Thanksgiving!!

We take a break from our Daniel series for the sake of Thanksgiving. 

Congratulations, everyone! For the past day, you got to be out of work, and spend some time with family, eating Turkey. And you probably spent some time giving thanks for some things in your life. Now you might be off spending all your time buying Christmas presents for those close to you, for whom you are most thankful.

I must admit that the whole Black Friday meme jokes are getting a little on my nerves this year. As much as I would never actually participate in Black Friday because I hate lines and crowds, I think there isn't a problem with spending money buying things for OTHERS after being thankful for what you already have. I mean, yeah.

Anyway, I want to challenge you to do something different today. You've taken some time to thank God for His blessings; now I want you to spend even more time realizing what those blessings are. Today, I want to challenge you with something that has twice gotten me through times in my life where I have irrationally made myself stressed about stupid things. It gives a rather nice perspective.

This little challenge is based on a sermon given by my pastor a little over a month ago, while I was home for Fall Break. It was a simple message, designed around people giving testimonies pertaining to the message after each of his three points. I decided to make a catalogue of how those points pertained to my life.

Writing that catalogue and looking back at it was a wonderful perspective change. Thus, today, I ask that you also take a look back at your life, and do the same through these three areas.

1. Places

There are certainly some places in your life that seem particularly meaningful, where the Lord has done wonderful things. The place where you got saved, the place where you met a special friend (I don't necessarily mean a significant other, but you can read it that way if you want), the place where you decided what you wanted to do the rest of your life, the place where you came to rededicate your life to the Lord, etc. There are so many different possibilities, and it's refreshing to think about it. 

2. People

This is the one who consistently gets me. This is where you record the people who have had a positive impact on your life. And for me, it fills a full two pages. I think you probably know what kinds of people have had an impact on your lives. People who trained you, people who led you to Jesus, people who encouraged you through suffering, your parents, people who listened to you when you needed someone etc. 

I think you might be surprised how many people you can come up who have had tremendous impact on your life. 

3. Problems

At this stage in my life, this particular category is fairly empty. But the idea is the problems that the Lord placed in your life that have ultimately ended up for your good. 

For me, the primary one is of course when I was unable to attend Grove City College as I intended. That was devastating to me, and I hated it so much, but it is now the best thing that ever happened to me. Now as I pursue the role of a pastor, I could never be happier about where my life is headed. I love it so much, and could never see myself doing anything else. 

So how about you? What places, people, or problems have had tremendous impact on your lives? I challenge you to make a catalogue of it. You might very well be surprised. 

Philosophy and Toys [Video]

Due to my busy schedule, you get an interesting video of a speech I gave in high school. Enjoy!

3 Keys to Solid Christian Living

Readers, I just wanted to let you all know that I haven't forgotten that the New Testament existed. Today, we are going to look at the book of II Corinthians in particular 4:7-5:21.

What we would like to look at it that passage that is often quoted from, II Corinthians 4:8-9, 

"We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;"

Now this doesn't make much sense, given that when we find ourselves in trouble, we become distressed, and when we are perplexed, we're in despair, persecution leads to feeling forsaken, and cast down is basically synonymous with destroyed, right? What even is the apostle Paul saying here?

Well, he's saying that that's not true in his life. I guess an evaluation on how it could not be true in Paul's life is in order.

Well, let's start with the very beginning. When you want to study out a passage, you must look at context. The first context we must look at is the context of the book. When reading the book of II Corinthians, you wouldn't be surprised to find a lot of reference to service. More references are to service, it would seem than to anything else.

In addition, it is often mentioned as a part of the service question the subject of grace, both as a motivation for  the service, as well as a supplier of strength for that service. Thus, the book of Corinthians deals with service of the Lord, specifically as it pertains to the grace of God.

This is confirmed when we examine the beginning of the book, where immediately upon giving his salutations, Paul writes in II Corinthians 1:3-6,

"Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation."

Thus then begins out answer. The grace of God is prevalent in the suffering and trouble of the apostle Paul, so that he can say that he is not distressed because he is comforted of God and may comfort others.

II Corinthians 4:7 introduces these verses further by expressing truths about the power of God, further showing that the power of God is at stake here.

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us." 

So the power of God and His comfort allows Paul to see his suffering solely as good for those around him. But wait, there's more. When examining all the verses following II Corinthians 4:8-9, we see a detailed outline of three reasons why Paul is able to manage his trouble without distress. Further, these three reasons provide three key perspectives that Christians should have if they desire to live victoriously.  So let's take a look.

1. Strengthened to serve others by the power of God

II Corinthians 4:10-12 states,

"Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you."

The first thing to notice in the text is that the suffering isn't just "light" from our perspective. Paul is living in constant danger of his own death. Further, the suffering itself is strong, so that physically, He is bearing the marks of Jesus' suffering in his own body.

Look at a listing of some of the suffering that Paul has gone through at the time of this writing in II Corinthians 11:24-27, 

"Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness."

That's quite an impressive resume, don't you think? Paul suffered greatly, but note the last phrase of verse 12. "But life in you." Paul has death and suffering working in him, but because of that, the Corinthians have life.

Whether it is meant by that, prosperity and protection from suffering (seems likely due to the parallelism with death), or something more of an eternal nature is not the point. The point is that Paul suffers so that others may benefit.

And how is all of this possible? How can he say those words? Well, let's look at II Corinthians 4:13-16, 

"We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak; Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day."

So what does Paul mean in verse 13, where he says the "same spirit of faith." It certainly conveys that he has a faith and trust in (presumably) God, but what spirit does he refer? I guess the words it is written convey a quotation from the Old Testament that the Corinthians would have access to. Well, let's look at that passage, Psalm 116,

"1 I love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. 2 Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. 3 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. 4 Then called I upon the name of the Lord; O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. 5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful. 6 The Lord preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me. 7 Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. 8 For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. 9 I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. 10 I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted: 11 I said in my haste, All men are liars. 12 What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me? 13 I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord. 14 I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people. 15 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. 16 O Lord, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds. 17 I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord. 18 I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people. 19 In the courts of the Lord's house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the Lord."

There are a lot of parallels between this psalm and the passage in II Corinthians. It makes sense why Paul would want the Corinthians and indeed us to think about it. Unfortunately, time does not permit me to show you all of these parallels. So let's just focus on the big picture.

This psalm is a psalm of gratitude and obligation for the Lord because of what He did for the psalmist in a time of trouble. The psalmist praises the Lord, and says that he will now walk before the Lord as His servant.

That is the context when the psalmist pens, "I believed, therefore have I spoken." The idea is that because he trusted God in his trouble, he is able to speak now about service to the Lord.

