If God is Good...

I have been plowing through school now for 2 years. This week's question for class is about a subject near and dear to my heart and to the heart of God - suffering. What happens to us when we face evil and suffering? Do we run to God or run away? Do we think that God is unaware or just set the world in motion and left us to ourselves to figure it out? Trials and suffering really test the metal of our faith and is an indicator of where our heart is and what we value. Do we believe James when he tell us to consider it all joy when we encounter trials because the testing of our faith will grow us up in our faith (James 1:2-4). Do we believe that the eternal weight of glory far exceeds this present suffering as Paul writes (Romans 8:18, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18)? Dear reader, If you have any questions or doubts about where God is in the midst of evil and suffering I highly recommend reading If God is Good, by Randy Alcorn. 

1. Describe a situation where you were hard pressed by evil or suffered a significant trial. How did your view of God’s sovereignty and goodness affect how you responded?

I want to preface this question with the statement that I think timelines are so valuable. You can look back historically, see how the events of life have unfolded, and how God has moved and grown you. When I reflect back on the timeline of my life it is clear that both attributes of God’s sovereignty and goodness are evident. Each trial that has come my way through the course of my life has prepared me, and continues to inform me of the of God’s sovereignty and goodness, as I travel this winding and troubled road of life. When scripture informs our lives, particularly the attributes of God (Alcorn read Tozer, I read Tozer and Pink) one bump in the road prepares for the next one.

The answer to this question is informed by several statements made by Alcorn in is book:

·      The faith that can’t be shaken is the faith that has been shaken (4)

·      Our failure to teach a biblical theology of suffering leaves Christians unprepared for harsh realities (14)

·      Evil is never good, yet God can use any evil to accomplish his good and sovereign purposes (34)

·      Suffering reminds us to stop taking life for granted and to contemplate the larger picture. God intends that it draw our attention to life-and-death reality far greater than ourselves (43)

As I have reflected on my life along the way there were instances where trying to make sense of things (multiple miscarriages, death of loved ones, near death car accidents, etc.) were what drew me to scripture and began to shape my understanding particularly of the sovereignty and providence of God. As each hurt hit I was drawn more closely to the Word. God was preparing my heart for bigger bumps in the road.

The big blast came in 2002 when I was diagnosed with a chronic debilitating disease that leveled me. As I was coming up from the ash heap I journaled everything, snippets from things I read either in the Word or from another source (other books, sermons, cards and notes that were sent at the time). As I have been reading back through the journal it is clearly evident that God was using that time to begin to help me develop a theology of suffering. I was learning what the goodness of God really meant. Psalm 73 was such a ministry to my soul at the time. Needless to say, the weight of affliction did not end there. It had become a springboard to prepare me for the next big trial that hit our family.

As I began to regain my strength I laid that journal down for a while. It picks up again in May 2005 when our youngest son left the family as a prodigal. He turned his back and walked away. Again the journal chronicles the goodness and sovereignty of God in the midst of great sorrow.  As I turned the pages it has become evident that God has been teaching me the meaning of gratitude in the midst of trial.

I could write hundreds of pages of how I have seen God’s sovereign and good hand in my life, but I will leave you with one journal entry from 3/16/06:

 “God picks the time that looks the darkest and seems the most hopeless to show his power and glory. God’s grace always shines the most brightly against the blackest backdrop.”

 I am not sure of the source. It sounds like Nancy Leigh DeMoss. 

Beyond The Ceiling

From time to time I like to invite guest writers to tell their stories of how they have found God to be good and completely trustworthy in their lives. He courses through our lives in ways we would never think possible, always pointing us upward as we learn to trust Him in the trials and circumstances of our lives. I invite you to read Faith's story of how she experienced the goodness and FAITH-fulness of God in a most unusual circumstance.

