Suffering

Someone recently asked me the question, “Why do some experience more suffering than others?” I think the more burning question in their mind was, “Why does God allow more suffering in a God-believing, God-fearing Christian than He does in an unbeliever or carnal minded Christian?” Of course, I really can’t answer that question and neither can you. However, we all want to take a stab at the answer, and I think that is ok.

That question is not a new struggle. You find that same struggle in the Bible (Job 12:6; Ps. 73:3-9; Jer. 12:1-2). I think Malachi best summed it up, “Now we call the arrogant blessed; not only are the doers of wickedness built up but they also test God and escape." (Mal. 3:15,NASB) From our limited perspective, it seems God is blessing the wicked and allowing them to prosper, while we who love Him and are committed to Him suffer.

When we come into this world, we observe expectations about life from our parents, relatives, friends, peers, teachers, pastors, media, etc. Those expectations become rights we believe we must have in order to have a “good” life. When our rights or expectations go unmet, we suffer. It is when we suffer that we are tempted to ask the questions above.

First of all, the comparison game will get us nowhere. Only God can answer the “why me and not them” question. I see that query as a distraction from what God is doing in my life. So, if we take the other person out of the question it becomes, “Why do I suffer?” Now… there is a biblical answer to that question! Let’s look at perspective for a moment.

God is eternal and He is not limited to our “time and space” existence. He does interact in our time because that is where we exist right now. When God told Moses that His name was “I AM,” He was revealing a deep truth about Himself. He was letting Moses know that He doesn’t have a past or a future in the sense that we do. Personally, I can’t even begin to comprehend that! The Bible says that a thousand years is like one day and one day is like a thousand years (Ps. 90:4; 2 Pet. 3:8).

From God’s perspective, our suffering is less than a moment. Yet, when He interacts with us in our suffering, He experiences every grueling second, minute, hour, day, week, month, year or years with us. He wants to comfort us and whisper to us, “Everything will be okay by child. I’ll wait with you until it is over.” When we trust Him and see our suffering from His perspective He does something supernatural in our thinking that is like an unveiling of a mystery. As our thinking is changed and renewed, our beliefs change, as our beliefs change, our behaviors change.

I think Paul reveals the reason for our suffering in 2 Corinthians 1:8-9, “For we don't want you to be unaware, brothers, of our affliction that took place in Asia: we were completely overwhelmed -- beyond our strength -- so that we even despaired of life. Indeed, we personally had a death sentence within ourselves, so that we would not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead.” (HCSB)

It is through our suffering we learn complete and utter dependence on God. We learn more of the depths of His love and goodness. He makes His grace more visible in our lives. Suffering is the perfect storm to strip away all that hinders His glory from being seen in us. We have all of His glory, but it is operating out of self-reliance that shields His glory in us.

When we suffer, our emotions are screaming out for relief.  If we listen to our emotions as though they are the guiding force in our lives, we will make choices that only lead to more suffering. God wants to transform our thinking thereby changing our understanding so we can see things from His perspective. This process deepens our faith in Him. To live by faith is being fully convinced that what God has promised He will be able to perform (Rom. 4:21).

Paul best describes this process, “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Cor. 4:16-18, NASB)

When suffering comes our way, we can see it from God’s perspective and rely on Him to walk us through “the valley of the shadow of death” (Ps. 23:4). He is turning our ashes into beauty (Is. 61:3). We will see His glory in us in ways that only He can accomplish. When our response to suffering changes from “why me” to “not my will, but Yours,” then we will know we are trusting in the Lover of our soul.

The "I Am" Life

Over the years I have heard so much about the “self” life. You know, “It’s all about me.” Well-meaning folks have taught that we should learn to deny ourselves so we can be free from this self-life. It sounds good and it sounds right. However, what are we truly denying? You’ve heard the expression, “Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.” If we’re not careful, we will find ourselves throwing out the very thing God wants us to retain.

If you don’t understand the truth of being born again and becoming a new creation, then the “self” that you see is probably the old self. In 2 Corinthians 5:17 Paul says that the “old things passed away.” The Greek word for old is “archaios.” It means: original, primitive, ancient. It suggest a nature or original character.[i] According to Paul, the original sinful nature that focused on “me” or “I” is gone. There is a new nature that is different from the old.

There is, however, a programming that has been left behind from that old self. Paul mentions that “old self” in Romans 6:6, Ephesians 4:22 and Colossians 3:9. “Old” in those verses is the Greek word “palaios.” It refers to something that is “worn-out” as in our mode of thought, feelings and actions.[ii]

We have made the mistake of thinking our old self is still alive and well, when the truth is it has been crucified with Christ. The enemy has deceived us into believing it is still alive, so we spend a good portion of our time fighting sin through behavior management protocols.

The new man or new creation is a new “self.” This new self has been created in the image and likeness of God. If that sounds familiar, it’s because that was God’s original design found in Genesis 1:26. We now have His image restored through the work of Christ in His death, burial, resurrection and ascension.

