"For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls."
Some of the hardest tests in our walk of faith are the criticisms and rejection of others. We may think we're not really affected by these, but all of us are. Particularly when the judgments come from people we admire, or from those who are our own friends and family, we can find ourselves quickly becoming "weary and discouraged."
The wise response, according to the author of Hebrews, is to put this process into perspective. I am on a race track (12:1), running a custom-crafted course that has been laid out from all eternity specifically for me. There are weights I must cast off, snares I must resist, and endurance I must learn, or I will never finish my race.
The hostilities of others are testing points. They test whether I have become more thrilled by the "joy set before me" (12:2), or whether I am still seeking joy from earthly sources. The affirmation of others is very exhilarating, and thus it can be a very powerful distraction away from that eternal joy at the end of my race.
One might think, then, that God would help us out a bit by making the future joy clear and easy to see. But, we are told, that's not exactly His first thought. Instead, He disciplines us. Verses 5 and 6 actually use even stronger words: "chasten," and "rebuke," and "scourge," which means to beat with a whip. We are put in a position where we must choose between being directed by the rebukes of God or by the admiration of our friends. It is indeed a very difficult spot.
The solution to this challenge is always the same. "Consider Him." Oh, you might say, but Jesus never had to be disciplined. He always chose to obey His Father. Well, amazingly, that's not what the scripture tells us. In Hebrews 5:8 we learn that "though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered." He too had to endure earthly pain. He too had to choose between His earthly family and His heavenly Father (see Matthew 12:46-50), and it may not have been exactly easy for Him either.
The difference, we are told, was that Jesus truly understood the "joy that was set before Him." He knew what heaven was. He knew His Father. But perhaps most importantly, He knew what awaited Him at the end of His race (which is, I believe, the same destination toward which our individual races are headed). Jesus never lost sight of the glorious union He would one day enjoy with His beautiful, perfected Bride.
If we can understand this, we will not be discouraged by our testings. For in fact, these are precisely the means whereby our loving Father is preparing us for His Son. When we are willing to trade our present joys for an unseen future joy, we will gradually discover that God provides us with another gift for which we do NOT need to wait. It's something called peace.
"Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it" (12:11).
July 10, 2009
June 16, 2009
Siftings - Luke 22:31-32
"And the Lord said, 'Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.'"
In this remarkable statement, Jesus gives us a behind-the-scenes view of how His kingdom operates. At the time Peter did not, and could not, understand what He was saying. But we who now know the whole story have much less excuse for our wrong theologies when it comes to the matter of temptation and testing.
I have found eight insights in these few lines that have given me great assurance whenever I encounter difficulties in my life.
1. Jesus tells us that trials will come. In His final hours with His disciples before His crucifixion, it was a subject He mentioned often. At the Passover supper He told them, "In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). In the garden of Gethsemane, He asked them to pray, not for Him, but for themselves: "Pray that you may not enter into temptation" (Luke 22:40, 46).
2. Satan can do nothing without God's permission. As in the more extensive story of Job (see Job 1 and 2), Jesus reveals here that Satan acts only in full submission to God.
3. God permits our trials.
4. Our trials are designed to be siftings, that is, violent shakings to determine what we are made of. Will we be grains of wheat, which do not fall to the ground, or are we chaff and debris?
5. During the sifting, Jesus does not abandon those who are His. Rather, He prays for our faith to remain strong.
6. Jesus' prayers are always answered. This is an important thing to understand. As we know, Peter's faith seemed to fail. In his hour of temptation, he was confronted not by a sword-wielding soldier, but by an inquisitive servant girl. Fear overtook him, and three times he denied the Master to whom he had hours earlier pledged undying allegiance. Jesus, knowing full well this would happen, set up the rooster signal specifically because He wanted Peter to grasp His sovereignty in the situation.
7. Jesus knew Peter would return to Him. He did not say "if," but "when." He understood that the more significant event was not Peter's personal failure but his resulting comprehension of faith. Faith is the outworking of God's nature within us. When Peter came face to face with his own helplessness, and wept in bitter repentance, he was far more victorious against the kingdom of Satan than he would have been if he had never denied Christ.
8. The testings of our faith give us something to give others. Peter was able to look Jesus in the eye, both in the hour of his temptation and later on the seashore when Jesus recommissioned him as a trusted disciple (in John 21:15-19). But most of the people to whom Peter would later minister (including ourselves, who read his wonderful letters) do not have that eye contact with our Lord. The power of Peter's testimony is not only his unwavering devotion to Jesus, but also his deep appreciation of the value of suffering (see I Peter 4:12-14).
You see, we mature spiritually only as we discover both our weakness and His strength. If you are able to learn the life-story of anyone who now walks in deep fellowship with God, it will invariably contain times of intense suffering and personal failure. Why then should we ever view our own trials as anything less than God's precious gifts, carefully designed to bring us to Him, to conform us to His nature, and to provide us with the means to strengthen others?
