In step

[RiverOL]

The Greatest Loneliness

For reading & meditation: Psalms 119:17-32

"I will obey thee eagerly, as thou dost open up my life." (v.32, Moffatt)

Now that we have seen how crucial is the spiritual principle that life is preceded by death, we move on to consider some of the areas into which God leads us so that this principle may be put to work. If, as we said, this principle is "the deepest law in the universe", then we should not be surprised when God provides us with opportunities to demonstrate its effectiveness. The first area we consider is loneliness.

Is this a situation in which you find yourself at the moment? If so, then you can respond to it in one of two ways: you can rebel against it and wallow in self-pity, or you can face it in the knowledge that God is with you in your loneliness and will help you turn it into something positive. Geoffrey Bull, when speaking of his lonely life in Tibet in his book When Iron Gates Yield, said: "The Lord had appointed me to stand in solitude upon the threshold of crisis, yet the only loneliness I had need to fear was that of a corn of wheat afraid to die."


A corn of wheat afraid to die - that is the greatest loneliness. Just as there is one sin - the sin of making yourself God (all the rest are sins), so there is just one loneliness - the loneliness of being alone with a self that is not surrendered to God. You see, if you do not understand the principle that going God's way is always the best route to spiritual fruitfulness, then loneliness will hold tremendous terror for you. I say again: there is no greater loneliness than a self that is afraid to die.

Prayer:
O God, if You see that I am "a corn of wheat afraid to die", then uproot that fear - in Jesus' Name. May I echo the psalmist's words: "I will obey thee eagerly, as thou dost open up my life." Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

His appointment

For reading & meditation: Proverbs 22:17-29

"Listen to this wise advice; follow it closely, for it will do you good ' Trust in the Lord." (vv.17-19, TLB)

Are you afraid of loneliness? If so, then it is likely that there is a greater fear than that in your life - the fear of "a corn of wheat afraid to die". Settle that fear, and all other fears are as nothing in comparison.

When our attitude is that of complete and utter surrender to God and confidence in the outcome of His purposes, then we can face anything that comes - good, bad or indifferent. An extremely prominent minister who was greatly used by God got caught up in a spiritual conflict because he had his eye upon a position in his denomination which he desired for himself. He shared his desire with a prominent laymen and tried to get him to use his influence in securing the position. The layman said: "I do not think it right to use my influence in the way you ask.

The decision must be with those who have been selected for that purpose." The minister was deeply upset by his friend's remarks and became extremely bitter and morose. In due course the position was given to someone else, and the minister, unable to cope with the disappointment, withdrew from the ministry and now lives in a big house all by himself - terribly alone.

He was "a corn of wheat afraid to die". Had he been willing to die to the desire for self-aggrandisement, position and prestige, he would have seen the disappointment as "His-appointment". Now he is lonely with the loneliness that comes to all who fail to realise that God always gives the best to those who leave the choice to Him.

My Father and my God, I see that there is no greater loneliness than the loneliness that comes from being locked into my own purposes and my own desires. Help me to be continually centred in You and not in myself. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen

Prayer:
My Father and my God, I see that there is no greater loneliness than the loneliness that comes from being locked into my own purposes and my own desires. Help me to be continually centred in You and not in myself. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen

 

[RiverOL]

God of remarkable surprises

For reading & meditation: Psalms 18:20-40

"O thou Eternal, thou wilt light my lamp ' thou wilt make my darkness shine." (v.28, Moffatt)

If you have not yet taken hold of the truth we have been discussing over the past few days, then grasp it with both hands today: the greatest loneliness is the loneliness of "a corn of wheat afraid to die". If we are afraid to die to our own purposes and allow God's purposes to become supreme, then we finish up pleasing ourselves but not liking the self we have pleased.

And again, being willing to face any situation that comes with the conviction that God will make it contributive enables us to face life with an inner fortitude and poise. Understanding this truth and being willing to apply it to all circumstances and situations is one of the greatest safeguards against emotional or personality problems. In fact, I would go further and say that it is one of the greatest defences against reactive depression that I know.

I say "reactive" depression because there are some forms of depression which are chemically based and result from malfunctioning of the body's chemical systems. Reactive depression is the depression that comes from the way we interpret the knocks and hardships that crowd into our lives. And what greater hardship can there be than loneliness?

