John 16:33 — Faith — Stylin' Granny Mama

This morning I decided to go to the coffee shop down the street and just spend time listening to worship music on my computer, reading my Bible and prayer journaling. I have used Oswald Chamber’s devotional My Utmost for His Highest for years. It always baffles me how I can read it year after year and still pull something new from it, much like the Word of God. If you have never used this resource I strongly recommend it. In addition, if you are into Christian biographies, I also strongly urge you to read his biography, Abandoned to God.

Today’s devotional was specific to Christian workers, or people who are in the ministry. Read, The Worship of Work, before you read the rest of this post.

As I was reading through I was having the thought that it didn’t really apply to me or my spouse in our current situation. We are currently not involved in ministry and our church attendance has been sporadic. However, as the Holy Spirit so often does, he broke through my dismissive thoughts and slammed me with the idea that right now suffering is our work. Difficulty has become our ministry. With this in mind I want to do a short series on this truth.

I know I gave some of this information in an email I sent to my subscribers, but just a quick review. On December 25th my mother went home to Jesus. Though this was expected, she was 99, it didn’t make it any less painful. Her funeral was on the 5th of January back in NY state where I grew up. It was a beautiful time of remembering and being with family. My spouse and I journeyed home on the 6th and he was already ill. By Wednesday morning the 7th, my birthday, we both knew we had the flu. At three weeks we were only just beginning to feel back to “normal”. That was January.

February brought the devastating news that the university where my spouse has been employed for 37 years was closing its doors at the end of the semester. This was another blow; another death like loss, for this place had been community for us for so many years. We felt like we lost a dear friend. Even now, when I drive past the beautiful campus my heart just aches, and of course we hurt for all the faculty and staff and students who now have to find new situations.

Obviously, we have been under a bit of stress. If the death of my mom and the loss of my husband’s job hasn’t been enough, we have been inundated by difficulties. My spouse’s car broke down. A tire on his car had to be replaced. We had water in our basement. We had baby raccoons born in our garage, and then mama and babies decided to bend up the siding of the eaves on one of the dormers on our house. We have both had an assortment of physical issues from digestive trouble, to bladder infections, to throwing my back out, to the normal aches and pains of growing old.

Now my poor husband has another tooth that will need to be worked on next week that is giving him pain and discomfort. We also found out our neighbors are being evicted, which also makes us feel terrible for them. We appreciated them as neighbors and now they have to move into an apartment with a dog and two rambunctious boys. And let’s not begin to talk about the craziness in our country and across the globe. Life is very, very hard, and I know we are not alone in the suffering department. It seems people all over are having trouble upon trouble.

So how do we keep our faith, and our hope when so many shots are being fired in our direction? This is where the work of suffering comes in. The first thing we must do is:

Recognize and Accept Reality. As much as we would like life to be a rose garden, it most certainly isn’t. Jesus gave us the simple, unadulterated truth.

“33 These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.””

— John 16:33 (NASB 1995)

The psalmist understood suffering as he often penned his troubles into his poems and songs.

“15 My eyes are continually toward the Lord,
For He will pluck my feet out of the net.
16 Turn to me and be gracious to me,
For I am lonely and afflicted.
17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged;
Bring me out of my distresses.
18 Look upon my affliction and my trouble,
And forgive all my sins.
19 Look upon my enemies, for they are many,
And they hate me with violent hatred.
20 Guard my soul and deliver me;
Do not let me be ashamed, for I take refuge in You.
21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,
For I wait for You.
22 Redeem Israel, O God,
Out of all his troubles.”

— Psalm 25:15-22 (NASB 1995)

Let’s not forget Job, who went through more than one man should endure.

“13 Now on the day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,
14 a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them,
15 and the Sabeans attacked and took them. They also slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”
16 While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”
17 While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three bands and made a raid on the camels and took them and slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”
18 While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,
19 and behold, a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people and they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you.””

— Job 1:13-19 (NASB 1995)

Whenever, I think I am going through suffering I remember all that Job had and lost. If you read on you discover that Satan was allowed to also take away his health and he was afflicted with boils. I have had boils and they are no laughing matter, and to have them all over your body! Job suffered severely, and we know from chapter one that God allowed it.

This is one thing that stood out to me, not just from chapter one of Job, but from this statement in today’s devotional reading:

“We have no right to judge where we should be put, or to have preconceived notions as to what God is fitting us for. God engineers everything;”

— My Utmost for His Highest - Oswald Chambers -classic online version - April 23

We are not in control. No matter how much we think we are, nor how much we want to be, we are not. Get used to it. Accept it. Lean in to this idea that the only thing I control is myself; my actions, words and reactions to all of life’s difficulties and suffering.

