suffering

Known by the Scars

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I have a few scars. One is on my left hand, a reminder from when I was in a wreck back in the day. I pulled out in front of a full-sized truck, thinking it was a four-way stop. It was not.

Thankfully, I ended up being okay aside from a deep cut on my hand from the dashboard and being generally stiff and sore the next day from the impact. My scar is a reminder of how God saved me from my own foolishness that day.

I remember that Jesus also has scars. His resurrected and glorified body still had the nail piercings on His hands and feet, as well as the wound in His side. Those were the proofs that it was really and truly Jesus raised from the dead.

But also it’s a way of giving value to all those who have scars of their own. Some are more obvious than others. Some are hidden, but some are in places where we can’t hide them. Some of us are ashamed or embarrassed by our scars.

But scars tell a story where you survived. Scars are the reminder of something that could have killed you but didn’t. Scars are proof of a divine intervention. In a way, when you can wear your scars proudly, you identify with Jesus and His own scars.

Most of all, your scars should remind you that Jesus bore the wounds that gave Him the scars for you and for me. He was wounded for our transgressions, as it says in Isaiah 53. By His stripes, we are healed. He bore what we should have born because of our sins, and we get the rewards of a perfect life that should only belong to Jesus. That’s the great exchange. That’s the gospel.

Scars can be something to hide, like those humiliating moments or shameful parts of the past, or they can be part of your testimony. A pastor once said that true healing is evident when that part of your story that you swore you’d never tell anybody becomes the first line of your testimony.

“Do you know what St. Peter says to everyone who tries to get into heaven?” 
…
“Peter says, ‘Don’t you have any scars?’ And when most would respond proudly, ‘Well, no, no I don’t,’ Peter says, ‘Why not? Was there nothing worth fighting for?” (Matthew Perry, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing).

The Great Paradox

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“The great paradox of life is that those who lose their lives will gain them. This paradox becomes visible in very ordinary situations. If we cling to our friends, we may lose them, but when we are nonpossessive in our relationships, we will make many friends. When fame is what we seek and desire, it often vanishes as soon as we acquire it, but when we have no need to be known, we might be remembered long after our deaths. When we want to be in the center, we easily end up on the margins, but when we are free enough to be wherever we must be, we find ourselves often in the center.

Giving away our lives for others is the greatest of all human arts. This will gain us our lives” (Henri Nouwen).

“If you refuse to take up your cross and follow Me on the narrow road, then you are not worthy of Me. To find your life, you must lose your life—and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 10:38-39, The Voice).

That’s the paradox. You find your life by losing it. You gain love by giving it away. People notice you when you deflect the praise to the King of the universe instead of yourself. You’re blessed when you’re poor in spirit, meek, mourning, and pure in heart.

Instead of following the world’s path to success, Jesus went down the road of downward mobility. He gave up clinging to His rights of equality with God. He took on human form. He took the form of a servant. He was obedient to the point of death. His death was that of a common criminal’s crucifixion. Then God gave Him a name that is above every other name.

That’s our goal. To be unknown on earth but famous in heaven. Heavenly fame looks like faithfulness. Heavenly fame looks like denying yourself, taking up your cross daily, and following Jesus, no matter the cost.

That’s where you find your life. That’s where you find life.

It Says That?

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“Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
    but the Lord delivers him out of them all” (Psalm 34:19, ESV).

How I wish the verse said “Many are the afflictions of the wicked, but the righteous will avoid them all.” Unfortunately, it does not.

There is a popular brand of Christianity that preaches a prosperity gospel. Basically, if you’re righteous, you will reap spiritual, physical, and financial blessings. You will never see hardship. Any kind of suffering is not of God and you can pray it away if you have enough faith.

But Jesus said that in this world you will have trouble. Not might. Not may. Will. As in the forecast for your life is that there’s a 100% chance of affliction and trouble in your future. That’s the part that can be a bit depressing if you focus just on that part.

