Category: Lamenting

LAMENT #7: THE SILENCE OF GOD IN THE WILDERNESS

On By Pastor TomIn Bible, Bible Teaching, Lamenting, Podcast, Religion, Sermon, UncategorizedLeave a comment

As usual, I strongly encourage you to listen to the audio rather than only reading this message. I said several things in audio that did not make it into the written version.

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

For some people, the player above may not work. If that happens to you, use the link below to either download, or open a player in a new page to listen. You can also find us on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/show/6KKzSHPFT466aXfNT2r9OD

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer: Download Lament Part 7

Grumbling versus Lamenting, Part 7.  Hosea 2:14-23; John 10:27; John 16:12-15

Lamenters often feel unheard. Perhaps you have experienced God’s silence. Today, I want to explore the idea that God’s silence can be a gift. I didn’t arrive at this perspective easily. Before I share more about this, I think it’s important to understand that not hearing God’s voice should be unusual. I have come to expect that it is common for God to talk with us. Even Old Covenant saints sometimes had conversations with God. Some of those conversations are recorded in Scripture. God spoke with Abraham and David and psalmists too. Of course, we know that He spoke to and through prophets. In the New Covenant age, we can expect that God will speak with each of His kids.

     We sometimes have a hard time hearing His voice. I suspect that this is partly true because we haven’t been taught that God wants to have conversations with us, even though Jesus said,

27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, 29 for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. (John 10:27-29, NLT)

Jesus told us that the Holy Spirit would speak to us:

12 “There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. 14 He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.’ (John 16:12-15, NLT)

Even so, it seems much easier to listen to Satan’s voice. The reason for this is because we have spent a lifetime listening to and unwittingly embracing his messages, which have often come to us through people of influence, like parents, teachers, coaches and even strangers. It’s the voice that accuses, condemns, shames, and discourages you. Even his name means “adversary.” Satan is, after all, identified as “the accuser of the brethren” (Revelation 12:10). One of his chief strategies is to discourage you and influence you to live from a false identity and not from what God says about you.

     When God speaks, even if He is bringing a corrective word to us, He infuses us with hope. I remember when my high school wrestling coach saw me get virtually destroyed by an opponent. I was a freshman competing against upper classmen. I was new to the sport and my skill level was very rudimentary. About the only thing I had going for me was that I was scrappy and coachable.  After the match, he didn’t call me out, he called me up. He put his hands on my shoulders and looked into my eyes and said, “Kevin, that kid took you apart, didn’t he? It’s okay. On Monday, you and I will be back in the practice room and I am going to show you some stuff that is going to make you a better wrestler. Kevin, you are on your way to becoming a champion.” My coach didn’t pretend I did well. I didn’t. But he delivered his concerns with hope. That’s what our heavenly Father does.

(Tom Here, for a moment) I want to emphasize this point that Kevin is making. If you are being influenced by the devil, you feel guilty, and you feel hopeless. The guilt plays in your mind over and over again. But it doesn’t help you. It doesn’t move you closer to God. The Lord does speak to us sometimes in order to correct and teach us. But, as Kevin says, when it is the Holy Spirit at work, even though we might hear that we are wrong, and that we need to repent, we feel a sense of “goodness” at work. We feel hope. We think, “Yes, that’s right. I’m so sorry. THANK you!” Conviction of the Holy Spirit motivates us. On the other hand, we can recognize when the devil is accusing us, because we are left hopeless, unmotivated, stuck in a loop of regret and shame.

(Kevin Again)     When you ask God questions, expect answers. Any voice that responds to you with shame and condemnation is not His voice. Ask your Father to silence those distracting and condemning voices and to help you get better acquainted with His voice. Over time, you’ll be able to tell the difference. This has been a beautiful and encouraging journey for me. So, when I don’t hear Him, when I can’t hear Him, I get scared. I wonder, “What’s happening, Lord?” What’s keeping me from being able to hear you?”

(Tom)When your usual way of hearing from God is disrupted, don’t try to figure this out without the benefit of your faith community. This means, among other things, that you should listen and consider carefully, what they say to you about God’s silence. We, who try to do life together through house church, should find this fairly easy. All you have to do is bring it up with a friend or mentor, or bring it up during a church meeting, in which we desire everyone to participate. You might want to write down and pray over the input that is given to you by your fellow believers.

(Kevin) You may learn that some unrepented of sin is keeping you from hearing Him. Sin can dull our senses, and deceive us. Or, your inability to hear God may have nothing at all to do with sin.

It may be that you are entering a season of the deep working of the Spirit to bring you to new levels of consecration. God likes to bring us to places where we don’t rely on our usual spiritual senses in favor of simply learning to lean into Him amid the chaos we are feeling. This will likely  mean that God will bring you, in your journey, to where it feels like you are entirely alone, abandoned and even forsaken– where hearing Him seems like a thing of the past. His silence can be scary. You may find yourself panicking. He has not abandoned you. He will not leave you alone, but in such a season you may feel entirely forsaken.

     I don’t know of anything that has been more difficult for me than the extended periods of time when I seem unable to hear from God as I normally do. If you are experiencing this, it is likely that it won’t be one of your favorite things. Consider though, that perhaps God is ordaining this time of silence. See this as an opportunity for you to lean into God. Ask Him to help you to trust Him with all of your expectations about what the Christian life should look like. Also ask Him, to orient you around Him, to help you surrender every hope and longing. Journal your feelings. Record your lament. How does this silence feel to you? Does this season of silence cause you to be disappointed with God? Frustrated? Angry? If so, write these things down. It is likely that what you are experiencing is not permanent. Again, I want to remind you not to make this journey alone. Some confidantes need to walk alongside you.

Let’s look at hero of the faith who walked in obedience to God even when it seemed to be tearing his heart apart. Look at Hosea 2:14,15 (NLT). You may know the story well. If not, let me summarize. The prophet Hosea was directed by God to marry a woman named Gomer. Gomer had been earning a living as a prostitute. Hosea married her and they had children together. Even so, she’d leave him and wander off to re-engage with her previous clients. Yet Hosea would take her back.

