Tag: hardship

2 SAMUEL #18: SUPERFICIAL CHARM OR GENUINE GODLY CHARACTER?

On By Pastor TomIn 2 Samuel, Bible, Bible Teaching, Old Testament, Podcast, Religion, Sermon, UncategorizedLeave a comment

These two chapters of the Bible show us that David has returned to the confident, humble faith of his youth. He is willing to take on personal danger in order to spare others. When people insult him, he refuses to punish them, but patiently entrusts himself to the Lord. In this, he reminds us of Jesus, the Messiah. The way people responded to David at this point in his life also show us the ways that various people react to Jesus.

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.

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer: Download 2 Samuel Part 18

2 Samuel #18 .  2 Samuel Chapters 15:1-16:29

Some weeks we get into details about a text. This week, we’re going to fly through two chapters. Even so, we’re only going to cover one part of a much larger story concerning David’s son Absalom. There is a kind of smorgasbord of spiritual truths here. Feast on whatever the Lord has to say to you through this today.

After David restored Absalom to his official position as prince, Absalom began laying the groundwork for a coup. He started by running a popularity contest against David – a contest David didn’t even know was going on.

Absalom was good looking. Once he was “official” again, he began to act charmingly also. He spent time with the people. He appeared to sympathize with their problems. Very subtly, he planted doubts in their minds about David. When they tried to honor him as their prince, he forestalled them, and treated them as equals and good friends. By doing this, Absalom won the hearts of a great many people.

David was a worshipper of God and a warrior. Though he failed at times, he rarely compromised his principles. Almost always, David cared much more about what God thought of him than what the people thought. It wasn’t that he didn’t care about his people—it’s just that his way of caring and leading was oriented toward seeking the Lord, and leading the nation based upon what God wanted. For David, it wasn’t about being popular or satisfying the desires of the people. He felt, rightly, that if he was right with the Lord, then the Lord could use him to do his will for the nation of Israel.

However, the people were not as concerned with God as they were with themselves. So they were susceptible to someone like Absalom, who also appeared to be concerned with their desires. Absalom made sure he looked good. He always appeared sympathetic and engaging.

David was “old school.” He wasn’t a friend to the people—he was a leader. He stuck to his guns, because he believed right was right.

The people loved Absalom because they loved themselves more than God. If it was a choice between someone who followed God or someone who made them feel good, they wanted the one who made them feel good. We’ve already seen some things about Absalom’s character. He was ambitious for himself. He was arrogant. He wanted his own way, and worked to get it, regardless of the cost to others. He never admitted wrong, never repented, never said “thank you,” or “sorry.” But the people saw only the engaging, personable, friendly guy. They were too concerned with outward appearances.

There is no record of Absalom ever consulting the Lord about anything. And ultimately, he was not the Lord’s choice for king. But the people didn’t think about such things. They were already ready to repeat the mistake they made with Saul.

There is a classic scene in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. The four hobbits have met a tall, stern, grim looking man. He tells them that he was sent by their friend, the wizard Gandalf to help them. They discuss whether or not they can trust him. Finally, Frodo, leader of the hobbits says something like this:

“I think one of the enemy’s spies would – well, seem fairer and feel fouler, if you understand.”

In other words appearances are often deceiving. So it was with Absalom. He seemed fairer and better than David. But on the inside he was already rotten. He looked and seemed like the better leader. But it was the grim, steadfast old David who was the best king the people could have had, in fact, as history showed, one of the best kings Israel ever had.

I spend time on all this because I think we are often like the people who were duped by Absalom. It’s so easy to judge by external things like looks and charm. It’s so easy to fall for a leader or lover who looks good and makes you feel good about yourself and himself – at least superficially. This is also true of ideas. Ideas and principles that make you feel good about yourself can be very seductive.

I want to encourage the people of  God to not judge by shallow things like appearance or personal charm, or even by feelings. Sometimes it takes some hard work to realize that goodness doesn’t always immediately feel good.

In any case, Absalom was able to win over enough people to attempt a coup to dethrone David (and probably kill him). It is interesting to see David’s attitude toward his son. He had no illusions about Absalom. As soon as he heard the news, he knew that his son would kill him if he could. Even so, that never changed David’s love for him. Later we’ll see that when it came to battle, David tried to protect Absalom, and he was deeply grieved when his son was killed. David did what he had to, to protect himself and take care of the kingdom God had given him – but he never wavered in his love for his son.

That is sometimes how it is with us and the Lord. The Lord has no illusions about us. He knows who we truly are—the good, and also the bad.  And yet, God loves us with an unwavering love anyway. He’s always hoping we can be saved from destroying ourselves. He’s always hoping we will reconcile with him rather than be killed.

Here is where we begin to see that David has returned to the steadfast trust in the Lord that he had as a young man. Absalom began his coup in the city of Hebron. David got the news when he was in Jerusalem. If you remember, Jerusalem at that time was a walled city on top of a ridge, with an internal water source. Years earlier, David and his men had conquered the city through the water shaft, but David quickly built defenses to stop that happening again, now that he had the city. Before the water shaft was protected, people had considered Jerusalem to be unconquerable, and so now it was even more so. Therefore, the commonsense option for David was to shut the gates of Jerusalem and make Absalom try to conquer the city. Even if Absalom were able to surround Jerusalem entirely, it would have taken a year or two to starve them out. During that time, other allies might have come to David’s aid, or Absalom’s followers might have second thoughts. However, that route would have involved a lot of hardship for the people of Jerusalem, and many of Absalom’s men would also have been killed. David said:

“Hurry! If we get out of the city before Absalom arrives, both we and the city of Jerusalem will be spared from disaster.” (2 Samuel 15:14)

So, instead of staying where it was safe, David left the city, and allowed Absalom to come in unopposed. This shows that David was willing to trust God. He didn’t need to hold on to the advantage of the walled city. Instead, he spared the people much suffering, and took the burden upon himself.