The Bible teaches us, however, that God will never allow one of His children to find themselves in any situation where He is not able to help them - loneliness included. Someone has referred to our heavenly Father as "the God of remarkable surprises". What a fascinating description - and how true. In the midst of life's loneliest moments, God has a way of approaching us and revealing Himself in ways that we would never have conceived possible.


Prayer:
Father - surprise me. In some way today, let the wonder of Your concern and care for me break through the ordered routines and duties of my life. Pull aside the curtain and give me a fresh glimpse of Your face. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

From Holy Ground

For reading & meditation: Psalms 27

"One thing I ask of the Lord ' that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life '" (v.4)

We said yesterday it is in times of deepest loneliness, when there is no one there but God, that we learn to know Him most fully. Not long after my conversion in my mid-teens, a preacher I greatly admired came to stay in our home. I had the opportunity to sit with him for many hours asking him some of the spiritual questions which, up until then, had greatly perplexed me.

During one period of discussion I said to him: "Tell me, what is the secret of your great and powerful ministry?" It was quite a while before he answered, and as I waited I pondered what his answer might be. Would he say, "It is the way I use words", or "My skill at chiselling attractive and appealing phrases", or perhaps, "My insight and understanding of the Scriptures"? It was none of these.

He said quite simply: "If there is any power in my ministry, it has come out of walking with God through the valley of loneliness." I cannot remember in the whole of my life ever hearing a more compelling and moving statement than that. It introduced me to a truth that I myself had to learn - that the route to knowing God often passes through the valley of profound loneliness.

The depth of character that is developed through loneliness is something that not only enriches the life of the individual concerned, but spills over into the lives of many others also. In periods of loneliness, the Master draws us into His presence so that later, when we speak to others, they sense we are speaking to them from holy ground.

Prayer:
O God, help me to commit my will to Your will, not to be borne but to be done. If knowing You - really knowing You - means walking through the valley of loneliness, then lead on, dear Lord - I will follow. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

Lonely - but not alone

For reading & meditation: John 16:19-33

"' you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me." (v.32)

We spend one last day looking at the issue of loneliness. Our meditations on this subject have made one thing clear: it is in the periods of loneliness that we most abandon ourselves to God and learn how to depend upon Him utterly and completely.

The more I read the biographies of those who have achieved great things for God, the more I realise that their deep knowledge of Him came, in part, out of moments of profound loneliness. It was in such moments that "the God of remarkable surprises" revealed Himself and gave them an understanding of His grace and power such as they could never otherwise have known.

Is it not true that God's glory bursts through most powerfully when the sky is at its darkest? Does not His strength uphold us most when we are feeling weak and inadequate? And does not His love penetrate most deeply when we feel unloved or isolated from others? When we are prepared to die to our own interests and are willing to follow our Lord fearlessly along the path which He sees is best for us, we experience, not just temporal, but eternal rewards.

The seed that falls into the ground and dies is the one that yields a rich and bountiful harvest. Many of us fail to be fruitful in our Christian life and experience because we are afraid or unwilling to face the issues which demand a whole-hearted commitment to the will of God. We save ourselves - and then what? We finish up by not liking the self we have saved. Make no mistake about it - God's way is best, even though a thousand hardships beset the path.

Prayer:
O God my Father, give me the courage of Jesus who, despite His loneliness and isolation, went on to achieve Your perfect will. Quicken within me today the sense that when I am walking with You I may feel lonely, but I am never alone. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

Wait! Wait! Wait!

For reading & meditation: Psalms 31

"How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you '" (v.19)

As we move on we start to think about some of the red furrows of life from which we often draw back. At such times we become "a corn of wheat afraid to die". But as we are seeing, where there is no death, there can be no life.

Outside the furrow we remain safe, warm, comfortable - and unfruitful. First we shall consider what I am calling "divine delays" - those periods of life to which God leads us when it seems that nothing is happening and that His purposes for our lives are temporarily shelved. Perhaps you are at this point at this very moment. If so, don't panic - God's delays are not His denials. Our Master has a purpose in everything He does. You must believe that, even though your fears scream the opposite.