     God intended that Hosea’s relationship with Gomer serve as a living metaphor of His relationship with Israel. God wanted His people to know that even though they had been unfaithful to Him, He wasn’t giving up on them. He, through Hosea, delivered the following promise,

“But then I will win her back once again.

    I will lead her into the desert

    and speak tenderly to her there.

 I will return her vineyards to her

    and transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope.

She will give herself to me there,

    as she did long ago when she was young,

    when I freed her from her captivity in Egypt.

     Israel, God’s covenant people, were known for regularly straying. God wanted them to know that in spite of this He was committed to winning them back. God is known as “the hound of heaven.” He does not easily give up either on His Old Covenant people (Israel) or on Christians, His New Covenant people. He only eventually and quite reluctantly gives up when we, after rebuffing him over the course of time, convince Him that we truly do not want Him. Because He is not intrusive (notice Revelation 3:20), non coercive (see 1 Corinthians 13:5 ESV) and can be resisted (see Acts 7:51), He will respect a decision which He recognizes as our permanent posture of rejecting Him. But if that is not the case, God stays on our trail. He works to “win” us back. He doesn’t force, but He woos. Look at the above passage: “I will win her back…”

This passage also tells us that God will lead His people to a particular place. Where? Into the desert! Yikes. A desert is a difficult place. Some translations translate this word as “wilderness.” These days, we think of the wilderness as a beautiful, positive place. But in ancient times, with very little of today’s technology, the wilderness was a terrifying, lonely, dangerous place. It can be a challenge to one’s very survival. A spiritual desert/wilderness is a place where you don’t feel His presence and often where hearing Him seems impossible. It’s a place where you are unable to maintain any sense of equilibrium. Confusion persists and unsettles you. It is a testing ground. It is in just such a place that God promises to “speak tenderly” to you and it is here that He returns your “vineyards,” i..e. your provision. Note also that it is in the “Valley of Trouble” that God promises you a “gateway of hope.” God loves to show that He doesn’t need to use a Hawaiian vacation or a week in the Bahamas to fill your cup. In your personal “Valley of Trouble” He will reveal His tenderness. He promises to enable you to give yourself to Him as you did at the beginning of your journey. This is restoration. This is what awaits you.

I remember hearing some teaching when I was young about what God would often do to prepare any of His followers for greater usefulness. A reference would be made to the story of Abraham and how God gave him a promise some 25 years or so before God delivered on that promise, the promise being the birth of a child. The idea that was conveyed was that God used those 25 years of waiting to prepare Abraham and Sarah to receive the promise, namely a son they named Isaac. Then, the preacher would tell the story of Moses. He would tell of how God had called him to be a deliverer of Israel from Egyptian bondage, but that it took 40 years on the backside of a desert to prepare Moses to lead God’s people. Then there would be a discussion about David– how he was anointed king at about 13 years of age but didn’t become king until he was 30 and how God used those years as a shepherd boy and then as a young warrior running from Saul to get him ready to lead Israel. Of course, no such sermon would be complete without a mention of Joseph and how as a teen he had dreams of himself in a position of authority and influence. He made the mistake of sharing those dreams with his brothers, who believed his grandiose dreams were simply delusions of grandeur. However, we know that Joseph’s dreams eventually came to pass, but only after years of hardship.

     The obvious lesson is that there is usually a gestation period between the initial delivery by God of a promise and the time that special thing God has promised actually arrives. The gestation period is recognized as a hard period of waiting followed by the birth of some vision or the materialization of some hope. It is often implied by those who tell these beautiful biblical stories that the waiting will be rewarded with something obvious and perhaps tangible, something circumstantial that will convince you that God’s favor rests on you. Perhaps we think of the fulfillment of this hope that has been deferred as some kind of spiritual gold that comes to those who endure necessary time in the crucible of suffering.

     What if the gold isn’t something circumstantial and tangible? What if it doesn’t include any recognition from people? What if the gold is intimacy with God? What if it is being more in love with Jesus? What if the gold is the pleasure of resting in being God’s beloved? Will that be enough? I submit for your consideration that you will find that there is nothing that is better. I believe that the suffering lamenters endure surely leads to this.

GRUMBLING vs LAMENT #5: Where are you God?

On By Pastor TomIn Bible, Bible Teaching, House Church, Lamenting, Podcast, Religion, Sermon, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Once again, during this series I encourage you to listen to the sermon, rather than simply reading the text. My right arm is in a sling, and I cannot type effectively. I am using voice dictation software to type these words, as well as any other content that I add to pastor Kevin’s message. Sometimes the results are not entirely accurate.

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

For some people, the player above may not work. If that happens to you, use the link below to either download, or open a player in a new page to listen. You can also find us on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/show/6KKzSHPFT466aXfNT2r9OD

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer: Download Lament Part 5

“Where are You, Lord?” The psalmist in Psalm 10, seems to be asking this question.  Have you asked this question or even thought it? You’d be very unusual if you haven’t. Though early in the Christian life we learn that God is omnipresent, or “everywhere present,” it often feels like He is not present to us in our current circumstance, especially if those circumstances are particularly difficult. 

     Technically speaking God is simultaneously present everywhere. How? He doesn’t explain that to us. It’s part and parcel of His “Godhood.” It’s one of His attributes, spoken about in Psalm 139. Note the following verses from this psalm.

7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. 11  If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me

and the light become night around me,” 12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.

     God is everywhere. Jonah experienced God even in the depths of the sea. While God is actually present everywhere, He is usually only manifestly present, or present in a way that we can experience Him, at certain times and locations. Almost unpredictably. People who have journeyed with God and are known to know Him well will tell you that you cannot manipulate or manufacture His presence. Either God will or won’t be present in a way that is obvious. And, when that happens, you know it. There’s nothing quite like His presence. David testified that in God’s presence, “there is fullness of joy” (Psalm 16:11). When I have experienced the manifest presence of God on an individual level (as opposed to a congregational setting), and I can count on one hand the times that has happened in my 53 year relationship with Him, His presence satisfies every longing and infuses me with peace. It convinces me that there is no pleasure, no achievement and no material thing that can come remotely close to giving me what I have in Him. Asaph was a psalmist and he knew from his encounter with God’s manifest presence that there was nothing on the entire earth that could compete with it (Psalm 73:25,28– read this in a variety of translations).

