Joy needed — no matter what is going on . . . (and a good night’s sleep)

We’ve done enough travelling that I am extremely glad to live where we live. Our country is near the top of the “best places to live” lists. Our city is green and rich in culture and the people excel in volunteerism and other good things. Even our street is lovely and well kept.

The citizens of Philippi boasted about where they lived too. Before the gospel came there, some of its women gathered near the river to pray. Paul, Silas, Timothy and Luke arrived and told them about Jesus Christ (Acts 16:13). These women, including Lydia and her family, became the church nucleus.

Trouble was not long in coming. Paul and Silas expelled a demon from a slave girl. When her masters realized their financial gain from her fortune telling was gone, they put these two Christians in prison. However, an earthquake at night set them free and their jailer became a Christian (Acts 16). They appealed using their Roman citizenship and were freed from further punishment. However, years later when Paul wrote to the Philippian Christians, he was again in a jail, this time also  due to false accusations but in Rome. He wrote to the church in Philippi and his joy fills each line. Even though others had mixed reactions to his situation, he was not upset with any of it. He wrote this:  

I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice, (Philippians 1:12–18)

Things are happening in my life too, some not so good and with mixed reactions from others. Do I have this same joyful attitude? Can I say that what is going on is good, that it is advancing the kingdom of God? Some of the ways others are acting are obviously motivated by godliness. Yet, I struggle with the people that do things out of ‘envy and rivalry’ or other self-centered motives.

Not sure how I should think in my situation, I’ve been praying for wisdom and direction. Because of Paul’s example, now I see that God can use what others do even if they are ‘selfishly ambitions’ or trying to ‘afflict’ me in some way. I also understand that Paul could think this way because this is the power of godly joy.

Joy is not a Pollyanna thing that is oblivious to negatives. It is based on a deep trust in God that overrides those negatives. Paul honestly could see good in what his antagonists were doing. He was genuinely joyful because of the good and give no attention to their underlying motivations. So far, I’ve not done that, even though I can see the good. I need that godly joy-filled attitude to overcome my annoyance with their selfishness. 

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Lord Jesus, You are hinting to me that my annoyance is also selfish. It certainly is not from You or You would be disciplining the selfishness that is bugging me. Instead, You want me to rejoice that these people are serving Your purpose, even if their motivation is less than perfect. Who am I to demand purity of motivation anyway? I know that unmixed motivations rarely happen. I also know that the only way to be genuinely joyful is to be filled with Your Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23) and I need all of this to be like Paul — determined to rejoice in what You are doing, no matter how You decide to do it!

Today’s thankful list . . .

An amazing event — the person we expected to die has made a “300% improvement” that the doctors cannot explain! God answered prayer for her. She is still needy, yet we are thankful and praising God.

Thanks, not for the deep fatigue that I’m feeling because of praying for hours, but for God’s promise to renew my strength as I wait on Him.

Flipped focus

I’m distracted this morning. An electrolyte blood test yesterday showed a rise in potassium so my doctor wants it repeated. I was curious about that level because my diet says I’m not getting enough so checked a reputable USA clinic. The first page I looked at said that a false rise can happen in a blood sample and the test needs to be repeated. My initial reaction was “what a bother” since I’m feeling great. But if a recheck is needed, then I must do it.

Yet as I think about it, my focus has flipped. I feel as if I have two minds at war with each other. Can I turn this ‘event’ into an illustration such as ‘free fine’ spiritually does not exclude repeated checkups? Am I annoyed with this ‘extra worry’ because my heart would rather skip daily exams, including those by the Great Physician?

One thing for certain, I can quickly turn from thinking of how to glorify God to self- focused thoughts. The NT tells me better ways to deal with the ‘events’ of life that I’d rather not have:

“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:24–27)

This passage makes clear he suffered for the sake of the church, which is a noble thing, but also rejoices in that suffering. He is doing what James said all Christians should do . . .

“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)

Is it possible that contrary to what I think, my ideas of “perfect and complete” are more along the lines of ‘happy and healthy’ rather than what God is telling me? The Greek meaning of ‘perfect and complete’ are more about being fully mature and without blame. Yikes.

This motivates another question: what makes me feel good about life? Going back to Colossians, It should be that God has revealed to me His mystery and that Christ lives in me. However, I must admit that sometimes it is more focused on things like having my to-do list checked off, or finished a project, or making someone smile. Not that there is anything wrong with those things, but if they do not happen, then what? Do I focus on the realities of being a child of God? They are always mine. Shouldn’t this focus produce joy and contentment, even in trials?