One of the most difficult things to do in the Christian life is to wait for God's purposes to come to pass. Sometimes they take so long to materialise that we find ourselves getting vexed and frustrated. Have you heard about the Christian who prayed: "Lord, give me patience ' and I want it right now"? Wouldnt you rather do anything than wait?

A man told a Christian counsellor I know: "Waiting for God to bring His purposes to pass is the biggest problem I face in my Christian life; there is something within me that would rather do the wrong thing than wait."

As waiting for God to bring about His purposes is more the rule than the exception in the Christian life, we had better learn what God has in mind when His red light flashes out the signal, "Wait! Wait! Wait!"

Prayer:
O Father, teach me to trust You when Your plans and purposes for my life are seemingly delayed. I confess that impatience is one of the most difficult things for me to "die" to. I cannot do it on my own. Help me, my Father. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

Catching a Vision

For reading & meditation: Nehemiah 2:1-10

"If it pleases the king ' let him send me to the city in Judah where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it." (v.5)

We ended yesterday with the thought that waiting for God's purposes to come to pass is more the rule than the exception in the Christian life. Does this mean that for most of our Christian life we should do nothing but wait for God to move?

No. Clearly there are certain aspects of the Christian life which require immediate and daily attention, and for which we have all the guidance we need. We don't need to wait on God, for example, to know what we should do about forgiving those who have hurt us, or sharing our faith with the unconverted. Those purposes of God are to be seen as standard operating procedure and are clearly set out in His Word.

I am referring here, not so much to His general purposes, but to His individual purposes - those special plans which He wants to achieve through us personally. Every Christian has the responsibility of coming before God to seek to discover just what it is that the Lord wants to achieve through his or her life. And as we are faithful in reading His Word, obeying His commands, and communing with Him in prayer, we can expect Him to reveal those special plans for our lives.

Take our reading today: Nehemiah served the king faithfully, but when he heard about the disgraceful condition of God's city, Jerusalem, he caught a vision of rebuilding the walls. God then worked in the king's heart to give him a desire to assist Nehemiah in achieving that vision. Have you caught the vision of what God wants to achieve through your own individual life and witness on this earth? If not, why not?

Prayer:
Gracious Father, give me, I pray, a clear picture of what You want to achieve through my own personal life and witness for You. I have kept myself in the dark too long; now I want to step out into the light - Your light. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

The Special Thing

For reading & meditation: Proverbs 29:1-18

"Where there is no vision, the people perish '" (v.18, AV)

What is the point we are making? It is this: as we are faithful in following the Lord, we can expect Him to reveal His special plan for our lives. Just as Nehemiah caught the vision of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, so we, too, if we are ready and alert, will catch the vision of what God has specially equipped us to do. Many years ago, I asked God to give me a vision of the special thing He wanted me to achieve for Him.

He gave me the vision of launching a daily Bible reading programme which is now read by half a million people daily. He also, so I believe, inspired the choice of the title, Every Day with Jesus. I sometimes tremble at the awesome responsibility I now have of developing a spiritual theme month by month which will minister to the needs in people's lives.

What if I had not asked God to give me a vision of what He wanted me to do? I might have continued in a ministry that would have been good, but not the best. I believe there are many of you now reading these lines who are living faithful lives for God, but you have never asked Him to show you the special thing He wants you to achieve for Him.

And don't think of that special calling in terms of something that will bring you prestige and glamour - to do that will take you right off the track. If you have never done so before, ask the Lord right now to give you a vision of what He wants you to achieve for Him. Who knows - this could be, not just a new day, but a new beginning.


Prayer:
O Father, I don't just want to achieve the good - I want to achieve the best. If I have not yet caught the vision of that special thing You want to achieve through my life, then reveal it to me today. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

Everyone is Special

For reading & meditation: "Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay." Habakkuk 2:3

Arising out of what we said yesterday - that God has a special calling for each of us - the thought occurs to me that some might view that statement as applying only to those who have the opportunity of working in "full-time Christian service".

I don't much like the phrase, "full-time Christian service" - hence the quotation marks. Every Christian is in full-time Christian service - every hour of the day and every day of the week. Let me make it perfectly clear that in saying God has a special purpose for every one of us, I mean just that - every one of us. The trouble is, when we talk about Nehemiah catching the vision of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, or Moses catching the vision of leading his people out of bondage, we tend to think that such visions apply only to those who are specially chosen and gifted.

