Jesus

Do Not Be Surprised

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“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you;

13 but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. 1 Peter 4:12-13

3 And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance;

4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope;

5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Romans 5:3-5

Commentary:

The Purpose of Our Trials

In the midst of our struggles, we may feel overwhelmed, but God will carry us through.

September 10, 2024

1 Peter 4:12-13

Some believers like to portray their life as ideal and carefree. But in reality, being a Christian isn’t easy. In fact, sometimes we’ll experience trials that truly test our faith and ability to trust in God.

In today’s passage, Peter refers to times of testing as a ‘fiery ordeal.’ He says we shouldn’t be surprised when adversity comes. It’s important to remember that God has a purpose for our difficulties and will see us through them (Romans 5:3-5). Here are some of the goals He may have for painful experiences:

At times the Lord uses hardship to cleanse us. Trials drive us to Him. And as we focus on God, we’re increasingly able to see things from His perspective.

A difficulty in our life may be the Lord’s way of testing us. He could be trying our faith, endurance, or devotion to Him.

God uses suffering to demonstrate His power to sustain us. When He brings us through challenging times, He glorifies Himself. In turn, this encourages others, because they have witnessed God’s sustaining power in our life.

Ultimately, hardships strengthen our testimony. In the midst of our struggles, we might feel overwhelmed and discouraged. But once the storm has passed, we can often look back and see the Lord’s providential hand carrying us through” (Charles Stanley).

Interceding for Our Enemies

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“In prayer we go to our enemies, to stand at their side. We are with them, near them, for them before God. Jesus does not promise us that the enemy we love, we bless, to whom we do good, will not abuse and persecute us. They will do so. But even in doing so, they cannot harm and conquer us if we take this last step to them in intercessory prayer. Now we are taking up their neediness and poverty, their being guilty and lost, and interceding for them before God. We are doing for them in vicarious representative action what they cannot do for themselves. Every insult from our enemy will only bind us closer to God and to our enemy. Every persecution can only serve to bring the enemy closer to reconciliation with God, to make love more unconquerable.

How does love become unconquerable? By never asking what the enemy is doing to it, and only asking what Jesus has done. Loving one’s enemies leads disciples to the way of the cross and into communion with the crucified one” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer).

It’s gotten so bad in this current cultural climate that we can’t abide dissenting views. We’ve gone past the point where we used to be able to debate and listen rationally to opposing viewpoints. Now anyone who disagrees with me must not only be wrong and ignorant but evil. We have turned our social media into echo chambers where we only allow voices that say the same things we say and agree with.

But that’s not the way of Jesus at all. His way is interceding for enemies. Remember that Jesus forgave His own enemies while they were in the very act of murdering Him. He prayed for the very ones who drove the nails into His wrists and feet (and the ones who shouted the loudest for Him to be crucified).

In this election season, it’s easy to turn it into us versus them and to turn “them” off so that we can have peace. But again, that’s not the way of Jesus. We are to pray for our very enemies the way Jesus prayed (and still prays) for us. We are to love them the same way Jesus loved (and still loves) us.

Is it easy? No. Is it possible? Humanly speaking, no, but only through the resurrection power of Jesus in us. Only through daily dependence and renewal by Jesus. Only by the grace that saved us in the first place.

You could pray for your enemies like you would want someone to whom you were an enemy to pray for you. And believe me, everyone has enemies. No matter how nice or accommodating you might be, you still have enemies.

Above all, remember that we all were once God’s enemies. And what did He do? He sent Jesus who loved us first before we ever loved Him, loved us best by dying for us, and loved us everlastingly from the foundation of the world until forever.

Sneak Preview

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These last two or so days have been glorious. They’ve almost felt like fall, even though autumn doesn’t officially start for two weeks.

Some call it false fall, one of the nine seasons we have here in Tennessee. It gets your hopes up for an early autumn but dashes them again with the return of hot weather.

I prefer to think of days like this as a sort of sneak preview of coming attractions — in this case, fall. It’s not a harbinger of fall’s arrival, but a kind of glimpse of what it will feel like in a month or so.

I’ve lived here long enough to know how it works. The season of fall may start in two weeks, but the fall weather comes later. There’s that ol’ false fall, then Indian Summer, then another false start for autumn, then more warm, then actual fall.

The lone bad news is that I will have to put away my Hawaiian shirts for a bit. The good news is that I can finally dig the flannel out of my closet and actually think about wearing it and not sweating to death. Plus, there are all the smells and sounds and sights that come with autumn — provided all the leaves don’t fall off first from it being so dry lately.

Last but not least is Halloween. Spooky season is coming and I can’t wait!