So, how is that Paul is able to talk about serving God and others? It is because he trusted in the Lord's power when he underwent his suffering and persecution. That's how he can say that he is not distressed in the midst of his trouble.

And what a power of God it is! II Corinthians 4:14 reminds us that this power is one that is not just any old power, but the power that raised Christ from the dead! Any suffering that Paul or any of us go through will pale in comparison to the scale of unlikelihood to the resurrection of the dead.

No wonder Paul is ok with his suffering and able to see it as a benefit for others. But even further, the power of God is a very personal force. Verse 16 reminds us that "though our outward man perish, yet our inward man is renewed day by day."

Day by day, our soul is strengthened. Constantly, the Lord is right there to strengthen us, as He will never leave us, nor forsake us. Trials are typically seasonal, but God will always be there to pick you up if you should fall!

2. Not worried about temporal state because focus is on eternity

The second key is one that has been close to my heart for a little while. One that I have even shortened to two words so that I could use it to sign letters and emails. We must all live for eternity. However, I must say that the words, "For eternity," are not actually a good way to end a email to a member of the opposite sex. Talk about the wrong messages...

This key is introduced first in II Corinthians 4:17, 

"For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;"

Now, we've already made a discussion above about how Paul's suffering was hardly "light." But here he calls it light. How can that be so? This wording is as confusing and strange as the wording of verse 8-9. Troubled, but not distressed? Light affliction? I don't know, fellows, I just don't know.

But Paul's perspective is seen pretty clearly when we see the final phrase of the verse, "A far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." The affairs of this world, and our position within them should matter less to us because eternity if truly our goal.

It's as Dr. Jason Lee, dean of the School of Biblical and Theological Studies at Cedarville University, explained in a class lecture. The end of the Christian life is eternity. By this, he means both that the final outcome and resting place for a Christian is heaven and that the goal of the Christian life is to further the cause of Christ in eternity. That's all there is to it.

Continuing in our text, we find II Corinthians 4:18-5:4,

 "While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. or we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life."

This verse expresses more of the idea that we should focus our eyes upon heaven. This is seen very clearly in verse 18 as it directs us to look at what is not seen, as that is what is truly important.

Now we've all heard the typical rhetoric on this. Governments and regimes fall, families break apart, and our favorite televisions series get cancelled! (wait, that's not right), but God remains forever. And the work you do for God will also remain forever. Consider the words of II Timothy 1:12,

"For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day."

Why focus on our outward temporal condition and let our troubles cause us distress when there is a war to be won which has eternal consequences for all the participants?

Paul uses the illustration of our bodies as seen in temple/tabernacle imagery. Right now, our bodies are temporary. When these forms die, we will receive new bodies in heaven which will last for eternity.

And we should yearn for those eternal bodies, and we should not be so wrapped up in our temporal bodies, that we fail to provide clothing for our eternal bodies in the first place.

Now I don't want to give you the impression that we stop taking care of our earthly bodies, or stop caring about life on this earth altogether. It is still important, and we have a role to serve now for the cause of eternity. Let's not get too heavenly minded that we're no earthly good. Look at the words of Philippians 1:21-26,

 "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith; That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again."

With that established, let's continue in our text to see what might be the most important thing we should look for in heaven, which also supplies our meaning, confidence, and satisfaction here on earth. II Corinthians 5:5-8 explain,

"Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord."

The earnest of the Spirit. It's an interesting term. One of my current internship mentor's favorite biblical phrases. With that in mind, I think it would be remiss not to pause on it for a little bit.

We all know that we have the Holy Spirit in our lives. We all know that we can have fellowship with the Lord now through the Holy Spirit. But what does this term "earnest" mean?

Now maybe you are all more savvy at financial terms than I am, but I had to learn this term. Earnest money tends to be given as a pledge. You give a portion of the money on your house, which is to show your interest in paying the rest.

The earnest of the Spirit. Hmm... Are we then given by the Lord a little fellowship with Him as a promise and commitment to an even greater fellowship with Him when we make it to eternity? I think yes.

And I think that that can indeed gives us confidence as Paul expressed here, knowing that we are absent from the Lord now, but we are still going to be present with Him in the future, and you know what? That pure fellowship with the Father is what we should yearn for.

3. Whether in the body or absent from the body, goal is to please the Lord. 

Continuing in the text, we find the absolute most important key for Christian living. One that solidifies why OUR condition wouldn't lead us to distress. And that key is that we are all about being accepted of the Lord. II Corinthians 5:9 explains,

"Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him."

The main thing that should be accepted here is not so much that we are striving to be accepted of the Lord. The idea of pleasing or being accepted of the Lord is something that we've heard enough that it is ingrained in our very identity.

No, the point that should be seen is that we are striving or labouring to be accepted of the Lord. Being accepted of the Lord is not something that will just come to us. We can't magically expect all things to work out beautifully for us if we don't put in the effort.

Obviously, we need to remember that acceptance of God at salvation is by faith alone and no labor is required, but as Paul writes this passage to Christians, his focus and idea is that to please the Lord after salvation, we must work. But why would we bother? II Corinthians 5:10-13 explain,

"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences. For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that ye may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance, and not in heart. For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we be sober, it is for your cause."

We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. That provides us with a terror, knowing that the truly eternal actions that we committed whether we were storing up treasures in heaven, or treasures here are going to come back and haunt us.

We don't want to glory in just the appearance we can show off to other Christians because that won't truly serve us when we get to heaven and the Lord who knows our hearts is there to judge us for our wrongdoing. Perhaps this is why the apostle Paul is so interested in serving the Lord and others with his life.

Or maybe it goes deeper. Maybe the real reason why we should be ok with suffering for Christ's sake is what he has done for us. II Corinthians 5:14-17,

"For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

When we become in Christ (another of my mentor's favorite biblical phrases), we become a new creature. We are called into living a different life. Paul described this in verse 15 above that we are not to "henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again."

The love of Christ in out lives constrain us. We know that we were all once dead. That no matter how many good deeds we did (or how rich we were), we were dead in our trespasses and sins, and needed the Lord to do something miraculous.

And He did. He owed is nothing, but He loved us so that He came down in human form to die for our sins. And when we accept Him, we are repenting of our sin. We are to stop serving ourselves and commit to serving God. We are to live, as Psalm 116 expresses, in complete obligation and thanksgiving to the Lord.

You all have heard before how at a competition for preaching, singing, and my personal favorite, Bible Quizzing, there was a banner that read,

"He died for me; the least I could do was live for Him." 