     Even though you can’t have this variety of God’s presence on demand– in fact, demanding it is a sure way to guarantee you won’t get it— God doesn’t respond to our impertinence– it is still good to ask the question, “Lord, where are you?” It’s a way of saying, “Lord, I need your comfort. I need your embrace. I am aching for a hug from you. I need to know that You are near. Please, please don’t delay.”

(Tom here now, almost until the end). The Lord does come to us through our feelings and our thoughts. He sometimes comes in a way that is hard to describe. We might call his speaking to us as a “spiritual” experience. But sometimes all that can be a little bit vague. We can find ourselves chasing a certain set of feelings, or experiences, but not actually getting them. However, as Kevin said, God does not show up for us in an experiential way simply because we demand it. Perhaps we aren’t even being demanding, but we desperately want some kind of experience with God, and it doesn’t happen. As Kevin has been pointing out this can be extremely difficult.

Thankfully, we do not have to rely on only our feelings or experiences. The Lord has given us three objective ways of experiencing his presence. These three ways do not require any particular feeling on our part. The first way is through reading the Bible. I’ve preached extensively on the remarkable text that we call the Bible. I’ve even written a book about it (Who Cares About the Bible?). We can have confidence that when we read the Bible (which we also refer to as “God’s Word”) we are, in fact, hearing from God. When we read the Bible, we are not making something up in our own heads. The text is there for any human being to see. Thousands of generations before us have read these same words. But when we feel abandoned by God, it is especially important that we continue to read the Bible.

When I teach and preach on a passage of Scripture, one of my goals is to help us understand the original, objective meaning, that the Holy Spirit intended through the human authors of the text. Preachers should do that. But there is another, more personal way, of reading the Bible. And that is to pray before you read, asking God to speak to you through his word. And then read the text as if God is speaking it directly to you. It may have been something that God originally wanted Isaiah to say to the people of Israel twenty-seven hundred years ago. But Hebrews 4:12 tells us that the word of God is living and active. That means that we can receive what God is saying to us through the Scripture as intended directly for us. We shouldn’t build doctrines on reading the Bible this way, but it can be tremendously helpful in our sense of God’s presence and love in our lives.

I want to give you a quick example of what I’m talking about. When I was in college I went through a time of dark depression. During this time I went on a spiritual retreat. The leaders gave us a list of Bible verses to read. They told us to listen for the voice of God speaking through those verses. I went off by myself. I prayed before reading the first assigned passage. I asked the Lord to speak to me through the Bible. And then I read this verse:

1 “Comfort, comfort my people,”
says your God.
2 “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem.
Tell her that her sad days are gone
and her sins are pardoned.
Yes, the LORD has punished her twice over
for all her sins.” Isaiah 40:1-2

This is a prophecy given by the prophet Isaiah. It speaks to the people of Judah after the Babylonians had destroyed Jerusalem and laid waste to the entire kingdom of Judah. The people of Judah were now in exile, far from their homes. So originally, this text was announcing to God’s people that their exile in the land of Babylon would soon be over. It was a reassurance to them that God was not angry with them, and he was going to bring them back into their homeland. If I was preaching on this text I would make sure that my listeners all understood this.

However on that day, when I was under the dark cloud of depression, the Lord spoke to me through this Scripture in a unique way. I felt that he was proclaiming comfort directly to me in my depression. He was saying to me that the time of depression was now at an end, that my “sad days,” were over. That was what it meant to me to me as I read it. Thankfully, I believed the message that the Lord was given me through that Scripture. And then, it was so. My depression was over. Now, I would never preach on that text, and say that the meaning of that text was that everyone who is listening to me who was also depressed would now no longer be depressed. But this of how God speaks to us through his word. This didn’t take place in my head. It came from words that I did not make up.

A second place where God meets us, regardless of how we may feel, is in the sacrament of communion. We are taking real, actual bread into our bodies; real, actual wine (or, grape juice). Communion is not some kind of vague emotional experience. It is real bread, and real wine, in which Jesus has promised to be present. So, if you are wondering where you can find God, communion is one place he promises to meet us. It is not necessary for you to feel anything as you digest the bread and wine.

The third objective place where God meets us is through the fellowship of other Christians. Everyone who trusts Jesus has the Holy Spirit within them. Therefore, in a very real sense, when you are with other Christians, you are in the presence of God in a way that is outside of your self. The Bible seems to tell us that there is a special thing that happens when we gather together with other Christians specifically to worship the Lord. You may or may not feel anything as you worship the Lord with other Christians. Even so, he is there with you and the others, whether or not you feel it. You can look at the other people who are with you, and see that this is not something you are making up. God’s presence is also outside of ourselves.

The words of the Bible are not dependent on how you feel. The reality of the presence of the Lord through communion is not some vague experience. This is also true of the reality of God’s presence when his people meet together for worship.

No doubt there are times when we would really, really like to have some kind of an emotional experience of the presence of God. But by giving us the Bible, communion, and the fellowship of other believers, he has made it so that we can reliably be in his presence, no matter how we feel.

(We’ll close with a final paragraph from Kevin)

  God sometimes uses silence and what appears to be aloofness to draw us to a deep longing for Him. When you are suffering, when you are confused, when you are desperate for His touch, ask “Where, Lord, can I find you?” And, be sure to include your faith community in your search for God’s incomparable touch. In time, He will provide a way to comfort you. He is faithful and He will not allow your despair to become permanent, if you turn to Him. Turn, turn to Him. Again. And again. Ask Him for the stamina you’ll need. He wants to do a deep work in you. Let Him.

GRUMBLING vs LAMENT #4: ASKING “HOW LONG?”

