Trusting God in Tragedy

The Lion's Roar Posted on by

Trust in God.  It’s easy for me to say, but not so easy to do, or even to hear.  We know that’s what we’re supposed to do, but what happens when that trust seems to have been broken?  God is always faithful.  He can always be trusted.  The problem we have is that we place our trust in an ideal god rather than the real God.  When He doesn’t perform according to our expectations, our faith can be shaken.

We’re told that He loves us.  We’re told that He is all-powerful.  These things are true.  We assume from these facts that He must act as we would if we were omnipotent and loved someone.  This is where we go wrong.

In the first place, our understanding of love is imperfect.  Love is one of God’s defining attributes (1 John 4:8).)  We will never comprehend the depth of it.  We have no right to attempt to define it for Him.  What we know of it has been given to us by Him, but our finite nature and the presence of sin prevent us from knowing it fully.

Another problem with this assumption is that we are not all-knowing.  We cannot predict the future.  He doesn’t need to guess.  He knows it.  All we can do is speculate, and that often does more harm than good.  From my own life I can tell you that I could never have imagined the series of events that brought me to where I am today.  I cannot say that I do not have doubts, but I trust Him more than ever now, because I have seen what He has done.

The definition of tragedy is at least somewhat subjective.  I do not think of myself as having experienced that much of it, though others might reasonably do so.  At least one episode I brought on myself.  It would not have occurred to me that God would choose to make something good out of that.  In fact it is His willingness to take even my error and use it for His glory that has done more than anything else to build my trust in Him.

But all these words become mockery when sitting across a hospital room from a sick or dying patient.  What comfort can they be to the woman who is losing her husband or the parents who are losing their child?  What do they mean to the family who has lost all they own in a disaster?  These are the questions I find myself facing with increasing frequency as I function in a pastoral roll. Sometimes the words even ring a little hollow to me as I watch my own wife slowly declining as Multiple Sclerosis steels her vitality.

Ultimately trust in God is a matter of the heart.  We can faithfully share our personal testimonies and the life in His Word, but time and the work of the Holy Spirit will produce the fruit.  We can only plant the seeds.  Why things happen I dare not speculate.  Maybe if my own trust were as strong as I would like to think, I would know what to say, but my words seem just as empty to me.  I am left with only one option.  I still must trust Him.  If I should say anything at all, that is all I can offer.  It is enough.  May we all come to know it.

Free Advice About Free Advice

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You may have heard that free advice is worth what it costs.  It’s often true, but two things make a big difference in it’s value.  The first, obviously, is the quality of the advice.  It is the second that I want to focus on.  I might rewrite the saying, “unsolicited free advice is worth what it costs.”  Remember this the next time you’re tempted to offer some up.  It may be good advice, but if the recipient is not prepared to receive it you have not only wasted your breath but may also have destroyed any opportunity you might have had to offer it in the future.

I don’t know why this is so hard for some people to grasp.  All that is required is to put yourself in the position of the one being advised.  Yes, we’ve all had times when we wish we had listened.  Often it was things our parents said.  What about the other times?  What about those times when someone who doesn’t know you at all or has no real knowledge of your life decides they have the solution to all that troubles you.  People facing disability get this a lot.  Everyone from the con artist to the well-meaning but misguided friend or relative thinks they’ve got what we need.  Add church folk to this mix and it tastes really bad.

So, I’m ranting a little.  I’m pointing right at you, if you are one of those people who think you have the answer to everyone else’s problems.  You don’t.  If you really want to make a difference, just be a friend.  If you really do have advice that is needed, the opportunity will come in time, and you will have established a relationship on the strength of which your words may be received.  Or, you may learn that you didn’t really understand at all.

Now I’ll point at myself.  I’m guilty of the same thing.  I’ve learned that I rarely if ever have the answers, unless the Holy Spirit chooses to reveal them to me.  If I’ve ever been of use in the advice department, it was when I realized that I had nothing to offer and let Him guide my words.  I find that my own life provides illustrations of just about anything I might want to say, so when I do feel compelled to advise, I often do so indirectly by sharing my experiences.  In most cases this means confessing to failure in the area under discussion and sharing what I learned from that failure.  This is a non-threatening approach that hopefully doesn’t reek of unmerited arrogance.

Speaking of being humbled, I don’t’ think I have enough readers to get a discussion going, but I’ll ask anyway and see what comes back.  What’s the worst or most ridiculous free advice you ever got?  What was the best?  Who gave it to you?

