"Will"

Okay, this is just to get your attention. But aren't my three young men cute? Not exactly best friends, but good enough for temporary roommates. Willie, the little black guy, will be leaving this weekend to return to his real home in Tennessee. And so I named this post after him.

Actually, I'm looking at Psalm 57 and noticing all the "will"'s there. When man "wills" something, it means that he determines it, purposes to complete a task, sets his mind to it. When God "wills" something, it is a promise that we can count on. Can we count on our wills? Not usually. But we can still be intentional about proclaiming them, as David was.

In Psalm 57, we see David "willing" to take refuge in the shadow of God's wings, willing to sing and make melody and awaken the dawn, willing to give thanks and praise to the God who rescues him. He determines, as ought we, to trust in the Lord with all his heart. Why?

Because God will send from heaven and save us, He will put to shame him who tramples on us, He will send out His steadfast love and faithfulness. He alone is the one who is worthy, and we do well to "will" ourselves to praise Him. Does He owe us rescue? Not in the least bit. But He graciously gives it because He loves us.

Recognizing and acknowledging and praising God's greatness and gracious condescension to us keeps our trials in their proper perspective. After all, no trial lasts forever. Only God's love does that.

In the end, it's God's glory alone that matters. And His glory results in our good. Because that is the purpose He promises in verse 2 to fulfill. Determine today to exalt Him not just in spite of, but because of.

Bon Voyage, Willie!

the road ahead

No one of us gets to see the road ahead. We only live with the illusion of safety, or lack of it, whichever category you fit into today. The reality is that we always walk by faith, and we all walk by faith. The only variations to our faith come in its object. Am I trusting the government and political processes, my bank account, my past health, my own cleverness, my neighbors' kindnesses, or the Sovereign Creator of the universe? Hmmm.

Here's what I ought to do. I ought to ask myself daily the source of my fears and insecurities, because they will certainly reveal the object of my faith. Our fears for our future reveal the gods we serve. Do I fear losing my job? Then I am trusting the Bank Account God. Am I fearing for my children and their futures? Maybe my god is the Controlling Mom God, or the Lecturing Mom God. Can I be afraid of the wrinkles that multiply daily on my face? That Youth God has been leading the charge in my life then.

No one can serve two masters. She will either hate the one and love the other, or love the one and hate the other. Choose your god carefully, dear sister.

Praise!

Can I praise God in my troubles? Even in the darkest cave, the deepest night, the most hopeless diagnosis, is there still something for which to give thanks? Romans 5 says there is. So does James 1. And David in the Psalms always turns to praise in the middle of his harrowing, near-death experiences.

In Romans 5, before the stuff about suffering, we are reminded that we are 1) justified by faith, 2) at peace with God through Jesus Christ, 3) able to access the grace in which we stand and, wonder of wonders, access God Himself!, 4) assured of sharing God's glory in eternity. Then comes the part about suffering, which, amazingly, does good things for us, like producing endurance, character, and hope (a hope which doesn't disappoint, I might add). And lest we forget that we have reason to give thanks, we are reminded (again!) in verse 6 that Christ died for us, even in our weakness and sin and self-absorption and silliness (okay, I put in that last part, but it's still true). And He did it "at the right time", not a minute too late or too soon.

Maybe the real truth about our trials is that they bring us back to the important things by stripping away the superficial. And maybe it's in the stripping away of health, wealth, and happiness that we see most clearly "a portrait of the ineffable beauty of the crucified Christ" and "the indescribable kindness of God." (Elyse Fitzpatrick in A Steadfast Heart)

Charles Spurgeon wrote, "There is no place to which you can be banished where God is not near, and there is no time of day or night when His throne is inaccessible. The caves have heard the best prayers. Some of God's people shine brightest in the dark."

Be encouraged in your trials. You might be shining your brightest just now.

Trust (again)

Trusting God is only easy when we are in a good and happy place, when He's provided for all of our felt needs and taken away our troubles, when no dark cloud looms on the horizon, and we have finally reached the light at the end of the tunnel. Otherwise, we struggle. At least I do.

We dare not be glib when we talk about trusting God. It is not an exercise for weaklings.

Or maybe it is. Maybe that is exactly who it's for. Weaklings can do nothing in hard times but trust God. They no longer have the strength or patience for whining and nagging and carrying on. They only have energy enough to rest in Him.

Do I believe what God has said? I need only to rest there. Do I believe he is able to run the world without my help? Then I need to give up helping.

He will do what He says, and I must do, by His grace, what He says, too. Trusting and obeying, resting in Him--that is all I need to have the strength for.

It's running the world that wears me out.

God's purposes

I asked the question yesterday, "What are God's purposes in us that He promises to fulfill?" In Isaiah 14, God declares, "As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand." We can be sure of God's good plans for us, for they are good. Just check Jeremiah 29, where God proclaims His plans for us good, and not evil. So what are His plans? I believe the Westminster Confession answers that right from the top: "Man's primary purpose is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever." This confirms all that Scripture teaches from beginning to end.

So the question begs to be asked, "How are God's purposes fulfilled in my trials?" This space is far too small to fully answer that question, but let me recommend to you A Place of Healing, by Joni Eareckson Tada. From her deep place of pain, she has found healing in Christ and this book chronicles that.

Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the Lord and rely on his God (Isaiah 50:10). God is exalted as we trust in Him and walk with Him and glorify Him and live for Him. In suffering, we get to know better the Savior who suffered on our behalf by coming to earth as a servant, living a perfect life in the face of enormous temptations and endured with joy the entire wrath of God that belonged to us. Hebrews reminds us that we have not yet resisted to the point of shedding our blood.

In our suffering, we find greater rest in God (see Psalm 62), whom we need so much more desperately. Our eyes are focused to see His work more clearly. We more readily rejoice with each victory. We long for the day when our faith becomes sight.

He is El Elyon, God Most High, who has condescended to shelter us under His massive and strong wings. Rest there. Rest there. Rest there. And know the incredible depth of His love for you.

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. Amen.

Question: Have you ever experienced soul torment? Times when you wrestle with yourself to trust God more, to believe that He has your good in mind when you feel like you're in the midst of lions? When, like Paul in Romans 7, you struggle to be good and kind and loving when everything in you just wants a nice, hot bath?

David says in Psalm 57 that his soul, his very soul!, was in the midst of lions, that he lay down among fiery beasts, the children of men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords. Whoa. Might you have people like THAT in your life? Then surely your soul is in torment.

And what is the tempter telling you in your torment? That your vast measures of sin brought it all on? That you ought to take matters into your own hands because God doesn't seem to care? That it is all someone else's fault and it's time to cry, "No fair!"?

Notice David's response in verse 5: "Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!" I don't know about you, but that leaves me breathless. To praise and exalt and honor and glorify God IN THE MIDST OF sharp teeth and tongues of steel? Impossible and impractical and un-doable. But he did it. He wrote this very song in the middle of a cave, hiding from Saul and all his hordes who were seeking to kill him. He was exalting God!

Now look at verses 2 and 3 to fill out your understanding of how this can be. He cries out to God, confident that He will fulfill His purposes for David, that He will send from heaven and save him, that He will shame the fiery beasts, and that He will send His steadfast love and faithfulness. Such confidence is amazing. But not really, when you think of God's work on behalf of His people from Adam through David and beyond. David had seen it countless times in his own life. David had many reasons to believe that God was not finished with him, that God had plans for him beyond the cave, that God was good and kind and loving and strong.

What ARE God's purposes for us that He promises to fulfill? We'll explore that tomorrow.

Obedience

When Jesus says in Matthew 16 that we are to "turn from our selfish ways and follow" Him (NLT), I am reminded, thanks to Nancy Guthrie's devotional, of Abraham's call (in Genesis 12) to leave his country and family and go to the land God was to show him. And Abraham obeyed. Do I obey and deny myself in the same way Abraham did? Or do I wait for the chocolate incentive? A question worth pondering.

Ladies' Tea

Women of New Hope,

You are cordially invited to the Ladies' Tea to be held Monday, February 21, at 6:30, at the home of Roger and Linda Huibregtse, 420 Polaris Court in Green Bay, quite near to church. It will be a time of conversation, laughs, and chocolate (among other goodies!). Please plan to attend and enjoy spending time wtih your sisters in Christ. Janet will have a sign-up poster in church this weekend.

Hope to see you there,
The Women's Committee

Undulations

Speaking of Joni Eareckson Tada, she has recently written a new book, A Place of Healing, relating her wrestlings and the answers God has revealed in this new wave of pain and suffering she is experiencing. I highly recommend it; there are some answers amid the questions but mostly there is a renewed trust in God's sovereignty and steadfast love, literally hesed. This Hebrew word connotes love, strength, and steadfastness.

C. S. Lewis wrote, "Love is something more stern and splendid than mere kindness." That is God's hesed toward all of us, whether we are awash in trials or merely anticipating them. We live undulating lives, according to Lewis in The Screwtape Letters, lives with both peaks and troughs, constantly moving forward towards one or the other. When we are on the peaks, we fear what may lie ahead. When in the troughs, we fear they will never end. Only God can calm our fears. Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." That echoes what David said in Psalm 62: "My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I shall never be shaken."

We don't usually understand the splendidness of God's work in our lives; we are more likely to notice the sternness. But I encourage you to look up to see God's grace in the ups and downs of your life . . . and to truly find your rest in Him.

I know it's wrong to compare, but here goes: When I compare my trials to the likes of Joni Eareckson Tada and Amy Carmichael, I find them small indeed. Nevertheless, I stumble through the same darkness they have, begging God to let me hear His voice and experience some relief. My trials could be much worse, of that I'm certain, but the truth is that Satan wants at my throat too, and so the battles come fast and furious. Can you relate? We need a God who is there, who comforts us in our struggles, who provides a solid rock on which to stand and a strong wing under which to shelter. And One who grabs our enemy by the throat.

And we have One. Psalm 57:3 says this: "He will send from heaven and save me; He will put to shame him who tramples on me. God will send out His steadfast love and His faithfulness." This is not a flimsy hope we have; it is a sure truth. He will.

I have been told by those whose sufferings far outweigh mine that God is faithful in the worst of storms. One dear friend said, "God never left me nor forsook me. I found myself clinging to the hem of His garment, and He was there." Whether our trials are small or great, He is there.