A higher view of tragedy

Five major items recently added to my prayer list are on my heart. But so is a song. How does Jesus do that? I don’t understand the ‘how’ but do understand the ‘why’ — He knows I could not bear all this unless He gives me joy and even a thankful heart.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter 1:3–9)

I’ve not ever wanted to count my blessings by comparing them to the troubles of others. Yet there are blessings to count that are not measured that way. In this passage, all the personal pronouns are plural. That is, when Peter says ‘you’ he is referring to us, the people of God, not just the reader. This means that we are in this together, both the trials and the rejoicing. This is a blessing!

God’s people are born again to a living hope that cannot be destroyed; God is keeping it in heaven for us. All of us have our faith tested. All of us love Jesus. We cannot see Him but we believe in Him. All of us rejoice as He works in us to perfect our faith and bring us through to full redemption. Because of this, as Tozer says, we ought to be the happiest people in the world!

This is good to read. The people involved in those five prayer items are all Christians except one. This passage tells me that God has shown them mercy, given them a living hope in Jesus Christ as He guards their hearts and their salvation, yet He is also testing their faith. I can pray for healing when sickness is involved, and reconciliation when conflict is involved. I can pray for His great mercy and strength for those whose families have been shattered by the unspeakable. I can even pray for the salvation of the one person whose mind is messed up asking that God helps her see life through Jesus’ eyes.

Even as I write this, I notice how my thoughts go from the temporary tragedies and my inability to deal with them to the eternal promises of God and our ability to trust Him. God lifts my prayer requests from the level of human comfort to a higher purpose — His purpose — in these trials. He is proving the genuineness of our faith, theirs and mine.

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Lord Jesus, this gives me light in how to pray. While any one of these five things could devastate most folks, these events and situations are purposeful and have an eternal perspective. As I go to prayer, I’m thinking, “God, have Your way. Accomplish Your purposes. Build faith through all of these and even though lives are threatened or taken, Your eternal plan brings eternal glory to Your name. Help me think the way You think.

Spiritual war is not Christians fighting each other

Character is from the heart, not an external thing. I’ve heard said that who I am is measured by what I am like when no one is looking. Because I am a Christian, who I am is certainly measured by what I am like with other Christians.

Most of the New Testament is about living the Christian life in community. While it tells me how I should behave with my unsaved neighbors, the assumption is, if I get it right with the family of God, I will be okay in every other area.

Even as I write that I’m thinking, But isn’t it easy to fake it at church? I’ve known people whose demeanor and behavior, to all appearances, seemed great, but their lives were filled with sinful secrets. That seems backwards, yet the key is that for Christians, those things never stay secrets. They become known, are a total embarrassment to the church, and put off a lot of people who might otherwise be interested in following Jesus. God will not lest us away with hiding our sins.

This illustrates the importance of integrity and being honest with one another. It also illustrates that Christians are just as susceptible to sin and hypocrisy as anyone else, maybe more so. We have the power of God on our side and any time that our spiritual enemy, Satan, can get us to act like idiots, he strikes a blow against our credibility and the reputation of our Savior.

In a passage that points out that our foe is not “flesh and blood” but “principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this age, and spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places,” I’m told to take up the armor of God so I can stand against whatever these spiritual enemies throw at me. Because I’m reading this today, Sunday, I’m thinking of how Satan tries to ruin my experience of corporate worship and fellowship with His people by getting me to drop my armor just because I’m going to church.

The battle against evil is won only by using the right weapons. While the armor includes the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith and so on, there is only one offensive weapon and one way to use it. Paul writes,

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. . . . (Ephesians 6:17-18)

I’ve been years trying to learn how to pray using Scripture and even more years realizing that I must. When thoughts come to my head that are part of what the Bible calls Satan’s “devices” or “schemes” the only way to drive them away is with God’s thoughts from His Word. When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness (Matthew 4), each time He answered His foe with Scripture.

For me, the idea isn’t that I hear an evil suggestion and start yelling out verses. Rather, the way to use this weapon is described in these verses from Ephesians 6. When I pray, in fact when all Christians pray, we pray using the Word of God. I also note another thing; our priority in prayer is for one another.

Doing this would put an end to all church fights. How can anyone be at odds with the people they are persistently praying for with “all prayer and supplication”? It would keep our focus on our true battle. Instead of petty arguments about all sorts of stuff, we would have our priorities in line with the will of God.

I’m not sure why God is giving me this morning, but I am sure that when I go to church I need to be filled with the Spirit just as much as I need to be filled with Him when I go anywhere else. While we love and accept one another and can be honest and struggle with our foibles together, this is not an excuse to let the Liar loose in my heart, thoughts or lips.

I cannot help but compare 1 Peter 5:8 which says, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” and Galatians 5:13-16 which has an interesting parallel: “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. . . . But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another! I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”

I’ve no intention of devouring anyone, but for some reason that I may never be aware of, today I particularly need to put on my armor and pray for my church family.