On By Pastor TomIn Bible, Bible Teaching, Jesus, Lamenting, Podcast, psalms, Religion, Sermon, UncategorizedLeave a comment

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

For some people, the player above may not work. If that happens to you, use the link below to either download, or open a player in a new page to listen. You can also find us on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/show/6KKzSHPFT466aXfNT2r9OD

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer: Download Lament Part 4

Grumbling vs Lamenting #4.  Psalm 13

For the choir director: A psalm of David.
1 O LORD, how long will you forget me? Forever?
How long will you look the other way?
2 How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul,
with sorrow in my heart every day?
How long will my enemy have the upper hand?
3 Turn and answer me, O LORD my God!
Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die.
4 Don’t let my enemies gloat, saying, “We have defeated him!”
Don’t let them rejoice at my downfall.
5 But I trust in your unfailing love.
I will rejoice because you have rescued me.
6 I will sing to the LORD
because he is good to me. Psalms 13

There is more to the spoken sermon than there is to the text here. My right arm is in a sling and will be for several more weeks, so I type these words through voice dictation. But when I record the sermon, I add in things that will not show up in this written version. That’s why I encourage you to listen to the audio versions of these particular sermons.

When you are facing a trial have you asked this? This psalmist, David, continues his lament with, “How long must I… have sorrow in my heart all the day?” (v. 2). Read more from this psalm and you will see some of what David was facing.

What are you facing? Illness/Chronic pain? Divorce? Conflict? Insomnia? Bankruptcy? Legal problems? Loneliness? Addiction? Depression? Abuse?

The problem with trials and suffering is that each new one can seem permanent and worse than the one which preceded it. Suffering is an inevitable part of life on this side of heaven (John 16:33). We’ve learned that some suffering comes simply because we are occupying space here on earth. Sometimes it comes because we have done something to make our situation worse. Sometimes someone else does something which makes our situation worse. Sometimes God is pruning us and bringing us into a “dark night of the soul.”

 When you experience a “dark night,” which typically lasts far longer than a single night, your circumstances may not change for the worse, but you will be exposed to a kind of purgation, a spiritual aridness that is exceedingly painful. In these seasons, it can seem impossible to go on.

I remember my first such experience with a dark night. I was pretty new to the faith and had just been baptized in the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist describes that experience as “a baptism of fire” (Matthew 3:11). I was experiencing the fire of purgation, a terribly painful purifying process. I felt like I was being turned inside out. This has been experienced and written about by many who have gone before us, the most notable perhaps, would be St. John of the Cross.

     My circumstances were not more difficult than usual. I had some good friends and a budding relationship with the woman who became my first wife, Laura. Yet, internally I was in great distress (Sadly, Laura passed away just a few years ago). I was confused about what I was experiencing. I began to fall into despair and didn’t want to live. In my deepest pain, I heard, “John 15:2!” I didn’t know what it said, so I read that verse. It says, “…every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.” Then I heard the same voice say, “You’ve been bearing fruit and now I am pruning you so you will bear even more…”

     When it appears that your suffering has a purpose, it helps. I found hope but the suffering continued. The writer of the book of Hebrews indicates that we should treat all suffering as God’s discipline and something that is useful for our sanctification (Hebrews 12:7, 10).

 Then I began to wonder, “How long?” I didn’t receive an answer. I think one of the reasons we may not get a definitive answer to this question is because we’re called to walk by faith, not by sight. God wants us to keep our eyes on Him and not fixate on what we are walking through. He wants us to learn to move forward putting one foot in front of the other, even when, especially when, we are confused, afraid and feeling alone. My first dark night lasted about two years. It was hard but it was an important season in my life. It helped me to know that God doesn’t remove His presence from us even though He sometimes will remove our awareness of it.

If you can get an answer to the “why?” question, ask “How long?” You may or may not get an answer. God’s silence is sometimes an answer. Sometimes it’s an invitation to trust Him when nothing makes sense. For now, perhaps it will suffice to acknowledge that God wants you to simply proceed without any assurances that your suffering has an end date. Ouch.

(Tom here, for a bit). In fact, there is a definitive end date for all of our suffering. We have the promise that when we leave this mortal life, if we have put our hope fully in Jesus, our sufferings are at an end. Sometimes I quail at the thought that I have another thirty years or so to suffer my kidney stone pain. At the same time, I know that it won’t be forever. The Lord has been faithful to me for these past ten years of physical suffering, and I can trust him to continue to be faithful to me, and walk with me, as long as my suffering endures, and in whatever other suffering I may experience. As it says in Hebrews:

For God has said,
“I will never fail you.
I will never abandon you.”
6 So we can say with confidence,
“The LORD is my helper,
so I will have no fear.
What can mere people do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5-6, NLT)

Our culture, now more than ever, is all about instant gratification. I find myself frustrated that when I order something from a place like Amazon sometimes it takes three whole days to get to me. It’s insane that that length of time bothers me. But the economy of the entire world has grown by providing what we want ever more quickly. It makes life comfortable, but it leaves us confused, and at a loss, when things don’t work out for us the way we want them to. The promises given to us in and through Jesus are so very worth waiting for. There is literally nothing better that we could have than the fulfillment of those promises. Can we hold on in faith, knowing that what we wait for far outweighs any of the struggles we might have here and now?

The spiritual practice of lament encourages us to recognize our feelings. It isn’t wrong to feel like our struggles are long and drawn out. It isn’t wrong to say that to God, and to wish for them to end soon. But in lamenting, we don’t simply complain. What separates it from grumbling is that we also turn our hearts towards God in faith. In lamenting, in a sense, we preach to our hearts. We remind ourselves of God’s promises, and his goodness, and his presence with us in every moment.

So, go ahead and ask “how long?” You may or may not receive a satisfactory answer. You will receive a satisfactory Presence, whether or not you perceive that Presence. For the entire length of your struggle, the Lord does, and will, walk with you, no matter how long. And though we may not know exactly how long we will have to suffer, we know that there is a certain end to the suffering, and a real beginning of an incredible life free from our struggles, infinitely longer than the amount of time that we may suffer here in this life.

Here’s a promise we can speak to our hearts today, any day in which we wonder “how long?”

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
3 I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”
5 And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” (Revelation 21:1-5)       

GRUMBLING vs LAMENT #3: ASKING “WHY?”

