The Work of Suffering - Part 2: Leaning in to His Truth

This is a long post, so grab your coffee and sit a while as I share our own story and what I have learned about the necessity of leaning in to God’s truth when we are suffering.

Back in March, my spouse and I decided to take a short get away, hoping that it would give us a chance to rest and relax from the difficulties that had us reeling: the death of my mom, illness, and the loss of my husband’s job. We prayed that God would give us a break from the troubles and give us time to recoup before anything else went wrong.

Our plan was to leave in the morning and drive about three hours, stopping half way to get lunch and maybe spend time at a coffee shop or bookstore. The morning we were to leave my spouse started having terrible diarrhea. I adjusted course and packed a lunch that I hoped would be more suitable to his digestive tract. We did not get to stop at a coffee shop since it was getting later, and we just wanted to get to our VRBO before supper. We got to our VRBO where I made our supper instead of eating out, to help my spouse’s irritated system.

Image by sork from Pixabay

The next day we went into the nearby town to go to our favorite coffee shop, where we hoped to spend some quality time relaxing, eating lunch and doing stuff on our computers. When we got there a sign on the door said they were closing early. We were disappointed but able to get lunch. Unfortunately, when my husband tried to get on his computer it was completely dead. No amount of sitting on the charger was bringing it back to life.

We tried to course correct and run to a couple of thrift shops nearby. While we were in the Goodwill, the wind that had been growing steadily worse was beginning to cause lights to flicker and go on and off. Upon returning to our VRBO we had no electricity and couldn’t even flush the toilet since the water pump was electric. We honestly began to feel as though we were being thrown to the wolves. What started as a desire for relaxation and rest turned into the weekend from hell with more physical problems, a leaking tire on the car, a crazy windstorm that took out a good portion of that county’s electricity and other issues.

Image by ACWells from Pixabay

Obviously we made it home. Probably the weirdest thing that happened was as soon as we got home, my spouse’s computer came back to life. Really??? The above photo could have been my husband when we got home and his computer started working again. Ha, ha.

I had a crisis of faith on that weekend. I have never struggled with my faith, and with my belief that God is good like I did that weekend. I was sad, and angry. Why couldn’t an all powerful God just make a few things go our way and give us the rest and relaxation we so desperately wanted and felt we needed?

On our way home we stopped at a park and had a picnic lunch. It was a beautiful day, but as I sat at that picnic table I found myself unraveling, because I never wanted to question God’s goodness or His trustworthiness, but I was. I began to feel that it must be me. I must be sinning. I must be guilty of burying bad attitudes and thoughts that made me no longer worthy of His attention and love. I cried because I had always had this close, personal relationship with Him, and now there I was questioning everything because we were suffering.

“It’s so difficult, isn’t it? To see what’s going on when you’re in the absolute middle of something? It’s only with hindsight we can see things for what they are.”

— S.J. Watson, Before I Go to Sleep

It was there in that crisis of faith that God, once again opened my heart and mind to His deeper layers. At that picnic table I made a choice. I decided in my heart that what I needed to do was go back to His word and remind myself of His truth, because that alone is the unshakable foundation on which we base our faith. When we start to question and doubt His word, we begin to question and doubt His character. My friends, God is not fickle. He does not change.

“17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.
18 In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.”

— James 1:17-18 (NASB 1995)

When going through difficult times it is good to pause and evaluate how we are handling it, and to ask ourselves a couple of questions:

1 - Am I suffering due to my choices? In a society where the blame game has become common place it is easy to fall into the mindset that life is unfair and it has nothing to do with my choices. However, choices do matter, and individual responsibility is a reality.

“13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.”

— Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 (ESV)

This Old Testament verse is clear. Our duty as God’s creation is to fear our Maker and keep His commandments. Whether we do or don’t all of our deeds good or bad, out in the open or done in secret will be brought before God and will be judged.

“3 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

— Romans 6:23 (NASB 1995)

The choice to accept or reject Christ does lead to the suffering of eternal death, so no matter how easy life is on this planet suffering will come.

Image by Romy from Pixabay

In addition our choices can bring suffering into other people’s lives. Take for instance someone who is driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Many times they go from one place to another without anything happening, but there are many accidents and even deaths caused by people who drove while they were drunk or high. If they injure or kill a person through an accident their choice is causing another whole community to suffer: parents, siblings, coworkers, friends…

2. What truths about God is this suffering causing me to question? Asking questions during difficulty is completely normal and okay. God is big enough to handle all of our doubts, worries and fears. If we go back to the Psalms of David we see, quite often, the once shepherd now King of Israel, questioning God. Psalm 13 is probably one of the most popular of David’s questioning psalms.