I know accepting our suffering is difficult, and perhaps that is part of the work. We have to accept that our good Father is allowing our circumstances to tumble us about like a tiny boat on a very angry sea. We may feel this is unfair, or just plain mean, but God knows what He’s about, and every single difficult thing that comes into your life has filtered through His gentle and loving hands.

Next week we will continue to explore the work of suffering.

Last month we looked at Romans 8:29, and had a short discussion on the theological points of predestination and free will. We also looked at what followed this idea of predestination, that we are being conformed to the image of Christ.

Today we are going to look at verse 30. Once again, we are proceeding slowly, so that we might truly understand and let the Spirit drive home the truths revealed in these Scriptures.

“30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”

— Romans 8:30 (NASB 1995)

and these whom He predestined,

We discussed this in last month’s post. The end result is God is able to both predestine and give us a free will. We tend to limit God, because we think if it is beyond our understanding then it must not be the case. We need to recognize God’s wisdom is a mystery and is not always completely known to us.

“6 Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away;
7 but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory;
8 the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;”

— I Corinthians 2:6-8 (NASB 1995)

For instance, a 7 day, literal creation has stumped many a Christian over the decades. This is not a problem for me. As my husband always says, “Seven days? What took Him so long?” Ha, ha. Unfortunately, rather than taking God at His word, and according to His word, man has come up with alternative theories to better coincide with the evolutionary theory touted by Darwin. The Day Age Theory, and The Gap Theory are two of the most popular.

I just wanted to reiterate, we are the Creation, not the Creator, and we are limited in our understanding of the many layers of God. With that said, lets move on.

He also called;

This idea of calling has also had its day on the debate floor. Questions that have been around for years include: Is everyone called? Is calling just for special people at certain times? Is calling only for people going into full time Christian service, like a missionary or a pastor, etc?

I see calling as a general term, much like predestination. We are all predestined, meaning God wants all of us to become His children by belief in Christ. In the same way we are all called. The difference lay in the fact that we must respond to His calling. We must choose to believe. Of course that presupposes you believe in free will. :)

“God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord..”

— I Corinthians 1:9 (NASB 1995)

Let me reiterate, I am not a theologian. I had three years of Bible school, but that doesn’t mean I have exhaustively studied every topic. However, I do believe God gives us His wisdom, understanding and knowledge as we delve into His deeper layers through His Holy Spirit. That being said, if you ever think I am in error in the ideas I bring to you, I welcome your thoughts.

and these whom He called, He also justified;

The word justify is defined in several ways: to judge, regard or treat as worthy of salvation; to prove or show to be just, right, or reasonable. Justification is the process by which Christ takes on our sin through His death on the cross enabling us to be worthy of God’s calling. In essence Christ’s blood covered us so that we might be made right before God.

“24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;”

— Romans 3:24 (NASB 1995)

…and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

The predestination, calling and justification all lead to the perfect end result, our glorification. The older I get, the more I look forward to this glorification process. At 60 I am experiencing all the things that age brings with it. I have become acquainted with chronic illness, my hair is thinning, my joints ache, and my brain is almost always in the phase of post menopausal fog.

Jesus told us we would have trouble in this world.

“33 These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

— John 16:33 (NASB 1995)

We don’t have to look very far to see trouble. The southeast part of the U.S. has see two large hurricanes in the last two weeks. Out west there continue to be wildfires consuming thousands of acres of trees. We are entering in to flu and Corona season, in addition to that allergens are ever present and driving many of our sinus cavities wonky. We have political and societal unrest in the United States and there is still a war going on in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Jesus told us we would have trouble, but He didn’t want us to stay in that mindset. He told us He would give us peace, and He has overcome the world.

This mentality of looking towards glory is not a bad thing. Yes, we still need to be present. We need to live our lives as the brightest lights of Christ that we can be so others might come to know Him. How much easier it is to do this when we know that we are called, justified and one day will be glorified.

Just like the Morning Glory flower we need to turn our faces towards the light of God and His truth and open ourselves up completely to what He is trying to do in our lives. Only in doing that will we become the beautiful reflection of Him that we are meant to be.

The Work of Suffering - Part 1: Recognize and Accept Reality

Mulling it Over - Romans 8:30