In this remarkable statement, Jesus gives us a behind-the-scenes view of how His kingdom operates. At the time Peter did not, and could not, understand what He was saying. But we who now know the whole story have much less excuse for our wrong theologies when it comes to the matter of temptation and testing.
I have found eight insights in these few lines that have given me great assurance whenever I encounter difficulties in my life.
1. Jesus tells us that trials will come. In His final hours with His disciples before His crucifixion, it was a subject He mentioned often. At the Passover supper He told them, "In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). In the garden of Gethsemane, He asked them to pray, not for Him, but for themselves: "Pray that you may not enter into temptation" (Luke 22:40, 46).
2. Satan can do nothing without God's permission. As in the more extensive story of Job (see Job 1 and 2), Jesus reveals here that Satan acts only in full submission to God.
3. God permits our trials.
4. Our trials are designed to be siftings, that is, violent shakings to determine what we are made of. Will we be grains of wheat, which do not fall to the ground, or are we chaff and debris?
5. During the sifting, Jesus does not abandon those who are His. Rather, He prays for our faith to remain strong.
6. Jesus' prayers are always answered. This is an important thing to understand. As we know, Peter's faith seemed to fail. In his hour of temptation, he was confronted not by a sword-wielding soldier, but by an inquisitive servant girl. Fear overtook him, and three times he denied the Master to whom he had hours earlier pledged undying allegiance. Jesus, knowing full well this would happen, set up the rooster signal specifically because He wanted Peter to grasp His sovereignty in the situation.
7. Jesus knew Peter would return to Him. He did not say "if," but "when." He understood that the more significant event was not Peter's personal failure but his resulting comprehension of faith. Faith is the outworking of God's nature within us. When Peter came face to face with his own helplessness, and wept in bitter repentance, he was far more victorious against the kingdom of Satan than he would have been if he had never denied Christ.
8. The testings of our faith give us something to give others. Peter was able to look Jesus in the eye, both in the hour of his temptation and later on the seashore when Jesus recommissioned him as a trusted disciple (in John 21:15-19). But most of the people to whom Peter would later minister (including ourselves, who read his wonderful letters) do not have that eye contact with our Lord. The power of Peter's testimony is not only his unwavering devotion to Jesus, but also his deep appreciation of the value of suffering (see I Peter 4:12-14).
You see, we mature spiritually only as we discover both our weakness and His strength. If you are able to learn the life-story of anyone who now walks in deep fellowship with God, it will invariably contain times of intense suffering and personal failure. Why then should we ever view our own trials as anything less than God's precious gifts, carefully designed to bring us to Him, to conform us to His nature, and to provide us with the means to strengthen others?
June 12, 2009
Let Him Take Heed – I Corinthians 10:12
"Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall."
We have a propensity, if we are honest, to read scripture mainly for someone else. But in this sobering passage in I Corinthians, Paul is addressing me, because I am someone who truly thinks that she "stands."
There's nothing wrong, of course, in believing that I stand, that is, that I am in right standing with God. The danger, according to Paul, is that we who think we stand still can fall if we stop paying close attention to some very specific threats.
Here is his list of threats:
1. We must not lust after evil things (verse 6).
2. We must not become an idolater (verse 7).
3. We must not commit sexual immorality (verse 8).
4. We must not tempt Christ (verse 9).
5. We must not complain (verse 10).
Paul is basing this discussion on the example of "our fathers," the children of Israel who were led by God through the desert. He begins by noting that this group of people were all in 'right standing.' "All our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ."
"But," Paul reminds us, "with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness." He then tells us they are to be specifically seen as examples for our instruction, so that we might not fall as they did. Therefore I must ask myself continually some important questions.
Am I lusting after something that is evil? In other words, do I desire something other than God Himself or things that are consistent with His nature? In Numbers 11:4 it says that the Israelites "yielded to intense craving" for the food they had known in Egypt. In their hearts they thereby turned from willingly following God, and they lusted for what He had taken them away from and out of.
Am I an idolater? Paul quotes Exodus 32:6, "The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play." This is a reference to the Israelites' response to the golden calf idol Aaron had built. After doing their "duty" to this idol, by rising early and offering sacrifices, they lapsed into riotous self-indulgence. When anything other than God is our god, we will at some point allow ourselves to compromise our devotion.
Am I sexually immoral? In Numbers 25, the Israelites had joined into the immoral lifestyle of some foreign nations. An Israelite man even brought a Midianite woman to the tabernacle and was having sex with her in front of everyone. God responded by sending a plague that killed 23,000 people. What stopped the plague was a brave priest, who stabbed them both through with a spear. God not only wants us to be sexually pure ourselves, but we must also defend sexual purity as an ideal. When we tolerate what God does not, we too are sharing in that immorality.
