Sometimes we wonder why things are the way that they are for us. We are, after all, the children of God. Should we not be blessed? Let me voice the litany of “why” questions that I hear my brothers and sisters speak from day to day:
Why does our family struggle with finances, with meeting our bills? It’s not like, after all, that we spend hundreds of dollars each month on cigarettes or alcohol. It’s not as if one of us has a gambling problem. Yes, we probably could be a little more careful with our money, but why do we feel as if we live from day to day? Why are things happening that cause my retirement nest egg to decline, it seems like every day?
Why do I have this pain, why do I experience this personal suffering in my body? Why does this pain distract my spirit, restrain my godly passion, diminish my energy to do the righteousness of God? Since my body affects my spirit, why is this pain allowed to persist?
Why does this world careen from one crisis to another? We know that reporters are honored by their peers when they find the ugly, not the good; crisis, not creativity. Still it seems as if there is enough violence, hate, poverty, and war in our world for several lifetimes, not just ours.
Why are my children suffering? I know that God says that he loves children; why does he allow these challenges to happen in their lives? Aren’t their trials great enough? Haven’t I prayed enough, counseled enough, given enough?
Why does God withhold this desire of my heart from me? Does it not glorify him? Would it not please him? Do I not please him? Surely this is only a small thing in the power of God …
Why? Well, honestly “why” is the natural question in the face of suffering. It leads to lament, which is the moaning of our spirits before the spirit of God. We need to lament, we need to express to God our sorrow because he does understand it. He even understands the sorrow that is too deep for words. Eventually though, on the other side of lament, comes the act of faith, the act of endurance. James says, “My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4 NRSV)
Paul goes further. He says that suffering, that crisis, only serve as contrast to the glory that even now God is bringing to his creation.
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified.
Romans 8:18-30 – NRSV
O God, be righteous; because your righteousness is our righteousness, the righteousness of your frail children.
O God, be glorified; because your glory spills over to bring glory to us, your children oppressed by an arrogant world.
O children of God, be righteous: do justice, show mercy, and walk humbly before your God, and you will demonstrate the righteousness of God.
O children of God, glorify God, humble yourselves, and he will lift you up.
O God hear the sighs of our heart, enact in us the glory of your righteousness, and help us trust that you are the Savior, the one who comes at just the right time. O Lord, expand the borders of your kingdom; please begin in our hearts.
Grace, and peace,
Ron
Showing posts with label glorify. Show all posts
Showing posts with label glorify. Show all posts
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Thursday, July 24, 2008
A pile of stones
Everywhere you turn in the book of Joshua, there are rocks. Sometimes they are single stones, sometimes they are stacked with a particular number, sometimes they are just a massive pile of rocks.
Twelve stones are brought from the bed of the Jordan to serve as a memorial of the crossing of the twelve tribes (Josh 4). Knives are made from stone to make the people holy and one (Josh 5.2-8). This caused the reproach of Egypt to be rolled away like a stone (Josh 5.9). Jericho (Josh 6) fell into a heap of stones [except the stones of Rahab's house remained standing, the original witness protection plan]. When Achan erred, he was stoned and buried under a pile of stones (Josh 7) so that his error would not quickly be forgotten. When Ai fell (Josh 8), not only was it left as a heap of burnt rocks, its king was buried under a pile of rocks (Josh 8.29). Then, on top of Mount Ebal, an altar of uncut stones is built to worship God, and Joshua copies the Book of the Law onto stones (Josh 8.30-35). When the five kings of the Amorites come against Israel, God makes even water into rocks, and more Amorites die from hailstones than from the sword (Josh 10.5-11). When those kings hide in a cave, they are trapped inside with rocks, and after their deaths, that same cave is made into a tomb sealed with those rocks (Josh 10.16-27). A stone memorializing Bohan, son of Reuben, is made into a boundary marker (Josh 15.6; 18.17) and a silent reminder of a promise fulfilled.
