What do we really need?

In last night’s group Bible study, the prayer requests brought sadness to our hearts. One friend just recovered from a fall with many broken bones only to be told her cancer had returned — and that her husband has stage four cancer. Three families have lost a wife, mom, sister, or parent. Relatives are in hospital with serious ailments. New immigrants struggle to find jobs and are needy. One couple is facing several challenges in serving Christ. Three young people in our church struggle with autism.

I felt odd to be the only one in our group with no physical problems. Not only that, the speaker in a video we watched said, “God brings trials into our lives for a purpose and when that purpose is accomplished, He removes the trial.” Most of the praying involved requests to remove the trials.

One topic of discussion involved reasons why people do not want to hear the gospel. We agreed that the main human goal is to be comfortable, and yet was that not our focus in praying for those whose lives are filled with trials? I face some, yet God keeps blessing me with verses like this:

I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. (Jeremiah 32:40)

He has shown me that my trials are to teach me that He is God and I am not. If I cannot see what He is doing in the trial, He at least gives me a mysterious ability to accept it as His will and trust Him to use it for my good:

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Romans 8:28–29)

My friends around the table verbally agree, yet what they really want is the trial to  go away and for all those on our list of needy people to be happy and comfortable. For me, being happy and comfortable in the trials made me feel almost like survivor’s guilt. At the same time, I wanted everyone to deeply trust the Lord to the point that their trial was a source of peace rather than something to get rid of.

Many times Jesus did things for the troubled. He made water into wine when the wine ran out at a wedding. He raised to life the son of a grieving mother. He forgive the sin of an accused woman. He healed infirmities and gave sight to the blind… all this to show that He was doing the will of God. That is, God is not a meanie, yet for Him my holiness is more important than my comfort. He did make it a priority:

Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:31–33)

As His child, I’m to want what He wants. The Scriptures make it clear that being like Jesus is His goal for me and since I’m not like Jesus in so many ways, I’m to be willing to accept whatever He uses to accomplish that goal.

So why then did Jesus heal and help the needy like He did then, and yet now uses suffering for that purpose rather than remove it? Jesus did say that “the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.” (John 5:36) In that time, He healed to show He was sent by God. Now, He uses the trials to build faith and to give us opportunity to show others that He makes it possible for His followers to be transformed by hardship.

God designed salvation’s plan. He is the only one who can open eyes to see the mysteries of Christ in it, to help us realize that “we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear.” (Luke 1:74) and to also know that even thought His righteousness gives us a title to heaven; there must be a holiness to make us fit for heaven.

PRAY: Jesus, only You know why some suffer as they do, and what You want to accomplish in their lives. I don’t. I don’t always understand Your purposes for my own trials. This issue is not asking You to remove them, but to use them for Your purposes, and to totally trust You with the trials You bring into my life and the lives of others.

No matter what . . .

 

When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer. Trust God no matter how dark your situation. God says, “You are coming out!”

 

READ Job 9-12

God’s timing is incredible. This week I started reading Job and this week a medical report says I need “non-urgent further tests” which could mean nothing. However, the threat of them meaning something cannot be ignored.

Job’s ‘friends’ suggested “what did you do to deserve this?” just as the spiritual enemy tries to do with God’s people these days. However, this man sets an example. My situation is nothing compared to his, yet he maintained his faith despite the thoughts that came at him like arrows of fire. I could be being prepared for arrows.

Today’s devotional reading for this section is from chapter 9 and speaks to my heart. In the reading, Job is responding to Bildad. Like Eliphaz, he had the idea that God rewards those who do good and any suffering is proof of sin. So far, I’ve not had that thrown at me, yet I sense that God is giving me the answer to defend any such notion.

Job asserts his innocence. He knows the Lord judges all, but he also knows God’s mercy. He says, “I am blameless; I regard not myself; I loathe my life” in opposition to the accusations (Job 9:21). He insists he is not at fault or being punished even though they persist that he is concealing something that he has done. He does not consider himself worth such subterfuge.