Dialing for Votes

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Every election season, the party faithful are asked to volunteer at the phone banks, calling our neighbors to urge them to get out and vote…Republican, of course.  I refuse.  It’s true that I’m not good at cold calling strangers and don’t like doing it, but that’s not the reason I declined.  I try not to make decisions based on what I like, but what needs to be done.  My problem is that I don’t want people calling me to sell me anything, including their ideas.  A few years ago we dispensed with our home phone altogether.  I have a line for my home office, but our private line became nothing but a nuisance.  We call out on our cell phones.  Our friends have our cell phone numbers.  The only people who ever called our home phone were people we really didn’t want to talk to.  Based on the do-not-call laws we have now, I don’t think we’re unique in that.  So, why would I do to someone else what I don’t want done to me.  I have serious doubts as to the effectiveness of such a strategy today, if it ever worked.

It has also been said that one of the best things we can do to get out the vote is walk our neighborhoods and talk to people.  I suppose that might be true, but if we’re not talking to them at any other time then we’re just strangers at the door, no more welcome than any other kind of solicitor.  Linda and I don’t answer our door unless we have reason to believe someone we want to see is knocking.  For reasons specific to our situation we’re extra wary of people we don’t know at our door.  So again, why would I approach other people in a way I do not want to be approached?

Where does that leave us?  How do we get our message out?  Flyers?  Don’t put trash on my door either.  That’s exactly where it goes.  I don’t even look at it.  Postal mail is just about as worthless.  Email?  OK if it’s opt-in, but how do you get people to do that.  The first contact must be made somehow.  Social media?  Maybe, but not everyone uses it.

I’m asking myself, how would I get the attention of someone like me?  In a word, relationship.  Someone I know and have some level of respect for shares something with me and based on that respect I consider what they have to say and may act on it.  It isn’t necessarily a close relationship.  It’s just that I know who they are and have reason to believe there may be truth in what they say.  I think there is a lesson there.  If we want to be effective in sharing our vision for our country, our state, and our city, we need to establish credibility.  Credibility begins with familiarity, assuming we conduct ourselves in a way that inspires trust.  We need to be out at community events.  We need to make a point of talking to our neighbors when we see them throughout the year and not just when we have something to sell them.

It’s not so different from the kind of thing those of us who are Christians should be doing anyway.  We have a message that is much more important than anything else we might want to say.  We should always be on the lookout for ways to share the truth of the Gospel and the love that drives it.  So let’s get out there and share the truth, both great and small.

From Everyone Who Has Been Given Much…

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We lament the changes that have been occurring in our country over the past few decades, and they are lamentable. When I read about the persecution going on in other places, I am reminded of what we have compared to most of the world. Here our politicians still find it advantageous to lay claim to Christianity whether or not they have any real faith. In many countries, particularly those controlled by communist and Islamic governments, one fears for his livelihood and often his life if he professes Jesus as Lord.

The poorest among us still enjoy the modern conveniences of our society. Homeless people carry cell phones and post to Facebook. Just across our boarder you will find people who can’t even get clean water. We read passages about the rich and think they apply to someone richer than us, but we are all rich.

God has given this to us, and He can take it away. We, like Israel of old are turning from Him in our prosperity. We have forgotten the source of our wealth. We have forgotten the reason that He provides it. And I, even as I sit here and ponder these things, only want to go so far in doing anything about them.

It is reasonable to ask what can be done. The problems even within our own nation seem too big to solve, and we have it really good. The only thing I know for sure is that nothing will have long term benefit that does not come from Yahweh. In this the United States is no different than the rest of the world.  We must turn to Him if we really want to see change.

How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? (Rom 10:14 NASU)

We are not doing enough, and we are not saying enough. Fat, complacent, and  lacking compassion, we watch the world burn and throw a few pennies at those who are trying to save them to soothe our consciences. Money won’t solve the problem, though it can help. Love can, for those willing to receive it. Love will drive us to share His saving message. Love will compel us to give of all that we have and all that we are where it is needed.

Lord, forgive us and show us how to love.

If You Can’t Say Anything Good

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I bet you can finish the phrase in the title.  Your mother probably gave you this advice early on.  Mine did.  “If you can’t say anything good, don’t say anything at all.”  My favorite rock band even wrote a song about it.  The application, at least in the song, was gossip.  Obviously there are times when we have to speak of things that are not good.  Really I’m doing that now.  But the advice is good to live by and can be extended to all kinds of subjects.