You also might remember my Iron Man illustration. Quoting from the post, "Internet, Iron Man, and Indebtedness," 

"In the movie Iron Man. Mr. Stark is fatally injured and should very well die. Through the surgery of one Yinsen, Tony's life has been saved. Stark and Yinsen plan a daring escape from their imprisonment (by the way, they've been imprisoned), and in the process, Yinsen dies. His last words to Tony are simple.

          'Don't waste it. Don't waste your life.' 

Tony's life has been spared twice by the man Yinsen, and the last words seem to have an effect on Tony. He understands that he is greatly blessed, and responds accordingly. In an important point of the film, he tells Pepper simply,

          'I shouldn't be alive... I'm not crazy, Pepper. I just finally know what I have to do.           And I know in my heart that it's right.'

I know the deepness of what I'm about to say is going to blow your mind, but here goes anyway. Jesus gave Himself to give us a blessing far greater than Tony's. Instead of having a chance at happiness in temporal life, Jesus died to give us guaranteed happiness for all eternity.

Tony responded to his blessing with a changed outlook and different behavior choices to pass on a better world to those around him. We as Christians should respond to our blessings with a different focus in life, and a strong desire and great boldness to better people's eternal (and temporal) situations."

We are indebted to Christ, and we ought to labor for the sake of being pleasing to the Lord. And we ought not to think it too big a deal to do so. We ought to be willing to bend over backwards to be accepted of the Lord. To quote Psalm 116:12,

"What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me?"

I'm glad you asked. The Lord doesn't leave us hanging on what specifically would be pleasing to Him. Obviously, there would be a large part of the Bible, revealing God's character, and what would thus please Him. But our text has an answer for that as well. In what I promise to be the last part of our text today (thank you for reading this far; I am kinda impressed), let's look at II Corinthians 5:18-21, 

"And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."

Ministers of reconciliation, ambassadors of Christ, evangelists fulfilling the Great Commission. I guess that's how we are able to please the Lord. And with that mission, I guess we can look at trouble, and see it as a benefit for others because we are living our live to please God by serving others.

 

A Thank You Note

It's been an interesting and kinda difficult week. And it's not because it's Finals week either. Finals have been extremely stress-free, as I did my first one yesterday at 1. Yes, it's been a couple of good long days of studying for good old test-taking.

But there have been circumstances that are hardly ideal about my life here. And no this is not a still technically teenage boy being melodramatic about relationships with the ladies.

Sadly, it would be wrong for me to share these circumstances with you as they are not mine to tell, but what I do want to share is how well the Lord was able to equip me for them.

This blog post that I haven't exactly started (I should shave down my intros) will be simply a public expression of gratitude toward God. If that doesn't interest you, feel free to close your browser tab now.

The Lord put me in a place on Tuesday night where I was heavily realizing all the good that He had done for my life. It was a simple place to put me. I was doing mindless-dishwashing-I-get-paid-for-this-so-I-won't-complain-about-the-repetition work in the dining hall and so I had time to reflect on my life.

This reflection led to a great time to recharge with the Lord. Which was exceptional, since it would be shortly after getting back when I would begin to get hit head-first with the curse (as my beloved OT prof would say regarding trying times).

I don't know how different my perspective could have been or how much more devastated I would have been (not gonna lie, it was pretty devastating) had I not been able to reflect on God's actions to me over just the last semester. That framing was what I thought helped me cope.

But it wasn't like I was guaranteed to be working in the dining hall that day. It was only the second shift that I had elected to take this semester. Thus, it was possible that this entire area of perspective then wouldn't have happened.

Even further though, the timing is important. If I had worked the shift after I had received the news, I would have spent my time being able to reflect, reflecting solely on the negative things that were happening. I wouldn't have acknowledged the richness of God's blessings. In the end, I would likely have become bitter with God.

But God didn't allow that to happen because He knew what I needed to do. He knew where He needed me and at what time He needed me there. So He placed me there in the dining hall with time for Him.

So are the ways that the Lord is able to work in our lives. Why don't I make the time for Him more often? Why do I have to take a dining hall shift to realize the beauty of who He is and what He has done and probably still will do for Me?

And next time, I might reflect on what it means that this blog post talks almost exclusively about God doing things for me, rather than just how great He is, because of His nature. Isn't it amazing how God showed me that as I wrote this?

Why the Mighty Have Fallen: A Sequel

Last September, I was reading through the book of Job and wrote a couple of blog posts based off the lessons that my reading of the book brought me through. One of them expressed a little on how the mighty man named Job, who was "a perfect and upright man, one who feareth God and escheweth evil," fell from grace to the point of accusing God of prying into his life.

While I decently well articulated some of the ways in which Job fell from grace as it were, I spent no time explaining specifically why Job struggled with this suffering. Job was a pure man, why when suffering came, did he suddenly fall into disarray? 

The opening dialogue between Satan and God probably provides us our answer. In this dialogue, we hear God proclaim the purity of Job. To respond, Satan doesn't deny Job's character - that apparently is undeniable. Instead, he asks God a simple question, 

"Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face."

Apparently, Satan is convinced that Job serves the Lord for the material gain and blessings that the Lord places upon him, rather than for the relationship itself. In other words, Satan is convinced that Job is more interested in serving Gd as a matter of a sort of economic contract - Job serves God, God serves Job - than out of a pure and true relationship or love for God.

Satan is convinced that Job loves God because Job loves Job, because Job receives a benefit.

So how would you test Satan's theory? That would be the entire book of Job, where Satan is given the opportunity to take away the "hedge" that the Lord had made around him. That indeed is what we see Satan suggesting in the passage quoted above.

So why did Job fall? It would appear obvious from the very first chapter that the book is testing Job's motivations. If Job fails that test (and he eventually does), that's probably an indication that his motivations were not where they should have been.

Which then leads to the all-important question - why do you love God? Because of your own gain, or because of God? Do you have a relationship or do you have an economic contract? Why do you serve the Lord today?

Life is too Short

I've been soaring through Finals week over here, and I'm just about ready to go home. But I have also reached a conclusion that I am pretty much insane because this Finals week here has been one of the most fun weeks I've had in a while. Yes, I have immensely enjoyed Finals week. I'm confused too.

As I continued to work my way slowly through the book of Psalms, I came across a psalm written by Moses. Indeed, it is specifically Psalm 90.

Through much of Moses' life, you would have expected him to be very much familiar with the frailty of life. As miraculous as it was for him to be spared in the first place, can you imagine growing up knowing that several from your generation your kinsfolk were killed as babies? Can you imagine knowing that your people were slaves living a life of turmoil? Yes, Moses indeed understood the trauma of the world.

So it comes as no surprise when he makes reference to the brevity of life in Psalm 90:10-14,

"The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath. So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Return, O Lord, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants. O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days."