On By Pastor TomIn Bible, Bible Teaching, Lamenting, Podcast, Religion, Sermon, Uncategorized1 Comment

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

For some people, the player above may not work. If that happens to you, use the link below to either download, or open a player in a new page to listen. You can also find us on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/show/6KKzSHPFT466aXfNT2r9OD

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer: Download Lament Part 3

Lamenting vs Grumbling #3. Romans 8:16-18; 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

This week, I’ll start with some thoughts from Pastor Kevin McClure, but most of the message is my own, since I have wrestled a great deal with the main point he raises.

Lamenters, as you will see from a study of the psalms which are known as the psalms of lament (there is some lament in Psalm 12, 13, 22, 44, 86), eventually get to three questions: “Why?” “How Long?” “Where are You:” Today, I begin to explore the “Why?” question.

When we are suffering, even though we live in a world that is “fallen” and is actually a spiritual war zone, we wonder if there is a particular reason for our  suffering. In a moment we will turn our attention to some possible reasons for your individual suffering.

Though we wonder about a specific reason, it is good to remind oneself of the ramifications of living in a world where everything is fallen, meaning, everything has been influenced by the power of sin and Satan. Everything. Though redemption has been brought about through the Person, life, teaching, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, that redemption is  both “now and not yet fully.”

For example, God has given us infallible truth, and yet we are told by the Apostle Paul that even so, we know only in part and look at truth as if through a smudged window. Later, in the new age, we’ll see perfectly (1 Corinthians 13:9,12). Also, God provides miracles of healing and yet not even Paul the apostle was able to help all of his friends and ministry associates receive healing (1 Timothy 5:23; 2 Timothy 4:20). God has revealed Himself as the Provider for our every practical need and yet Jesus acknowledged, “…the poor you will always have with you” (Matthew 26:11). 

If you were living in Ukraine right now, the likelihood of suffering injury or premature death would be greatly increased. Flying bullets, buildings being bombed and falling down around you, and shrapnel, all pose a threat. Similarly, we live in a world where there are sickness-inducing chemicals in the air, water and ground, where frustrated  people behave impatiently, people drive drunk and children are exploited. We do our best to make life work in the midst of such challenges, but we can’t control everything.  With God’s help we aim to experience God’s promises for health, deliverance, provision and joy while living in this fallen world. Yet disappointment and hardship remain part of this life.  Some of the suffering we experience is simply due to living and breathing on this planet. 

But, sometimes even in a war zone like the world we live in, there are additional reasons for suffering. It may be that I am suffering consequences for my sin. Maybe I’ve been sexually permissive and have contracted a STD. Maybe I’ve stolen and gotten myself arrested and have landed in jail. Maybe the reason for my suffering is that God is pruning me or perhaps I’ve entered a dark night of the soul. Each of these is very, very difficult. Asking God “why?” is okay, especially if you are truly confused about why you are suffering your particular hardship. It is good to ask God if He’d like to bring some clarity into your suffering that will lessen your confusion about it. When you ask, ask in the company of your faith community. Don’t try to figure this out by yourself. Yes, God can and often does speak to us personally, but sometimes He wants us to learn to lean into our brothers and sisters so they can not only pray for us in our suffering, but so they can walk alongside us in it. 

This is Tom, here, now, and it will be my own thoughts for the rest of this message. I want to add some things about the “why” question. In my own struggle with physical suffering, I’ve grappled with this in a very personal way. As Kevin says, it can be helpful to ask the Lord about your suffering. Is the Lord trying to teach you something, or trying to address something in your life? At times, that is indeed the case. At times, the Lord allows suffering because he wants to root out something in your life: a lack of faith, or a persistent sin, an attitude that completely unbiblical, a way of relating that hurts others, and so on. It is good to ask “Why?” and then listen for the answer.

But as Kevin also mentioned, there is a whole lot of suffering that simply defies explanation.

One of our most distressing and puzzling questions concerning suffering is the question of why we or our loved ones suffer, when there is no obvious answer along the lines that Kevin offered. My own suffering does not have any easy answers to the “why” question.

I’ll be honest with you: In all of my fifty-five years, with half of those as a pastor, I have never seen any real good come from this question when the answer isn’t already obvious. It is the question that often leads people to reject the God of the Bible. It leads to angst and anger and frustration. I’m not saying it is wrong to question God. The Judeo-Christian tradition has a very healthy attitude toward expressing all feelings – including anger and frustration – toward God. It is neither wrong or bad to question God. He is patient, and he can take it. However, I happen to believe that the question: “Why is this happening?” is not a particularly helpful question to ask, and I’ve rarely seen it lead people to greater peace. Other questions are more constructive.

I think we might find it more useful if we step back and consider why we ask why. I think that what most people are really looking for when they ask the “why” question is to find some reason to believe that their suffering has meaning and purpose, and will ultimately result in something good.

Human beings have a tremendous capacity to suffer when we know that it is for a worthwhile cause. Billions of women each year go through intense pain in order to deliver a child into the world. Many of them have done so multiple times. Soldiers will endure hardship, terror, anguish and pain if they believe in what they are fighting for, if they believe that what they endure is necessary, ultimately, to benefit others. Many soldiers say that what they are most willing to suffer for is each other. There is enough value in knowing that to sustain many.

So, it is natural to want to have a reason, some solid explanation we can cling to, so we can say, “I can endure this terrible thing, because it will result in something good or worthwhile. I can endure, as long as I know that this suffering is not meaningless.”

Some people are blessed to see why they suffer. But many people never find out why they, or their loved ones, have to suffer. Their struggles, pain and hardship all seem so pointless. This is often why people reject the Bible. The Bible reveals God as all-powerful, and all-good. If he has the power, why, then won’t he use it for good? Often times, we want him to do something that, as far as we can tell, God himself tells us is good, right in the Bible. Why then won’t he act? The “logic” continues: either God must not be good (not even by his own definition, as given in the Bible) or he must not be strong enough to make sure good happens instead of evil. Therefore the God of the Bible doesn’t exist.

