Asking “Why?”

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Your grandfather dies and you cry out to God “why now?”  The circumstances you find yourself in seem unnecessarily tough. Meeting the right guy or girl never seems to happen though you feel so ready. This week was one disaster after another. Someone who’s been through so much gets even yet more bad news.

Why?

Do you ever feel guilty for asking God “why?” Don’t. You aren’t the first –and you may not be sinning.

It isn’t disobedience to say, as the desperate father found in Mark 9:24 did: “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” In John 11, we read about Lazarus’ death, Jesus’ weeping, and Mary’s words: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Think of the faithful examples in the Old Testament as well. Didn’t Job ask God why? And David? Consider his cry in Psalm 10:1 for example:

“Why, Lord, do you stand far off?

Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?”

Can you imagine Joseph, a young man sold into slavery, not at times asking the Lord why He allowed these things to happen? In fact, Joseph referred to have sought a reason for why God allowed so much to happen to him, saying in Genesis 45:7 to his brothers: “But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.”

Esther 4:14 also contains this powerful example of looking at the “why” of God’s work: “And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?"

The prophets give us example after example as well. Just imagine Ezekiel’s question of “why” as God explained to Ezekiel that he was to be a watchman to a people who were hard, rebellious, and unlikely to listen to him. He asked Ezekiel to perform strange rituals as warnings –acts that often caused Ezekiel to live despised. What a futile task, it would seem!

But in all of these examples, in all of the implied and more direct “why” moments, God never rebukes His people. Our Lord never condemns any of us for asking “why.”

To ask God “why” often isn’t wrong at all. The confusion about this comes, however, when “why” involves:

• A test of His character
• A rejection of His will
• An act of disobedience

To disobey God, your intentions or actions contradict His Word, work, or person. You can ask why humbly, faithfully, and as a plea toward the perfect Lord. You can also ask Him why with the implication that He has done wrong –which is blasphemy.

Likewise, you can have doubt, you can struggle with unbelief, without sinning. Watch, however, that you do not act on doubt. To say, “because I don’t understand it, I won’t do it, Lord” negates faith. “Because I can’t grasp how you can be good and do this, I won’t go along with it” is rebellion and requires the pride of assuming you know better than He does.

Sin is sneaky like that. Satan clouds and distorts the truth to trick us –that’s more effective in many cases than outright lying. The “bent” truth here?

That asking “why” is sin. It’s not. Avoid assuming that your “why, Lord” trumps your ability to say “yes, Lord.”

…And ask away. Cry out like David. Consider His answer like Esther. Testify to His revealing of the “why” as Joseph did. Pray for Him to help your unbelief. The Lord does not condemn us for acting like His children.

This post is being shared on: #TestimonyTuesday, #RaRaLinkup, Intentionally Pursuing,Titus2sday, Woman to Woman Wednesday, Women with Intention, andTellHisStory.

Afraid to be Satisfied

Nearly a year and a half ago, I wrote post about fearing joy (coincidentally, I also wrote about a PB and Nutella Cheesecake that I’m making again this week!)

Have you ever been there? Have you ever had so much reason to be joyful but been too afraid to let yourself go there?

My husband and I received some really good, long-awaited news this week. The Lord provided and blessed beyond any measure we could have expected. His plans are so much wilder and better than ours ever have been. And so, we’ve been rejoicing!

But with new blessings come new responsibilities, worries, and questions. I can’t help but feel a little afraid again. This time not so much afraid of joy as of satisfaction…

We are often afraid to be satisfied.

To so many of us, satisfaction sounds like complacency, or giving up. To be satisfied would lead to rest –which we confuse with laziness. Simply being satisfied requires that we accept what the Lord provides, as is, right now, without doubting or wishing or believing that maybe there could be something better.

That’s difficult to do.

To say “Lord, your provision is plentiful” and not move on to a concerned prayer about what to do next, or another prayer asking for more...well, that’s not usually our first reaction. We’d have to put God’s plan above ours, His way above our way, and what He deems good over our fleshly desires.