So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Moses knew one thing from all of his experiences with the trials in the midst of his life - life is too short not to spend it wisely serving the Lord, not to spend it rejoicing in God's mercy.

I believe the challenge speaks for itself.

Contentment and Sadness: An Unusual Relationship

Ecclesiastes 6, which we discussed forever ago, is all about how we should be content in the position that we find ourselves in. It seems odd that immediately thereafter Solomon begins discussing the merit and value of sorrow.

Yet that is what we see in Ecclesiastes 7:1-4, 

"A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one's birth. It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart. Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth."

Now of course, the rationale for sorrow being beneficial is along the lines of James 1, in that suffering make the countenance of the heart better.

But I believe this illustrates (though doesn't prove) that contentment and joy does not imply that one is happy all the time. It is entirely acceptable to shed some tears now and then. One does not need to be an emotionless robot (or stoic) to find contentment in his circumstances.

Contentment acknowledges that the situation is undesirable but trusts God to give fulfillment in the situation anyway. It does not ignore hardship in the name of contentment.

Oh How the Mighty have Fallen!

Last week, we examined the life of Job and how he had a proper perspective on the suffering that had been placed in his life. By understanding that he is not entitled to the blessings that God has given Him, we see clearly why Job was called, "a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God and escheweth evil."

But Job's excellent perspective doesn't last forever. After his wonderful friends (read in a sarcastic tone) tell him that he is being punished for his iniquity before God, Job's response indicates a troublesome perspective on what God should be doing in his life.

It starts innocently enough. Job is going through so much struggle in his life that he begins to wish that he had never been born in the first place. Everything has been taken away from him, and his health is now deteriorating. He feels miserable, and as everyone knows, men take sickness in wimpier ways than do women, so that's probably happening here too.

It is not in vain that he states in Job 3:3-5,

"Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived. Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it. Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it."

But of course, his suffering will soon leave him in a little bit more interesting position. Let's just stop with me boringly narrating and get to the point. In Job 7, Job replies to his friends by saying that the Lord brings suffering both to the just and the unjust (the most common theme taken from the book of Job), but then he goes on to say that if God were indeed correcting his actions, he'd rather be left in sin, than go through this discomfort.

But let's not take my word for it. Let's look to Job's exact words in Job 7:17-21,

 "What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him? and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him? And that thou shouldest visit him every morning, and try him every moment? How long wilt thou not depart from me, nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle? I have sinned; what shall I do unto thee, O thou preserver of men? why hast thou set me as a mark against thee, so that I am a burden to myself? And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away my iniquity? for now shall I sleep in the dust; and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be."

Oh, Lord, you just really shouldn't care about lowly man to convict him of his sin. To convict him of his sin is to put a burden upon that man, and why should you care to make him better?

But it quickly seems to deteriorate to a much worse position. In his next reply, Job mentions how God has sovereignty over all events of man. At which point, he begins to say, it doesn't matter how he interacts with the Lord, as the Lord will do what He will regardless.

Indeed, according to Job here, even prayer is not helpful in any of these situations. Listen in on Job 9:16, 

"If I had called, and he had answered me; yet would I not believe that he had hearkened unto my voice."

Ouchey-ouch. That's really all there is to say, And Job 10:2-3 makes an even more compelling case against God,

 "I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou contendest with me. Is it good unto thee that thou shouldest oppress, that thou shouldest despise the work of thine hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked?"

But my goal today was not exclusively to write a hit piece on Job, condemning him to the pits of hell. Job would later repent of much wrongdoing done in the book of Job, and I was reading through the book to see what that wrongdoing specifically looked like over these last few days. This is how far I have gotten.

But to share this particular endeavor of Job's frailties is still more than an intellectual exercise. I believe it can be instructive to us to see how this mighty man - this man who was "perfect and upright, one that feareth God and escheweth evil" - could fall to such a perspective.

No matter who we are, we must be cautious and know that we are not above being tempted and brought down. We must not give into a prideful feeling of how solid our relationship with the Lord is. As soon as we do, we might find ourselves like Job falling into sin.

But we can learn even more specific lessons from the life of Job as presented here. To begin with, one should never desire comfort over conviction of sin. Yes, the Lord's correction can be painful. The Bible does not say for naught (Twice!) that the Lord "Chastens" whom He loves.

It won't be a pleasant experience, but it will be a worthwhile experience that presents true opportunities to rest greater in a relationship with the Lord. It is as the Bible says,

"For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh in us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." 

Second, we must not ever use the sovereignty of God as an excuse for sin in our lives. We don't need to witness to those around us because God is in control and will make them come to know Him as He directs anyway. The Lord's sovereignty is not an excuse for our laziness. He still wants us to support and serve Him.

But if we get too wrapped up in us, we might find ourselves falling into a sinful. We might, like Job, fall into disarray. Let's not be mighty men (and women) of faith who fall. But let's actually be mighty men (and women) of faith. That part sounds pretty snazzy.

What does it Matter? Life's Not Fair

Trials and persecution. I wrote a series about this facet of our lives. One of the things I stressed was that it would happen to anyone whether that person lived a good life or not. Indeed we all know that life's just not fair.

But how often have we heard (at least on the television) people use that expression as an excuse to justify their injustices towards others? Apparently since life is full of suffering already, it doesn't matter if we should add more suffering into the mix.

So here's a radical life principle - just because suffering is bound to come to the believer, doesn't mean it should come from within the church. The Bible uses the imagery of a family to describe a church quite often. Now I would at least hope that within your own family, you would not be willing to add to the suffering simply because they're going to suffer anyway.

Now of course, I'm sure few Christians would either decide to intentionally hurt others in order to advance their own selfish desires or to push others down to build themselves up. But it seems all too easy from my experience to do so unintentionally. In my life, it comes as a complete desire to be right, causing me to unfortunately pummel straight through any conflicting theory and its owner.

But it can come in other ways too. You see, we can attack each other selfishly without even necessarily knowing we are doing anything wrong. Thus, we must take time to evaluate our behaviour to see how we would be feeling if we were in the opposite position.

Now of course there are situations in which we just can't help but hurt somebody else. Our obligations to ourselves, to our family, or to the Lord force us to act in a way that is sure to cause emotional agony for someone else. In these situations, the only thing you can do is try to be as direct and delicate as possible.

Hurt feelings might not seem like a significant issue, but this phenomena is not limited to hurt feelings. Indeed we are discussing a number of areas where people can so easily hurt others, but the truth is, we won't do much good fighting the enemy, if we are instead fighting each other.

We will be able to do more to protect ourselves as a unified force than every man for himself. Take for instance, during the time of Esther, when the Jews had to fight for their lives. Naturally, the Lord protected them, as He would us today. But they still had to prepare to fight.