Because of this choice, David had to run for his life. This had to be tough for him. When David was a young man, for more than a decade he had lived on the run in the wilderness. Life was physically difficult in those days. He was not respected or honored for who God made him to be. He was not recognized for his gifts. God’s promises did not seem to be fulfilled. Finally, he came through all of that and became king. If you remember, just a few years later, he ended up back in one of his old hide-outs, eluding the Philistine invaders (2 Samuel 5:17-25). He came through that. And now, well into middle age – perhaps almost sixty years old, he was back yet again, running for his life, not respected, not living out what God had promised him. In some ways, this might have been even harder. When he was young, he didn’t know exactly how it would feel to be king. But now, he knew what he was missing. And now too, he had a family to take care of. He brought his wives with him. Solomon was probably about ten years old at this point. There were other children also. I should note that he left his ten concubines behind him, because that comes up later on.

But in spite of this hardship, David did not turn away from the Lord. This would have been a time when it would be very easy to be bitter. David followed God faithfully for most of his life. True, he had failed at times, but he certainly had more than his share of trouble. Did he really deserve things to be this bad, for this many years of his life? Following God did not spare him from trouble and hardship. But he had a better hope than just a comfortable life on earth. And so as he went, we can see the grace oozing out of him. When people insulted him, he was not angry. He didn’t demand help from anyone. He went out in humility and trust.

The people seemed to have had three basic reactions to David during this period of his life. The first is shown to us in the person of Ziba. If you remember, Ziba was the man whom David made manager of the estate of Mephibosheth, son of Jonathan, whom David had treated so kindly. Ziba gathered some much needed supplies and brought them to David. This was a welcome thing, and a great help to David. But it turns out that perhaps Ziba did this deceptively, for his own gain. We find out later that Ziba lied about Mephibosheth, slandering him in the hope that if David triumphed over Absalom, he, Ziba, would be rewarded with Mephibosheth’s estate. Mephibosheth, if you remember, was lame, and so Ziba took advantage of that to come see David, while not allowing his master to come. So Ziba supported David, but with the purpose of gaining something in the end. On the other hand he likely had very little to lose by doing what he did if David never came back. After all, it wasn’t his own food that he gave David. He surely took it from Mephibosheth’s supplies. There were others who doubtless supported David by way of hedging their bets, hoping to gain his favor if he triumphed, and having little to lose if he didn’t.

There was a second common reaction to David in all of this. Shimei was a relative of Saul’s, and he cursed David, throwing dust and stones at him as he left Jerusalem. David’s response reveals that he is once more a man whose heart belongs entirely to God. David’s nephew Abishai, one of his great warriors, offered to go relieve Shimei of his head (Abishai was the brother of Joab). But David restrained him. Nathan had told David (2 Samuel 12:10-12) that one of the consequences of his sin would be rebellion from within his own family. David was back to his good place in his relationship with God. His circumstances were a mess, but once more, his heart was fixed entirely on the Lord. So when Shimei cursed him, David humbly accepted whatever the Lord was doing. He trusted the Lord to straighten things out, if Shimei was wrong. There were others, obviously, who sided with Absalom and rebelled against David. David’s personal advisor, Ahithophel was one prominent one. It may be that David wrote Psalm 55 at this point. The close friend that David refers to in that Psalm was very likely Ahithophel.

Finally, a third group of people remained steadfastly with David, come what may. Ittai was a Philistine warrior who had left his home; he led a battalion of six hundred Philistines who had pledged allegiance to David. David released them from their pledge and urged them to return to their homeland, but they refused. For them it was not about being blessed or having good times. They were in it for forever, for good or for bad, no matter what. The two priests, Zadok and Abiathar, were like that, as was one of David’s advisors, Hushai. David sent them back to Jerusalem as spies, and they remained loyal to him.

Remember how David is a “type of Christ?” It shows up again here. Jesus did not return the curses and insults of those who reviled him. I think it is helpful for us to look at how people responded to David, and see ourselves, in how we respond to Jesus.

There are some people who follow Jesus, or at least, who are sympathetic to him, because even though they aren’t sure about him, they want to keep their options open. Maybe they want something from him. So they hedge their bets. They come to church. They try to manipulate Jesus into blessing them, in case he is in a position to do so. But they aren’t following him because he is the chosen one of God. They are doing it in hope for their own gain.

Others simply reject Jesus, particularly when it seems like he’s not a winner. These folks may seem to go along with the Lord for a while. But when something comes along that seems more attractive, or that makes them feel better about themselves, they desert the Lord and go along with the new thing. Sometimes they may reject Jesus because they mistakenly thought that the main thing he was supposed to do was make their lives on earth better, and when trouble came, they weren’t spiritually prepared.

And finally, there are those who remain faithful through everything. Sometimes their faithfulness costs them a great deal of suffering and hardship. Sometimes it brings peace or joy. But they follow in the certain hope that this life could never hold everything they want or desire. They are seeking their heavenly home. The book of Hebrews talks about them, and people like those loyal to David:

13 These all died in faith without having received the promises, but they saw them from a distance, greeted them, and confessed that they were foreigners and temporary residents on the earth. 14 Now those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they were thinking about where they came from, they would have had an opportunity to return. 16 But they now desire a better place — a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. (Heb 11:13-16, HCSB)

Let the Holy Spirit speak to you today. Maybe you need correction because your focus is on external things. Perhaps, like those who listened to Absalom, you are swayed by what looks good or what makes you feel good, and you need to be reminded not to judge based upon shallow appearances.

