suffering

A Strange Story

~ godisnotlikeyou ~ Leave a comment

In the biblical drama, all our expectations, assumptions, and cherished ideas are thrown into question. God the judge bears the sentence that his own justice demands. The offended party becomes the redeemer; even as he is subjected to further acts of the most heinous violence from those he redeems. The outcasts become royal heirs, the outsiders become insiders and the insiders outsiders, those who thought they were righteous are in fact condemned and those who were beyond any hope of moral recovery are declared righteous. A strange story, indeed. – Michael Horton

For more by Michael Horton, please visit:

http://www.whitehorseinn.org/

It Doesn’t Get Any Worse

~ godisnotlikeyou ~ 10 Comments

Are you overwhelmed, defeated, rejected, disappointed, and depressed? You’re in good company. So am I.

I wrote to Steve Brown of  http://www.keylife.org/about it. He’s a radio talk show host. He’s always upbeat. Funny. Honest about life. I love him.

Here’s what he said to me:

“As for where is God when you’re feeling like this, there are no easy answers. I wish that there were.

“I see people struggling and in pain every day who, if I loved them, I would treat them better than God does.

“Charles Spurgeon said that ‘when you can’t trace God’s hand, trust His heart.’

“The alternative to this is only bitterness, rejection and meaninglessness.

“Always remember that your faith is based on the suffering of Christ on the cross…and it doesn’t get any worse than that.

“God’s tears really do mix with our own and He says, in essence, ‘If I could have done it another way, I would have.’

“One other quote, this one by C.S. Lewis:

‘The terrible thing is that a perfectly good God is in this matter is hardly less formidable than a cosmic sadist. The more we believe that God hurts only to heal, the less we can believe that there is any use in begging for tenderness. A cruel man might be bribed – might grow tired of his vile sport – might have a temporary fit of mercy, as alcoholics have fits of sobriety. But suppose that what you are up against is a surgeon whose intentions are wholly good? The kinder and more conscientious he is, the more he will go on cutting. If he yielded to your entreaties, if he stopped before the operation was complete, all the pain up to that point would have been useless. But is it credible that such extremities of torture should be necessary for us? Well, take your choice. The tortures occur. If they are unnecessary, then there is no God or a bad one. If there is a good God, then these tortures are necessary. For not even a modestly good being could possibly inflict or permit them it they weren’t. Either way, we’re in for it.'”

The bottom line is: God loves us so much that he’s determined to make us like Jesus. That’s what we signed up for when he took us out of Adam and placed us in Christ.

“So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you.” – 1 Peter 4:19 (New Living Translation)




He Knows

~ godisnotlikeyou ~ 4 Comments

Read Exodus 3

When the Israelites cried in their affliction and suffering in Egypt, God knew their condition of helplessness and rescued them. Why? Because they were a great bunch? Because they loved God? Because they deserved to be emancipated? Nothing of the kind. They were a godless, complaining lot of humanity.

The reason God intervened was because they were his people and he was committed to them. His reputation and his name was on the line. He had promised Abraham a land and God always keeps his promises. So while they were yet sinners, he prepared a deliverer, Moses, through whom he would extract his people from Egypt. Moses was a picture of Christ, a man who was raised up to lead the people out of bondage into the freedom of God’s kingdom.

While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. While we were blind and spiritually dead. While we were ignorant of our greatest need. While we knew nothing about God. While we were rebels, Christ fixed our sin problem.

Has this happened to you? Has God rescued you from your darkness and sin?

Have You Repented Today?

~ godisnotlikeyou ~ 4 Comments

Your biggest problem in life is not your suffering, but your sin.

The Christian life is one long repentance on your way to heaven. Real repentance goes down to the heart. It’s recognizes the depth of sin, the depravity of the heart, the unwillingness to bend to God’s will. Even as Christians.

True repentance confronts your idols. What are you really trusting in? Your earning power? Your youth? Your intellect? A good reputation? Your personality? Your body? Your talents?

Religion is about performance and performance is about changing bad behaviors.

Life in Christ is putting your hope in him. He is the changer of hearts. He is committed to your heart transplant. And the way to an intimate relationship with him is to keep short accounts. Repent often. Repent daily. And your love for God will increase.

Don’t settle for a cosmetic makeover.

How Content Are You?

~ godisnotlikeyou ~ 2 Comments

Q: What is real contentment?

A: An inner poise, a deep seated joy that can handle anything life throws at you.

It’s not detachment or resignation. It’s not a personality trait. It’s not rooted in your circumstances.

Paul had to learn to be content. (See Philippians 4: 10-23) So do you. It’s a life-long lesson, which is not learned overnight. (How wonderful because I’m a failure at it.)

Can your contentment deal with the highs and lows of life? Both the failures and the successes? (My kind takes me on a roller coaster ride every time.)

You try to change your circumstances or fix yourself believing that will make you  content. (A better spouse, a modern kitchen, a new body, flashier clothes, whiter teeth.)

Ask yourself next time you are unhappy: who or what has seized the title to your heart? Mark that as an idol and smash it.

Here’s what true about idols: Idols can’t deliver. They lie. They trap and enslave you. Idols don’t handle the weight of life.

Who is your God? Who are you trusting?

Only Jesus Christ delivers what he promises. He gives you the meaning to the details of your life, even your suffering.

Q: What are the marks of contentment?

A: Gratitude to God for rescuing you from sin and death and giving you new life in his Son, and generosity toward your neighbor.

Contentment is found only in the gospel.

Is There Any Hope?

~ godisnotlikeyou ~ 2 Comments

Q: Are you saying then that we’re destined to live lives of spiritual defeat with only little respites along the way, and that’s as good as it gets?

A: Not at all!  God’s goal for us is to be like Christ.  At the moment, Jesus is triumphant and glorified at God’s right hand, and God’s guarantee to us is that we will someday share in this magnificent image.  But when Jesus lived where we do, His life was not the glittering thing it is now.  It was marked by weakness, suffering, and by a genuine and daily dependence on His Father in Heaven.  Not even He could rise from the dead until He first died.  The road to Glory runs through the Cross, both for the Lord Himself and all who want to be His disciples.

Q: What about the verses that say we are more than conquerors in Christ, that we can do all things through Him, etc.?

A: We believe the verses, of course, but the success and triumph they promise look a lot like failure and loss: ‘tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword, being killed all day long and accounted as sheep for the slaughter’.  In this life God does not give us victory over these things: He gives us victory in and through them.  Just as He did for His Son who learned obedience through the things He suffered.