Each man did not protect his own family of his own might either. Rather, the Jews came together to fight as a unit. Esther 9:2 proclaims,

"The Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, to lay hand on such as sought their hurt: and no man could withstand them; for the fear of them fell upon all people."

Look at how effective unity can be. But then we all know that it is not easy to work with someone who manipulated his way into a position that you think you deserve (I know not really Christian behavior on either side there). Nor is it easy to work with someone that you know you have unnecessarily hurt at some point in your life.

So with that, I ask simply, let's strive to not cause suffering to other members of the family of God, but instead to do the exact opposite. As the Bible commands in Philippians 2:1-4,

"If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others."

The Way Out of Suffering

The Jews are in captivity in Persia. Life isn't all together horrible for them though. In what is likely the reign of the prior king, Daniel has ascribed to great power and station.

So the situation is not so bleak for the Jews... Yet. You see, the King Ahasuerus of Persia has recently promoted a man named Haman. Ahasuerus has even gone so far as to delegate his legislative powers to Haman.

This would be all well and good if Haman didn't have a grudge against the Jews, and decided to use his power to decree that all the Jews should be destroyed on the 13th day of the 12th month, that is the month Adar (February/March).

Of course, we all know this story. The Lord had provided for a Jew by the name of Esther to be Ahasuerus' queen. After a convincing speech by Mordecai, Esther agrees to risk her life for an opportunity to save the Jews. In her resolve, she states In Esther 4:16, 

"Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish."

 Esther is given favour of the king, and is granted her request to save the Jews (yes, I know this version is much abridged; if you want the whole story, read the book of Esther!). Thus, Esther's cousin Mordecai is given permission to write up a decree.

But all is not as cheery at this point as it may seem. You see, Haman's decree was written with the king's name and sealed with the king's name. As such, it has all of the authority of the king. But Esther 8:8 tells us that no man (not even the king) can reverse that which has been decreed by the king's authority.

"Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh you, in the king's name, and seal it with the king's ring: for the writing which is written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring, may no man reverse."

Thus, as Mordecai writes with the king's power, he is not able to entirely reverse the work of Haman. All people of Persia will still have consent to hunt down and destroy as many Jews as they possibly can upon the thirteenth day of the month Adar. All Mordecai can do is give the Jews a legal right to self-defense.

It would seem that this is a small thing. Why didn't the Lord just allow for the situation to be resolved without any fighting necessary?

This would seem to be our first response in a crisis such as this. Indeed in my life, there has been a situation that I greatly wanted the Lord to resolve immediately. I wasn't happy with the opportunity He has provided for me to work through the issue over a period of time.

The Lord promises to strengthen our efforts, but he does sometimes actually require our efforts. We need to find contentment with the route that He has provided to get us out of our own crises. Through this book, the Lord was able to reprove me in this manner, and cause me to find some contentment.

Of course, the Jews in this story found contentment so much quicker. When the decree was sent out to all the land, they responded immediately with rejoicing for their opportunity to save their lives, the opportunity to get themselves out of their tribulation. Esther 8:17 explains,

"And in every province, and in every city, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them."

 Ultimately, the Lord did strengthen their efforts and get them out of the pickle that Haman had put them in. In Esther 9:2, we learn that "No man could withstand them."

There of course will be times when the Lord will get you out of a struggle without any effort from yourself (Haman's attempt to hang Mordecai in Esther 5-6 is an excellent example; here Mordecai likely did not even know his life was ever in danger), but that is not always the route He chooses to use. We must learn to be content with His own path for us, and know that no matter how difficult it may seem, we will find more difficulty without His guidance and protective hand.

Trials and Persecution 7: Day of Reflection

It is with a sad heart that I write this post today. This post will be the last of the series posts that have been the Wednesday posts over the duration of this blog. It is the first and hopefully only casualty this blog takes from the very soon not as flexible schedule my life will file under. A greater announcement regarding that will come next Wednesday.

But the show must go on; we have business to attend to today that isn't related to that which pertains to these series as a whole.

In life, we are bound to experience trials. There are self-help and encouragement books galore to show us how to survive and thrive through the struggles we find in our lives. Indeed some have gone as far as to say that success happens simply when people are able to overcome those obstacles in their life that would so easily beset them.

If success truly is determined by our abilities to overcome suffering, then we ought to be able to understand all that suffering encompasses. Truly, it makes sense that there are so many books dedicated to suffering. This is just another one of those written types of presentation regarding hardship for the Christian. But I would hope that thus far I have stumbled upon a certain amount of encouraging truth.

Let us review our discussion of the trials and persecution that a Christian will inevitably face by examining the history of suffering throughout the Bible.

Cause of Suffering

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." 

Thus begins the Bible in Genesis 1:1. This is then the beginning of the world as we know it. Through the rest of the chapter, we hear about how the Lord created everything that we know. He declares of course after everything that he created, that it was good. 

Indeed it was perfect in complete harmony and bliss. Adam and Eve were placed in this utopia by the Lord, and the Lord even went so far as to warn them of which fruit was good to eat and which would cause certain death to interrupt their eternal bliss. But Adam and Eve decided they knew better than the Lord did, and ate the forbidden fruit anyway. Since that time, we've seen that the Lord was right, death and suffering of a both temporal and eternal kind were introduced into the lives of humans, all because of sin. 

Now we must be careful here. Just because the ultimate cause of all suffering is sin, does not mean that all individual suffering comes from a direct result of sin. Indeed, hardship can also come as a means of avoiding greater trials, a temptation from the devil, and to increase our faith for greater service to the Lord. 

It is impossible to tell for sure why each trial we see in the world is happening, but we best not assume that it is all because of sin. The book of Job among other portions of Scripture show us that this is not the case.

Cessation of Eternal Suffering

Adam and Eve have now reproduced and the world is populated. Through the seed of Adam, all man has been born evil, with nary a glimpse of righteousness in their minds. Men have a code of morality, and some men appear to live fairly decent lives based on it. But in Isaiah 64:6, we learn that even the good works we do are nothing righteous at all.

"But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away."

We remember that this sin in our lives is going to lead us through a life of suffering into the ultimate and eternal suffering. It is a pretty bleak scenario.

But the Lord is gracious. Just as He didn't give up on humanity after the fall in the first place, He hasn't left them to eternal suffering even now. He uses His omnipotent and sovereign power to supernaturally cause Himself to be born into this world without the evil seed of Adam.

At this point, God Himself calling Himself Jesus is a second and final Adam. He once again is placed in a world with no sin at first, and then was tempted just as anyone else would be. Yet through this all, Jesus did not sin.