“1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
4 lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”
lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.

5 But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.”

— Psalm 13 (NASB 1995)

What I love about this psalm is that it is raw and honest, but David does not stay in that mindset. By the end of the psalm he is determined that he will once again sing to the Lord, because He dealt bountifully with him. This could have been my own psalm during our weekend getaway that turned sour. “Lord, how long will we endure these difficulties? How long will it seem that You have left us never to return? How long do I have to keep pulling myself up by my own bootstraps, and be overwhelmed by sadness?”

Image by Manfred Antranias Zimmer from Pixabay

In my own experience, again similar to David’s, I was being prompted by the Spirit to return to what I know about God and how He has always provided in the past. During the weeks that followed our getaway the Lord led me to this small, but familiar portion of scripture in the Old Testament.

“21 Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:
22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.”

— Lamentations 3:21-23 (NIV)

This is God’s truth. Jeremiah, the writer of Lamentations, knew that he had to go back to what he knew was true about God. It is by doing that, by remembering God’s faithfulness, lovingkindness and justice, that we are able to endure suffering without being consumed. Remember what Job went through, yet he was not consumed. God’s compassions do not fail, even thought they might seem far removed. When we look at it with hindsight we can see how God was in it, from the first bad thing to the last. Every day He gives us what we need for that day; nothing more and nothing less.

Next time we will look at practical ways to endure the long term suffering without giving up.

Faith Musings: Nothing to Boast About - Part 5

As we see August come to an end, and September begin, I feel the pull of fall. I have always loved this season. From the changing leaves and the cooling temperatures, to the pumpkin muffins and jack-o-lanterns, fall always gives me a feeling of expectation. I think part of that stems from the fact that fall includes Halloween, Thanksgiving and leads to winter and my favorite time of year, Christmas. Seasonal changes give us many things to think about with regard to our faith walk with Jesus, and I will be pursuing some of those ideas soon, but today, I want to continue our walk through 1 Corinthians 2.

Image by claude alleva from Pixabay

“1 And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God.
2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.
3 I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling,
4 and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
5 so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.
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;
9 but just as it is written,

“Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard,
And which have not entered the heart of man,
All that God has prepared for those who love Him.””

— 1 Corinthians 2:1-9 (NASB 1995)

Right now we are still looking at verses 1-9. We learned from Chapter 1:18-25 that man’s wisdom and God’s wisdom are two distinct things. The reality is God uses all that is contrary to our wisdom to accomplish His plan from the weak and foolish, to the cross of Christ, His wisdom is contrary to all that our wisdom believes is important. We see Paul reiterating these same ides as Chapter 2 begins and we read, “I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified…”

6 - Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; however, not of this age or of the rulers of this age who are passing away;

Paul, who has made clear that he was weak, and fearful when it came to his ability to speak, and who also made clear that his message was not of his own wisdom and ability, but God’s, now states with confidence he speaks wisdom among the mature.

Who were the mature? People who already knew the gospel, believed it and were living their lives following Jesus. Think of your own situation as a Christ follower. Do you feel like you know more now than when you first came to Him? Have you gained more understanding as you delved into His word? Would you consider yourself more mature than you were several decades ago? I say a resounding yes, but it is because of His work and His wisdom.

Let’s take a closer look at what this wisdom is (verses 6 - 9).

What it isn’t - Not of this age (and that is true just as much today as it was in Paul’s time). Not of the rulers of this age (who come and go, live and die). Not able to be understood without God.

What it is - Of God. A mystery. Hidden. Predestined before the ages. Prepared by God for those who love Him.

One may wonder if it is something God wants us to know and understand, why does He keep it a hidden mystery? Go back to the title of this series - Nothing to Boast About. He did the work. He does the work. He has hidden it, He will reveal it. What then is my part?

To believe.

It seems so very simple, but how often do we doubt? How often do we find ourselves second guessing? How often are we pacing the floor because we don’t see our prayers answered in our time line? How often do we live in the flesh, rather than in His Spirit?

Man’s wisdom says, “You do you! Be all you can be! Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps!”

God’s wisdom says, “Come to Me! Believe! Trust!”

How are you living today? By your own wisdom, or by trust God?