Do I tempt (test) Christ? The sin here (in Numbers 21:4-9) is impatience and disrespect. God had not provided the Israelites with as much water or with the variety of food they had once enjoyed. In the assumption that God owed them what they desired, they challenged His goodness. He responded again by a severe punishment, but this time it wasn't a plague. Instead, the people were given the opportunity to look at a bronze serpent that represented God, or they would die from the bites of the poison serpents He had sent. We test God when we forget His sovereignty and our total helplessness without Him.
Do I complain? While the Israelites complained against God more than once, probably Paul is thinking of the time when they stood on the edge of the promised land at the end of their journey. But there their gripe wasn't about the food. This time they mourned their entire exodus from Egypt. "If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness!" (Numbers 14:2). Finally, God had had enough. "How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who complain against Me?" He told the people, "As I live...just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you" (Numbers 14:27,28).
We might see God's decision to allow all but a handful of faithful followers to die in the desert as being the consequence of sin only in the Old Testament. We who have access to the salvation of Jesus are not in the same place. But if it were that simple, why is Paul treating it so seriously? Why does he warn us, in this detailed fashion, to "take heed"?
Far from giving us a pass because of Christ's substitution, Paul says that these ancient experiences were deliberately intended to be an "admonition" (instruction) for those "upon whom the ends of the ages have come" (I Corinthians 10:11). That's us. The difference (in verse 13) is that, unlike the Israelites, we have been given a "way of escape" so we might bear up under the temptations to lust and complain (and so forth) without sinning (verse 13).
Nevertheless, the choice is ours. We must not only "take heed," which means to pay VERY close attention to our lifestyles and habits, but also, Paul reminds us in conclusion, we must actually flee from idolatry (verse 14). This is the primary sin, reflected in the first of the ten commandments, and it is the one thing that requires the most energy and devotion. You see, our enemy will let us rise above a lot of other lesser sins, if it means he is able to keep our attention and priorities centered on anything else but God.
We have a propensity, if we are honest, to read scripture mainly for someone else. But in this sobering passage in I Corinthians, Paul is addressing me, because I am someone who truly thinks that she "stands."
There's nothing wrong, of course, in believing that I stand, that is, that I am in right standing with God. The danger, according to Paul, is that we who think we stand still can fall if we stop paying close attention to some very specific threats.
Here is his list of threats:
1. We must not lust after evil things (verse 6).
2. We must not become an idolater (verse 7).
3. We must not commit sexual immorality (verse 8).
4. We must not tempt Christ (verse 9).
5. We must not complain (verse 10).
Paul is basing this discussion on the example of "our fathers," the children of Israel who were led by God through the desert. He begins by noting that this group of people were all in 'right standing.' "All our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ."
"But," Paul reminds us, "with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness." He then tells us they are to be specifically seen as examples for our instruction, so that we might not fall as they did. Therefore I must ask myself continually some important questions.
Am I lusting after something that is evil? In other words, do I desire something other than God Himself or things that are consistent with His nature? In Numbers 11:4 it says that the Israelites "yielded to intense craving" for the food they had known in Egypt. In their hearts they thereby turned from willingly following God, and they lusted for what He had taken them away from and out of.
Am I an idolater? Paul quotes Exodus 32:6, "The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play." This is a reference to the Israelites' response to the golden calf idol Aaron had built. After doing their "duty" to this idol, by rising early and offering sacrifices, they lapsed into riotous self-indulgence. When anything other than God is our god, we will at some point allow ourselves to compromise our devotion.
Am I sexually immoral? In Numbers 25, the Israelites had joined into the immoral lifestyle of some foreign nations. An Israelite man even brought a Midianite woman to the tabernacle and was having sex with her in front of everyone. God responded by sending a plague that killed 23,000 people. What stopped the plague was a brave priest, who stabbed them both through with a spear. God not only wants us to be sexually pure ourselves, but we must also defend sexual purity as an ideal. When we tolerate what God does not, we too are sharing in that immorality.
Do I tempt (test) Christ? The sin here (in Numbers 21:4-9) is impatience and disrespect. God had not provided the Israelites with as much water or with the variety of food they had once enjoyed. In the assumption that God owed them what they desired, they challenged His goodness. He responded again by a severe punishment, but this time it wasn't a plague. Instead, the people were given the opportunity to look at a bronze serpent that represented God, or they would die from the bites of the poison serpents He had sent. We test God when we forget His sovereignty and our total helplessness without Him.
Do I complain? While the Israelites complained against God more than once, probably Paul is thinking of the time when they stood on the edge of the promised land at the end of their journey. But there their gripe wasn't about the food. This time they mourned their entire exodus from Egypt. "If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness!" (Numbers 14:2). Finally, God had had enough. "How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who complain against Me?" He told the people, "As I live...just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you" (Numbers 14:27,28).
