over us; then over us would have gone the raging waters. Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us as prey to their teeth! We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped! Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. (Psalm 124:1–8)

Without Him, all would be like those unthankful people, always wanting more, never content or thankful, wasting what they do have, and treat others without any kindness at all. Apart from the grace of God, we are sinners who fall short and are in bad need of His Spirit to change our attitudes.

As we talked of God’s mercy and the grace of Jesus toward sinful people, we could see hope coming to the faces of our friends, It reminded me of these words:

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)

When I look online for images about God being enough, many of them add the words, “…when God is all that you have” and I think how tragic to be humbled to the point of having nothing before realizing that God is sufficient. It is even more tragic when people without much wallow in their misery rather than seeking Him and realizing that He is indeed enough.

PRAY: Lord Jesus, our friends at the mission say that none of the staff could survive the day without the time given by their employer to pray and rest during their shift. Their task is difficult and the work they do is ridiculed rather than appreciated. In many ways, they are suffering like You suffered. Grant them joy in it, that impossible to understand joy and peace that only You can give to those who struggle to obey You when in great stress as they serve very needy people. No one is sufficient for these things, but God, You are ENOUGH!.

Consequences for sin?

 

In a recent study group, one person said that even though Jesus died for our sin, when we sin we still have to suffer the consequences. I’ve heard that many times, but this week God startled me. He said, “Is that biblical?”

I thought of when His OT children sinned, God used it to humble them. In the NT, He “disciplines those He loves” and uses all things for our good. James says:

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)

Are not some of those “various trials” the result of some sin we do? Is not the testing of my faith to see if I will trust what God has already told me — that all my sin has been covered by the sacrifice of Christ?

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit . . . For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot . . . You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. (Romans 8:1–11)

I woke up this morning thinking how God uses my times of disobedience to deeply humble me, to make me realize ways that I am not like Jesus. He is not visiting me with a punishment when I experience sin’s consequences; He is teaching me to trust what He says — I am no longer condemned, even if I feel like it . . .

Therefore, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. (Hebrews 2:1–4)

There is certain judgment for everyone who does not receive Christ as Savior and Lord, but for those who have received Him, there is no further condemnation, only education to teach realities about sin, about falling short, that I am not as good or as smart as I think I am. The consequences are like a professor’s red marks on a term paper — not to punish but teach me how to do better.

Yes, the OT says disobedience met with just punishment, yet the NT is clear: God sent the solution: redemption through Christ. If anyone rejects Him, they are left with the alternative. BUT if Jesus is accepted, there is no more condemnation — only the classroom where we experience being transformed into His likeness by obedience and by the results of disobedience. Sometimes the consequences are great because they relate to what has been understood. If I sin in ignorance, God is gentler than if I know better and resist Him anyway. But the purpose of what happens is not punishment but instruction and reshaping, consequences that are certainly not meant to be thought of as suffering.

Paying attention to the Word of God means “rightly dividing the word of truth” and remembering that God treats His children differently than those who refuse His Son. They are judged and condemned; we are set free and trained — and will eventually see Jesus and be like Him forever. (More)

PRAY: Thank You Jesus for using all things for good, even my backslidings as part of the lessons needed to shape me into Your image and to give me a greater desire to help others see Your great grace.

PONDER: and worship God that sin’s remedy came to us, as a babe who grew in wisdom and stature and who died for our sin. May this bring all people boundless joy. Think of ways to tell those who need to hear.