As you read these lines today ask yourself: "Have I taken the time to ask God what He especially wants me to do?" A man may catch the vision today of a special ministry to other men. A woman may catch the vision of teaching other women how to be discreet, to manage their homes and to love their husbands and children (Titus 2:4-5).

A married couple may catch the vision of ministering to singles. And those who are single may catch the vision of embarking on some project for God to which they can give their time and energies in a way that married people cannot. Open your heart and mind to what God is saying to you today. God sees everyone as special, and has a special task for everyone.

Prayer: Gracious Father, You continue to stretch my faith and my expectancy. I am so grateful. If I have not yet caught the vision of what You want me to do, then help me to do so today. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

God's Wonderful Ways

For reading & meditation: Romans 11:25-36

"How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!" (Romans 11:33)

Now that we have spent a few days discussing the importance of catching a vision of the special contribution God wants us to make through our lives, we ask ourselves: What happens next? Usually, the next step after catching a vision is to see it die. There is a special reason for this: our vision often contains a combination of godly concerns and human perspectives, so God has to engineer a way whereby the godly concerns remain and the human perspectives are changed to divine perspectives. His way of doing this is to cause the vision to die.

This is a Biblical principle that can be traced from Genesis to Revelation. The vision Abraham received of being the father of a great nation "died" when he found his wife was barren. The vision Moses received "died" when he was rejected by his people and was forced to flee into the desert for forty years. Why, we ask, does God bring a vision to birth and then allow it to die? For this reason: the waiting time in which we find ourselves during the death of a vision is God's classroom for the development of godly character in us.

It is in the waiting time, as the vision "dies", that such qualities as patience, persistence, perseverance and self-control are built into us. Has God given you in the past a vision of something that you knew was definitely from Him - but now the vision has died? Then don't be discouraged. This is the way God works. He is using the waiting time to change your ideas to His ideas and your perspectives to His perspectives.


Prayer:
O my Father, I stand in awe at the wonder of Your ways. Forgive me that so often I have viewed the time of waiting as tedious rather than transformative. Now my perspectives are different. Lead on, dear Father - I want to learn more. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

The Hour of Temptation

For reading & meditation: Mark 8:27-38

"' he rebuked Peter, and said, 'Get behind me, Satan! For you are not on the side of God, but of men.' " (v.33, RSV)

We are seeing that once we have been given a vision of what God wants us to do for Him, the next thing that happens is that the vision dies. The reason for this is that Christian character must be developed in us before God can accomplish His purpose in our lives, and this can only be done by God bringing our vision down into death.

Many Christians have been baffled by this strange strategy which God uses to develop Christlikeness in us, but it is yet another illustration of the principle that death must precede life. An important thing to remember is that Satan is extremely operative at this time, for his purpose is to get you to fulfil the vision by your own human effort.

And whenever you do this, you will finish up in conflict. Remember what happened to Abraham? Rather than waiting for God to bring the vision into being at His own time, he tried to "help" God by having a son through Sarah's maidservant, Hagar (Gen. 16:3-4). The result of that was conflict between Isaac and Ishmael - a conflict that has continued to this day.

In our reading today, we see Peter being used by Satan to talk Christ out of facing death on Calvary, but Jesus recognised the true source of his ideas and responded with the words: "Get behind me, Satan!" One writer comments on this passage: "Satan often uses those who are closest to us to 'protect' us from what we know God has called us to do." Even close Christian friends sometimes fail to understand that before we can live for God's purposes, we must die to our own.

Prayer:
O Father. I sense that Your ways are written, not only in Your Word, but also in me. Something within me echoes to truth. Help me to be always willing to die to my own purposes so that I can be alive to Yours. Then I will live abundantly. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

The Power Behind these Pages

For reading & meditation: Isaiah 48:1-11

"I will not yield my glory to another." (Isaiah 42:8)

Today we ask ourselves: What happens after God causes our vision to "die", and His purpose of building into us the characteristics of Christ has been achieved? This: He then resurrects the vision and brings it to joyous fulfilment. His purpose in doing this is not just to fulfil the vision, but to do so in a way that points to His supernatural intervention.

In that way no onlooker can be in any doubt as to whose power lies behind the success of the ministry - everyone recognises it to be God. While the disciples were with Christ, they received a vision of the coming kingdom, but on the cross they saw that vision die before their eyes.