But there is something missing in this reasoning. The Bible does indeed tell us God is good. It tells us that he is powerful and loving. But it also tells us that we will never be able to fully understand him, or his ways. There is no logical reason for us to suppose that we will always be able to comprehend how God is making our suffering meaningful.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts. (ESV, Isaiah 55:8-9)

The Bible also reveals God as infinite in all ways. His power is infinite, his goodness is infinite, and his knowledge, wisdom and intelligence are infinite. He has no beginning, no end, no limit beyond those he sets for himself. It doesn’t take a Bible to realize that human beings are not infinite. As a race we had a beginning. As individuals we have beginnings, and so far, every human being that has ever lived, save one, also had an end, at least to this life. Our brains are finite both in physical size and in mental capacity, and in how long they last.

The finite cannot hold the infinite. It’s like turning on a garden hose and trying to contain all the water in a small shot glass. The shot glass can hold some of the water, but the water never stops coming. It is ridiculous to compare the capacity of a shot glass to that which comes endlessly out of a hose.

In the same way, logic compels us to conclude that if God is infinite, we will never be able to understand everything he does, nor why he does it. He has told us some of it, the most important parts, in the scriptures. But He is infinite. There is no book, no library, no collection of libraries, that can tell us everything about an infinite being.

If I believe in an infinite God, then it is not only likely, but probable, that something that looks like terrible suffering to me could actually be something that God is doing that will be better for me than anything I can imagine.

A few years ago a friend of ours brought her baby to stay with us while she went to the dentist. The baby was about nine months old. He was at that stage that most babies experience, where he was realizing that he was a separate being from his mother. Babies at that point tend to be very clingy, and they become very upset when separated from family members.

When his mother left, he was heartbroken. He sobbed – well, he sobbed like a baby. As far as he knew, he would never see his mother again. We took care of him, and tried to comfort him, but there was really no way we could make him understand that in reality, everything was perfectly all right. We spoke to him, and explained, but of course, he really was too little to understand our words, let alone the concept. We knew that his mother was going to come back, and neither he, nor she, would come to any harm.

This little baby boy was entirely safe. With our fully developed brains and much greater experience, we could clearly see that there was nothing whatsoever for him to cry about. But his still-developing brain did not have the capacity to understand our explanations and reassurances.

The truth is, it was entirely appropriate for the baby to cry. He thought he had lost his mother. He had no way of understanding that he hadn’t. Crying, based on his developmental level, was perfectly normal. We weren’t upset with him for crying; we understood that he couldn’t understand. To tie this with our current series, it was perfectly appropriate for this baby to lament.

At the same time, while his grief was entirely appropriate, in the big picture, there was nothing actually wrong.

Sometimes I think we are like that little baby. The grief that we experience is real and appropriate. It would be cruel to make light of our pain and suffering. It makes perfect sense, and it is even good, for us to lament. At the same time, I believe that we simply do not have the capacity to see the bigger picture. If God is infinite, it is entirely possible, even probable, that there is a deeply satisfying answer to why we suffer, but we simply cannot comprehend it.

This is exactly what the Bible tells us about pain and suffering.

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. (Romans 8:18, ESV)

16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18, ESV)

We can’t see it. We can’t quite grasp it in the here and now. But the promise is that when we stand face to face with Jesus, we will be more than satisfied with what we receive in return for our sufferings.

We may or may not ever know the reason why. But the All-Good, All-Powerful, All-Wise, Infinite God invites us not to understand, but to trust Him.

Abraham walked with God for many years, decades in fact. God made promises to him, and those promises were delayed for years and years. Abraham and his wife Sarah made many false moves and missteps during all this time. Finally, Abraham’s son Isaac was born. Isaac was the fulfillment of all of Abraham’s lifelong hopes and dreams. Thirteen years passed, years in which Abraham grew not only to love him, but feel for him the overwhelming combination of pride and gratitude that only a father can fully appreciate. On top of all of this, Isaac was God’s own answer to Abraham’s many prayers. I don’t think it would be too much to say that Isaac meant the whole world to his father.

One night God came to Abraham. He commanded Abraham to take his son, this object of fatherly-pride, and love and joy and promises, and kill him as a sacrifice to God.

Now, God is always God. He can always give whatever he wants, take whatever he wants. But the question for Abraham was this: “Do you agree that God has the right to do that in your own life? Will you trust that God is good and right and loving even while he takes away your lifelong dreams, your hopes of a future, you pride and joy, your fiercely beloved son?” It wasn’t just about whether or not God was capable of it. It was about whether Abraham would trust God while he destroyed Abraham’s life in front of his eyes.

Abraham answered the question with a resounding “yes.”

As it turns out, God did not make Abraham go through with it. The question of God’s right to ask everything of Abraham was settled for once and all.

Instead, God was the one who offered up his one and only Son, his fiercely, eternally-beloved son. It was Jesus who trusted even while God abandoned him, and withdrew the eternal sense of presence that had been the wellspring of his eternal joy. God turned his back while his Son was condemned, covered in sin and shame that were not his own, and sent to hell to pay a price he did not owe.

No matter what God asks of us, it will never be as much as what he himself has already done for us. No matter what we or our loved-ones suffer it will never be as unjust as the suffering of Jesus.

We can trust God, even when we don’t understand, because he has shown that he is trustworthy. He is not a God who sits distant in heaven and demands that we perform. He himself suffered on our behalf. He promises to be present with us in absolutely everything we encounter, including suffering. In my own experience, he is present in suffering in a particularly powerful way. Author Tim Keller puts it like this:

“So suffering is at the very heart of the Christian faith. It is not only the way Christ became like and redeemed us, but it is one of the main ways we become like him and experience his redemption. And that means that our suffering, despite its painfulness, is also filled with purpose and usefulness.” (Tim Keller, Walking With God through Pain and Suffering)

GRUMBLING vs LAMENTING #2: INVITE THE LORD INTO YOUR DIFFICULTIES

On By Pastor TomIn Bible, Bible Teaching, Lamenting, Podcast, Religion, Sermon, Uncategorized5 Comments

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

For some people, the player above may not work. If that happens to you, use the link below to either download, or open a player in a new page to listen. You can also find us on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/show/6KKzSHPFT466aXfNT2r9OD

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer: Download Lament Part 2

Grumbling vs Lament #2. John 6:41-4, 60-66; 1 Corinthians 10:6-11; Psalm 143

Once again, I will be adding things in the recorded audio sermon that may not show up in the written version. Please consider listening to the audio.