Meet My Friend Faith:

It all began as a relaxing evening. My husband, Greg, and I were returning home from taking our daughter’s car to be repaired. Laughing and exchanging funny stories together, we pulled in the driveway. When we walked into our house we noticed some fuzzy material in the hallway. I followed the trail down the hall, all the while muttering, “What did that cat do now?!?!” “This isn’t the cat,” my husband’s shaky voice replied. We stared in disbelief. What had been a cozy, freshly painted and newly carpeted family room 30 minutes before was now a war zone buried in drywall and insulation. The ceiling to our family room had collapsed, leaving in its wake a restoration invoice of thousands of dollars….not covered by insurance. 

I would love to say I immediately turned to the Lord in thankfulness, but those biblical thoughts were not yet coursing through my conscious. In that moment, I could not let go of the ruin caused by cascading mountains of fiberglass that ravaged the sacred place where our family and friends had played games, watched movies and ate Chinese food on Friday nights.  Then, the horror sunk in of “what could have been.” Had we been home and not taken our daughter’s car to be repaired, one or both of us would have been buried in the rubble that was once our soft and cushy couch.

There are no coincidences in God’s timing. His loving hand of mercy and protection was as evident as the gaping hole in our ceiling. Through the blur of tears I gazed over the grey and dusty piles at the framed Bible verse, which has hung above our fireplace for many years. It had survived this travesty - totally untouched and still in its place, as unwavering as its biblical reminder. Jeremiah 29:11, the virtual anchor we chose together for our wedding verse. “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord…plans to give you a future and a hope.”  

In the following days as we faced clean up and plans of restoration, I was constantly reminded that all that was lost were just things.  They were either replaceable or not even necessary.  Above all, God taught me that there is no ceiling…no limit…no end to His mercy and protection.    

Soul Food

It has been a long time since I have posted a blog. Being a student has consumed much of my time. Learning new things is exciting and a continuous process through life. But, the older you get the harder it is to hold a thought. How many times have you caught yourself asking," What was I going to say?" Poof! The thought went out the brain as fast as it came.

This past semester I had a big assignment, which at the outset seemed to be insurmountable. I had to write a student workbook and teacher's counseling manual on a particular problem that biblical counselors face in counseling. As I wrote each lesson it became clear to me that there is a common thread that weaves and intertwines itself through life's problems and difficulties. It occurred to me that the answer to the problems and difficulties we face in life can be distilled down to two questions: Who is God? and Who is Jesus?

You might think silly girl of course those questions can be answered, but they don't help me answer the questions to my problems. The answers to the questions go far beyond the surface of "God is our big daddy upstairs and Jesus is my friend," but penetrate and probe deep into our hearts. Do I really know who God is? Do I really understand the purpose of God sending His Son? What do I believe about all of this and does it inform my life?  During this season of Lent what am I contemplating about the most - what I am giving up for Lent or the wonder of the cross?

Ed Welch wrote a book with an interesting title, When People are Big and God is Small. I have yet to read the book, but the title rolls around in my mind quite often. As I was writing each page of the workbook I couldn't help but think, "That's it!" We get buried in our problems because we can't see the face of God in the midst of them. We have made God small and ourselves big. We are getting things backwards and as a result we sink deeper and deeper.

God has revealed Himself to us in His Word. He is a talking God and a relational God. He relentlessly pursues His children like the "Hound of Heaven,"(Francis Thompson) and we run the other way. We are like sheep who have gone astray (Isaiah 53:6). Two of the most profound words in the Bible are, "But God." The storyline of the Bible hinges on those two words and what follows:

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:4-10)

Dear Reader, during this Lenten season of contemplation I want to encourage you to ponder the severe mercy of the cross more than thinking about the daily sacrifice of what has been given up for Lent. Ask yourself those two questions. Explore how deeply they penetrate your heart and inform your life. The answers to the problems we face in life are not found in any other place than in His Word! Is God big or is He small?  For your listening enjoyment as you contemplate Who is God? and Who is Jesus?

www.philipmusic.com/OTeachMyHeart.html

As you explore these questions read the books of John and Ephesians in your Bible. I would also encourage you to read Trusting God by Jerry Bridges and The Attributes of God by A.W. Pink. You may discover that God is getting bigger and you are getting smaller.