Our tendency isn’t to wholeheartedly base our desires and hope and joy in the Lord. It’s more common, in our human nature, to squirrel away wants, wishes, comparisons, and doubts. We’re glad for the Lord’s gifts to us, but we keep the receipts in hopes that maybe we can make an exchange if we see something “better.”

It’s no wonder we’re not satisfied. Satisfaction is only truly found in Christ –without condition, without loving the world or what it offers, and without the trappings of “if,” “but, and “or.”

True satisfaction is found when our life is hidden in the Lord, and we live by His hand, with our desires delighting in Him. Real satisfaction comes when we behold His face, when we wait on Him and are guided by Him.

To be satisfied, we must stop trying to fill ourselves up with more and instead drink of the water He provides (see: Proverbs 19:23, Psalm 17:5, John 6:35, Psalm 37:4).

Isaiah  says it well: “the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.”

As the saying goes, the grass is always greener on the other side. When we aren’t in scorched places and it feels our bones are strong, we’re often quick to wonder if the miracle grow our neighbors use would be better than the living water. It’s not.

See, our Lord doesn’t fail. He doesn’t wither away in time or depend on the balance of our conditions, our emotions, or our circumstances. We don’t have to go back again and again asking for another drink to keep us feeling full.

Satisfaction is, by its nature, has two parts:

 When we think satisfaction, we tend to think of the fleeting sensation of feeling pleasantly full. There’s another aspect- one Christ wholly embodies. In Jesus, our debt is satisfied. In Jesus, our salvation is settled, and with that comes the fulfillment, contentment, and happiness that we associate with satisfaction.

The living water is offered now. We can wait, if we’d like. We can accept the salvation of Christ and continue to live worried, live by comparison, and live to fill up our perceived lacks, waiting to find our full satisfaction in Him until heaven.

But satisfaction –that is, to have enough and to delight in what you have- is available now in every way that truly matters.

We may not be satisfied with our current talents, our current job situations, our current relationship struggles –but our souls can be satisfied.

We can taste the living water now and drink in the satisfaction of knowing that “it is well” with our souls. We are reconciled to God through Christ. We have the assurance that we will be brought to completion, that we can trust in His faithful provision, perfect counsel, and loving friendship.

Is He enough to satisfy your heart today?

  

“But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” –Romans 6:22-23

Because of this gift…

“Those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship” Romans 8:14-15

Live as His children. Live by His hand.

“You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing.” –Psalm 145:16

Our Hidden Faults

"The desires of the flesh warring against the Spirit, and the Spirit warring against the flesh, which began at rebirth, are what produce carnality and the awareness of it. If the Spirit of God detects anything in you that is wrong, He only asks you to accept the light of truth, and then He will make it right. A child of the light will confess sin instantly and stand completely open before God. When the light shines and the Spirit brings conviction of sin, be a child of the light. Confess your wrongdoing, and God will deal with it." --Oswald Chambers, from My Utmost for His Highest.

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Have you ever had a moment –a terrible moment- when you realize that something that you thought you were SO right about and SO good in was actually really selfish or sinful?

An argument with your spouse, in which you took the high road, for example. Days later, as your loved one is doing penance, you realize how bitter and power-hungry your heart has been since winning the fight. Or, you’ve gone out of your way to encourage and uplift someone, and you’re reaping praise. But, in your heart, it’s not about loving the other person, it’s about looking good.

Been there. And does the Lord know it!

In Psalm 19:12, we find David praying “But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults.”

That’s right before He prays in verse 13: “Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me.”

We’re reminded of several truths in these simple verses:

• ·         Sin is a condition we’re born into.
• ·         Sin can be, and often is, willful.
• ·         Sin can also be sneaky –we don’t always choose it outright but we’re attracted to it anyway and our hearts can be corrupted by it without us even trying to rebel on purpose against God.
• ·         Sin needs forgiveness, and we can’t earn that! There are sins we’re not even aware of that need forgiving.

There are a lot of sins that are hidden even from ourselves - often they are ones committed deeply within our hearts that have no apparent or direct bearing on the surrounding world. Some of these sins can’t even be found out by introspection. But the Lord knows them.