Surely this has the least curious of us asking, "Why all of these rocks?" It might just be that the promised land has lots of rocks, and although that is true, it does not explain why the writer of this story bothered to tell us about them. Why all of these rocks?
The answer comes at the end of the book and the end of the life of Joshua. Joshua sets up a large stone near an oak near the holy place of the Lord (Josh 24.26). He then says, "See . . . this stone will be a witness against us. It has heard all the words the Lord has said to us. It will be a witness against you if you are untrue to your God." You have all heard the expressions: "If these walls could talk . . ." or "If these rocks could speak . . . ." For the people of God, all of nature stands as a witness to the acts of God through his people, and their own acts of wilfulness.
Not far from Hollis stands a rock, a stone not likely to be moved by the hands of men. It stands as a witness to the lives of a father and his son and their God, and their relationship with one another: Ron, Ben, YHWH. Its testimony would help you understand how close these three have become because of the events that happened in its presence some time ago. Triumph. Disaster. Pain. Hope. Fear. Courage. Power. Exhaustion. Salvation. And every time that this father and son return with their God, that stone's testimony is heard again in all three hearts.
What testimony will the rocks and trees in Harmon County give about our time there? God only knows now, but if we are truly passionate about our children and our God, now is the time for us to think and plan and prepare for those moments so that we can have some assurance that God will be glorified by that testimony.
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Heb 12.1,2
Twelve stones are brought from the bed of the Jordan to serve as a memorial of the crossing of the twelve tribes (Josh 4). Knives are made from stone to make the people holy and one (Josh 5.2-8). This caused the reproach of Egypt to be rolled away like a stone (Josh 5.9). Jericho (Josh 6) fell into a heap of stones [except the stones of Rahab's house remained standing, the original witness protection plan]. When Achan erred, he was stoned and buried under a pile of stones (Josh 7) so that his error would not quickly be forgotten. When Ai fell (Josh 8), not only was it left as a heap of burnt rocks, its king was buried under a pile of rocks (Josh 8.29). Then, on top of Mount Ebal, an altar of uncut stones is built to worship God, and Joshua copies the Book of the Law onto stones (Josh 8.30-35). When the five kings of the Amorites come against Israel, God makes even water into rocks, and more Amorites die from hailstones than from the sword (Josh 10.5-11). When those kings hide in a cave, they are trapped inside with rocks, and after their deaths, that same cave is made into a tomb sealed with those rocks (Josh 10.16-27). A stone memorializing Bohan, son of Reuben, is made into a boundary marker (Josh 15.6; 18.17) and a silent reminder of a promise fulfilled.
Surely this has the least curious of us asking, "Why all of these rocks?" It might just be that the promised land has lots of rocks, and although that is true, it does not explain why the writer of this story bothered to tell us about them. Why all of these rocks?
The answer comes at the end of the book and the end of the life of Joshua. Joshua sets up a large stone near an oak near the holy place of the Lord (Josh 24.26). He then says, "See . . . this stone will be a witness against us. It has heard all the words the Lord has said to us. It will be a witness against you if you are untrue to your God." You have all heard the expressions: "If these walls could talk . . ." or "If these rocks could speak . . . ." For the people of God, all of nature stands as a witness to the acts of God through his people, and their own acts of wilfulness.
Not far from Hollis stands a rock, a stone not likely to be moved by the hands of men. It stands as a witness to the lives of a father and his son and their God, and their relationship with one another: Ron, Ben, YHWH. Its testimony would help you understand how close these three have become because of the events that happened in its presence some time ago. Triumph. Disaster. Pain. Hope. Fear. Courage. Power. Exhaustion. Salvation. And every time that this father and son return with their God, that stone's testimony is heard again in all three hearts.
What testimony will the rocks and trees in Harmon County give about our time there? God only knows now, but if we are truly passionate about our children and our God, now is the time for us to think and plan and prepare for those moments so that we can have some assurance that God will be glorified by that testimony.
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Heb 12.1,2
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