Faith Inspiration - Be Thou My Vision

This hymn has been inspiring Christ followers for over one thousand years. Originally an Old Irish hymn, the song was translated into English by Mary E. Byrne in 1905, and put into verses by Eleanor H. Hull. (Information take from Hymnary.org).

“1 Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
be all else but naught to me, save that Thou art;
be Thou my best thought in the day and the night,
both waking and sleeping, Thy presence my light.

2 Be Thou my Wisdom, be Thou my true Word;
be Thou ever with me and I with Thee, Lord;
be Thou my great Father, and I Thy true son,
be Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

3 Be Thou my Breastplate, my Sword for the fight;
be Thou my whole Armor, be Thou my true Might;
be Thou my soul’s Shelter, be Thou my strong Tow’r,
O raise Thou me heav’nward, great Pow’r of my pow’r.

4 Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
be Thou mine inheritance, now and always;
be Thou and Thou only the first in my heart,
O High King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

5 High King of heaven, Thou heaven’s bright Sun,
O grant me its joys, after vict’ry is won;
Great Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
still be Thou my Vision, O Ruler of all.”

— Be Thou My Vision - Psalms and Hymns to the Living God (From Hymnary.org)

I think this is a beautiful hymn, and one that is rarely sung. Some may say it sounds like a dirge, but I like the lilting, Celtic style music. Let’s take a look at it verse by verse.

Image by Joe from Pixabay

Verse 1 - The writer of the hymn pleads with God to be his vision. He wants God to consume him. He recognizes his own struggle with the flesh and realizes that God’s thoughts are his best thoughts in the day and the night. He desires God be his light.

As we saw last week, our struggle with the flesh is ongoing, but if God is our vision, we can and will have victory, and we will continually be in His light.

“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

— Matthew 6:33 (NASB 1995)

Image by Thomas Wolter from Pixabay

Verse 2 - The author not only wants God to be his Vision, but to be His true word and to dwell in him, and he in Him, always. He recognizes that God is his Father, and he is His son.

“If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”

— John 14:3 (NASB 1995)

“Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.”

— John 14:23 (NASB 1995)

“15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”
16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,
17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.”

— Romans 8:15-17 (NASB 1995)

God dwells with us if we love Him and keep His word. He is our heavenly Father, and we are His children. Being His children means we are heirs with Christ. We are children of the King!

Image by Donna Kirby from Pixabay

Verse 3 - He knows God is his breastplate, his sword, his FULL armor, his might, his shelter, his tower and his power. His desire is to be raised “heavenward”. This may have had two connotations. It may have referred to his mindset, his thoughts and desires, but it also may have been the longing for finally being home with his Savior.

“13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.
14 Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

— Ephesians 6:13-17 (NASB 1995)

“The name of the Lord is a strong tower; The righteous runs into it and is safe.”

— Psalm 18:10 (NASB 1995)

“4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ”

— Ephesians 2:4-6 (NASB 1995)

Image by NikolayF.com from Pixabay

Verse 4 - In this verse the author recognizes God is all he needs. He doesn’t run after riches. He doesn't seek the praise of men. He knows the “High King of Heaven” is the only treasure he needs.

“But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;”

— Matthew 6:20 (NASB 1995)

Image by Tim Hill from Pixabay

Verse 5 - The last verse is a final stand on the foundation of all that is God:

High King of Heaven

Heaven’s bright Sun

Great Heart of my own heart

Ruler of all

God is all these things and more that we cannot comprehend with our finite minds. The author knows that all his joy and all his victory our found in Christ. He also desires that no matter what happens he would keep God as his Vision.

“O sing to the Lord a new song, For He has done wonderful things, His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him.”

— Psalm 98:1 (NASB 1995)

“...but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

— I Corinthians 15:57 (NASB 1995)

On a personal note, I have always loved this hymn. When I gave my life to Jesus at the age of 12, I knew I wanted it to be for keeps. I wanted Him to be foremost and forever my vision. Unfortunately, ever since that age I have struggled in that desire. My vision is often clouded by doubts, fears, and failures. My eyes often wander to things that might satisfy my flesh such as food, clothes, or fictional worlds.

The counselor I am currently going to said it is absolutely normal to have set backs in life. The difference comes in how long I choose to stay in the setback mindset. The phrase “begin again”, is a mantra we all can put into play. As long as I have breathe I will begin again. I will place my eyes back on His face and know His amazing grace. I will say again, “Be Thou my Vision.”