We belong to a Lord and creator who knows everything, even hidden things that we don’t know about ourselves.

“The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; Who can understand it? I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind…” Jeremiah 17:9-10

God’s Word has a lot to say about things that are hidden and what God does with them:

• ·         “For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.” – Ecclesiastes 12:14
• ·         "But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.” –Luke 12:2
• ·         “…wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts; and then each man's praise will come to him from God.” – 1 Corinthians 4:5

That sounds scary, doesn’t it? If we’re honest with ourselves, especially after one of those moments of “oh Lord! My heart is SO corrupt!,” we know that by ourselves we’re bound up in sin and wickedness.

How is that even when we’re trying avoid sin and cautiously following the path of the Lord that our hearts and still stray so far from Him?

We can’t come up with anything truly good by ourselves, or do anything out of pure, selfless, unconditional love…apart from God.  Likewise, we can never grasp the depth of our sins, how egregious our ways are before God, or how corrupt our hearts are.

Don’t be surprised when you discover a sin in your heart that you didn’t select consciously. Don’t be shocked to discover that you’ve hidden your own selfish intentions from yourself. Even moreso –don’t be taken aback when the Lord reveals your hidden faults to you.  

Pray a prayer like David’s. Examine your own heart: what sins have you committed? What have you hidden from others, yourself, and the Lord? Confess and repent. Your hope is in Christ and His mercy, not how effectively you yourself handle the sins you’ve already committed.  

Then, go farther. Ask for the Lord to forgive even the evil in your heart you don’t know about.

Because here’s what happens when you ask the Lord to forgive even your hidden faults:

• ·         You surrender some of the deepest parts of yourself to Him, His mercy, and His good purposes.
• ·         The deep-rooted sins that even you don’t recognize are at work against the Spirit of God. Acknowledge that to live in the Spirit and be free in Christ, you have to rely on Him to do work in you that even you don’t understand.
• ·         You are humbled and cleansed for His glory: “May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer” –Psalm 19:14
• ·         Instead of worrying about the Lord knowing your faults and you making up for them, you can go boldly and eagerly before Him: Christ has reconciled you to God.

Fix your eyes on Jesus rather than trying to make up for the messes you’ve already made. What He illuminates He also cleanses and handles righteously. 

Why Being “Like Jesus” Is Risky (It’s Not What You Think)

We do a lot for the sake of being “like” Jesus. Attempting to be more Godly, to follow His perfect example, and to please our Lord, a lot of us make sacrifices, sign up for ministries, and take action.

Countless sermons and slogans warn us: it’s risky to be like Jesus. Scripture says it. In 1 John 3:13, we read that we shouldn’t be surprised when the world hates us for loving Christ.

The ruler of this world (Satan) is still the enemy of God and still eager to attack. Our culture and many of its followers are opposed to the Gospel. So, yeah, when you try to be like Jesus, you’re taking a risk. And you’re probably well aware of it.

But what about the internal risk?

What about the threats mustered up in your heart when you try to be more like Him?

1. There’s the Risk of Spiritual Pride

“Imitate God” Ephesians 5:1 proclaims. This verse doesn’t say be God. Or supersede God. Or take on as your own what is only God’s. The verse reminds us of Jesus’s words “follow me” repeated over and over.

We have trouble with imitation. Far too often we choose to follow and copy “Christian things” until we believe we’ve learned the way. From there, we’re quick to head off on our own, leading our own tour of being Christ-like. Why? Control. Pride.

2. There’s the Risk of Doing Good Wrongly

You can be like Jesus in your actions -giving to the poor and spending time with fellow sinners- and do it all wrongly. Just “do good” with the intention of personal gain. Try “being like Jesus” without relying on Jesus.

People may think you’re a great Christian, and you might consider yourself successful, but watch out. The appearance of godliness doesn’t mean you’re grounded in Christ or being used as His instrument. And if you’re not, Scripture says to avoid you (2 Timothy 3:5). You might be dressing up as the Lamb of God while devouring His flock as a wolf.