Or, maybe you need to be reminded that the life of faith always has ups and downs, that real saints throughout the ages have had many struggles in their lives. The trick is not to avoid struggles, but to let God’s grace surround you, and come out of you, when you are in them.

Maybe you are being challenged about the way you follow Jesus. Maybe you have been focusing more on your own personal gain. Perhaps you are susceptible, because of pain or struggle, to rejecting Jesus all together. Hear God’s gracious invitation to faith today.

SERENITY PRAYER #6: HARDSHIP AS A PATHWAY TO PEACE

On By Pastor TomIn Podcast, Religion, Serenity Prayer, Sermon, Uncategorized1 Comment
Photo by Na~jeeb Qadmi on Pexels.com

Hardship is an important and often unrecognized pathway to peace in Jesus Christ. We tend to dodge hardship with denial, control, or escape. But Jesus walks with us in all things, including in difficulties.

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.

To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer: Download Serenity Prayer Part 6

Accepting Hardship as a Pathway to Peace

Scriptures: John 16:33; James 1:2-4 2 Corinthians 4:4-10; Romans 8:15-19; Rom 5:3-5; 1 Peter 4:12-13

            Welcome, children of God! I’m Wade Jones from Priest Lake Christian Fellowship, and we are about halfway into our journey through the Serenity Prayer as a tool to encourage the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Let’s invite Him into this time together.

            This week we are looking at the line “Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace.” Now, I am not usually one to be pedantic about small words, but this week there is an important thing I want to note right off. You can find several different versions of this prayer, and they have slightly different wording. When we went through this study together at Priest Lake, one of the brothers pointed out the difference between praying “accepting hardship as a pathway to peace” and “accepting hardship as the pathway to peace.” Have you ever met someone who always assumed that God’s will would be to do the most difficult thing possible? I see how they get there; it’s way too easy to “hear” that God wants me to be as comfortable as possible, and never hear things the hard way. But the opposite of a wrong idea is usually also a wrong idea, and if we believe that God wants nothing but the most difficult choice for us, we may miss out on seasons of joy and Sabbath rest. So, while we are going to talk about the pathway of peace that leads through hardship, please understand right from the beginning that this is not the only road God will use in your life to bring you to a place of peace, of serenity. It is a really important one, and it’s often a neglected one, but it is not the only one.

            Why would I say it’s a neglected one? Well, we live in a time and place where many things that were hard historically or are hard in other parts of the world are relatively easy for us. I think we all live in homes with indoor plumbing, clean water, electricity to power all our devices, including a refrigerator and freezer so we always have food on hand. If we want to go on a long journey, we have cars or buses or planes that allow us to cover in hours or days what might be a journey of months or years in other settings. This is not to say that our lives are without difficulty and hardship. But I am saying that it is easy for us to come to believe that hardship is an aberration, a distortion of “normal life,” when most of humanity has experienced and continues to experience hardship as a normal part of daily existence. Many of our brothers and sisters around the world and throughout the centuries have prayed, “Give us this day our daily bread” out of basic necessity rather than just a phrase in the Lord’s Prayer.

            When we encounter hardship in our lives, whether it is with our health, our family, our finances, our employment, it is easy to miss the opportunity that God has for us along this path simply because we are so unfamiliar with it that we don’t even see it as an option to let God use difficulty in our lives. We see it as something to get out of as quickly as possible so that we can get “back to normal.” But is that a Biblical view?

            In Jesus’ long conversation with the apostles on the night before His execution, He talked to them a lot about the difficulties they were going to face. He says it plainly, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) So much of His last conversation is letting them know how hard it’s going to be. They will be cut off from long-term relationships. They will face condemnation and shame from friends and family. The world is going to hate them. They will eventually, according to early church history, be killed for their commitment to trust Jesus (except for John – he lives in exile instead).

            Before you say, “But those were the apostles, so their suffering was special. My life is just as an ordinary Christian, so I shouldn’t expect that, right?” Well, James is writing to ordinary Jewish believers when he says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:2-4) This is how he opens his letter to them! And he’s not just talking about persecution, he says trials of many kinds. Later in this letter he talks about wealth and poverty (and the challenges of being poor), conflict between brothers and the harm it brings, and physical sickness. This is a very practical, everyday letter, and James expects hardship to be a part of practical, everyday life for the believer. Almost at the end of the letter, he comes back to it. He talks about the need for patience like the prophets when we suffer. James expects Christians to experience hardship and gives us encouragement to deal with it well.

            Paul talks about the hardships of life as well, particularly in Second Corinthians. In chapter 4, he goes into a long list of things that show the value of his ministry to them and to others. Listen to verses 4-10: “4 Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; 5 in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; 6 in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; 7 in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; 8 through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; 9 known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; 10 sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.” Persecution is a part of that, absolutely – but so are normal life difficulties. And so are positive things that surely we all want to be part of our normal, Christian lives: purity, patience, the Holy Spirit, righteousness, truthfulness. For Paul, anything on this list should not come as a shock to any believer – this is part of life as a follower of Christ.

            There’s a lot more that can be said about the normalcy of hardship in our lives, but honestly, you can just listen to Tom’s podcast (Hope in Hard Times) and get a full and robust teaching from Tom and his sidekick (that’s me). And maybe I’m saying too much about this, but I think it is crucial for our growth as believers that we expect to encounter suffering in our life so that we can respond to it in a healthy and godly way.

            If we don’t expect hardship – if we believe it’s not a pathway we can walk toward peace in Christ – then we are likely to respond in unhealthy ways. That list could be long, but I’m going to talk about three unhealthy responses, and then three responses that I believe counter them. The unhealthy responses are denial, control, and escape. The healthy ones are acceptance, the presence of God, and the presence of community.