Then in the end of it all, he went through the ultimate suffering on the cross, both physically and emotionally, as a penalty for the sins of the world. Jesus' atoning sacrifice promises to eliminate the eternal suffering of those who would accept it as punishment for their actions.

Notice though that Jesus' sacrifice doesn't promise anything regarding the hardship we face in our own world. The temporal trials that we face will not be magically gone once we trust in Jesus. In fact, if we truly trust in Jesus and follow in His words, the persecution we face should increase. Look at 2 Timothy 3:12,

"Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution."

Salvation and Christianity are not about having a fulfilled, wealthy life here on earth; it is about our eternal life being more abundant in the end. However, Christ doesn't leave us hanging out to dry nonetheless.

Christ's Strength through Suffering

Knowing that serving the Lord would only produce results that are troubling to our lives, we might be tempted to just decide to give up. Trust that the Lord will keep His promises to grant us eternal life. With our eternal suffering taken care of, we should see what we can do about working through that temporal suffering too. 

Before you jump the ship that quickly, ask yourself, are you really prepared to go through trials and persecution without the Lord's presence, and without His strength in your life? Because whether you serve Him or not, hardship will find you. The only difference is, whether you have someone to help you in the crisis. (I'm going to neglect to mention that serving the Lord stores up eternal treasures in Heaven, so you can consider the persecution it beings in this Earth an investment.)

You see, as if the Lord hadn't done enough already by giving us both life and eternal life by His grace, He also decided that He is going to always be there for us to comfort us in all manner of our conversation in this world. Jesus Christ our Lord promises to strengthen us so we can manage to survive through any suffering that may befall us. As Sarah Arthur brilliantly puts it, 

"Jesus fought the war and has come back to help us win our battles." 

Paul explains in much more detail in Philippians 4:11-13,

 "Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

After all that the Lord has done for me in relation to His grace, I'd say that I am willing to suffer a little for His sake, knowing that His presence is better than being comfortable in my life. With all the love He has given me, I would like to be able to please Him as I would any other person who cared about me so deeply.

Trials and Persecution 6: Together for Good

Many Christians like to point to the truths included in Romans 8:28 in a time of trial.

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

This verse is commonly used as encouragement to those suffering, that ultimately all of the persecution we have in our life will ultimately work to provide us with a happier, more fulfilled life. But this is not a proper interpretation of this verse.

Yes it is true that occasionally we will see suffering working in order to save us from further harm, but nowhere does this verse truly tell us that we are to receive a fulfilled and abundant life on earth. If we examine the rest of Scriptures (particularly the New Testament) we learn that we are to live our lives for the glory and honor of God, and that truly that is the only purpose we have in life.

Thus, when it says that all things work together for good, why do we start to selfishly think that this good is something that is good for us? Nowhere in Scripture does it guarantee that our lives will be pleasant. They certainly can be joyful despite what we go through. But we have to acknowledge that our lives will bring persecution if we are truly living for God. Remember the words of 2 Timothy 3:12,

"Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution."

That persecution is in my mind, a small price in order to please the Lord, but it is a price. Pleasing the Lord does not promise rewards in this life.

In this life. That one phrase highlights a few deeper problem in Christian culture in relation to this verse. Since when have we become so concerned with the rewards we can receive temporarily on Earth anyway? Shouldn't we be more focused upon eternal rewards?

Yes, our eternal life is presented purely on the basis of the works of Jesus and our faith in Him. But our works can have an impact on the rewards that we will receive in Heaven. For instance, in 2 Timothy 4:7-8, we read,

"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing."

We are promised rewards throughout Scripture for our service to the Lord, but they are always promised in eternity. In this world, we will have tribulation. In this world, we might not have the most enjoyable time. But in the next, we will have rewards.

I know this isn't the popular thing to say. Perhaps it is because it is a depressing subject that nobody wants to hear about.

But if there is one thing the Bible is clear about, it is this - the end of Christianity, the reason Christ came and died, was for our eternal benefit and not our temporal one.

When we interpret Romans 8:28 to refer to our temporal gain, we have divorced Christian life from its entire purpose. We have started to gain the wrong perspective on how we are to live our lives. Our ultimate goal has become to store up treasures on Earth, and not in Heaven. But Matthew 6:19-33 admonishes us,

"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? ... Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."

So as we go through our suffering in today's society, we do have this consolation from Romans 8:28, all things work together for the Lord's and our eternal gain. That's still a pretty encouraging thought to me.

Continue to Trials and Persecution 7: Day of Reflection

Forgiveness or Forgetfulness?

There was once a little girl. She was an Israelite. Little is known of her family, but she remembers them even if noone else does. She was taken from her family, her friends, her people, and everything she knew in the world to become a servant girl in the house of Naaman.

When one is placed in this position, one would expect much anger to be directed at those around them. Certainly if I was in this position, I would be looking at Naaman's situation and consistently holding a grudge hoping that my masters would find suffering. That the Lord might reward them according to the harm he has afflicted me.

This is a natural reaction. Whenever anyone hurts us, no matter how small, we tend to become angry at them. Now imagine if that were escalated to the point where everything you hold dear was taken away from you.

That is where this little girl is. We know that she has a memory of her life in Israel. We know that she might not ever attain to find her way back there again, yet here we are seeing her without wishing that her masters will have some harm fall upon them.

Instead, this little servant girl has a fervent care and compassion for her masters. When she sees that Naaman has leprosy, her thought isn't, "About time! You really thought the Lord would let you get away with taking one of His people to be your slave?!?"

But her thought as told to us in 2 Kings 5:3,

"Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy."

What an example! I must confess I don't follow this example. Whenever anyone hurts me, even in the small way of keeping me from sitting where I wanted to, I start to get angry and it becomes difficult for me to forgive and forget so that I can begin to actually care about the other person.

I can't help but think that I am not alone. Can you imagine that you could forgive someone who had only ever wronged you? The Lord says that we are to forgive up to seven times seventy times. We are to love our enemies. Here we have the ultimate example. Having compassion on those who have harmed us.

Trials and Persecution 5: Surviving the Suffering

The Christian walk isn't always easy. We will have suffering and persecution within our life. This fact is guaranteed in Scripture. When we are faced with such trials, we always want to blame someone. We want to be able to take it to the man.

This is especially true when we undergo these difficulties while serving the Lord wholly, perhaps only because we are serving the Lord wholly. Far from our reactions is the admonition in 1 Peter 2: 19-23, 

"For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously."

Jesus is our ultimate example in the midst of crises. (Actually, Jesus is our ultimate example in everything!) Jesus when He suffered wrongfully, didn't lash out - He didn't try to attack those who were harming Him. He took it patiently.