Tozer says, “The Spirit indwelt life is not a special deluxe edition of Christianity to be enjoyed by a certain rare and privileged few who happen to be made of finer and more sensitive stuff than the rest. Rather, it is the normal state for every redeemed man and woman the world over.” Bit today, I’m feeling abnormal, or at least subnormal.

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Lord Jesus, I usually spout that normal is only a setting on the dryer, yet I sometimes long for a normal day where nothing extreme happens, no urgent prayer requests, no bad news or even good news, just a day with You in peace and quiet. I’m supposed to trust You with the events of life, even with the possibility of things like liver failure or just the annoyance of one more blood test. Again, grace is needed so I can yield to Your will and trust You with all the stuff of life.

My sufferings = His sufferings

Corrie ten Boom

(1892 - 1983)

Dutch, Christian Holocaust survivor

Corrie Ten Boom, a Christian woman captured by the Germans for harboring Jews, experienced unimaginable treatment in a concentration camp before her release on a clerical error. She spoke of the power of Christ who, in the midst of great suffering, never left her. His loving presence made her “more than a conqueror” (Romans 8:37) in the suffering and later set her free to share the gospel with thousands of people.

Today’s devotional reminds me that England’s freedom to preach and practice the gospel of salvation by grace happened because God shielded His people. On this day in English history, a plot was uncovered that the Papists were going to destroy the Houses of Parliament. Later, on the same date, King William III quashing the hope of Popish ascendancy and securing religious liberty. According to Spurgeon, our Puritan forefathers made this a special time of thanksgiving, with singing: 

    While for our princes they prepare
    In caverns deep a burning snare,
    He shot from heaven a piercing ray,
    And the dark treachery brought to day.

Spurgeon rejoices that God takes care of His people, and that no one can defeat those who trust in Him.

Behold, I have created the smith who blows the fire of coals and produces a weapon for its purpose. I have also created the ravager to destroy; no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD and their vindication from me, declares the LORD. (Isaiah 54:16–17)

Yet God does not always shield. Sometimes His people suffer greatly. Corrie Ten Boom’s sister died in Ravensbruck. Many others have died defending the gospel that we love, refusing to deny the Christ who died for our spiritual liberty. Yet while the world asks, “Why does God allow suffering?” Christians know that He not only controls, but has purpose in all that happens to us. Sometimes it is hidden at the time, but later revealed. And sometimes, as Ten Booms recounts, it is revealed even in the midst of great pain.

Corrie Ten Boom knew both the horror of torture and the wonder of God’s care in that concentration camp. She also knew that God calls His people to do something that only grace and His power can do in us. He asks us to have an attitude toward suffering that only makes sense to people like her, people who have experienced it and know that grace can make it a reality. 

But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. (1 Peter 4:13)

Oswald Chambers says that if I am going to be used by God, God will take me through a multitude of experiences that are not meant for me at all, but meant to make me useful in His hands, to give my life greater value. They will also enable me to understand what others experience so I’m not surprised or confused at what comes across my path. By suffering, He lets me see how Christ suffered and how I can be like Christ in suffering.

I may never have ongoing trauma like a long time in a concentration camp, but I might live next to a difficult neighbor, or struggling with poverty, or ill health, or wayward children. In whatever happens, God reminds me that the sufferings of Christ are not those of ordinary people. He suffered “according to the will of God,” and only as I am related to Him can I understand what God is after when He allows me to suffer.

Christians easily talk about seeking the will of God, but that talk tends to be suspended when it comes to suffering. Most of us pray quickly for deliverance. We want God to make it better, to restore the good times. Instead of trying to identify what is happening to us with the sufferings of Jesus Christ, we would rather partake in the glory. We miss the point, never mind the wonder of His grace in such suffering.

Sometimes it is a purging process. God wants to remove sin and selfishness that we might be more like Jesus. I’ve known resistance to this. Do I really want my personal ambitions put out of my life? And if I do accept that God is rebuking or purging me, I sometimes insist that He shows me exactly what He is doing so I can “help” Him. How foolish! God seldom shows His specific reasons for what He is putting me through. I cannot “help” Him for that would make me self-righteous and therefore useless. Instead, He asks me to walk by faith, not sight, and trust Him as I go through the fire.

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Lord, in the worst things of my life, I most remember Your sustaining power and Your very real presence. You have used calamities large and small to draw poisonous selfishness out of me. I know that You are not finished. While my life has been marvelously blessed, I understand that to become all that You want for me, I must also be a partaker of Christ’s sufferings. Grant me faith to trust You no matter what lies ahead, so I will rejoice as You work out Your perfect plan.