Even If . . .

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“Even if today didn’t go as planned, Lord
and if it’s not at all what we hoped,
and if “we’re* not yet quite what we hoped,
and if life’s not unfolding to our Plan A
and if it’s not even close to Plan B
and if the diagnosis is not great
and if the forecast is not good
and if not… and if not… and if not…
You still are. You still are Good & You still are God.
And we will be the people who will still…
The people who will still rest in it & sing it into the dark:
‘and if not — He is still Good. He is still God… so we can still & be & be at rest.’” #HonestPrayers” (Ann Voskamp).

Even if today didn’t go as planned. Or this week. Or this month. Or even this year (cue the Friends theme song).

God is still good.

His plans for you are still good.

His timing is still perfect and right on time.

You can trust.

You can rest.

And you can still sing into that darkness.

God Has No Deadlines

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“God never hurries. There are no deadlines against which he must work. Only to know this is to quiet our spirits and relax our nerves” (A.W. Tozer).

“Patience is more than endurance. A saint’s life is in the hands of God like a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, and He stretches and strains, and every now and again the saint says–‘I cannot stand anymore.’ God does not heed, He goes on stretching till His purpose is in sight, then He lets fly. Trust yourself in God’s hands. Maintain your relationship to Jesus Christ by the patience of faith. ‘Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him” (Oswald Chambers).

As I’ve probably said many times, I’m thankful that God is way more patient with me that I am with Him. I’m thankful that God doesn’t operate off my timetable or always grant me what I ask for when I ask for it. The reason is that usually the things I ask God for are 1) stupid, 2) things I’m not yet ready for, 3) me thinking small when God wants me to think bigger, 4) me thinking finite and earthly when God wants me to look through the lens of heaven and eternity, 5) me being myopic when God is seeing His whole plan throughout creation and history.

So, to remind myself once more: God’s timing is 1) not mine and 2) perfect.

Adding to, Not Taking Away

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I confess that I don’t really know too much about the singer Nightbirde, whose real name was Jane Kristen Marczewski. I know that she was a singer-songwriter. I also know that she was a contestant on America’s Got Talent. I remember she had been diagnosed with cancer and her husband left her right before she went on the show. I know how sad I was when I found out she had passed away.

But she left us with some beautiful music and some inspiring quotes that showed her resilient faith in God that not even cancer could kill. These following words were her testimony to the end:

“When it comes to pain, God isn’t often in the business of taking it away. Instead, he adds to it. He is more of a giver than a taker. He doesn’t take away my darkness, he adds light. He doesn’t spare me of thirst, he brings water. He doesn’t cure my loneliness, he comes near. So why do we believe that when we are in pain, it must mean God is far?” (Jane Kristen Marczewski aka Nightbirde).

I forget that. I think that God can only speak through blessing or that God is near only when the sun is shining. I forget that pain is often God’s way of getting my attention. I forget that you can’t wrestle with someone who’s far away, so those times must mean God is near (with much thanks to Jon Acuff for that one).

God is using what I would like to avoid to grow me up. Rather than taking me out of struggles and storms, God goes through them with me and I learn to trust God’s nearness even when I can’t feel it. I trust God’s hand even when I can’t see it. I trust God’s heart even when I don’t understand it.

41

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“In the Bible, it rained for 40 days and 40 nights.
Day 41 came and the rain stopped.

Moses committed murder & hid in the desert for 40 years.
Year 41 came, and God called him to help rescue Israel.

Moses went up on the mountain for 40 days.
On day 41, he received the Ten Commandments.

The Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 years.
Year 41, they walked into the Promised Land.

Goliath taunted Israel for 40 days.
Day 41 came, and David slew him.

Jonah preached a message of repentance to Ninevah for 40 days.
On day 41, God stopped His plan to destroy them.

Jesus fasted and was tempted for 40 days.
Day 41, and the devil fled.

After His resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples for 40 days.
On day 41, He ascended into Heaven.

All this to say…don’t quit. The rain will stop, the giant will fall, and you will enter your ‘promised land.’ Don’t give up at 40.

41 is coming” (Chelsie Zurcher Wren).

In the Bible, the number 40 represents testing or trials — and sometimes judgment. All these examples show that what we endure may be severe but it is always finite. There’s a limit.

Sometimes 40 days can seem like forever. But just as the rainbow of God’s promise followed the flood, so day 41 will surely follow that 40th day of testing.

I’m not promising vast material blessings will come your way, but I do think God’s favor follows adversity, provided its because of enduring trials and not receiving consequences for sinful actions.