3. There’s the Risk of Diminishing Jesus to be More Like You

When we feel that a goal is unattainable, our first thought is rarely prayer, reliance, and submission to the one whose power is perfected in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). Instead, we’re likely to simply alter the goal.

If your goal is to be like Jesus and you’re finding that it’s too hard, too risky, and too demanding, you might just alter your perception of Jesus to be a little more human and a little less Godly.

4. There’s the Risk of Missing the Point

Focusing on the how and the what of being like Jesus can easily distract from the “why.” To live like Jesus isn’t enough by itself. It won’t justify you before the Lord, it won’t make you a better person, and it probably won’t make your life any easier.

But to abide in the Lord, surrendering yourself to Him so that He can work through you –that’s the call of the Christian life. It’s Christ in your stead that justifies you before God. Christ in your heart and mind does more change your behaviors: be transformed in the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2). That is –go to the Lord to know His will, present your life to the Lord as sacrifice that He then uses for His good purposes, for His glory.

Get first things first. He lives. He lives in you (Galatians 2:20)! Follow His example, but do it by sticking close to Him in every moment, choice, thought, and action. 

Why We Like False Gospels

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When a false gospel is preached, it seems that often the falsehood is simple derived from over-emphasis on one trait, one gain, one reward, etc.

For example, a gospel of “prosperity” is considered false because of its focus on personal gain and the misconstrued beliefs that follow, like that Christians should always prosper and that Jesus exists to make us happy. Likewise, a gospel of “experience” may put excessive value on the personal encounter with God, leading many to believe that whatever they feel or interpret must be true.

When such a one-sided gospel is presented, it is often to make the true Gospel more palatable. “Gospel” means “good news.” The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the Gospel. It’s the good news that we are redeemed in Christ and can be reconciled with God. But that is big news, and, while giving the deepest joy and peace and purpose to life, is also hard news.

Often false gospels are just snippets of the easier parts of the good news. They address one particular need that is being felt.

Many false gospels, rather than sharing the truth of Jesus Christ, select and run with a chunk of the truth easier to accept for those who aren’t looking to give their lives over to God, acknowledge their sinfulness, and spend eternity glorifying the Lord instead of themselves (and really, how many of us are eager to do that?)

Prosperity gospels share good news about feeling fulfilled and gaining what you desire, not self-sacrifice or laying up treasures worthy of heaven and denying the power of currency of this world. Experience gospels validate feelings and soothe fears of inadequacy at the cost of standing on the more difficult to like, whole truth.

Sometimes, apologetics becomes a false gospel of reason and intellect. Addressing the needs of those who find God irrational or Christianity foolish, the false gospel of apologetics often fails to address the aspect of Christ that is indeed foolishness to this world and that isn’t rational within our bounds of reason.

Apologetics can be presented as being supportive of faith rather than supported by faith. Further, rather than basing a relationship with the Lord on a faith so deep and true that it includes reason, apologetics at times suggests that as reason stands, faith can have a place if you’d like it to.

It’s not that apologetics or appreciating intellect is wrong. Or that the Lord causing you to prosper or blessing you with His presence is anti-Jesus.

Few false gospels that live under the auspices of Christianity say “this is it. It’s all intellect. It’s all in your heart. Or it’s all in your wealth.” It’s rare for such false gospels to even claim to be anti-Jesus.

But rather, in “sheep’s clothing,” many who proclaim false teaching seem harmless and even enticing (Matthew 7:15). At their core, many false gospels fit within the confines of truth, but rather than building up off the foundation of Christ, they build out additions to make the space of faith a little more comfortable.

In Jeremiah 5:30-31, we read that:

“An appalling and horrible thing

    has happened in the land:

 the prophets prophesy falsely,

    and the priests rule at their direction;

my people love to have it so,

    but what will you do when the end comes?”

2 Timothy 4:3 seems to echo the words: “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions.”

It’s no surprise that false teachings always seem to align with the fears or obsessions of current generations or cultures. Many arise not out of a desire to divert from the truth, but to gratify the part of the flesh that is currently hungering most. Like a piece of candy given to a crying child, false gospels are given in response not to needs, but to desires.