We might see God's decision to allow all but a handful of faithful followers to die in the desert as being the consequence of sin only in the Old Testament. We who have access to the salvation of Jesus are not in the same place. But if it were that simple, why is Paul treating it so seriously? Why does he warn us, in this detailed fashion, to "take heed"?
Far from giving us a pass because of Christ's substitution, Paul says that these ancient experiences were deliberately intended to be an "admonition" (instruction) for those "upon whom the ends of the ages have come" (I Corinthians 10:11). That's us. The difference (in verse 13) is that, unlike the Israelites, we have been given a "way of escape" so we might bear up under the temptations to lust and complain (and so forth) without sinning (verse 13).
Nevertheless, the choice is ours. We must not only "take heed," which means to pay VERY close attention to our lifestyles and habits, but also, Paul reminds us in conclusion, we must actually flee from idolatry (verse 14). This is the primary sin, reflected in the first of the ten commandments, and it is the one thing that requires the most energy and devotion. You see, our enemy will let us rise above a lot of other lesser sins, if it means he is able to keep our attention and priorities centered on anything else but God.
May 7, 2009
A Great Rock in a Weary Land – Isaiah 32:2
"A man will be as a hiding place from the wind, and a cover from the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land."
Most of us in our modern world rarely deal directly with the harsh forces of wind, storm, drought and heat that nature can wield. But in Isaiah's day, people were often caught without defense against the rages of the environment. However, they had also come to realize that nature itself provided their refuges, in the rivers and in the rocks.
In this verse, Isaiah is prophesying that a man, the man Jesus, would Himself be a refuge. People would seek Him in great desperation because of the overwhelming winds, tempests, and famines in their lives. He would be their cover, their security, their source of refreshment, and their comfort.
What we need to understand, however, is that the only way we can know the great strength and provision of Christ is precisely in the context of great need. Without the storm, a shelter has no meaning. Unless we thirst, water has no appeal. Until the sun beats mercilessly down upon us, we never look for a shady place to escape it.
In the same way, God deliberately brings each of us into situations where we have no resources of our own by which to survive. From our point of view we might think of this as cruel, but in fact there is no other way we can comprehend the great glory and mercies of God except in the specific context of harshness and poverty.
Nevertheless, there are many who foolishly reject the grace and gifts of God, clinging proudly and stubbornly to their miseries. These are also people who routinely deceive others, not knowing that they in fact are the ones being deceived.
But they will be exposed, Isaiah tells us, in the day when "a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice" (verse 1). Then, he says, "The foolish person will no longer be called generous, nor the miser said to be bountiful" (verse 5). Also, the schemes of the schemers will be revealed as evil, as intending to "destroy the poor with lying words" (verse 7). Only the truly generous will continue to stand (verse 8).
Isaiah also warns those who are not particularly evil, but who are merely complacent. In verses 9-14 he speaks to women who are accustomed to enjoying the benefits of pleasant fields and fruitful vines. He tells them to be troubled, and to go into mourning, for they are about to have all their comforts and securities removed from them.
The time is coming, he writes, when "the palaces will be forsaken, the bustling city will be deserted, the forts and towers will become lairs forever, a joy of wild donkeys" (verse 14). But once again, we should see this devastation not as cruelty, but as the necessary backdrop for the revelation of God. For these things will only last, Isaiah says, "until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is counted as a forest" (verse 15).
Just as a cold drink is most pleasant when we are most thirsty, so the reign of God will be established after a season of deep desolation, that His glory might be most evident. We sometimes think we understand the goodness of God now, but how much more will we (or if not us, then those who live during that coming day) be unspeakably grateful when Isaiah's prophecy is finally fulfilled.
"Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field. The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever. My people will dwell in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places" (verses 16-18).
Most of us in our modern world rarely deal directly with the harsh forces of wind, storm, drought and heat that nature can wield. But in Isaiah's day, people were often caught without defense against the rages of the environment. However, they had also come to realize that nature itself provided their refuges, in the rivers and in the rocks.
In this verse, Isaiah is prophesying that a man, the man Jesus, would Himself be a refuge. People would seek Him in great desperation because of the overwhelming winds, tempests, and famines in their lives. He would be their cover, their security, their source of refreshment, and their comfort.
What we need to understand, however, is that the only way we can know the great strength and provision of Christ is precisely in the context of great need. Without the storm, a shelter has no meaning. Unless we thirst, water has no appeal. Until the sun beats mercilessly down upon us, we never look for a shady place to escape it.
In the same way, God deliberately brings each of us into situations where we have no resources of our own by which to survive. From our point of view we might think of this as cruel, but in fact there is no other way we can comprehend the great glory and mercies of God except in the specific context of harshness and poverty.
Nevertheless, there are many who foolishly reject the grace and gifts of God, clinging proudly and stubbornly to their miseries. These are also people who routinely deceive others, not knowing that they in fact are the ones being deceived.