But the second is the hopeful part. But God delivers the righteous out of them all. As my pastor used to say, God never gives us a way out but a way through. We may walk through some dark valleys, but our Shepherd is with us.

I’ve pointed it out before, but in Psalm 23, the first few verses talk about God as our Shepherd in the third person. He makes, He leads, He restores. But in the valley of the shadow of death, it changes. Suddenly, it’s You are with me. In that place and in that season, God becomes personal and the experience becomes intimate. Theoretical head knowledge becomes precious wisdom gained from life experience of God walking with us through the worst that hell can throw at us and delivering us from it all.

No matter what, God is with us. That, not the inevitable affliction, is the key. God will be with us and all will be well because He is making all things new.

Another Gem from The Message

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“It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on. This isn’t the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God’s kingdom. But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely” (Galatians 5:19-23, The Message).

I think that says is all perfectly. Trying to live any other way than the way of Jesus is a facade. It’s like a carnival funhouse where things you encounter may be amusing, but none of it’s real. Everything is an illusion or a deception.

But that’s not how it is with God. What you see is what you get. Or sometimes, what you don’t see is what you get. It’s about trusting in advance what will only make sense in reverse, as I heard it put one time. But it’s also living in the unshakable confidence that nothing can ever separate us from the love of God, that suffering is temporary, that the best really is yet to come.

The Christian life is really just a series of oases in the wilderness where we can rest and be refreshed. The wilderness is where we grow and learn. As much as we want our lives to be one continual oasis, God knows we’d never learn dependence on God that way. We’d never mature beyond baby believers. Plus, God is with us in the wilderness as He was with the children of Israel, leading the way the entire time.

Here’s my favorite lesson I’ve learned recently. Jesus + nothing else = everything. End of story.

Reason to Sing

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As you may or may not be aware, I have music perpetually playing in my head all the time. I mean All. The. Time. Like from the moment I wake up until the moment I finally fall asleep. Every now and then, I have a random song that I haven’t heard in a while that sneaks into my mental playlist. Or sometimes I think God puts a song in my mind that speaks above the volume of everything else.

One song, Reason to Sing, is from the group All Sons and Daughters. The confessional lyrics are raw and honest in a way that most current worship music is not. I believe it’s from 2013, so it’s not ancient or really all that old, but the lyrics speak a timeless truth to all those feel like lives shattered on the floor. I hope it will speak to you as it has spoken to me over the years:

“When the pieces seem too shattered
To gather off the floor
And all that seems to matter
Is that I don’t feel You anymore
No I don’t feel You anymore

I need a reason to sing
I need a reason to sing
I need to know that You’re still holding
The whole world in Your hands
I need a reason to sing

When I’m overcome by fear
And I hate everything I know
If this waiting lasts forever
I’m afraid I might let go
I’m afraid I might let go oh

Will there be a victory?
Will You sing it over me now?
Your peace is the melody
With You sing it over me now?

I need a reason to sing
I need a reason to sing
I need to know that You’re still holding
The whole world in Your hands
That is a reason to sing

I will sing, sing, sing to my God my King, ‘fore all else fades away;                                       
I will love, love, love with this heart in me, for You’ve been good always” (Leslie Jordan, David Leonard, Alli Rogers © 2011 Integrity’s Praise! Music/BMI and Integrity’s Alleluia! Music/SESAC (both adm at EMICMGPublishing.com), and Simple Tense Songs/ASCAP CCLI # 6092351).

Well Put Words

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“And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no weekend war that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.

Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out” (Ephesians 6:10-18, The Message).

Again, sometimes The Message has a way of putting a fresh spin on a familiar verse that gives it new life. I know sometimes Eugene Peterson got a little too loose with the paraphrase, but sometimes he got it right on the money.