We’re a part of that. Our demands to have things our way and to have our preferences often affect the truths we’re willing to hear. We feed and reward those churches that perhaps aren’t heretical but certainly aren’t mature, wholesome, or Biblically-based when we fail to seek the Lord for what He says we need. Instead, we tell the Lord or we direct His words in order to meet the wants that we perceive.

Imagine what we lose. 

2. Making Excuses for God

2. Making Excuses for God (a follow up to "1. At Your Convenience...")

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Like Jonah, Jeremiah sometimes favored certain traits of God according to his own convenience. Consider the progression of his words in Lamentations 3:

 "the waters closed over my head,

and I thought I was about to perish" (vs 54)

"You, Lord, took up my case;

you redeemed my life" (vs 58)

"Pay them back what they deserve, Lord,

for what their hands have done.

Put a veil over their hearts,

and may your curse be on them!

Pursue them in anger and destroy them

from under the heavens of the Lord." (vs 64-66)

This isn't the first time Jeremiah wrestled with justice and the characteristics of God. In Jeremiah 12:1, the prophet challenges God, saying: 

"Yet I would speak with you about your justice:

Why does the way of the wicked prosper?

Why do all the faithless live at ease?"

Like so many of us, Jeremiah was quick to plead for mercy on his own behalf and praise God for His righteous and loving qualities. But he was equally eager to want God's anger and wrath for those he considered unworthy and deserving of punishment.

Each of us has this struggle. We're generally quick to blame but slow to accept responsibility. What's interesting is that we expect God, in our image, to be like this. We expect God to put off responsibility for pain and suffering and to point instead at Satan. 

So often, we make excuses for God. We aren't comfortable with a God who allows or even chooses our pain and our punishment. 

Yet isn't our Lord one of wrath, one who is jealous and angry and who punishes?

As Jeremiah says in Lamentations 3:37-38:

"Who can speak and have it happen

if the Lord has not decreed it?

Is it not from the mouth of the Most High

that both calamities and good things come?"

Without some intense (and sinful) editing, there is no way to read through the Old Testament without witnessing some character traits of the Lord that make us squirm. 

Our Lord, who sent Jesus to die for us and desires that we all should be saved, is the same Lord who:

-Sent a flood to wipe almost all living things out of existence.

-Sent His people to Egypt, where they were eventually abused as slaves.

-Sent deadly plagues not just on Egypt but on His own people in the wilderness and in multiple other instances (see Amos or Joel 7).

-Hardened (most notably) Pharaoh's heart. 

-Killed Uzzah for steadying the Holy ark (2 Samuel 6:7).

-Allowed Satan to destroy a great portion of Job's earthly life just to prove his faith.

-Turned His people over to their sin.

-Empowered enemies like the Babylonians to capture and exile His people.

-Promised to end the world as we know it and judge everyone.

-Blinds unbelievers to the truth so that they can't see the light of the Gospel (2 Corinthians 4:4).

That's our Lord. That's the Jesus we want to be like. Bold, angry, jealous, judgmental, and good. How is He good when it seems that there are a lot of traits that we need to cover up for Him?

Because the Lord is just. He is perfect. When the Lord is angry, His anger is always righteous. When God punishes a person, His punishment is proper. When He blesses, His goodness and grace are correct. 

Charles Spurgeon points out in "The Word is a Sword" that "if a stick is very crooked and you wish to prove that it is so, get a straight one and quietly lay it down by its side".

Too often we lay our crooked sticks besides the way of the Lord and determine that it is indeed the Lord who is not right. But He is right. He isn't following the way of the world, the world's system of justice, or giving Himself over to judgement by those who are imperfect and who lack understanding.

It according to the law and character of the Lord that we should measure our own anger and jealousy and actions -not the other way around. We may wish and act in response to what is convenient for us because we are sinful in nature, but God does not.

We don't need to make excuses for God. And we shouldn't. Deuteronomy 32:4 sums up for us what our response to the Lord both in our hearts and on our lips needs to be when it seems He is unfair or cruel:

"He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he."