But they will be exposed, Isaiah tells us, in the day when "a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice" (verse 1). Then, he says, "The foolish person will no longer be called generous, nor the miser said to be bountiful" (verse 5). Also, the schemes of the schemers will be revealed as evil, as intending to "destroy the poor with lying words" (verse 7). Only the truly generous will continue to stand (verse 8).
Isaiah also warns those who are not particularly evil, but who are merely complacent. In verses 9-14 he speaks to women who are accustomed to enjoying the benefits of pleasant fields and fruitful vines. He tells them to be troubled, and to go into mourning, for they are about to have all their comforts and securities removed from them.
The time is coming, he writes, when "the palaces will be forsaken, the bustling city will be deserted, the forts and towers will become lairs forever, a joy of wild donkeys" (verse 14). But once again, we should see this devastation not as cruelty, but as the necessary backdrop for the revelation of God. For these things will only last, Isaiah says, "until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is counted as a forest" (verse 15).
Just as a cold drink is most pleasant when we are most thirsty, so the reign of God will be established after a season of deep desolation, that His glory might be most evident. We sometimes think we understand the goodness of God now, but how much more will we (or if not us, then those who live during that coming day) be unspeakably grateful when Isaiah's prophecy is finally fulfilled.
"Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field. The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever. My people will dwell in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places" (verses 16-18).
April 16, 2009
We Have Waited – Isaiah 25:9
"And it will be said in that day: 'Behold, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the Lord, we have waited for Him; we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.' "
Every now and then in Isaiah's flow of fearful prophecy, he peels back the corner of the present and gives us a glimpse of the reality that will become fully visible "in that day." Chapter 25 begins with praise to the Lord God for what He has done. The prophet is looking back from the end times, rather than forward toward them.
The passage contrasts two groups of people. There are the strong and terrible nations, and there are those who are poor and needy (see verses 3-4). In that day, it says, "The strong people will glorify You, and the city of the terrible nations will fear You." But the reason they now honor and respect God is specifically because He has turned their fortified city into a ruin, never to be rebuilt.
On the other hand, the poor and needy have found God to be their strength in times of distress, and a refuge from the storms. Note that (prior to the end of time) God does not remove the distresses or the storms. Instead, He provides a place of safety (Himself) in the middle of these difficulties. He is also described as "a shade from the heat," and a wall against which the "terrible ones" could only storm and blast.
If we truly know God, we should expect to find ourselves among the poor and needy. Jesus spoke of those who were poor in spirit, mournful, meek, and spiritually hungering and thirsting (see Matthew 5:3-6). It was these, He told us, who would inherit the kingdom of heaven. What especially divides this group from those who do not inherit the kingdom? I would suggest it is that they were willing to wait for God.
We get another glimpse of the strong and terrible crowd in verse 11 of Isaiah 25. It says that God "will bring down their pride, together with the trickery of their hands." Here we see these people as independent, self-directed, and grasping for what they desired--even if it involved dishonesty. God will trample them "as straw is trampled down for the refuse heap." By contrast, those who trustingly wait for the Lord will eventually come to the day when they are able to fully rejoice in His salvation. For them, God will prepare a great feast.
One other verse in this chapter especially astonishes me. Many years ago we were driving in Alabama along a remote but lovely stretch of Highway 65. Suddenly I had what I would call an inner vision. About a hundred yards above the surface of the ground, I "saw" a strange invisible membrane stretched out over us. I somehow knew that this shroud was preventing me from seeing something very real, just on the other side. It struck me then that we think we know so much, when there is so very much we have been given no awareness of.
It was much later that I came across verse 7 of this chapter. "And He will destroy on this mountain the surface of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations." Verse 8 goes on to say, "He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; the rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; for the Lord has spoken."
If these things are true, and I believe they are, then we are foolish if we make our decisions and choices based on what we now see, instead of waiting, in hope and peace, for the God whose word WILL come to pass.
Every now and then in Isaiah's flow of fearful prophecy, he peels back the corner of the present and gives us a glimpse of the reality that will become fully visible "in that day." Chapter 25 begins with praise to the Lord God for what He has done. The prophet is looking back from the end times, rather than forward toward them.
The passage contrasts two groups of people. There are the strong and terrible nations, and there are those who are poor and needy (see verses 3-4). In that day, it says, "The strong people will glorify You, and the city of the terrible nations will fear You." But the reason they now honor and respect God is specifically because He has turned their fortified city into a ruin, never to be rebuilt.
On the other hand, the poor and needy have found God to be their strength in times of distress, and a refuge from the storms. Note that (prior to the end of time) God does not remove the distresses or the storms. Instead, He provides a place of safety (Himself) in the middle of these difficulties. He is also described as "a shade from the heat," and a wall against which the "terrible ones" could only storm and blast.