Everyone’s a critic.  I’m not exempting myself.  My Twitter feed would make a liar of me if I tried.  We delight in finding fault.  Some people especially seem to have a radar for it.  They’re ready to move in and start shooting the moment something shows up on their scope.

But we all have the tendency.  We’re ever ready to point out someone else’s fault.  We question every decision and every motivation.  We’re sure that if we were in their place we would do better.  It may be something we see on the news.  It may be something that was done at work (guilty.)  It may even be at church.  Too often it is.

Sometimes we may even be right.  Sometimes we should even point it out.  The question we need to ask ourselves is, “Why?”  We may not even be conscious of our motivation unless we consider it.  Is it our own insecurity?  Is it  pride or arrogance?  If we’re going to point out something wrong, our purpose should be redemptive.

What if we changed our thinking?  What if we started looking for what is good instead of evil, right instead of wrong?  I think the content of our daily speech would change considerably.  I think we would find ourselves happier people.  Some of us would have a whole lot less to say, and the rest of us would enjoy the silence.  Mom was right!

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.(Philippians 4:8 NASB)

Counting the Costs of Censorship

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Every so often we read about a major social network or search engine agreeing to censor its content in restrictive countries. Especially given the prevailing attitude of some Internet users that everything ought to be open and free, the outcry is understandable.

I had a thought. I won’t go so far as to say that any of the current players have this much of a conscience, but if one did here is a legitimate question. Does principle demand that you refuse to deal with the country, or does it actually demand that you go in? Here’s the rationale. The information accessible by searching a big site like Google or Facebook is vast and complex. Varied also are the terms and links by which someone might stumble onto a page with information the controlling government doesn’t want them to have. Especially if one makes an effort, I suspect that getting around the sensors isn’t all that hard to do. It may be beyond the casual browser, but not someone determined to do it. So as a company, granted that there is a monetary incentive, do you agree to the rules knowing that instead of cutting off the people completely you give them at least a chance of finding out what they need to know? Given what is apparently being done in our own country I doubt anyone is asking that question, but I think it’s a reasonable one.

A Life Longing for Love

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If I could have only one thing out of life, it would be to know love. There are many reasons why I say that. I don’t know that all of them are good, but I would like to share one of them here. I’m not sure I know myself well enough to say which is truly the strongest motivation for me, but I know what it should be. To know love is to know God.

I know a statement like that will bother some Christians. They rightly decry movements in the modern church that emphasize God’s love to the exclusion of His wrath and judgment and our need for repentance. These things are not at odds. In fact they require each other to exist. God is holy and just because He is love, not in spite of it. John 4:8 says that God is love. Does that mean He can be nothing else? We are all many things at the same time. However, there is an important distinction where love is concerned in the case of God.

I’m no English teacher, so forgive me if I fail to use proper grammatical terminology. When we use a noun to describe a person, we usually affix a singular article to it. We would say that john is a man. We would not say that Jon is man. The latter implies that Jon is the standard by which We can judge whether anyone is a man or not. If we want another way to describe John in more general terms as belonging to the class of men, we would say that he is male, using an adjective rather than a noun.

The Bible tells us that God is love. To say that he is a love would not make much sense. We don’t use the word that way, though we might, since there are four words translated as love from the Greek. He is associated with the root word “agapé”, which is by far the most used. To say that He is loving is true, but He means to communicate something more powerful here. God defines love. He is the standard by which love is proven. John writes: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (1 John 4:7-8 NASU) This is why I say that to know love is to know God.

This may still be hard to swallow unless we have some understanding of what love really is. I don’t think it’s an accident that the word has fallen into vulgar usage. We apply the same word to everything from the height of ecstasy to a preference for popcorn. I too am guilty, though no longer without regret, of using the word lightly. When God uses the word, it’s definitely not shallow. Just look at what He did for love.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom 5:7-8)

When Jesus talks about the kind of love we should have for each other (John 13:34-35) and even about the kind of love we should have for our enemies (Matt 5:43-48,) the writers use the same Greek word that is used in the passages above. It is a love willing to sacrifice itself even for those who pay it back with hate. I have to ask myself, is this really the kind of love I want to know? It is freely given, but it is not free. You can have it for nothing, but it will cost you everything. My flesh cringes, but my heart says “YES!”

