The Right Perspective

Once I accepted that God does allow trials for purposes discussed in the last posting, I have found that at the same time I've had to try to avoid jumping to the wrong conclusions.

I have to keep in mind that God sometimes allows things that he hates. This is obvious when you think about it. If God is righteous and holy, then he hates evil. But evil is allowed to exist and sometimes carry out it schemes. When something evil happens and we say it must have been God's will, we should never think that he agrees with the evil nor likes it. He hates it and is grieved by it more than we ever could be. He allows himself to be grieved. At least he does in the realm of time:

"For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men." (Lamentations 3:33)

"In all their distress he too was distressed" (Isaiah 63:9)

I have to remind myself that God thinks eternally. We so often fail to think in that way. We think in the here and now. If I look at the evil and injustice that occurs in the world from a here and now perspective, I can only end up perplexed and confused. That is because God is good and just; yet I see evil and injustice. The only way I can make sense of this is when I take God's perspective that wrongs will be made right some day. Evil will be judged. The problem of injustice will be solved forever. If this life is all there is, then every victim is to be pitied. Those who have innocently have suffered have done so in vain. No wonder unbelief so often ends up drowned in meaninglessness and despair. But, here is the word of the Lord:

"God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you" (2 Thessalonian 1:6)

And:

Matthew 6
4Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Those who suffer injustly in this life will one day be recompensed for their suffering. We should take heart in that.

However, the Bible also says that we have a big problem. We, ourselves, are not innocent of evil. We have all broken God's law. We have all cursed our neighbor. We have all had evil thoughts of others. We have all put down our brother with our tongue and exalted ourselves in our own eyes. We have judged others. We have despised other. We have all ignored those who suffer when it has been in our power to act. We have all rebelled against the Lord of love, throwing off regard for his commands, ignoring his ways and his glory and stubbornly gone our own ways. If evil will one day be judged, what is to become of our evil? If we feel our sin is small: God will judge great sin, but will he not also just all sin, great and small, if He is pure and hates all evil he allows?

Can we really cry out against God for great evil, yet ignore and rationalize our own and hope to escape in eternity? We who cry out to God for justice, should we not also cry out to him for mercy? How can our evil be removed and forgiven? If God will one day make evil pay, what is to become of us? When God removes evil, where will that leave us?

What if there is a way? A way of love, forgiveness, eternal blessedness? Something more precious than gold has been delivered to us from God. It was passed on to us by those who were with Jesus, his apostles. It was written down for our knowledge. It is the gospel. It is the message of eternal life. This message is that all who accept Christ by faith will reap the benefits of his suffering:


"For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. " (1 Peter 3:18)

"But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:5-6)

We who believe in the Son of God, Jesus Christ, receive this benefits:

"Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household." (Acts 16:31)

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

"But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." (John 20:31)

"But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood." (Romans 3:21-25)

My prayer is that all who have followed Brent's story, who have seen it unfold would see something beyond just our pain and suffering. I pray they would see our faith, our hope in the message of life. I pray they would see Jesus and find salvation. I pray that Brent's crisis would not be in vain but would serve to bring life, real life, eternal life to many.

Why?

Ok, I'm not angry with God as I shared in previous article. But I do want to address the question that many have asked. And that is why does God allow such things in the first place? Why did Brent and our family have to go through all that we've experienced this year? We're just one story. There are others who ask the same question in their personal trial.

The first thing I want to mention is that even the most godly ask God the question why. Virtually every saint in the Bible has asked this from, Moses to Gideon to David. Even Jesus, the Son of God, cried out on the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" So I don't thing there is anything inherently wrong with asking the Lord as long as the motive is sincere.

The next thing I want to mention is that I should not be surprised about my trial because I have been warned that there will be trouble in this life. The Lord Jesus said, "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). And in 1 Peter chapter 4, "Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you."

Although we all have troubles in this life, we suffer differently. Each person has a different cross to bear. Some have less suffering than others; some suffer more. In the Bible, the most righteous man of his time, Job, suffered more than all his contemporaries. Why? We may not know the unique reason in a particular case, but Scripture gives us general principles as to why a Christian may experience suffering:

1. The attack of Satan and demonic forces: "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Ephesians 6:12)

2. The glory of God: "As he (Jesus) went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?' 'Neither this man nor his parents sinned,' said Jesus, 'but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.'" (John 9:1-3)

3. The testing of the believer's faith: "...though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine..." (1 Peter 1:6-7)

4. Discipline for sin: "In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: 'My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.' Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons." (Hebrews 12:4-7)

5. Development of holiness: "Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness." (Hebrews 12:10)

I am convinced that when a Christian undergoes trials, there is an element of each of these. Satan has come to "kill, steal and destroy" (John 10:10). He is the enemy who prowls around like a lion, seeking for one to devour (1 Peter 5:8). Whether we like it or not, earth is not heaven. Life, here and now, is a battle. Satan and his forces have a purpose: to destroy you, to destroy your faith, to turn you against God, to get you to curse God, to cause you to go to hell and suffer their same fate. Jesus called Satan a "murderer" and a "thief". When Jesus healed the sick and the lame, it was said that he was destroying the work of the devil.