If we truly know God, we should expect to find ourselves among the poor and needy. Jesus spoke of those who were poor in spirit, mournful, meek, and spiritually hungering and thirsting (see Matthew 5:3-6). It was these, He told us, who would inherit the kingdom of heaven. What especially divides this group from those who do not inherit the kingdom? I would suggest it is that they were willing to wait for God.
We get another glimpse of the strong and terrible crowd in verse 11 of Isaiah 25. It says that God "will bring down their pride, together with the trickery of their hands." Here we see these people as independent, self-directed, and grasping for what they desired--even if it involved dishonesty. God will trample them "as straw is trampled down for the refuse heap." By contrast, those who trustingly wait for the Lord will eventually come to the day when they are able to fully rejoice in His salvation. For them, God will prepare a great feast.
One other verse in this chapter especially astonishes me. Many years ago we were driving in Alabama along a remote but lovely stretch of Highway 65. Suddenly I had what I would call an inner vision. About a hundred yards above the surface of the ground, I "saw" a strange invisible membrane stretched out over us. I somehow knew that this shroud was preventing me from seeing something very real, just on the other side. It struck me then that we think we know so much, when there is so very much we have been given no awareness of.
It was much later that I came across verse 7 of this chapter. "And He will destroy on this mountain the surface of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations." Verse 8 goes on to say, "He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; the rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; for the Lord has spoken."
If these things are true, and I believe they are, then we are foolish if we make our decisions and choices based on what we now see, instead of waiting, in hope and peace, for the God whose word WILL come to pass.
March 17, 2009
Protection Removed – Isaiah 22:1-14
I am always amazed by how confidently the Old Testament prophets spoke of God's sovereign work in the nations. They saw (and thus we should see as well) that all circumstances come by the hand of God. The only way to understand the distresses of our own generation, and the only way to find comfort during them, is to affirm that they are fully ordained by God. The other option, to see our situation as something beyond even His control, is truly terrifying.
Isaiah describes the pending overthrow of Jerusalem (which he calls the Valley of Vision) as "a day of trouble and treading down and perplexity by the Lord God of Hosts." He goes on to be even more specific: "[The Lord God] removed the protection of Judah." The Hebrew word for protection literally means "covering." It is the same word that is used for the thick veil that covered the doorway of the tabernacle, that kept the people separated from the holiness of God. Now His holiness, and the wrath that accompanies it, are about to be poured out.
We are then told that the people in Jerusalem responded to this "day of trouble" by doing all they could to protect themselves. They saw that the walls of their city were damaged, so they went to work to guard their water supply. Next they tore down some of their own houses to provide materials to repair the broken walls.
God is not opposed to wise preparations or self defense...when He directs such activities. But there is no indication that the people had been instructed by Him to do these things. On the contrary, Isaiah writes this: "But you did not look to [Jerusalem's] Maker, nor did you have respect for Him who fashioned it long ago."
God's plan for the defense of the city was very specific. "And in that day the Lord God of hosts called for weeping and for mourning, for baldness and for girding with sackcloth." If only they could have realized...if only WE could realize...that the pending destruction was ordained by God, and would therefore only be stopped by God in response to sorrow and humble repentance.
But God was not in their calculations in any way. After the people did what they could to shore up their city walls, they did not turn to Him. "But instead, joy and gladness, slaying oxen and killing sheep, eating meat and drinking wine: 'Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!'"
If there was no God, this would make sense. Life is all there is, let's go for what’s left of it with gusto. But how wrong it is when we who truly know God allow ourselves to be caught in a mindset that excludes Him.
It is probable that in our day the covering is also being removed. It is also probable that God’s wrath will be released into our society, that we too will experience "trouble and treading down and perplexity." But I believe Isaiah, and all of scripture, has been incredibly preserved over all these millennia specifically because God wanted us to see that His hand is on His creation and on all of history to accomplish His will.
What is that will? God desires that we should know Him, that we should fear Him, that we should depend on Him, and that He would become our comfort and our joy (see, for example, Isaiah chapters 11 and 12). In other words, we were created specifically for His honor and for His glory. He will not allow us to change that plan...and we are fools if we try.
Isaiah describes the pending overthrow of Jerusalem (which he calls the Valley of Vision) as "a day of trouble and treading down and perplexity by the Lord God of Hosts." He goes on to be even more specific: "[The Lord God] removed the protection of Judah." The Hebrew word for protection literally means "covering." It is the same word that is used for the thick veil that covered the doorway of the tabernacle, that kept the people separated from the holiness of God. Now His holiness, and the wrath that accompanies it, are about to be poured out.
We are then told that the people in Jerusalem responded to this "day of trouble" by doing all they could to protect themselves. They saw that the walls of their city were damaged, so they went to work to guard their water supply. Next they tore down some of their own houses to provide materials to repair the broken walls.
