Troubled times?

 

Around 4 pm yesterday the sky darkened, the rumble of thunder warned of the storms to come. Then, there were torrents of rain and gusts of wind.  If I had not lived through prior storms I might have concluded that the ruin of the earth was imminent.  But, as we know, the storms pass. And, I awakened this morning to blue skies and bright sunshine! The weather is a parable for my life.  48 hours have brought disappointment, death, and an awful inner pain. Around 5 pm yesterday, when my heart broke under the weight of it all, I chose to look up and forward – knowing that the Son will shine with hope again when the storm passes.

Paul wrote to his friends in the church at Corinth, telling them of his recent trials. “We were crushed and completely overwhelmed, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we learned not to rely on ourselves, but on God who can raise the dead. And He did deliver us from mortal danger. And we are confident that he will continue to deliver us.” (2 Corinthians 1:8 NLT)  In case you do not know his story, he is not being dramatic, nor are his words hyperbolic. Because of Christ, Paul had been beaten, rejected, and left for dead … and through it all he learned not to rely on himself, but on God!

If you’re carrying a heavy weight of disappointment today, do not fall into the errors made by too many Christians.

Don’t minimize your pain.

“So many have it worse than I do.” That may be true, but you are where you are and comparing your troubles to those experienced by others is not really all that helpful.

Don’t slap a verse on the wound!

Christians love to find a verse in the Bible and quote it as if that solves the whole problem.  The truth of Scripture is a wonderful and powerful medicine for sick souls, but God’s Word is not a Band-Aid™.  Some wounds have to be cleansed with love, given time to heal, and just perhaps treated by the compassionate care of others. Just as a wound improperly treated can fester with infection, a heart wound that is covered over with superficial sentiments can turn toxic.

Stop trying to ‘make sense’ of it all.

“Everything happens for a reason.” I believe if one more person says that to me as if it were truly helpful, I just might scream. We love to write “The End” on our stories, wrapping up the plot line with a nice resolve, where everything makes sense and finds a purpose: Nice, except for the inconvenient fact that life does not work that way.  The story of our lives is known only in full to God Himself. Some of our experiences will find no explanation while we are in this place of linear time and limited understanding. That is why we need faith. Faith bridges the gap between what I experience and God’s promises. Accept the mystery.

Don’t try to rush to a conclusion.

Life is meant to be lived fully. That includes laughing heartily, loving deeply, and giving time to the processes of maturation. Oh yes, I am often a man in a hurry. I feel uneasy when I have to live with unresolved conflict, with unanswered questions, with chronic pain.  But, God is an Eternal Being and in the memorable words of Peter, He is not constrained by our sense of time. “With God, one day is as good as a thousand years, a thousand years as a day. God isn’t late with his promise as some measure lateness. He is restraining himself on account of you, holding back the End because he doesn’t want anyone lost. He’s giving everyone space and time to change.”  (2 Peter 3:8-9)

Pray for increased resources to meet the challenge instead of quick release from it.

Will you let Him use you to display His grace and power?  That is not a question to answer quickly. We admire Job, not because he found a quick solution to his suffering, but because he struggled through it and let God be God.  Pastor Rick Warren says “There is no hero without hardship.” God can make you stand. God can keep you in a place where you honor Him – sometimes with deliverance and sometimes with amazing grace in all that we call ‘life.’

Are you troubled? Don’t give up. Wait out the storm, with faith! Jesus knows the struggle. He is our compassionate Savior, our Advocate and Intercessor. Trust Him.

Here is a word from the Word. May it inspire you with courage for this day.  "Record my lament; list my tears on your scroll— are they not in your record? Then my enemies will turn back when I call for help. By this I will know that God is for me. In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise— in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" (Psalm 56:8-11, NIV)

__________

Just Be Held

Hold it all together ev'rybody needs you strong

But life hits you out of nowhere

And barely leaves you holding on

And when you're tired of fighting

Chained by your control

There's freedom in surrender

Lay it down and let it go

So when you're on your knees

And answers seem so far away

You're not alone

Stop holding on and just be held

Your world's not falling apart

It's falling into place

I'm on the throne stop holding on and just be held

Just be held just be held

If your eyes are on the storm

You'll wonder if I love you still

But if your eyes are on the cross

You'll know I always have and I always will

And not a tear is wasted

In time you'll understand

I'm painting beauty with the ashes

Your life is in My hands

Lift your hands lift your eyes

In the storm is where you'll find Me

And where you are I'll hold your heart

I'll hold your heart

Come to Me find your rest

In the arms of a God who won't let go

Just be held

Just be held

Bernie Herms | Mark Hall | Matthew West

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Sorrowing Hope

Matthew, my brother, adopted by my parents as an infant, often felt unloved, but yesterday, in an ICU unit in Newark, NJ – I sat with him as he made the transit from this life to the other side of the River praying that he felt God’s love and mine in those moments. I cannot make the awful into sweet, nor will I sugarcoat the bitter with platitudes. But I will hold onto faith that is greater than death itself.

Sorrow is not a stranger to me. The separation of death has visited too often in this last decade.  And, too, we who are shepherds to God’s people are asked to walk alongside of people who are feeling loss, who are afraid, who are dying. 

As I mourned Matthew’s life, the Psalms filled my thoughts - "You have fed us with sorrow and made us drink tears by the bucketful." (Psalm 80:5, NLT) "My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng. Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you." (Psalm 42:3-6, NIV) Those are so much more than poems. They are the anguished prayers, ancient and inspired words that let the soul breathe and grieve.

I know my path is not unique. Suffering comes to all, one way or another. Creation is broken by sin. Evil has its day. Satan is at war against good and God.  Yet, even though tears come and my heart is full of questions, I hold onto the story of the Suffering Savior, God come to save us- from our sins and from the destiny of destruction.