Now this isn't necessarily to say that we have to sit and watch as people destroy us. If someone is beating us up in an alley, we have a right to use any available resources to ensure we live. What it does mean is that we should not be holding grudgeful vendettas against those who have wronged us in the past.

There could be many different reasons that can be given for this fact: that the Lord will be judging them in eternity, that we are only better than them by the grace of God, and that they need that grace themselves. All of these are wonderful reasons, but the one that the Lord has been showing me in the last few months (and further in the last day; I'm glad the Lord had me schedule this blog post to be written precisely when I needed the truths therein), has been one slightly peripheral to these issues.

In John 16, the Lord spends time preparing the disciples for what lies ahead of them. He prepares them for their suffering. Before he begins to express the aspects of their lives that will be troubling, He tells them that those who persecute them may not have such impure motivations as they might think. John 16:2 proclaims,

"They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service."

To me, once I can understand the motivations behind someone's actions, I have a hard time condemning that person. Instead I want to concentrate my time on helping them to see the flaw in their application of such things.

This is a key glue that holds families together. Let's be honest, when you spend a lot of time with another human being, you will often have a few conflicts. You might even be buffeted for your faults or when you do well. In fact, I can pretty much guarantee that will happen.

But due to love and a simple understanding of the underlying motivations in their heart, you are able to forgive them, and though you are probably still saddened by their words and actions, you are not likely to be so angry.

This same principle can and should be true of everyone that hurts us, whether they be of God's people or not. We ought to try to look at things from their perspective. Not only might it help us to not become angry at each other, but it might even show us our own flaws in how we interacted with others.

But beyond just being an example in suffering, Jesus does so much more to help us in our daily walk with him. As I previously quoted, Sarah Arthur explains,

"Jesus fought the war and came back to help us win the battles."

The Lord has provided many different ways in which to help us through the suffering that we have in our life. You see, when He saved us, He didn't leave us to our own devices to figure out how to serve Him and how to survive the suffering without a guide. Rather He promises us that if we seek Him, we will find Him, that He will never leave us or forsake us, and that He will send us another Comforter, that is, the Holy Spirit.

And that is a blessing beyond which anyone of us deserves, and one that will ease the pain of our suffering and perhaps allow us to sing in prison like Paul and Silas, or just to show joy regardless of our circumstances.

We know that He is able to carry us through our struggles. We know that this omnipotent God has the power to comfort us within our crises. The power of this world and the suffering it inflicts upon us are of no consequence. Whenever you feel that it does, remind yourself of John 16:32-33,

"Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."

Surviving the suffering requires no special effort from ourselves. It requires nothing but a surrender to the will of God, to His strength and to His protection in our lives. It is best that we not hold grudges in this situation, but simply wait on the Lord and let Him guide us through. It is by His strength alone that we can take struggles patiently and find contentment in even the most depressing circumstances.

As Paul writes in Philippians 4:11-13,

"Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

Continue to Trials and Persecution 6: Together for Good

Trials and Persecution 4: Proper Focus

Last Thursday night, I heard an elementary-age child preach a short sermon to our church's congregation. If you can believe it, he actually presented a truth that I think many Christians desperately need to hear. As he preached on faith, he proclaimed simply,

"Does faith have a reward? Yes you can please God." 

It is not everyday that we consider the very act of pleasing God a reward in and of itself. Typically we think of pleasing the Lord as a means to an end. We consider it a prerequisite for receiving blessings in this life and the next.

Now indeed there is nothing wrong with desiring blessings in your lives, but why is that the sole reason we serve God? Shouldn't pleasing the Lord truly be a reward unto itself?

After all, when we make our friends or spouses laugh, we accept that smile as a reward for our efforts. We take joy in pleasing those that we care about and that are important to us. Indeed we will go to great lengths to ensure that we please those close to us, not for some ulterior motive, but just for the purpose of seeing them happy.

But who in our lives should we care about the most or be the closest to, but the Lord? We all know that the Lord has made many wonderful provisions for us whether in suffering or not. He with no obligation to whatsoever, has gone out of his way to make our lives worthwhile while we are basically nothing in comparison to him.

I John 4:10 states simply,

"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."

God loving us is not a trivial matter. It's not what one would expect in such a situation. It's not the norm for someone so magnificent to condescend to love someone so below his station.

At risk of belittling this love, look at class divisions today. It can be hard for a pastor to respect a prostitute, but it is usually not difficult for a prostitute to respect a pastor. Amplify that by infinity, and you have Jesus and us.

It should be very easy for us to love the Lord for what he has done for us. In so doing, we would have no other purpose than to sit and think about living entirely for him. As the banner I've mentioned previously states,

"He died for me. The least I can do is live for Him." 

If we truly understand these principles when we are in a trial in our lives, the trial begins to be inconsequential. It becomes rather light in comparison to the goal that is dominating our lives to serve and please the Lord, no matter the cost.

And that should be our focus, whether we're in a trial or not.

Continue to Trials and Persecution 5: Surviving Suffering

You are Not Alone

There is a point of focus in the Christian community today that people are going to persecute you for your actions if you defend God. Due to a desire to remain ignorant of God's wisdom, rebukes tend to fall on deaf ears.

Many Christians have allowed this to discourage them -to convince them that no one cares for God anymore. This is not just a recent phenomena.

In the Bible, Elijah famously begins to follow this same course of discouragement. He feels as if he is all alone and simply requests that the Lord takes his life. His reasoning is explained in 1 Kings 19:10,

"And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."

 Elijah becomes discouraged because he believes that all his service has been for naught. In his eyes, despite his best efforts to revive the spirit of the children of Israel to the Lord, all have now gone and served other gods.

But the Lord corrects him in I Kings 19:18,

"Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him."

Elijah is told that he is not alone. The simple fact is that although many may dispute and punish you for spreading God's wisdom, there is almost always someone looking for it without knowing where he could find it. So continue spreading God's wisdom and know that you are not alone, no matter how you may feel.

Trials and Persecution 3: The Purpose of Suffering

When anyone goes through times of suffering, the thing they really want to know is why. This is the question they might shout out to God, ask their Pastor, or beg to know from all their friends. There really is no direct answer to why suffering is in this world.

Of course, we know that all suffering came as a result of Adam's sin in the garden. But this does not follow then that all suffering happens from a direct cause and effect relationship between sin and its consequences. However, it is definitely true that some suffering is a direct result of sin in our lives.

So where does that leave us? Truthfully, it leaves us with little ability to ascertain which reasons our individual trials are in place to pursue. But we do have from Scripture some clear indication of a few purposes behind suffering in specific circumstances. That is what we will look at today.