What happened then? Three days later, they witnessed the supernatural power of God bring Christ back from the dead - an event that turned them upside down. I referred a few days ago to the vision which God gave me - the vision of putting together a daily Bible reading and meditation programme which would motivate Christians. That took place in 1965. In 1968, three years after the vision was launched, it "died". I do not mean that it discontinued, but for a whole year it was on the verge of collapse.

My own enthusiasm for it slowly ebbed away until I came to the place where I said: "Lord, it's not mine - it's Yours." Then came resurrection. From that time to this, God has been seen to have the greatest part in its compilation. The constant stream of letters telling of changed lives, changed families and changed attitudes point to the fact that Jesus Christ is the power behind these pages - not me.

Prayer:
O God, now that I understand this principle of the birth, death and resurrection of a vision, help me to apply it to those periods in my life when it seems as if nothing is happening and Your purposes are temporarily shelved. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

Men cry out against the heavens

For reading & meditation: Job 5:1-16

"Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward." (v.7)

We now focus on yet another aspect of our theme - The Corn of Wheat Afraid to Die. Slowly we are coming to grips with one of the greatest truths of Scripture, namely that life comes through the giving of life, and fruitfulness through falling into the ground and dying.

When we remain by ourselves, using only human resources, our lives will turn out to be shallow and fruitless. Refusing to pay the ultimate price of giving ourselves, we find ourselves paying the price of the deadness of life itself. Another area of life from which we often cry out to be exempted, but one which, if we are willing to give ourselves, yields great spiritual fruitfulness, is the area of unmerited suffering.

Our text for today reminds us that "man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward", and there are few of us who have not had cause to lament the truth of those words. A more modern observer of the human condition puts it thus: My son, the world is dark with griefs and graves So dark that men cry out against the heavens. I suppose there is nothing that makes people "cry out against the heavens" so much as the anguish that comes through unmerited suffering.

Horace Walpole said: "To those who think, life is comedy; to those who feel, life is tragedy." There are few of us who do not "feel" - so is life a tragedy to most? God did not deliver His Son from suffering - He did something better. And it is along this line of the "something better" that we will find the answer to unmerited suffering.

Prayer:
O God my Father, I must find the key to this issue of unmerited suffering. For the doors of life and fruitful service will be closed to me unless I know how to open them and walk through to victory. Help me to find that key. In Jesus' Name. Amen

 

[RiverOL]

The World's Answers to Suffering

For reading & meditation: Ecclesiastes 1

"For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief." (v.18)

Today we look at the various answers - so called - which the world has offered in relation to the problem of suffering. Omar Khayyam, the poet, looked upon the world of suffering and said:
To grasp this sorry scheme of things entire
Shatter it to bits - and then remould it to my heart's desire.

His answer was to remake the world with the possibility of suffering left out. Another answer is to accept the fact of suffering and meet it with resigned anticipation. You say to yourself: "I knew it would come, I was not caught unawares, for everything I hold can be taken away." This is the attitude of disillusioned cynicism.

Then another response is to give way to self-pity. Those who follow this method of dealing with suffering get pleasure out of feeling sorry for themselves. And many exaggerate their troubles in order to increase the possibility of gaining others' sympathy.

Yet another way is the way of stoicism. This is the attitude of accepting the fact of suffering and steeling oneself against it. I read about an Indian tribe in South America who teach their children: "You are born into a world of trouble.

Shut your mouth, be quiet and bear it." You can see how this type of thinking produces the stoical Indian. The Eastern religions, such as Buddhism and Hinduism, have complex answers to suffering, but they, along with the others, lack one important thing - there are no wounds that answer our wounds, no death that will answer our death. Christ and Christ alone gives us the final answer to suffering.

Prayer:
O God, as I move from day to day in search of an answer to the problem of unmerited suffering, I see clearly that the world has found no satisfying solution to this problem. My trust and confidence is in You. Lead on, dear Father. Amen

 

[RiverOL]

The Christian answer to suffering

For reading & meditation: Matthew 26:36-46

"Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us go!" (vv.45-46)

Yesterday we looked at some of the world's ineffectual answers to the problem of unmerited suffering. In them there are no wounds to answer our wounds, no death to answer our death. Their so-called answers remind me of a cartoon I once saw which depicted two toddlers in a children's boxing ring. Stripped for action, with nothing on but shorts and boxing gloves, they were ready for the fray.