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13, the famous chapter on love, that among the many things that is true of divine love is this: “…love keeps no record of wrongs” (v. 5).

If you lament however, and pour out your complaint to the Lord, as David did in Psalm 142 (discussed last week), it may seem that you are doing exactly that. Yet, I am trying to make the case that there is a difference between lamenting, in which you identify the specific nature of your troubles, and in keeping a record of wrongs. The two can look very much alike, but what distinguishes them is your “why.” 

If you take offense and allow yourself to become bitter, you view everything in your life through the lens of what was done to hurt you. You become a victim. To everyone who will listen, you will recite in detail what various people did to hurt you. You do this in order to receive sympathy and support for your case against those who injured you. There is a tone of resentment that seeps through these discussions. This is evidence that your heart is unhealed and it is a clear indication that you need both healing in your heart and you need to learn to cancel the debt of the person or people who have hurt you. By the way, this is a bit different than processing your hurt with people who can help you heal. The person who has taken offense is someone who doesn’t plan to heal. They just want to complain.

 (Tom here, now, for this paragraph) We should remember that it is possible take offense at God, and even resent him. In such cases, we might complain to him, but our complaint to God has no trust, no hope. In such cases we are merely expressing our dissatisfaction, and we want to show not that we trust God, but rather, that it seems he has failed us. This was the kind of grumbling that the people of Israel did in their journey between Egypt and the Promised Land.

By contrast, the lamenter’s focus is one of trust in God. He or she has a purpose in verbally identifying the specific nature of his or her troubles in order to invite God into them. This process is very similar to asking God to heal your physical body. Usually when you do that you are very familiar with the particular ailment that you want God to heal. You mention it by name. When you are asking Him for healing, it is likely you will say something like, “Lord, I would like you to heal my back…” Or, “Please heal my skin cancer…” 

When you do that, you are not offended by the problem. You certainly don’t like the thing that afflicts you, but you want to identify it in order to bring it to the Lord for healing. That’s what we are doing when we are lamenting and pouring out our complaint to the Lord. This is why doing so is not grumbling or murmuring. 

What I’m recommending in this series is identifying to God the things that are creating misery, anguish, torment, grief, relational loss, anger, or even a sense of rejection in your life.

I am encouraging you to get specific in your lamenting to God about the particular nature of the pain you are feeling. Perhaps you have experienced a relational injury and you know that eventually, it will be to your benefit to get to a place of forgiving the person who hurt you. That’s good, but you won’t get there by pretending everything is okay. It’s much more authentic and beneficial to you if you talk to God about how you were injured. What was said that you find hurtful? Christians often make the mistake of prioritizing forgiving someone over receiving healing for the pain that sets them up for future resentment. If you attempt to forgive before you lean into your pain and bring it to the Lord, you short circuit the process. In order to be able to authentically cancel someone’s relational debt, you must not minimize what happened. It may be that there are a hundred other people who have experienced worse than what you experienced, but if what happened to you hurt you, it matters. So begin there. Feel your feelings. They are there to serve you. It was God who gave you the capacity to feel. Your feelings are like spiritual nerve endings which inform you of an injury. Pay attention to them. Identify them. Say out loud how someone’s actions make you feel. Did they make you feel shamed? Accused? Condemned? Judged? Insulted? Disrespected? Dishonored? Misunderstood? Rejected? Exploited? Victimized? Abused? Admitting them is an important first step to healing. Admit them and lament them. Grieve them. And, invite God in.  

Lamenting is good for your spiritual health. It keeps you from imploding. It helps you avoid fakery. Lamenters understand that you don’t have to “fake it till you make it.” Lamenters are not image managers. They get comfortable letting it all hang out because they know God is a God of big shoulders. He’s not fussy– not annoyed by the lamenter’s anger, frustration, hatred or by the raw language they may use to express their frustration. Why? Because a lamenter is turning toward God in his pain. 

Grumbling is not good for your health. Grumbling causes you to focus on your problems. The grumbler is stuck in a rut because He stopped inviting God in. He or she is actually keeping God at arms length. Grumbling is the breeding ground for resentment. The grumbler has an entitlement mindset and his temporary disappointment with God becomes permanent because He views God as someone who was supposed to help Him cope. He views God like an illicit drug– something to make him feel better. In their hearts, grumblers feel that God is a means to an end, and they feel he has failed to do for them what they expect him to do. In other words, the grumbler’s world is oriented around him/her self and not around what delights God. Perhaps it never was. 

It’s been occurring to me a lot lately that this way of thinking, that is, the one that is based on orienting my life around myself is a counterfeit version of real Christianity. The real disciple of Jesus is called to a life that is oriented around, centered in and based on Jesus of Nazareth. It’s normal for every person, including every genuine follower of Jesus to want things to go well. It’s normal to work hard at making life work, however we define that. BUT and this is a big “but,” but an actual follower of Jesus has embraced the idea that it is right, good and holy to forsake literally everything to follow Jesus, to surrender every agenda, every longing, every ache, every hope, dream and ambition in favor of living to please the Savior. He or she adopts and begins, over the course of time, to embody the motto, “not my will, but Yours be done.” He or she has come to the realization that he or she must be grounded in the value that God’s Kingdom is his/her first priority (Matthew 6:24). 

A lamenter can sound a lot like a grumbler. The thing that makes lamenting different is the reason behind your complaining. The lamenter is turning to God, not away from God and inviting God into his or her hardships. Doing this can lead to some questions, questions like “Why?” This question usually bubbles out of the profound confusion that disables the lamenter. The lamenter’s pain is profound, and his/her confusion is great. He or she simply must ask, “Why?” Next week we’ll lean into this question more fully.