His next declaration is a comfort thought also. He says: “My days are swifter than a runner; they flee away; they see no good.” (Job 9:25) This man knows that life is short and the good is yet to come. Suffering is temporary and will end. The NT puts it this way:

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16–18)

I had a big number birthday less than three weeks ago. I was ill as a child and my parents were told I would die before reaching 16. Borrowed time? No, amazing grace. Each day is a gift. Afflictions are but a blink compared to eternity. I agree with Job; life here goes up and down, but eternity is only glory!

Job also affirms God’s sovereignty. We cannot judge Him or what He is doing. No one can do what Job’s ‘friends’ did in claiming they knew His purposes. I scarcely know what He is up to even when He clearly guides me. I might understand that next step but have no idea where it will take me. Only God can see beyond it and only God is worthy of our trust. The evaluations of his ‘friends’ are speculations based on the foolish idea that our actions mess with Almighty God’s plans.

For me, trust means that regardless of what comes next, God is God, but He is also good, righteous and holy. He has every right to strike me with lightning or bless me with a long and healthy life — His choice. Trust means I believe God knows what He is doing, even when I am in the dark.

It also means understanding the motivations and reasonings of sinfulness. I know my own tendencies to ‘play God’ and can spot such thoughts in my own head as well as the same thoughts presented to me by others. Well-meaning people can miss the mark. I know because I’ve been there and done that.

From these chapters, I see what the devotional author sees: Job is steadfast; his faith is unshaken. He knows God well. He is told that God’s ways are mysterious by those who claim to know God’s ways! He saw through their arrogance and replied:

“No doubt you are the people, and wisdom will die with you. But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these? I am a laughingstock to my friends; I, who called to God and he answered me, a just and blameless man, am a laughingstock. In the thought of one who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune; it is ready for those whose feet slip. The tents of robbers are at peace, and those who provoke God are secure, who bring their god in their hand.” (Job 12:2–6)

Whatever God was doing, Job trusted Him, not the idea that he could control God by his own behavior, nor did he assume trials gave him or anyone reason to put down and blame those who experience them. This affirms to me that God does not have to explain what He is doing to enable faith. He will provide all that I need to trust Him, no matter what He sends my way.

 

God is on my side

In conversation yesterday with my sister-in-law, we agreed that God’s commands and decrees are not about a ‘killjoy god’ who likes to throw his weight around. Instead, everything He tells us to do is for our good. The Bible repeatedly tells readers this is true — and the devil repeatedly tell us it isn’t so. Those who believe the lie simply cannot trust God, even when the going is good.

My personality and spiritual gifts tend toward seeing the downside first. I will report bad news quicker than good news and need encouragers to help me be positive. While I would not want to be a Pollyanna, these characteristics mean I’m often in a spiritual battle — with that Liar. I also carry a burden and pray for bad news that most Christians only say ‘tsk, tsk’ when they hear it. For this reason, I identify with the prophet Jeremiah.

“I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath; he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light; surely against me he turns his hand again and again the whole day long. He has made my flesh and my skin waste away; he has broken my bones; he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation; he has made me dwell in darkness like the dead of long ago. He has walled me about so that I cannot escape; he has made my chains heavy; though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer; he has blocked my ways with blocks of stones; he has made my paths crooked.” (Lamentations 3:1–9)

This chapter continues with the struggles this prophet has with life, with God, and with negativity. However, in the middle of it, he turns his heart toward the power and promises of God:

“Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’ The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” (Lamentations 3:19–26)

This could be my own story. I know the afflictions. Sometimes God goes after me, demanding humility and utter dependence on Him for everything, including parking spaces, strength for daily chores, grace to be kind to telemarketers, all the necessities of life, and even my very next breath. Under His hand, I’ve had many days feeling as if He has turned His back on me, shutting out my prayers and giving me no direction whatsoever.

^^^^^^^^^^

Jesus, yet because of You and Your Holy Spirit, I can call to mind that God’s steadfast love never ceases. Your mercy is new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness. You are good to me as I seek You and wait for You. You will rescue me, not because I’ve deserved it but because You are God and You keep Your promises to Your children. All that happens in the world and all that I experience is in Your plan and under Your direction and care. You use all things for my good, to shape me into Your image. Because of You, even the negatives make sense. Thank You, Jesus.