            Denial. It ain’t just a river in Egypt. One unhealthy way we sometimes respond to hardship in our lives is by pretending it isn’t there. This is already a problem, since, as we talked about last week, God lives in the Present and in Reality. When I am refusing to face Reality as it is, I am not living in the world where God can engage my life. Let me give you an example from my past week. As I write this, I am coming off a retreat weekend with about eighty men from at least fifteen different churches where we call each other and a group of younger men to come and stand by Jesus. (We call this retreat the Calling of Men – if you want to know more about it, please ask me, because it is absolutely incredible.) Anyway, the first time we did this retreat I was in my thirties. I could stay up until 2 am talking with guys and still be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed to serve the next day. I was proud of the fact that I could still easily get in and out of a top bunk and leave the ones below for the “older men” who needed it. Well, now I’m in my fifties. I can’t stay up all night talking anymore – at least not if I want to be conscious and helpful the next day. But this year I still took a top bunk. And on the last day, trying to get up, I fell out, and now my pinky toe is bright purple. Didn’t break anything, but it did hurt. Hmm…that makes me think about the reality that hardship will eventually make you notice it. Ignore something long enough (like getting older) and a bigger, more obvious problem may emerge. I didn’t break anything – but I definitely could have. I think next year I’ll take a bottom bunk instead of trying to deny the changes that come with age.

            Of course, there are more significant examples than a bruised toe. Many of us could tell a story of someone who ignored symptoms of an illness until it was far worse and harder to treat than it would have been in the first place. And the same can be true of financial difficulties (ever refuse to look at your bank balance because you don’t want to hear the bad news?), or our relationships (pretending that all is well in a marriage that is in crisis because we can’t face the fear of what may happen next?), or any other area of our lives. Denial doesn’t fix the problem. We can’t just ignore hardship and hope it goes away (at least, not healthily).

            For some of us, we can see the problem, and we are sure that we can fix it. If we can just figure out what caused it, we are sure that we can change our circumstances so that they won’t be as hard. We will work that extra job, have that difficult conversation, change our diet and exercise – whatever it takes to get control of this issue so that it doesn’t hurt me anymore. We try to beat hardship with control. And this is where, in our culture, there are so many things we can control that it can be hard for us to admit that there are things that we can’t. There are things that are beyond us. There are hardships that we can’t fix. And when we can’t fix it ourselves, sometimes we move into blame. I can’t fix it because I didn’t cause it. But if I can figure out whose fault it was, then I can get them to fix it. Sometimes things aren’t someone’s fault. Sometimes we have hardship because we live in a broken world. And trying to pin the blame for that brokenness on someone or something else (or even ourselves) is not going to bring us to that place of peace…serenity…shalom.

            When I can’t deny it, and I can’t control it, there’s only one bad option left. I can try to escape it. Escape takes so many different forms: alcohol, sweets, shopping, pizza, sex, video games, exercise, work, entertainment – the list could go on and on and on. Did I hit one of your favorite escape routes? I included a few of mine. These things are not bad in and of themselves, as long as they are used in line with God’s design for them. But when any of those good and Godly things are being used to numb me, to help me detach from a Reality that is too difficult or painful for me to engage, then they are an unhealthy response to hardship. God’s intention for us is to use that hardship to strengthen us and build us up. James said that; Paul says that. But I will not develop perseverance by distracting myself from the things that are hard for me.

            So, how do we respond healthily to hardship? How do we come nearer to God and allow Him to form us more into His image as we go through difficulties? This line of the prayer describes the first healthy response: acceptance. We talked about this some when we discussed serenity. Acceptance does not mean saying, “I’m glad that this happened,” or “I’m sure this is better than what I wanted,” or any other pretending that we are not hurting. It does mean saying, “Since my God, who I know is loving and good, has allowed this to happen, He must be at work in it somehow.” An important note here: just because God allows something doesn’t mean He caused it, or that it was what He most wanted. It means He permitted it. This is exactly what Paul is saying in Romans 8:28: “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose.” Please notice that Paul does not say that all things work together for his specific good – for Paul’s benefit. But for those who love God. We are part of a people, a kingdom-wide community that the Father is shaping and forming through the Holy Spirit into a spotless bride for His Son. The hardship in your life may well be for someone else’s benefit. Are we willing to patiently endure hardship so that someone else may come to know the love of the Father? Then can we trust that anything He allows is something He intends to use to benefit His people? Even exile, even cataclysmic loss, even death itself. Or as Paul says later in chapter 8: hardship, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword. Sometimes, as God works to reconcile all creation to Himself in Christ Jesus, He uses hardship in our lives as one of the paths to get there. And when we can accept that God knows what is happening, and trust that He knows what He is doing, it helps us respond to hardship well.

            So, remembering God’s sovereignty is part of a healthy response to hardship. So is remembering His immanence. That may be a new word for you. It comes from the Latin immanere, which means “to inhabit.” One definition of immanence is this: “the state of being present as a natural and permanent part of something.” In this case, the something is us. God always intended to be in deep ongoing relationship with people. The fall fractured that. The resurrection has restored it. Take seriously the language of the New Testament about the people of God being the body of Christ and the temple in which God’s Presence lives. God is present with us and in us, both corporately and individually. This means that when we are going through hardships, God Himself is choosing to go through those hardships with us. This is part of what the Incarnation of Jesus was about, and that incarnation continues in His body now. In First Corinthians 12, Paul is describing what it means for us to be the Body of Christ, and he says (verse 26), “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.” We usually think about that in terms of our relationships with one another, and we will come to that in a minute, but it is also true of Christ. Jesus Christ is not just standing idly by watching when you are hurting. He has united you to Himself, and in that, He enters into your suffering and goes through it with you. You are not abandoned or alone. God Himself has lowered Himself so that He is able to enter into our suffering with us. That means that we have permission – even encouragement – to invite Him into a situation with us instead of only asking Him to take it away. We can do both. And He will respond to that invitation. In fact, He already has.