GRUMBLINGS vs LAMENTING #1. WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

On By Pastor TomIn Bible, Bible Teaching, Lamenting, Podcast, Religion, SermonLeave a comment
Photo by RDNE Stock project on Pexels.com

To listen to the sermon, click the play button:

For some people, the player above may not work. If that happens to you, use the link below to either download, or open a player in a new page to listen. You can also find us on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/show/6KKzSHPFT466aXfNT2r9OD

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer: Download Lament Part 1

Numbers 14:1-4; 26-28 & Psalm 142

When I was a young pastor, I used to meet weekly with another pastor who was about 18 years older than me. His name is Kevin McClure. We met almost every week for about seven years. Kevin and I encouraged one another, learned from one another, and became friends.  I don’t see him very often any more (2 times in the last two years) but I still consider him a dear friend, and precious brother in Christ.

Kevin writes a weekly email called the E-pistle. The E-pistles are generally fairly short and pithy. Kevin might take several weeks to offer short teachings on one subject, and then move on to another topic. Recently, he started an E-pistle series on the topic of Lament and Grumbling. I found his thoughts interesting and helpful.

For the next several weeks, I’m going to be laid up after rotator cuff surgery, which will add a layer on top of my “normal” pain. So, I got Pastor Kevin’s permission to use his E-pistles on Grumbling vs. Lamenting. I know that many of you prefer to listen. Kevin is retired, which means he is too busy to record these as sermons 😊. So, with Kevin’s permission, I’ll read what he has written, and, at times, add a few thoughts of my own. I probably won’t mess much with what Kevin has written, because I won’t be able to type for a few weeks. So if you normally read, you might want to consider listening to this series instead; otherwise you might miss some of the sermon. Usually, I’ll probably use 2-3 E-pistle episodes as one sermon. In general, I would say that 80-95% of what I say in the recording will be Kevin’s words, and, depending on the message, 5-20% will be clarifications or other comments that I add.

If you are blessed by this series, please consider leaving a comment below, and I’ll share the comments with pastor Kevin McClure.

Ever grumble? If you are familiar with Scripture, you know that God doesn’t look kindly at it (Numbers 14:27). He was very upset by the grumbling and murmuring of some of the people whom He liberated from Egyptian slavery. In spite of what God had done for them when He provided a miraculous deliverance from Egyptian oppression, in spite of the way He led them through the Red Sea and demonstrated His presence quite supernaturally in a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of loud by day– in spite of all of this, some of His people whined every time it looked like they’d be facing another trial. There seemed to be little trust in God. Grumbling and murmuring dishonors God and sets you up for additional trouble.

The New Testament isn’t soft on grumbling either. Check out the following words by Paul: “Do everything without complaining or arguing…” (Philippians 2:14,15). James takes a dim view of it too: “”Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you will not be judged…” (5:9)

On the other hand, God seems to welcome laments. These have the tone of a complaint but they are different. How? The people who are recorded as lamenting are worshippers, psalmists, who like the murmurers are suffering, but unlike them, they turn to God in their pain. They ask the questions every suffering person will eventually ask if he or she is actually paying attention. They ask, “Why?” and “How long?” and “Where are You?”

Jesus Himself lamented. Remember, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?” That’s a lament. Lamenting is an honest way to pour out your troubles and invite God into them.

Over the course of the next few weeks I want to address the upside of being absolutely honest with God about the pain you are feeling in your suffering– identifying it and presenting it to Him to invite Him into it. We’ll explore a number of things, eventually getting to the three questions the lamenting psalmists ask.

During the days of Moses’ leadership, grumblers incurred God’s wrath because they were ungrateful and because they did not invite God into their concerns. In essence, they spurned God, belly-aching, but not inviting Him in.  Lamenters also face pain. But in their suffering they cry out to God. Consider Psalm 142:

​

A psalm of David, regarding his experience in the cave. A prayer.
1 I cry out to the LORD;
I plead for the LORD’s mercy.
2 I pour out my complaints before him
and tell him all my troubles.
3 When I am overwhelmed,
you alone know the way I should turn.
Wherever I go,
my enemies have set traps for me.
4 I look for someone to come and help me,
but no one gives me a passing thought!
No one will help me;
no one cares a bit what happens to me.
5 Then I pray to you, O LORD.
I say, “You are my place of refuge.
You are all I really want in life.
6 Hear my cry,
for I am very low.
Rescue me from my persecutors,
for they are too strong for me.
7 Bring me out of prison
so I can thank you.
The godly will crowd around me,
for you are good to me.” (Psalms 142, NLT)

David probably prayed this before he wrote it. This “complaint” bubbled out of him when he was in a cave. When was he in a cave? He may have been in a cave a  time or two when he was shepherding his dad’s sheep, but more than likely, he’s talking about the time he was hiding from King Saul, who was trying to kill him (1 Samuel 24). In this psalm, he specifically mentions being in trouble. So, if he’s referring to the incident I think he is, his very life was at risk. That’s serious trouble. Unlike a grumbler who would simply harp about his situation, he talks to the Lord. Why? Because God had shown David  many times that He is trustworthy. David didn’t hide from God that he didn’t like his situation. It’s okay to do that, especially if  you invite God into it. 

     It takes faith to invite God into  your troubles. You might be low on faith at the moment. When you go through trouble, your faith takes a lot of hits and it can influence you to question whether God really cares. You might feel like you are really shaky. That’s okay. If you’ve never gotten to that place, it’s probably because you haven’t been tried to the extreme. When you  have faced extreme pain, pain that leaves  you feeling unstable, when you feel like your soundness of mind is hardly hanging on by a thread, you are probably not feeling strong in faith. That’s okay! It’s okay! That’s a great time to talk to God and ask Him to bolster your faith. Ask Him to help you find Him in the pain. It’s certainly fine to even ask Him  to deliver you out of your suffering– remember Someone saying, “Father, if possible, let this cup pass me by…?” Yes, even Jesus prayed that way. Yes, we know he also added, “yet not my will, but Yours be done” but we sometimes fail to linger in that place where our pain instructs us to cry for deliverance. This is another subject that I hope to explore some day in an E-pistle, but for now I just want to mention that Christians are far less in touch with their humanity than Jesus was. 

     If you’ve never done this, write out your prayer-complaint to God. What is it that you are facing that is so distressing? What would you like Him to do about it? Add that too. More on this next week.