Life is hard. If we want to survive and thrive, we’ll need every weapon that God has made available to us. Those aren’t guns or swords but prayer, Scripture, and community. We’ll need every bit of all of these if we want to still be standing when it’s all over but the shouting.

As I’m learning from my current community group, we really are in this together. We have to learn how to be strong for those who are weak and to believe for those in moments when they can’t. We can look to the four friends of the paralytic who would stop at nothing to get their friend to Jesus, even if it meant tearing a hole in the roof and lowering him like something out of a Mission Impossible movie. The Bible even says that Jesus healed the man because of the faith of his friends, which is why your circle matters (as I read recently).

May we avail ourselves of every weapon of faith that God offers to us so that we will be ready for the inevitable assault from the enemy (that is already here by the way). May we stand together and stand strong in the faith of those who have gone before, never wavering and never compromising until all the world has heard the good news of Jesus. As the slogan goes, everyone must know. May we never rest until God’s promise of worshippers from every tribe, tongue, race, and nation is a reality.

Be Ready

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“If with heart and soul you’re doing good, do you think you can be stopped? Even if you suffer for it, you’re still better off. Don’t give the opposition a second thought. Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you’re living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. They’ll end up realizing that they’re the ones who need a bath. It’s better to suffer for doing good, if that’s what God wants, than to be punished for doing bad. That’s what Christ did definitively: suffered because of others’ sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all—was put to death and then made alive—to bring us to God (1 Peter 3:13-18).

That’s the key. Be ready. If you live a godly life (or even make the attempt in the Spirit of God to live a godly life) it will draw attention. I heard once that believers should live questionable lives, but not in the sense of believing one way and living another but in such a way that the way we speak and behave will draw questions as to why we’re different (in a good way, hopefully).

I also think we should be praying at every moment for opportunities to have gospel conversations, especially with the family and friends we love and hold dear. I know the famous quote attributed to Saint Francis says to preach the gospel at all times and use words if necessary. I think from the Great Commission, words are always necessary. We simply need wisdom and discernment as to the timing of when we’re supposed to speak up and tell our gospel story.

The more the world slips further away from God, the more we will stand out. The more those not of God will hate us and mistreat us and try to trip us up. But also the more people will see something about us that they don’t have — peace under pain , joy in the midst of sorrow, patience under suffering, hope that never fails. Then some will want to know about that hope that we have. Then we should be ready to give an answer.

I found something that every believer should pray called the Three Open Prayer: “1) Lord, open a door to share the gospel. 2) Lord, open the heart of the lost to receive the gospel. 3) Lord, open my mouth to share the gospel.”

Rejoice in the Lord Always

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Paul exhorts us, saying, “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice” (Phil. 4:4). How is it possible to “rejoice always?” … Many words are not needed, nor a long round of argument, but if we only consider his expression, we shall find the way that leads to it. He does not simply say, “Rejoice always,” but he adds the cause of the continual pleasure, saying, “Rejoice in the Lord always.” He who rejoices “in the Lord,” cannot be deprived of the pleasure by anything that may happen. For all other things in which we rejoice are mutable and changeable, and subject to variation. And not only does this grievous circumstance attend them, but moreover while they remain they do not afford us a pleasure sufficient to repel and veil the sadness that comes upon us from other quarters. But the fear of God contains both these requisites. It is steadfast and immovable, and sheds so much gladness that we can admit no sense of other evils. For the man who fears God as he ought, and trusts in him, gathers from the very root of pleasure, and has possession of the whole fountain of joy. And as a spark falling upon a wide ocean quickly disappears, so whatever events happen to the man who fears God, these, falling as it were upon an immense ocean of joy, are quenched and destroyed!” (John Chrysostom)

Again, the Bible does not say to give thanks for everything but in everything give thanks. There is a difference.

I don’t need to rejoice for suffering and pain in me or in those around me. I can rejoice confidently that God is working in those things to bring about His glory and our good. I can rejoice that in the seemingly unending changing of the world around me that God remains eternally changeless.