Yet for as much authority as he has, Satan is still under Christ's authority. He can do nothing to anyone without being allowed to as we learn from the story of Job:

From Job, chapter 1
6 One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them.
7 The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the LORD, "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it."
8 Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil."
9 "Does Job fear God for nothing?" Satan replied.
10 "Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land.
11 But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face."
12 The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger."

Notice first that God had set his protection over Job, a "hedge around him", such that Satan could not harm him. This was the normal for Job. For God is a refuge and a fortress for those who trust in Him. Satan could do nothing that God did not allow. Notice also that God brought up Job to Satan. It was His idea. After Satan accused Job, God broke with His norm of protecting Job and decided to allow Satan to test Job. The point is that there was a purpose, a reason behind Job's suffering. It wasn't that God was not able to prevent it. It was not that God was mad at Job (rather, he had pleasure in him and boasted to Satan about him). It was not that God was not good (for he blessed Job abundantly in everything). It was part of God's plan.

The sovereign Lord will take what he allows Satan to do and use it for his glory. He will take the ruins and use them to accomplish his purposes. In the case of the man born blind, the purpose of the blindness was that Jesus would be glorified when he performed the miracle of restoring his sight. In another example, remember the story of Joseph. Out of jealously, his brothers sold him into slavery where he ended up, first as a slave and then through futher injustice, a prisoner for some years. But God rescued him out of his bondage and exalted him to the second in charge in Egypt. In the end, God used Jospeh's bad circumstances to save God's people. After being reuinted with his brothers, Joseph said, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."

Of course the greatest example of God's plan including suffering is that of the Lord Jesus himself. He suffered the agony of the cross, being put to death by evil men. Yet that same cross became the source of salvation for mankind. God's plan was that through Christ's sufferings, multitudes would be cleansed from their sin and inherit eternal life. And so the glory of God's grace and kindness is magnified through suffering.

God is therefore glorified in that He is able by his sovereign power to work our trials into good. In fact, the promise of Scripture is that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him. No trial is wasted.

For the Christian, trials also come as a testing of faith. Will we remain faithful to the Lord even when Satan tries to deceive us to turn us away from Christ? Will we continue to believe in and love the Lord Jesus? Our Lord exhorts us: "Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life."

God's purpose in trials is not just to demonstrate the good He has worked in us, but also to root out the bad. As previously quoted, our hardship is God's discipline of our sin. Not necessarily a particular sin, but the need for godliness in our character. So often, when life goes our way, we forget about God. We become self-absorbed, seeking only our own pleasure. We feel as though we are in control of our own lives. Scripture is very clear that suffering develops character. God afflicts us in love, not willingly nor out of devious delight, that we might share in his holy character. For in suffering we become aware of God. We turn to him. We call on his name in prayer. We meditate on his promises. As we see God's faithfulness, we learn to trust him more. As we see his mercy and kindness to us in our need, we learn gratitude. As he pours out his love into our hearts by His Spirit in our dark hour, we bond with him and learn His love. As we become conscious of God's future promise of heaven and glory, we learn to love this world's fleeting pleasures less and look forward in hope the our eternal reward. And so we learn to perserve in our faith. This is what it means to be holy.

One day, all followers of Christ will be forever delivered from pain and suffering. Listen to the promise: "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18). Do you hear that? Not even worth comparing. The most painful trial can not compare to the goodness of the life to come. Let's therefore endure with hope and heed the words of James:

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." (James 1:2-4)

Am I Angry At God?

Why did God allow this to happen? Why me? If Jesus truly is the sovereign Lord, then why did he not prevent it? These are inevitable questions in the face of suffering. And ones that my lips have uttered. It is difficult to address these questions intellectually without sounding trite. I think the pain and suffering my family and I have gone through has at least earned me the right to try. With issues like this, I have a tendacy to get long winded. I hope I can develop my thoughts without this posting getting too long.

Here is the paradox: God is good and loving. God is all-powerful and in control. Yet God sometimes allows suffering and tragedy. Our view of God is tested In the face of great hardship. One response is to deny that God is good and hold that He is unfair and cruel. Another is to deny that God is in control and able to prevent evil. Another is to deny God altogether and blame suffering on random chance.