The attention of one of the youngsters was caught by two butterflies flitting just above his head and he stood gazing up at them, exposing himself to the blow which his opponent was about to land on his nose. Gazing at butterflies while in the midst of a conflict is a dangerous occupation. Any system of thought that takes your attention off the grim facts of life by calling attention to butterflies is doomed inevitably to produce pessimism as the blows begin to fall. What, then, is the Christian answer to this problem? First, we must realistically face the fact that life involves suffering.


There is no escaping that fact; to deny it is a denial of reality. I have found from experience that the first thing many Christians do when caught up in a form of suffering is to deny its reality and say something like this: "I don't have any problems, for Jesus is the Great Insulator between me and everything that happens." It is not lack of faith to acknowledge a problem. You don't have to dwell upon it, but before you can deal with it, you must acknowledge it. Remember, you must first be willing to face reality before you can expect to overcome it.

Prayer:
O God, give me courage to face up to issues and not dodge them. Help me to be open and honest. Father, I look to You now to help me put this into daily practice. For Jesus' sake. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

Is suffering the result of sin?

For reading & meditation: Luke 13

"Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way?" (v.2)

Yesterday we ended by making the point that it is only when we realistically acknowledge a problem that we can take the steps to deal with it.

The teaching that says you should not admit to having a problem as the negative thought that comes from such an admission will interfere with your ability to deal with it is psychologically and spiritually unsound. The passage we read yesterday showed how Jesus, in the Garden of Gethsemane, dealt with the problem of His impending death on the cross: He first faced it in His feelings, and then went out to face the fact. "Rise, let us go!"

The second thing we must do to deal with suffering is to recognise that not all suffering is due to personal sin. Some suffering is, of course, but not all. The person who violates God's moral laws must not be surprised when these laws kick back. The fact that not all suffering is due to personal sin can be seen from the account in John 9, where Jesus pointed out that personal or parental sin is not always at the back of physical calamities such as congenital blindness.

The point is made even more clearly in the passage before us today, where Jesus points out that calamities can stem from man's inhumanity to man (Pilate's butchering of Galilean Jews) or natural accidents or disasters (the collapse of the tower in Siloam), and therefore the people who suffer from them are not especially sinful. This takes away the self-righteous attitude of those who, being free from calamities themselves, view the problems of others as being the direct punishment of God upon their sin.

Prayer:
Father, I'm relieved to know that suffering is not always the result of personal sin. I'm willing to take my share of the blame for the problems I face, but help me not to become plagued with false guilt. Keep me balanced. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

Turning tests into testimonies

For reading & meditation: Luke 21:1-13

"It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony." (v. 13, NASB)

We look now at the third step in the process of dealing with unmerited suffering: don't spend too much time trying to understand the reason for suffering - focus rather on how you can deal with it.

Notice, Jesus spent very little time trying to explain human suffering, much less explain it away. Had He undertaken to explain it, then His gospel would have become a philosophy - in which case it would not have been a gospel. A philosophy undertakes to explain everything, and then leaves everything as it was.

Jesus undertook to explain little, but He changed everything He touched. He did not come to bring a philosophy, but a fact. What was that fact? The fact was His own method of meeting suffering and transforming it into something higher. Out of this fact, we put together our philosophy - a system of principles and procedures by which we live out our life in this world.

Notice that fact comes first, and then the philosophy about the fact. The good news is not merely "good news"; it is the fact of sin and suffering being met and overcome, and a way of life blazed out through them. The fourth step is this: remind yourself that in God's universe, He allows only what He can use.

In the passage before us today, Jesus gives the nine sources from which suffering comes upon us: confused religionists (false Christs), wars and conflicts in society, calamities in nature, and so on. Then He says this: "It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony." In other words, you are not to escape trouble, nor merely bear it as the will of God - you are to use it.

Prayer:
Blessed Lord Jesus, You who used Your suffering to beautify everything You did, teach me the art of turning every test into a testimony and every tragedy into a triumph. For Your own dear Name's sake. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

Gold and Silver...