            And He has given us a Body to go through these things together. I often need someone to remind me of truths that I believe when I am in a hard place. I don’t mean the platitudes that may, in fact, be true, but that often sound trite and shallow in the middle of our pain. I mean the brothers and sisters who can stand alongside us and say, “I don’t have any answers for this. I can see how difficult it is. I don’t know how to solve your problem, but I will be with you here in it and bring the Presence of Christ in me to comfort you.” We need someone who is able to cry with us as we mourn. We need each other at all times; when we are going through hardship, we need each other even more. I can’t imagine walking through the hardships in my life (addiction, recovery, raising a profoundly disabled child, death) without having people next to me that I could lean on and depend on to hold me up when I could not do it for myself.

            That’s what brings me to peace when life is hard – and life is often hard. I accept that anything that happens is happening with God’s permission, I trust that He is walking through it with me, and I am grateful for the friends and companions He has provided to hold my hand in the middle of it all.

Let’s close again this week with the Serenity Prayer. I hope you’ll join with me as we pray.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time, accepting hardships as a pathway to peace.

Taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it to be.

Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His will – that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever.

That’s all for this week. Next week we will be on similar ground with the line “Taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it to be.” Until then, may God walk with you intimately in whatever hardships present themselves in your life this week, and may you trust Him even as it hurts. Amen.

1 PETER #4: GRIEF AND JOY IN TRIALS

On By Pastor TomIn 1 Peter, Bible, Bible Teaching, Podcast, Religion, SermonLeave a comment
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It is normal and appropriate to grieve when we face hard things in our life. Even so, God uses those things to cause us to grow, and to refine our faith in Jesus. We can trust His work through our suffering because His greatest work came through the suffering of Jesus Christ.

To listen to the sermon, click the play button: To download, right click on the link (or do whatever you do on a Mac) and save it to your computer: Download 1 Peter Part 4

1 Peter #4. 1 Peter 1:6-9

6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:6-9, ESV

Last time, we saw that Peter began by encouraging his readers with the amazing promises of our eternal inheritance. He now provides a contrast. We have that amazing inheritance, a treasure that will always be there for us. It cannot be corrupted, and it will never lose its freshness or joy. Peter now acknowledges that in the meantime, before we receive that inheritance, we may experience various kinds of difficulty and hardship. The word Peter uses for these struggles is usually translated trials. This is a word that is often used in the New Testament.

I want to take this opportunity to address a misunderstanding that some Christians seem to have. Many people seem to think that the only kind of hardship that “counts” as suffering for Christ is persecution. In other words, (they think) if you are persecuted, any hardship that results from that persecution is suffering for Christ. But if a drunk driver hits you and you lose your legs, that’s just bad luck, and it isn’t the same thing as Christian suffering. But Peter here refers to “various kinds” of trials. This is exactly what is sounds like: it means that there may be many different kinds of hardship and struggles that you encounter. It could be illness, or something caused by an accident, or something done to you by someone else. It might be financial hardship, or emotional problems, or struggles in your relationship with someone. The point that Peter makes is this: whatever the source of the suffering, when we are in Jesus, God uses it to create character, or to test character, or both. It ultimately results in praise and glory and honor.

I want to make sure we are clear here. I don’t mean that God deliberately inflicts pain directly upon people. But when pain comes, he puts it to good use. The Holy Spirit, in Romans 8:28, says this:

8 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. (Romans 8:28-30, ESV)

God uses all things in the process of making us more like Jesus, more like the people we were originally intended to be, apart from sin. “All things” working for our good includes trials and suffering, obviously. So, when difficult times come about as a result of living in a world full of sin, and living in bodies that are corrupted by sin, God uses those to develop and refine our character.

3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Romans 5:3-5, ESV)

The Spirit inspired James to write something similar:

 2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4, ESV)

I can say, without a doubt, that God has used suffering to make me a better person. He has used suffering to help me feel more close to Him than I had ever felt before. He has used suffering to wean my affections away from the things of the world, to help me become less interested in sin. As Paul, and James write, there have been times when I have rejoiced in the suffering that God entrusted to me. Suffering has made my faith far deeper and stronger than it was before – it has been tested, like gold in the fire, and purified in the same way. By the way, I am not claiming to be some great person. I just mean that God has made me more like Jesus than I was before I began to suffer. I’m still not very far along that road, and I don’t claim to be better than anyone else, but I believe I am farther along than I was before, as a direct result of my struggles.