For the Christian, we have to face the paradox. We believe in God. We believe the Bible that teaches that God is loving and that God is in control. However, such beliefs are severly tested in the midst of a crisis. Mine have been.

How have I handled this? To deny that God is gracious, merciful and loving would deny everything that I believe in. But at some points during the heat of the trial, the temptation had been there. Feelings of anger had risen up. I had feared for losing my faith, something more precious to me than gold. And cried out to God that my faith would not fail. I remembered Jesus warning Peter of the trial he would go through before Jesus was crucified. The Lord tenderly warned him that Satan had asked to sift Peter as wheat. Jesus promised Peter that he would pray for Peter that his faith would not fail through it all. I believe the also Lord interceded for me.

As I thought rationally about it, it became absurd to deny God's goodness. To do so would be for me to judge God and find fault with Him. But that would necessitate putting myself above God. It would be saying that God's morality is beneath mine (e.g. God's level of goodness does not meet my standards). Yet people do it all the time. People are angry with God, even furious. In essence they are believing themselves to know better than God and therefore more wise and righteous than God, even though they may not realize they are doing it.

Secondly, if God is not good, where does love and goodness come from? If not from God, where?
Inherent is us but not in God? If it were inherent is us, it would have had to come from God anyway since He created us. If he had to power to create goodness and love in us, He would by necessity have to be good and loving. When a person curses God as cruel and unjust, they do it with the sense of goodness that God poured into their heart from His own heart in the first place .

Another point is that my life was been so blessed. Sure there have been challenges and hardships, most of them light and momentary. For the most part, my life has been filled with goodness. If God were not good, then why have I received such blessing from him? We are going through a great trial. But this is something very rare and unusual in my life.
As painful and hard as our trial has been, God has been so good to us in the midst of it. First and foremost is the miraculous intervention of God in our situation. By all counts, Brent should not have survived what he went through. Let me tell you that more than one doctor has used the term "amazing" and "miracle" when speaking of Brent's case. When I think of how close Brent came to not making it, I am in awe and so very grateful to the Lord. He answered our prayers. This little baby boy who had brought so much joy to us before his illness, now brings even more. When see him smile again after all he went through, it fills our heart to the fullest.

And God has blessed us in the love and support that we have received from others. Any doubt of God's goodness is wiped away when I look at the dear people who have poured out their love in our lives during this time. We have seen Christ's love through the generousity, help, compassion, concern, prayer and support of these friends.

What of the idea of God not being in control and the pain we have suffered just came about from random natural causes? If that were the case, then I could not really have any true hope. If God were not in control, then I could not pray to him for deliverance and have any expectation that he would answer. I would rather that God be in control and have to face the paradox of why he allowed it to happen, then to imagine no one behind the wheel of the universe.

I have not addressed the question of why God allowed our trial nor why He allows any evil in the first place. That will have to be in another posting. But suffice it to say that I can not deny God's goodness nor his power. I don't believe it is wrong to cry out to God, "Why, Lord?" in the midst of the battle. But where else can I turn to for goodness. For from him alone comes every good and perfect gift. Lord, I humble myself under your mighty hand that you may raise us up in due time. Praise be to your Name, forever!

Freed from sin

Revelation 1:5 To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

The book of Revelation starts out by declaring itself a revelation of Jesus Christ sent from God. As I wrote last time, it starts out by revealing Jesus Christ as the ruler of the kings of the earth. Immediately following that proclamation, we read of Jesus being our Savior who set us free from our sins by his blood!

That is why it is a delight to serve Christ the King. For he does not rule over his people with an iron fist like many kings of earth do. But he rules over us, his people, with love and good will, pouring upon us the blessings and benefits of his kingdom.

For our sin is like a cruel oppressor bringing us to judgement and the grave. It shows no mercy and is only interested in condemning. But the King we serve has an abundance of grace for all of us who have defected from the kingdom of this world and the spiritual ruler of darkness. He has used his power and authority not to oppress us but to free us from our spiritual captor: sin. Our former captor can no longer damn those who belong to Christ. For his blood, that became the just punishment for our sin, has broken its chains.

In Christ, there is forgiveness for every sort of sin. There is no sin that stands againt you or I that can not be forgiven by the power of his blood. Just think, no matter how great and how many they may be, there is a fountain of forgiveness waiting for any and all who will step underneath it an be cleansed. His nail-scarred hand is held out for all who will humbly and contritely come and believe.

My great Lord, how blessed I have felt that I have found forgiveness through you. When I think of the price you paid and the love you showed to purchase my forgiveness, I am overwhelmed. The awareness of my shortcommings makes me all the more grateful when I realize that I have been set free. I am no longer a prisoner to fear of judgement. You have broken my chains and I have escaped. I am honored to be your servant.