God is not opposed to wise preparations or self defense...when He directs such activities. But there is no indication that the people had been instructed by Him to do these things. On the contrary, Isaiah writes this: "But you did not look to [Jerusalem's] Maker, nor did you have respect for Him who fashioned it long ago."
God's plan for the defense of the city was very specific. "And in that day the Lord God of hosts called for weeping and for mourning, for baldness and for girding with sackcloth." If only they could have realized...if only WE could realize...that the pending destruction was ordained by God, and would therefore only be stopped by God in response to sorrow and humble repentance.
But God was not in their calculations in any way. After the people did what they could to shore up their city walls, they did not turn to Him. "But instead, joy and gladness, slaying oxen and killing sheep, eating meat and drinking wine: 'Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!'"
If there was no God, this would make sense. Life is all there is, let's go for what’s left of it with gusto. But how wrong it is when we who truly know God allow ourselves to be caught in a mindset that excludes Him.
It is probable that in our day the covering is also being removed. It is also probable that God’s wrath will be released into our society, that we too will experience "trouble and treading down and perplexity." But I believe Isaiah, and all of scripture, has been incredibly preserved over all these millennia specifically because God wanted us to see that His hand is on His creation and on all of history to accomplish His will.
What is that will? God desires that we should know Him, that we should fear Him, that we should depend on Him, and that He would become our comfort and our joy (see, for example, Isaiah chapters 11 and 12). In other words, we were created specifically for His honor and for His glory. He will not allow us to change that plan...and we are fools if we try.
March 4, 2009
All-Sufficient Grace – 2 Corinthians 9:8
"And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work."
It's hard to imagine any Christian these days who has not sung the song "Amazing Grace." The lyrics speak of the astonishing work of grace in salvation, when we are taught to fear God's righteous wrath, and then miraculously He lifts that fear from our hearts. This death-to-life transition is indeed the greatest miracle we can experience, of which natural birth itself is only a picture.
When asked to give a definition of grace, many people respond with the phrase "God's unmerited favor." It is true that none of us deserves salvation, yet out of His infinite love and at great cost to Himself, God has purchased our redemption. But we are sometimes led to believe this is the only work of God's grace. Paul understood that redemption was just the opening act in an eternal drama of outpoured power in our lives.
I love the "all" verses in scripture. God is able to make ALL grace abound, so we will have ALL sufficiency in ALL things. But notice, this speaks of His ability: "God is able." It does not mean He will give us everything just because He can. Our role is important as well.
Paul tells us that God's abundance is specifically available "for every good work." I therefore personally define grace in this manner: "Grace is whatever it takes to do whatever He calls us to do." Grace contains all the resources we need to be obedient and fruitful in God's kingdom.
So what resources are included? Well, it could be money or other supplies. It could be information, or the wisdom to make the right choice. It could be the help of a friend. It could be a series of "coincidental" circumstances. It could be something very supernatural, like a miracle of protection or a miracle of healing. Or it could simply be the strength to persevere.
One key to receiving God's grace is that the choice of what it looks like and how it comes must be left up to Him. So often when we run into complexities in our lives we immediately begin to lay out our wonderful plan for how God should solve them. But that makes us the master and Him the servant. We should rather be like Mary at the wedding in John chapter 2. "Here is the problem. The solution is up to You. We'll do whatever You tell us to do."
You see, a primary purpose of grace is the furthering of God's relationship with us. God is not troubled by our troubles. Not in the least. What concerns Him is our ignorance of His power, His goodness, and His glory. We really have little knowledge of what He can do, despite the astonishing stories in scripture and even despite His working in our own lives.
We are so often prone to disregard the divine authority and the limitless creativity of God. So we bring our problems to Him, and if He doesn't respond in a way that suits us, we take them back and begin to work on them again ourselves. Very few of us have reached a place where we understand God the way Job did: "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him" (Job 13:15).
I have also come to realize that God's grace is not something I can draw on only in the big crisis moments. It is just as available for the small details of my life. If I have a scheduling or transportation conflict, I turn it over to Him. If I am missing an ingredient for my dinner preparations, I ask Him what to do about it. If a friend unburdens her problems on me, I wait until He gives me something to say to her...or else I say nothing. In each situation, the weight goes on His shoulders, not on mine.
I especially have learned to pray for God's grace when I am facing an unpleasant situation or task. The interesting thing is that sometimes He removes the problem altogether. Sometimes, He takes away the sting. And sometimes the sting is very much there, but I find within me strength and peace even as I walk through it.
What this produces in me is a deeply tangible awareness of the presence of God in my life. In the many demonstrations of His grace, I learn of His love for me and His personal interest in every detail of my existence. In a sense, grace is the glue that binds me to God.
And day by day, as my trust in Him grows, the testimony of His reality is able to spill out of my life into the lives of those around me. This is what Jesus was talking about when He said, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).