But I am so glad that the Holy Spirit inspired Peter to remind us that there is also grief in suffering. Peter writes here that we rejoice in our eternal inheritance, while the trials are bringing us grief. I don’t believe that there is a conflict in these perspectives. It is possible, and good and right, to rejoice in suffering. It is also good and right to grieve in suffering. Even Paul, who also wrote about rejoicing in suffering, in addition, recorded his deep distress, many times:

8 We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. 9 In fact, we expected to die. (2 Corinthians 1:8-9, NLT)

I think there are times when suffering results in rejoicing. But at other times, we are pressed beyond our ability to endure (as Paul confesses), and we grieve, and cry out. This too, is an appropriate, godly response to trials, when we cry out in tears, yet still with faith:

11 What strength do I have that I should continue to hope?
What is my future, that I should be patient?
12 Is my strength that of stone,
or my flesh made of bronze?
13 Since I cannot help myself,
the hope for success has been banished from me. (Job 6:11-13, HCSB)
16 I weep because of these things;
my eyes flow with tears.
For there is no one nearby to comfort me,
no one to keep me alive.
My children are desolate
because the enemy has prevailed. (Lamentations 1:16, CSB)
3 I am weary from my crying;
my throat is parched.
My eyes fail, looking for my God.
4 Those who hate me without cause
are more numerous than the hairs of my head;
my deceitful enemies, who would destroy me,
are powerful.
Though I did not steal, I must repay. (Psalms 69:3-4, CSB)

Why do I call these passionate, desperate, words, responses “of faith?” Because they were poured out as prayers. They are full of sorrow, and pain and despair, but even in the midst of all that, they were poured out to the Lord. Job, Jeremiah and David (the writers of the three passages above) fully experienced their pain and suffering. They did not pretend that they were OK. They were honest and eloquent about how hard it was. But even so, they brought their pain to the feet of the Lord. Yes, the pain is deep, and even despairing, and yet, by bringing their pain to the Lord, they are showing faith. They are terrific examples for us. I’ll be personal for a moment. Today, I feel much more like the verses I just gave you (by Job, Jeremiah, and David), than the ones about rejoicing in suffering. Yet, I know that I am OK with God. There is room for many different responses to suffering. God can handle it. We have a God who personally knows what it is like to suffer within a human body. The writer of Hebrews says (about Jesus):

17 Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people. 18 Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested. (Hebrews 2:17-18, NLT)

For the first two years of my suffering, I was confused and troubled; that was OK. God handled it. Then for almost four years, I did truly rejoice in my suffering. But now, today, I identify with the Biblical writers who talk about despair and hopelessness. I don’t believe that God loves me any less now than he did when I was doing well. He knows what it is like. He can handle our unexpected courage and fortitude, and he can handle our crushing despair. He won’t let either one go to waste, but instead, will use all things to cause us to grow into the people he intends us to be. He will use them ultimately to bring praise, glory and honor, where right now we experience suffering, grief and despair. Again, this is something that the entire New Testament affirms in many places:

17 And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. (Romans 8:17-18, NLT)

And, what has become my life-verse:

16 That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. 17 For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! 18 So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18, NLT)

One gigantic difference between Christianity and every other world-view is this way of thinking about suffering in the light of eternity. If you are an atheist, life is simply fundamentally unfair to most people, and then you die, and it is over. If you live in a wealthy country, you might not see just how deeply unjust and terrible life is for millions, but it is true. If you are a Buddhist, suffering is ultimately meaningless; it is merely an illusion. If you are a Hindu, all of your personal suffering is your own fault; perhaps from a previous life, but it’s still all on you to pay back your debt to karma. But we Christians see suffering in the light of a glorious eternal future, trusting that a God who is far beyond our comprehension is indeed making things right. It is only logical that an infinite God would do things, or allow things, that we don’t understand. Understanding doesn’t always bring comfort anyway. But our comfort comes from trusting God; trusting that He is indeed good, and that he loves us, and we can rely on that, even when we don’t understand, because he went through incredible pain and suffering himself, for our sake.

Remember when Jesus was on the cross? He cried out: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He understood what it was to have grief and despair in trials. And the cross gives us confidence that even when we don’t understand, God is doing something good. At the time, it seemed to the disciples as if it was a disaster. How could God use the crucifixion of the Messiah for good? And yet, through the suffering of Jesus, God brought about the eternal good of untold numbers of people. If God can use the death of Jesus for good, we can trust that he can use our sufferings for good as well, even when we don’t understand what he is up to, or how it could possibly result in good.

Peter has acknowledged the reality of the grief that suffering brings. He has also set up the eternal perspective, and so, he goes on:

8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:6-9, ESV

Peter saw Jesus personally. It must have been a kind of wonderful thing to him to meet so many people who developed faith in Jesus without ever meeting Him personally. I am sure he was reminded of Jesus’ words to his friend, Thomas:

29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29, ESV)

Paul makes it clear, also:

7 For we live by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:6-7, ESV)

Again, from 2 Corinthians 4:18 (quoted above), we are to fix our attention on things that are not seen physically. I’ve said this before, but faith requires a kind of surrender. We have to give up control in order to trust. We have to accept the possibility that we are being foolish. Even so, Peter gives us a clue that when we do trust our unseen Lord, there is a confidence that results. Many people have asked me over the years whether it is possible to know if you are being saved. Well, Peter makes it crystal clear here. He is writing to people who have taken the leap of faith. They are trusting the unseen and infinite God. As a result, they are filled with joy, and they can be sure that they are receiving the goal of that faith: the salvation of their souls.

Of course, as with anything the idea that you can be sure of your salvation can be abused. I have met people who prayed a prayer with a preacher, and got baptized, and have since had nothing to do with Jesus whatsoever. They live the same kind of life as people who have no faith. Even so, they seem to think they will be saved. Thankfully, I am not the one who will judge their fate; even so, I think such people are probably mistaken, and they are often the “so-called Christians” who give other Jesus-followers a bad name.

If you truly do know that you are saved, if you truly believe what the Bible says about Jesus, it will affect how you live. Certainly, you won’t become perfect, and sometimes it will be two steps forward, one step back, but our actions will reveal what we truly believe.

However, we need to be clear. We don’t have faith in our own ability to be good. We don’t have faith in our own strength of faith. We have faith in the person of Jesus Christ, and on His ability to keep us and guard us until we receive the amazing eternal inheritance he has promised (which we talked about last time). We can indeed have confidence that we are receiving the goal of our faith, the salvation of our souls. In the meantime, yes, we experience  trials and grief, but they are nothing compared to the joy of our eternal future.