I can rejoice that God is with me even in the worst of circumstances, that He is for me even during my worst moments, and He is in me transforming my worst parts into glory. I can rejoice that He who began a good work in me will most definitely bring it to completion in Christ Jesus.

I can celebrate that what momentary afflictions I encounter down here won’t even begin to compare to the glory that’s coming. It won’t even be close. I can rejoice that at the end of the day, at the end of my life, God will have the last word and the last victory.

He Suffered for Us

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“I could never myself believe in God, if it were not for the cross. The only God I believe in is the one Nietzsche ridiculed as “God on the Cross.” In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it? I have entered many Buddhist temples and stood respectfully before the statue of Buddha, his legs crossed, arms folded, eyes closed, the ghost of a smile playing round his mouth, a remote look on his face, detached from the agonies of the world. But each time after a while I have had to turn away. And in imagination I have turned instead to that lonely, twisted, tortured figure on the cross, nails through hands and feet, back lacerated, limbs wrenched, brow bleeding from thorn-pricks, mouth dry and intolerably thirsty, plunged in Godforsaken darkness. That is the God for me! He laid aside his immunity to pain. He entered our world of flesh and blood, tears and death. He suffered for us” (John Stott).

Every other religion is about working our way to God and somehow managing to be good enough or obey enough rules or simply to be lucky enough to get to heaven or nirvana or whatever they believe exists after death. But Christianity is the story about how God in Jesus has come to us (and I hear Mike Glenn’s voice as I type these words). Jesus knew that man could never climb high enough to get to heaven, so He came from heaven to live among us and die for us.

It’s still a few weeks away from Lent Season and Easter, but I still think it’s good to remember that God doesn’t watch us suffering from a distance. He’s with us in our suffering. Best of all, He became one of us and suffered for us more than anyone before or since to provide redemption and salvation and freedom to all who would receive Him.

That’s a good thought for Easter, but it’s also good for any time of the year. It’s good especially for times like these when pain and suffering are the norm rather than the exception. Your King knows all about suffering and He is still here and He still reigns. One day, He will make all things right. This is our God, and Jesus is His name.

Timely Grace

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One of the things God is reminding me lately is that there is such a thing as timely grace. I think most of us spend way too much time thinking about possible future scenarios involving us or our loved ones. Or in my case, sometimes obsessively thinking about these things.

It’s easy to get caught up in imagining what we would do if we lost the job or wrecked the car or had a terminal illness in the family. Usually those kinds of thoughts lead to great anxiety as we picture ourselves overwhelmed in such a scenario.

First of all, those what-if cases rarely ever happen. Second, we tend to leave God out when we bring anxiety into the picture where it’s just us trying to figure out what to do and managing it all by ourselves.

Most importantly, we forget one very vital piece of information. In my experience, God will often give you the grace to deal with any of these situations should they ever actually happen. But God doesn’t give you that grace ahead of time. It’s only at the exact moment you need it most that it comes.

Hebrews 4:16 says “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need”.

The problem is that we want to be like Israel in the desert with the manna. We want to hoard and stockpile grace in case it might run out. We want plenty of grace in plenty of time to be prepared. But that’s now how God works.

God knows what we need when we need it. Faith means trusting in God’s timing as much as God’s provision. Seeing God come through in the clutch makes our faith stronger and reminds us that all things really do work together for good because God designed it that way.

“My faith demands that I face the uncertainty of the future in the confidence that in any meeting of affliction, I am held by the tether of God’s grace. My way is well known to my Master, and therefore I walk in confidence. No testing will come that will not be accompanied by sustaining grace. If I failed to believe that, I would be impoverished beyond measure and would deny the truthfulness and example of Scripture. God’s provision has been adequate in the past; it will be adequate in the future. The secret of our courage lies in our confidence that the future is controlled by the providence of a sovereign God” (James Means, A Tearful Celebration).