For reading & meditation: Mark 1:14-28

"After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God." (v.14)

Yesterday we looked at the final answer to dealing with unmerited suffering: reminding ourselves that in God's universe, He only allows what He can use. Look again at the words of our text for today: "After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God."

After the finest and truest of prophets had been put in prison and his preaching silenced by a wicked and unjust king, Jesus came preaching the good news about God. How could there be good news about the God who had allowed such a thing to happen? But that is exactly what Jesus did proclaim - and proclaimed unashamedly. And why? Because Jesus knew that everything God allowed, He would use.

By His action, He rejected the idea that a man like John should be exempt from suffering, and that God isn't good when He permits such things to happen. Can you see now why God allows us to go through suffering? He does it so that, in the fires of affliction, we learn the secret of an alchemy which transmutes the base metal of injustice, and consequent suffering into the gold of character and the silver of God's purposes.

In one place in the New Testament, Jesus refers to being "perfected" by His death on the cross (Luke 13:32, AV). Just think of it: the worst thing that can happen to a man - crucifixion - turns out to be the best that can happen to Him - perfection. This is the attitude we must cultivate if we are not only to face, but use suffering.

Prayer:
O my Father, how can I ever sufficiently thank You for showing me this way of life? Nothing stops it - permanently. When men and circumstances concentrate on doing their worst - You bring out of it Your best. I see, I follow, and I am unafraid. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

The triumphant attitude

For reading & meditation: John 14:1-14

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me." (v.1)

By now it should be fairly obvious to even the newest disciple of Christ that if, like a "corn of wheat afraid to die", we shrink back from being ploughed into the red furrows of suffering, we shall remain alone alone, and unfruitful.

Someone has said, "God never uses anyone unless He puts them through the test of suffering and pain." Strong words. Do you find yourself flinching as you read them? I do. Yet it is not wrong to flinch at the approach of a spiritual test. God knows how you feel. The issue, however, is not about flinching; it is about following.

Are we willing to open our hearts to the Lord and say: "Do to me as You will"? I suggest the only way we will be able to do that is when we have the thought clearly fixed in our minds that God will never allow us to go through anything without providing all the grace we need to bear it, and will turn the test into a testimony that will eternally glorify Him and make our characters more like His.

Jesus, remember, began His ministry here on earth with a wilderness experience, and ended it w"Let not your hearts be troubled", not because they were to be protected from troubles, but because they were to "trust in God". Faith in God will not save you from suffering, but it will save you through it - the suffering can be made into an instrument of redemption. Remember, you cannot bless without bleeding, and you cannot succour until you have suffered.

Prayer:
O Father, I see that refusing to pay the ultimate price of surrendering to Your purposes is to choose deadness and death. Today I choose life. I am a "corn of wheat" not afraid, but willing to die. Help me, in Jesus' Name. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

Going - yet not knowing

For reading & meditation: Acts 20:17-35

"And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there." (v.22)

We come now to examine another area into which our Lord, eager to obtain fruit from our lives, may be leading us: that of ambiguity and uncertainty. By ambiguity, I mean those situations we sometimes find ourselves in where the Lord's purposes are not clear, and by uncertainty, I mean the feelings we get when we dont know which direction to take on the road ahead. Are you the kind of person who likes to see the way ahead as far as you possibly can? Do you find yourself getting irritated and frustrated when the Lord unfolds His purposes just one step at a time? If so, then your irritation is saying something about you.

What is it saying? Perhaps it is saying that in this area of your life, you are "a corn of wheat afraid to die"; you are fearful of trusting yourself to the unseen and unknown purposes of God. There isn't a Christian reading my words now who hasn't been called to walk this path of uncertainty and ambiguity, and there may be many who are there at this moment. The apostle Paul, in the verse before us today, was in this situation when he said: "I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there" (v.22, GNB).

What an honest admission: going - yet not knowing. Yet there seems to be no anxiety or apprehension in that statement. And why? Because the great apostle had died to all self-interest. Having surrendered to God, he was not at the mercy of circumstances, situations, feelings - anything. Sure of God - the one great Certainty - he needed to fear no uncertainty.

Prayer:
O God, I see that unless my certainty is in You - the divine Certainty - I will be at the mercy of all uncertainties. Forgive my little antics of self-dependence. Help me to live in God-dependence. Amen.