Ever since reading I John out of my Braille New Testament at seventeen, I have longed to understand and know this kind of love. For all of that, I can’t say that I do. As I look at the notes from the times I have taught on the subject, I see a very academic presentation, full of facts and lacking feeling. The truth is still the truth and God may use it to bring life, but where is the life in me? I feel like a hypocrite explaining to you something that I do not understand myself. Yet I believe in it. Love puts everything else in context. That is why Satan has worked so hard to corrupt and destroy it. I will continue to pursue it, and I will keep calling for you to join me. The One who loves us best will be found, and He will show us what it means.

Finally, no explanation of love is complete without at least making reference to a couple of other key passages from the Bible. One that you may not associate with the topic is Galatians 5:22-23:

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Speaking of grammar, look at the structure of this sentence. Often we see somewhat cumbersome structure due to the fact that we are translating from another language with different syntax rules, so consider that the word “fruit” is singular then reread the sentence with a semicolon after the word “love.” Love is the fruit of the Spirit. The adjectives that follow describe love. I’ll leave you to read I Corinthians 13 for yourself. Join me on the journey.

What Are You Waiting For?

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I used to joke that my new year’s resolution is to make no resolutions, and I always keep it. The joke is a reflection of my distaste for arbitrary dates and traditions that place on me some obligation to do a certain thing in a certain way at a certain time. I don’t use it anymore, because I also like to think of myself as a staunchly logical person, and to say that I resolve to make no resolutions is a logical impossibility.

Imagine then my delight to find justification for my annual new year’s negation. It turns out New Year’s resolutions are derived from ancient Babylonian and roman customs. The tradition is firmly rooted in pagan practice. Unlike Christian celebrations such as Christmas that were moved or adjusted in some way to compete with pagan festivals, the New Year celebration has no Christian foundation. Add to that the well-known inaccuracy of historical methods of marking time, and you can see that there is no reason to treat New Year’s Day differently than any other day.

Please understand that I am not saying that New Year celebrations or resolutions are wrong.  Like most things not specifically prohibited by God’s word, they are a matter of personal conscience. God is concerned with what is in your heart. I may have dinner with friends on New Year’s Eve, but Linda and I will probably be sleeping in the new year. As for resolutions, if you need to make one, what are you waiting for? Don’t wait for some arbitrary date to get started. Do it now!

Christian Cyber Bubbles

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I read several years back about a man founding a “christian” version of Twitter.  I wrote about it at the time, so out of curiosity I tried to go there.  As I suspected, it’s gone.  Ether the original owner or a squatter is trying to sell it.  We’ve got “Christian” everything.  From music to coffee houses to web portals, you can create for yourself a comfy Christian bubble.  If you manage to find a job with a “Christian company” you never need set foot in this nasty old world.  I admit, I get tired of the constant barrage of filthy spam hitting my inbox.  If you have children I can understand wanting to find safe places for them to be online, but at some point we have to grow up.

I don’t patronize these sites for the same reason I don’t spend time on similar platforms for people who are blind.  I don’t want to be limited to a usually inferior platform with a limited user base.  The social networking venue in particular works better the more people are using it.

I think it also runs contrary to our mission as Christians to set up our own little domains where we never have to interact with anyone who isn’t like us.  Jesus modeled the exact opposite.  He sent us out into the world.  How can we share the good news if the only people we ever interact with are other Christians.  So I may dump a social networking account for some other reason, but not so I can retreat to some third rate online ghetto where no one else wants to go.

The Day After Christmas

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The decorations are coming down and the bills are coming in.  The returns are about to be returned.  We’ll have one last hurrah on New Year’s Eve and then life will go back to whatever passes for normal.  I have a question to which I think Christians ought to have an answer.  Did anyone hear the Gospel?

We stridently proclaim Jesus as the reason for the season, but do any of those lambasted for their Christmas sacrilege ever see Jesus in our actions?  We prefer nativity scenes to snowmen and Santa, but the baby Jesus never steps beyond the manger.  The notional Christian and most others can accept baby Jesus.  He does not intimidate.  The cute little baby does not become the man, the God who exposes our sin and yet was willing to die for us.  Without His death and resurrection, the birth is just a pretty story.  We sing songs of a savior, but never mention what it is we are being saved from.  We speak of a newborn king, but do not follow to the conclusion that a king is to be obeyed.  When this time comes around again next year, what if instead of bickering over time, place, and tradition we resolve to tell the whole story of Jesus?  Whatever you believe about its origins, there is no more opportune time to share the real message.