Oh, Jesus, I believe, help me overcome the fears, the questions, as You defeat the darkness.

I have murmured – “May your Kingdom come, Your will be done…” because I know that when His kingdom comes, tears will dry. When the struggle’s over, God will draw us close and dry our tears!  "I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” (Revelation 21:3-5, NIV)

This morning, I am tearless, but my soul aches. Grief is real and it is a fool’s game to try to hide it, avoid it, or cover it over with diversion. I will wait on God. I will allow the love of friend and family to comfort me. I will pray to avoid becoming pitiful, or selfish, or despairing. Instead, I pray that the crush of sorrow will release the fragrance of Jesus in me. And this – I will look beyond to the promise that “He will wipe every tear” from our eyes. Years ago, Gordon Jensen wrote this memorable line in a Gospel song, “God weeps along with man and takes him by the hand, tears are a language God understands.”   

Are the tears ready to fall today? 

Has disappointment, pain, unrelenting struggle with the curse of sin - nearly broken you?

Go ahead and cry. Find a place alone with Him and let the tears that fall become a wordless prayer for renewal of hope, for healing, for forgiveness. Then, with courage, take His grace, and go on. Choose faith, choose life, choose to live with the mystery of incomplete understanding on this side of Eternity.

Here is a word from the Word.  "Sing to the LORD, you saints of his; praise his holy name. For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. … You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever." (Psalm 30:4-5, 11-12, NIV)

_______________

Death be not proud,
though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadfull, for,
thou art not soe,
For, those, whom thou think'st,

thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poore death,

nor yet canst thou kill mee.

-John Donne, 16^th century English poet

Bitter?

Have you ever done your best only to be rewarded with criticism?  Have you been in a place of responsibility and had to make decisions that others did not understand?  I recently talked with a leader who was ‘done with it’ because in spite of giving his best, it wasn’t enough. The noisy voices of his critics had finally gotten to him. He’s a good guy and I feel for him. I pray he will be renewed in his faith and find the strength to quietly outlast the nay-sayers.

Everybody gets to be misjudged, misquoted, misunderstood, or unappreciated … sometime, somewhere.
Been a parent? Coached a Little League team? Been married? 

Human relationships are complicated – the source of wonderful joy and terrible pain. I suppose the only way to avoid pain is to become a hermit.  In life’s reality, we have two choices – get bitter or get better!  Bitterness comes to us easily, almost a self-protective reflex. But bitterness is a poison that is indiscriminate. We cannot pour a cup for another without having it splash into our own soul.

So, how can we get better instead?

1. Christian never forget Who you are ultimately serving. Jesus said that even giving a cup of cold water to a thirsty person or visiting someone who is lonely is a gift to Him. "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’" (Matthew 25:40, NIV) He knows exactly why we did what we did and never misunderstands or forgets. Sobering, isn’t it? Hopefully, it encourages to do the right thing regardless of appreciation or reward on this earth.  There is great peace to be found in the faith that the One who knows us best is never deceived by our critics.  When we are willing to let Him sort it all out, we can move into a place where our heart remains tender and we are faithful to the call. Focus on the One who never forgets.

2. Refuse to return fire, when others fire on you. Whoa, that’s a tough call, isn’t it? I admit it’s easier to write about it than to live it.  We want to defend ourselves. We want to justify and explain. But, Jesus is the great example. When insults were hurled at Him, He stood silent. He was ready to let His life speak for itself and trust His reputation to the Father.  Peter tells us "If you’re treated badly for good behavior and continue in spite of it to be a good servant, that is what counts with God. This is the kind of life you’ve been invited into, the kind of life Christ lived. … He never did one thing wrong, Not once said anything amiss. They called him every name in the book and he said nothing back. He suffered in silence, content to let God set things right." (1 Peter 2:20-23, The Message)

3. Beyond that, Christian, we are taught to seek the good of those who seek our harm. Going beyond mere non-response supernaturally we move to bless them. "Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you." (Luke 6:28, NLT)  Jesus loved us when we ignored Him. He did not do it half-heartedly, either. “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us,” Paul says.  Will we be willing to die to Self to bring others nearer to God?

How can this even be possible?  Our peace and security rests on the secure foundation of the Lord’s love for us and His keen insight. When your soul is battered, your heart is broken, your mind cries out for vindication – go to Jesus’ embrace. He knows the Truth and even if all Hell accuses, it is He alone that makes us right in the sight of the Father.

Here’s a word from the Word. Make it your prayerful meditation today.
"Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,
On those who hope in His mercy,
To deliver their soul from death,
And to keep them alive in famine.
Our soul waits for the Lord;
He is our help and our shield.
For our heart shall rejoice in Him,
Because we have trusted in His holy name.

Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us,
Just as we hope in You." Amen
(Psalm 33:18-23, NKJV

_________

Lord I Need You

(A prayer in song.)

Lord I come I confess

Bowing here I find my rest

And without You I fall apart

You're the one that guides my heart

Lord I need You oh I need You

Ev'ry hour I need You

My one defense my righteousness

Oh God how I need You

Where sin runs deep Your grace is more

Where grace is found is where You are

And where You are Lord I am free

Holiness is Christ in me

Where You are Lord I am free

Holiness is Christ in me

So teach my song to rise to You

When temptation comes my way

And when I cannot stand I'll fall on You

Jesus You're my hope and stay

And when I cannot stand I'll fall on You

Jesus You're my hope and stay

Lord I need You oh I need You

Ev'ry hour I need You

My one defense my righteousness

Oh God how I need You

My one defense my righteousness

Oh God how I need You

Christy Nockels | Daniel Carson | Jesse Reeves | Kristian Stanfill | Matt Maher

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