To Avoid Stronger Suffering

It may seem to be an interesting thought to you, but sometimes the struggle that you are in is actually the lesser of two evils when it comes to your life. There are times when the Lord clearly puts His people through a lesser trial to avoid a stronger one or to end one that could not be finished otherwise. 

Take for instance, the Exodus and the Red Sea. In the geography of the day, there were much easier ways to travel than that which the Lord presented them to go on. They could have travelled completely without having to cross the Red Sea at all. 

But the Lord didn't lead them those other ways, and they experienced some inconvenience along this road. And then the Egyptians cornered them at the Red Sea, and they felt discouraged as there was nowhere possibly for them to go! The Lord of course delivered them from this trial, and they were able to see His power greater. But why did he allow them to go through this process in the first place? Well, Exodus 13:17 declares, 

"And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt."

The Israelites' faith was not strong enough for them to persist when they found themselves at war with the Philistines. So the Lord directed them the long way around, to show himself mighty, increase their faith, and to avoid the suffering that would have been the end of their journey to the Promised Land.

But this is not the only example I have seen. In the days of Nehemiah, there was great suffering in Jerusalem. The walls had broken down, and the people were not protected from any assault by their enemies. Nehemiah became burdened with this situation, and he took and cast that burden upon the Lord.

Ultimately, the Lord allowed Nehemiah to gain permission from King Artaxerxes to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the wall. But rebuilding the wall is not the only thing that Nehemiah did when he returned to Jerusalem. Indeed in chapter 5, Nehemiah learns that the children of Israel's affliction goes beyond the lack of protection from the wall.

There was a famine in the land, and in order to pay their tribute and be able to eat, the Israelites have been forced to mortgage their lands, houses, and the rest of their property. In many families, their children were being sold into slavery just to survive. To make matters worse, the rulers of the city had neglected their brethren the Jews and seemed much more insistent on keeping their own luxuries.

Nehemiah would have none of that! Nehemiah 5:6-12 tells the rest of the story,

"And I was very angry when I heard their cry and these words. Then I consulted with myself, and I rebuked the nobles, and the rulers, and said unto them, Ye exact usury, every one of his brother. And I set a great assembly against them. And I said unto them, We after our ability have redeemed our brethren the Jews, which were sold unto the heathen; and will ye even sell your brethren? or shall they be sold unto us? Then held they their peace, and found nothing to answer. Also I said, It is not good that ye do: ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the heathen our enemies? I likewise, and my brethren, and my servants, might exact of them money and corn: I pray you, let us leave off this usury. Restore, I pray you, to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their oliveyards, and their houses, also the hundredth part of the money, and of the corn, the wine, and the oil, that ye exact of them. Then said they, We will restore them, and will require nothing of them; so will we do as thou sayest. Then I called the priests, and took an oath of them, that they should do according to this promise."

This had been a time of great suffering in the Israelites. It ended here because Nehemiah wouldn't stand for this type of behaviour. But had the wall not been broken down and that suffering not have occurred, it is very unlikely that Nehemiah would have ever made it to Jerusalem to see this travail of the people.

Time does not allow me to speak of Joseph and how his suffering allowed him to save his brothers from famine, nor Jesus and how his suffering freed those who would believe from eternal suffering.

Correction of Sin

Yes as I mentioned in the first place there are obvious times when the Lord used suffering as punishment for the sin that they have committed. The book of Judges for instance is entirely dedicated to the Lord putting the Israelites into captivity and thus suffering because of sin that they have committed. 

But I think that the direct cause to effect relationship between sin and some suffering goes beyond just a simple punishment to a correction of error. We do learn simply in Hebrews 12:5-11, 

"And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby."

The best example of this chastening purpose of suffering is the life of Jonah. Jonah went through much hardship (swallowed by a whale, I mean...) because he disobeyed the Lord's command to go to Nineveh to preach and tried instead to travel the opposite direction.  The Lord put him in this travail so that by the end of the book, Jonah was again obeying the Lord to rebuke the people of Nineveh for their sins.

Temptation

Occasionally, the affliction that we find ourselves in is simply Satan looking for an opportunity to cause you to err. Indeed it's not always the sin that causes the suffering. Sometimes it's the other way around. 

Such a situation is the life of Job. Job is a very rich man and a servant of the Lord. The Devil wonders about whether Job would have such a strong commitment to the Lord should he undergo a trial in his life. He assumes that if he just had his family and his possessions taken away, he would certainly curse God. In fact in Job 1:9-12, we read, 

"Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord."

But Satan is mistaken. Despite the loss of his family and the loss of his goods, he does not curse God. Even when Satan is later given the opportunity to hurt Job's health, and cause all of Job's friends to turn against him -  not even then did Job turn from following his Lord.

Now that is an example that we should all be willing to follow. Perhaps too often in our prayers, we ask that we or someone we know be saved from having any trials or difficulties in our lives when we really just need to pray that the Lord will give us the strength to persevere through this suffering without any error and sin, and that the Lord will use it to teach us and cause our faith to be increased. But that latter option is the next - and final -  reason for suffering.

The Testing of our Faith

We are told throughout the Scriptures that the affliction we face can have a purpose of teaching us (I Peter 1:7 , Romans 5:3-4 for instance). Nowhere is this fact clearer than in James 1:2-4, 

"My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing."

To illustrate the fact that our trials can lead us to have an increased faith by allowing us to be patient in waiting for the hand of God in our life, we need only look to the lives of the disciples. The disciples went through much persecution in their latter days on earth. As we examined in the first post, the disciples found themselves beheaded, tortured, and afflicted on all sides. But what prepared them to be able to withstand such trials? What gave them that faith?

I suggest to you that it had something to do with another struggle in their lives. If you think about the greatest suffering that the disciples went through, it wouldn't be what happened in the book of Acts. There were lots of trials in the book of Acts yes, but the greatest persecution in their lives would have had to have been when they all thought that Jesus was dead.

They were without hope because the one they knew as Lord was simply no longer living. A dead saviour has never been able to help, serve, or save anyone.

They at this point lacked the faith on God's sovereign power over all things, including life and death, and had effectively hit rock bottom. Peter denied Christ's existence, Thomas wouldn't believe any reports of his resurrection until he could put his finger through Jesus' wounded hand, and all the disciples started going back to the positions in their life that they had before Jesus came into his life.

It was a trial beyond which anyone would ever experience (except of course, Jesus), but when it was over, when Jesus did rise again, the disciples were renewed with faith, and suddenly they were able to preach the word with all boldness.

Now of course I have been assuming throughout this whole post and especially in this last section that we as Christians have a desire to serve the Lord. Unfortunately that's not always true, but it should be. But let's not get ahead of ourselves; that's next week's post!

Continue to Trials and Persecution 4: Proper Focus