God is faithful. God honors those who honor Him, and the eyes of the Lord roam the earth seeking those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. All it takes is a mustard seed amount of faith in a mountain-moving God.

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Tiny Books

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For as long as I can remember, I’ve been drawn to tiny books. The smaller, the better.

I have a tiny testament that easily fits in the palm of my hand. I also have a small Latin dictionary and an even smaller hymnal. All these tiny books are super old as well as super small.

This one is the smallest prayer book I’ve ever seen. For me, I love the idea of carrying around these precious promises of God in my pocket and having a handy prayer guide for whenever I can’t find words of my own to pray.

I’m reminded sometimes of how small I am in comparison to God. More like infinitesimal and microscopic next to the Creator whom the whole of creation can’t contain.

Yet, the verse says He is mindful of me. He knows the number of hairs on my head and when I stumble or fall. He knows every word on my tongue before I speak it.

That’s comforting when the universe seems so big and dark and void of hope. I need the nearness of an Incarnate God more than I need the majesty of an Infinite Being beyond my comprehension.

Well, I need both. I need a God close enough to know my need and a God big enough to meet it. I need a God who’s near to hear my prayer and a God mighty enough to be worthy of my prayers.

I suppose my next thing to collect will be tiny books. Now I just need a tiny shelf to put them all on. I can stare at all my small books and remember how small I am in the eyes of God, yet He still knows me by name.

Convictions and Compassion

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“Having Christian convictions can’t ever negate having Christ’s compassion” (Ann Voskamp).

It’s not a case of either/or. It’s both.

In today’s culture, there are those on one side who let their compassion override their convictions. They preach tolerance (except for those who happen to disagree with them) and teach that loving people means loving their sin.

On the other side of the fence, there are people whose convictions have turned them into people who not only need to be proven right but everyone else must have their faces rubbed in the fact that they’re wrong.

If you truly follow Jesus, you’ll have both. Jesus said to the woman caught in adultery “Neither do I condemn you” with compassion, but He also told her “Go and sin no more” with conviction. Yes, Jesus loved sinners and ate with tax collectors and prostitutes, but He loved them into repentance and transformation. When He ascended into heaven, they weren’t sinners, tax collectors, and prostitutes anymore. They were devoted disciples living a new way of justice and holiness.

Remember, it’s not either/or. It’s both/and. God was compassionate toward you while you were a sinner far from grace but He still calls you through conviction to repent and turn to Jesus in faith.

Rejoice?

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“Everyone will hate you because of me, but whoever holds out till the end will be preserved from harm.”

Mattityahu (Mat) 10:22 CJB

https://bible.com/bible/1275/mat.10.22.CJB

I heard that in the opening ceremony for the 2024 Summer Olympic games in Paris, France, they made a mockery of Christianity. Apparently, people are all offended.

Maybe I should be as well, but it seems to me that means believers are doing something right. At least according to Jesus, they are.

Jesus said that if they hated Him, they will hate us. Jesus’ message was one that got Him crucified. And His message wasn’t merely love God, love people. That wasn’t enough to get Him killed. He claimed the title of Messiah. He said He was the Son of God, equal to God. He even said, “I AM” claiming the divinity as one of the trinity.

Jesus called people to a new way. He called us to live a new way. He said that people would not understand. Not only that, they would hate us. He said to rejoice when we are persecuted and mocked and belittled because our reward is coming.

I don’t think we get credit for being hated when we are obnoxious or arrogant. I don’t think we should rejoice for being persecuted when we’re seeking to make politics the ultimate goal and getting “our” candidate elected takes precedence over preaching the gospel to every nation, tribe, and tongue.

We are not better than anyone else. We of all people know the depth of our depravity, the full wages of what our sins deserve, and what we would have been apart from the grace of God. We know more than anyone how dependent we are on God for anything in this life and for any hope of a next life in heaven.

If people only say nice things about us as Christians, we’re doing something wrong. Or we’re not doing the right things loud enough like loving our enemies, blessing those who curse us, and being salt and light. Jesus said woe to those when all people speak well of you because they did the same for the false prophets. The world says it will only applaud what we say when we sound just like them, but really then we will have zero reason to exist.

I love how the disciples didn’t get offended when they were persecuted and mocked. Even when they were beaten and thrown in prison for preaching about Jesus, they chose to count it all joy. They rejoiced that they had been counted worthy to suffer for the Name. They knew that ultimately nothing could stand against the message of the Cross and that the power of Jesus would prevail as it had at Golgotha over sin, death, and hell.

May we rejoice when people mock us not for being jerks but for being faithful witnesses. May we count it all joy when people mistreat us not for how we shame those who think differently than us but for how we love those whom Jesus loved.