Will you trust Him with whatever trials you face today?

COLOSSIANS #9: REJOICING IN SUFFERING

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

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Jesus promises a future so good that our present struggles are tiny in comparison. He promises His own presence to be with us, and to strengthen us to endure suffering. He promises to take our present trials, and turn them into future blessings for us. All this means that we can truly rejoice in our sufferings.

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Colossians #9. Colossians 1:24-26.

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. (Colossians 1:24-26)

I am typing this on my laptop computer. The laptop is being supported by a large book called “The World’s Great Religions.” This has me thinking: Christianity is unique among the world’s great’s religions for many reasons. One of the ways Christianity is so different is because of how our faith helps us come to grips with suffering.

Hinduism tells us that suffering is all our own fault. It is karma in action. Every person suffers because of what they did, either in this life, or in some previous life. Buddhism tells us that suffering is meaningless. It is an illusion. We should not let it bother us. Islam and Judaism tell us that suffering is something to be endured patiently. It is evil, but God can help us through it, and we will be rewarded if we endure it well.

Only Jesus Christ makes it possible to actually rejoice in our sufferings. Paul’s statement here that he rejoices in his sufferings is repeated in many other places in the Bible. The bible teaches us not only that Jesus Christ can help us as we suffer, but also that suffering can be a source of joy and blessing:

Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance (James 1:2-3)

You rejoice in this, though now for a short time you have had to struggle in various trials (1 Peter 1:6)

A man who endures trials is blessed, because when he passes the test he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him. (Jas 1:12)

We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part (2 Corinthians 8:1-2)

Dear friends, don’t be surprised when the fiery ordeal comes among you to test you as if something unusual were happening to you. Instead, rejoice as you share in the sufferings of the Messiah (1 Peter 4:12-13)

4I am acting with great boldness toward you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy. (2 Cor 7:4)

I could add a number of other verses. I could also add my own testimony. As I have surrendered in faith to Jesus, my sufferings of chronic pain have become for me a source of blessing and joy. Now, don’t get me wrong. I would love to see the pain end. There are days when it is a real hassle, and I get a little crazy trying to figure out how to cope. But I can also say that I am truly grateful for the pain. It has brought me closer to God. It has broadened and deepened my perspective on many things. I say, without hypocrisy, that my suffering has been a blessing. Though my pain is often difficult, Jesus has removed all evil from it.

One thing that can help us to rejoice in our sufferings is an understanding that this world is not all there is, and because of that, our struggles in this life are not as powerful or significant as the all the good that is coming to is in the future. Imagine you have an old-fashioned scale for comparing weights. There are two sides to the scale. On one side, place all of your struggles and sufferings. On the other side, place all of the blessings that God has given us through Jesus Christ, including our future eternal life. All of the good we have in Jesus Christ far outweighs all of the sufferings we experience in this life. Paul says that there is no comparison between the two:

That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18, NLT)

The good does not always outweigh the bad if we are only looking at this life. We must include eternity in the calculation. That is part of what Christianity is about. We can rejoice in sufferings because we know that this life is not all there is, and what we have coming is far, far better than anything we have yet experienced.

We will indeed find in the future that things are so good, the pain that we experienced in this life doesn’t even matter in comparison. But there is even more. We find not only that the good far outweighs the suffering, but also that the suffering provides some of the “raw material” that God uses to create future good for us. In other words, God doesn’t just “outbless” the suffering, he actually takes it and turns it into goodness for us.

17 And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.
18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. (Romans 8:17-18)

To share in the glory we must share in the suffering. That means that suffering is not just an evil to get through. Suffering is actually the means to glory. When we suffer as we follow Jesus (whatever the cause of suffering) God actually takes that suffering and turns it into future glory and blessing for us. Suffering  here and now creates blessing for us in eternity.

We have a glimpse of this when we consider the cross of Christ. Jesus Christ suffered terribly for our sins. On a spiritual, or metaphysical level, his suffering was unbelievably worse than we can even imagine, for the Bible appears to suggest that he suffered the eternal torture of hell. But the very source of his suffering – the cross – is the very source of his victory and glory. Without the suffering, there would be no glory. Without the pain, there would be no healing. Suffering and glory are deeply connected.

So we rejoice in sufferings because they are small compared to future blessings. We rejoice also because our sufferings are actually turned in to some of those future blessings for us. There is a third reason to rejoice in sufferings, and that is that God is with those who suffer in a special way. In Philippians, Paul writes:

10 My goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death (Philippians 3:10)

Paul seems to be suggesting that suffering creates a special kind of fellowship with Jesus himself. The promises of scripture never guarantee that we will not have to suffer – quite the opposite. But the bible does promise that when we suffer, he is with us.

2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
3 For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. (Isaiah 43:2-3)

God is with us when we suffer. Jesus was the only one who had to suffer alone. On the cross, in order to carry our sins, he was entirely alone. All others are comforted, if they are open to it, by the presence of God with them in suffering.

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I want to add another thought. Some people are not sure what sorts of suffering “count” as suffering for Christ, and what is only ordinary hardship that is found in this life. Let’s do a thought experiment to help understand this.

Imagine you are an American, and you take your family to Indonesia to be missionaries. You are there because you are serving the Lord. While you are there, you get malaria. Is that suffering for the Lord? It seems reasonable to say so. You are in Indonesia because you are serving the Lord, doing what he has called you to do. Following his call on your life led you to be exposed to malaria. If you had rejected his call on your life to be a missionary in Indonesia, you would not have been exposed to it.