When I am peaceful in a crisis, this allows those around me to grow more calm and God gets glory. When I can give my last dollar knowing He will supply my needs, another person is blessed and God gets glory. When I am able to love in the face of someone's anger and that anger is thereby dispelled, God gets glory. This is the essence of grace, that God is in me "to will and to do for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13) so His kingdom can move forward another small step in the life of the person next to me.
When this process takes place, life stops being overwhelming and instead becomes an adventure. As I discover God's infinite creativity in the face of complexity, it becomes easier and easier to relax in His care. Even the pains I suffer, and those I see around me, become important brush strokes in the master painting He is crafting, which one day will reveal the fullness of His glory and wisdom and love.
So I encourage you too, my friend, to draw freely on God's amazing, abounding, all-sufficient grace.
It's hard to imagine any Christian these days who has not sung the song "Amazing Grace." The lyrics speak of the astonishing work of grace in salvation, when we are taught to fear God's righteous wrath, and then miraculously He lifts that fear from our hearts. This death-to-life transition is indeed the greatest miracle we can experience, of which natural birth itself is only a picture.
When asked to give a definition of grace, many people respond with the phrase "God's unmerited favor." It is true that none of us deserves salvation, yet out of His infinite love and at great cost to Himself, God has purchased our redemption. But we are sometimes led to believe this is the only work of God's grace. Paul understood that redemption was just the opening act in an eternal drama of outpoured power in our lives.
I love the "all" verses in scripture. God is able to make ALL grace abound, so we will have ALL sufficiency in ALL things. But notice, this speaks of His ability: "God is able." It does not mean He will give us everything just because He can. Our role is important as well.
Paul tells us that God's abundance is specifically available "for every good work." I therefore personally define grace in this manner: "Grace is whatever it takes to do whatever He calls us to do." Grace contains all the resources we need to be obedient and fruitful in God's kingdom.
So what resources are included? Well, it could be money or other supplies. It could be information, or the wisdom to make the right choice. It could be the help of a friend. It could be a series of "coincidental" circumstances. It could be something very supernatural, like a miracle of protection or a miracle of healing. Or it could simply be the strength to persevere.
One key to receiving God's grace is that the choice of what it looks like and how it comes must be left up to Him. So often when we run into complexities in our lives we immediately begin to lay out our wonderful plan for how God should solve them. But that makes us the master and Him the servant. We should rather be like Mary at the wedding in John chapter 2. "Here is the problem. The solution is up to You. We'll do whatever You tell us to do."
You see, a primary purpose of grace is the furthering of God's relationship with us. God is not troubled by our troubles. Not in the least. What concerns Him is our ignorance of His power, His goodness, and His glory. We really have little knowledge of what He can do, despite the astonishing stories in scripture and even despite His working in our own lives.
We are so often prone to disregard the divine authority and the limitless creativity of God. So we bring our problems to Him, and if He doesn't respond in a way that suits us, we take them back and begin to work on them again ourselves. Very few of us have reached a place where we understand God the way Job did: "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him" (Job 13:15).
I have also come to realize that God's grace is not something I can draw on only in the big crisis moments. It is just as available for the small details of my life. If I have a scheduling or transportation conflict, I turn it over to Him. If I am missing an ingredient for my dinner preparations, I ask Him what to do about it. If a friend unburdens her problems on me, I wait until He gives me something to say to her...or else I say nothing. In each situation, the weight goes on His shoulders, not on mine.
I especially have learned to pray for God's grace when I am facing an unpleasant situation or task. The interesting thing is that sometimes He removes the problem altogether. Sometimes, He takes away the sting. And sometimes the sting is very much there, but I find within me strength and peace even as I walk through it.
What this produces in me is a deeply tangible awareness of the presence of God in my life. In the many demonstrations of His grace, I learn of His love for me and His personal interest in every detail of my existence. In a sense, grace is the glue that binds me to God.
And day by day, as my trust in Him grows, the testimony of His reality is able to spill out of my life into the lives of those around me. This is what Jesus was talking about when He said, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).
When I am peaceful in a crisis, this allows those around me to grow more calm and God gets glory. When I can give my last dollar knowing He will supply my needs, another person is blessed and God gets glory. When I am able to love in the face of someone's anger and that anger is thereby dispelled, God gets glory. This is the essence of grace, that God is in me "to will and to do for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13) so His kingdom can move forward another small step in the life of the person next to me.
When this process takes place, life stops being overwhelming and instead becomes an adventure. As I discover God's infinite creativity in the face of complexity, it becomes easier and easier to relax in His care. Even the pains I suffer, and those I see around me, become important brush strokes in the master painting He is crafting, which one day will reveal the fullness of His glory and wisdom and love.
So I encourage you too, my friend, to draw freely on God's amazing, abounding, all-sufficient grace.
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