Now, what if you are a Christian who was born and raised in Indonesia? You are following Jesus, and he leads you to be a carpenter, raise your family in faith, and be the Light of Jesus to your friends and neighbors. While living your life in your own country, surrendered to Jesus, you get malaria. Is that suffering for the Lord? I would again say yes. You, too, are serving the Lord the way he has called you to. You too, are living a life of surrender to Jesus. When we belong to Jesus, everything we do, and everything we experienced occurs in Jesus, and for Jesus.

The apostle Paul lived his life for Jesus. In 1 Corinthians 11:16-29, he mentions some of the ways in which he has suffered for Jesus. He certainly includes various persecutions in his sufferings. He also mentions being shipwrecked. He counts dangerous river crossings as part of his trials endured for the sake of Christ (2 Cor 11:26). He adds danger from robbers, from wild animals, from cold and exposure, and from traveling through the wilderness. He counts hard work as part of his suffering for Christ, as well as sleepless nights and going without food and drink.

When Paul was in prison in Rome, the Philippians sent him a gift. The gift was delivered by a man named Epaphroditus. After Epaphroditus arrived in Rome, he got sick. He became so ill that he nearly died. His sickness was not the result of persecution. There is not mention of the fact that it came from some moment when Epaphroditus was doing some amazing act of ministry. It was just “ordinary sickness.” But Paul describes it like this:

29 So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, 30 for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me. (Philippians 2:29-30)

Epaphroditus was living his life in surrender to Jesus. Therefore, when he got seriously ill, Paul describes it as nearly dying for the work of Christ.

My point is this: If you allow it, God will redeem all suffering. It isn’t just special, “holy circumstances” that count as suffering for Christ. Whatever trials come your way as you live in Christ are counted as suffering for Christ. And these are the trials – often ordinary, everyday hardships – in which we can and should rejoice.

Let the Spirit speak to you about this right now. Think of some area of your life, or in the life of someone you care about. Picture putting that suffering into some kind of container, and then deliver the container to Jesus. Let him take it. He will walk with you. He will give such a future that this problem seems small. He will take that container of suffering, and change it into eternal joy and blessing for you.

Trust Him.

GIVING THANKS FOR THE BAD THINGS

On By Pastor TomIn Bible, Bible Teaching, Christianity, Podcast, Religion, Sermon, Single Sermons, Uncategorized2 Comments

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THANKFULNESS 2019

This will not be a normal, full-length sermon. I want to spend this week in Thankfulness. Although Thanksgiving is not one of the feasts given in the Law of Moses, it is certainly a Biblical idea. Look at a small sample of verses about thankfulness from the New Testament:

Rejoice always! Pray constantly. Give thanks in everything, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.  (1Thess 5:16-18, HCSB)

And let the peace of the Messiah, to which you were also called in one body, control your hearts. Be thankful. Let the message about the Messiah dwell richly among you, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, and singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.  (Col 3:15-17, HCSB)

Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving.  (Col 4:2, HCSB)

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 6 Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable — if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise — dwell on these things. (Philippians 4:4-8 HSCB)

6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. (Colossians 2:6-7 NIV)

Literally hundreds of times, the Bible exhorts Christians to be thankful. As we look at the small sample of such verses above, it is clear that Christians are supposed to be people who live with an attitude of continual thankfulness toward God. Taking it one step further, to having a feast-day for thanksgiving is only natural. It should never be consider necessary, however: Jesus has done all that is necessary. But a festival of thanksgiving can certainly be useful in orienting our hearts toward God in the right way.

This year, I want us to spend some time in real thanksgiving. I’ll offer some thoughts to help keep us focused and oriented. Many people have discovered that thankfulness can absolutely transform your life. So, for example, say you have a job that you really hate. But, if you start each day by thanking God for the things you don’t hate, you find that it balances out the negatives in your life, or at least, it does to some degree. I often start my thanksgiving with something small, like hot water as I take a morning shower, and towels, and coffee. The more I thank the Lord, the more I think of other things I can thank him for. Many, many people have found this sort of thing to be very helpful in maintaining a peaceful heart and positive attitude.

I want to challenge us this year to take it one step further. I speak from personal experience when I say that I have learned to thank God even for things that I really, really don’t like. To do so, is an act of trust. When I thank God for something that I wish he would change, I am acknowledging that He is in control, and I am not. I am reorienting myself around the truth that he knows better than I do. I am agreeing with his Word, that:

We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.

This can be tremendously freeing. It can create a vast reservoir of peace and joy in your life. I know this to be true, because I have experienced it. In my struggle with chronic pain, I began to find real peace and joy when I started to thank God not, in spite of the pain, but for the pain. At the same time I began to thank him for all of the other stupid stuff that was going on my life that I wished was different.

When I started doing this, it was  pure act of will. I said, “I think I need to do this Lord. So, I don’t feel thankful, but even so, I am thanking you for this pain.” I went on and thanked him for financial hardship, and several other things. One of the first times I did this, Kari and I did it together. I won’t say we ended by feeling truly thankful, but we did start to feel a little bit more peace.

As it became more of a habit, I can now say that I am truly thankful for the pain (not just in spite of it). The pain is still there. I still have to figure out how to cope with it. But the fact that I am suffering is not a source of angst or frustration with me. God is working through it to create the best possible outcome for me, and I am so thankful for that.

So, this season, won’t you join me? Join me not only in focusing on the good things, but also in thanking God for the things we wish he would change.

I recognize that I didn’t arrive at this point on my own. It was a gift of God, who, by the Holy Spirit, empowered me to begin thanking him in this way. If you are willing, he will give you the same gift. Let’s ask him to do that right now, so that we can begin to experience the height of joy and depth of peace that thankfulness can bring.