In this new life we have the privilege of living the “I Am” life. Our new self is a co-union of God and me. That is the “self” from whom God wants us to live. This new self is not the old self-centered, selfish, sin-generating creature. The new self is “heaven-bent” on producing holy and righteous behavior that glorifies God. This is the heart of understanding Colossians 3:4, “When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.” (NASB)

Embracing the “I Am” life is not an act of arrogance or pride, but it is humbly believing what God says is true of us. Out of the “I Am” life flows the fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23 and the characteristics of love found in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.

When we believe the lies the enemy throws at us, we will struggle with "lust of the flesh." His biggest lie proclaims that we are our struggle. When we believe the truth, peace flows in like a light that invades the darkness.

We must trust our own heart for it belongs to Him. The battle is in our mind, not in our heart. Our heart longs to embrace the truth of who we are in Christ.

“ I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.” (Eph. 1:18-19a, NASB)

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[i] Strongs NT 744. THAYER'S GREEK LEXICON, Electronic Database. Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2006, 2011 by Biblesoft, Inc. 

[ii] Strongs NT 3820. THAYER'S GREEK LEXICON, Electronic Database. Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2006, 2011 by Biblesoft, Inc. 

Happy New Year!

Well, here it is - 2015! We're almost half way through another decade. As I look back over the past year, there were some great highlights. However, there were also some moments I don't want to re-live either. 2014, though, is in the can. We can't go back and re-do anything, we have to let it go.

As I go forward, I'm not going to mess up my new year with regrets of the past or even doom myself to failure by making promises I can't keep. I've never been a proponent of "new years resolutions." They are promises you make to yourself that you are going to break. That will only lead to shame and guilt and those are poor motivators for self-improvement.

A lot of my mental energy last year went toward counseling and helping to write a discipleship book. As I looked back to see how many times I posted on this blog page, it was only five times. Now, I'm not going to sit here and beat myself up, however tempting that might be! Nor am I going to promise to you or to myself that this year will be better. Greg Brezina, the founder of Christian Families Today, tells us to submit our wills to the Holy Spirit in everything. That is my desire for 2015. I only want to do what He wants to do, nothing more, nothing less.

So, having laid that foundation, I want to change how I even write for this blog page. In the past, I would wait for some great profound spiritual/theological/inspirational thought before I would write. (5 post doesn't indicate I only had 5 profound thoughts in 2014!) This year I want to write what is on my mind, whether it is a spiritual thought, or how to season cast iron. Living Life is about living. Living is done daily and it is done at home, at work, at church, at the grocery store, at the bank, at the beach, at the mountains, wherever I am, wherever you are.

The enemy is always tempting us to believe we are bad because we did something wrong or we didn't do something right! And, we make the mistake many times thinking this is the work of the Holy Spirit! He (the enemy) is a tricky one. The Holy Spirit wants us to remember how holy, righteous, and perfect we are. This truth hangs up in the throat of many a Christian because it sounds too good to be true.

So, for 2015, I want you and me to enjoy our freedom in Christ. Let's not spend our time being an instrument of the enemy beating our own selves. Let's listen to what the Holy Spirit says about us and be safe in His opinion of us. If we do this, it will be a banner year.

Made For Relationship

“… Apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5b

The Bible is very clear that we are vessels or containers who contain the glory of God.  He designed us to contain and express His glory.  If I had a lamp with a light bulb, that lamp still needs power outside of itself to produce light.  It can’t produce the power, but it can receive the power and display that power through its bulb.  We are like that lamp.  We need God’s life in us to produce the fruit of His life.

When Jesus said we could do nothing apart from Him, He is saying we need Him to be our power.  Just as the electricity has a relationship with the lamp that produces visible light, we too have a relationship with Christ that produces His light.

Let’s not stop there, though.  By God’s design and purpose He wants to display Himself in and through us.  Just as the lamp needs the electricity, the electricity needs the lamp.  It’s not that God needs us - He wants us.  He said He could make the rocks cry out, but He would rather use us as the vessel of His glory than a rock!

We are the vessel and Christ is the power.  Our relationship with Him reveals the light.  What the darkened world needs is the light.  Going back to the lamp analogy, we tend to focus on the outward appearance of the lamp.  There are nice looking lamps, bold looking lamps, plain lamps and ugly lamps, large lamps and small lamps.  The one thing they all have in common, when the electricity is flowing into them, is light.  It is not the appearance of the lamp that overcomes the darkness, but the emanating light. 

I grew up believing that God wants to help me live a good life.  So I would pray, “God, please help me to be patient,” or “God, help me stop committing this sin I know You don’t like.”  Then I would continue to struggle with impatience and sinning.  This defeat would cause me to either question whether God was listening or if I was sincere enough in my prayers for help.  I suspected He was listening, so ultimately the focus was on my “depravity.”  In other words, I saw myself as broken, not good enough, and inferior.

Christ came to set us free from our depraved sin natures.  He did this by remaking us into a holy and righteous creature with new desires.  Our truest desires now reflect the very nature of God.  Our hearts soar with the desire to behave in a way that mirrors God’s behavior.

Too many prescriptions for victory involve making the vessel look better and act better.  Victory doesn’t come from the outside; it comes from the inside.  Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:7, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves…” (NASB) 

God made us for relationship.  The reason we can’t do anything apart from Christ is because we were made that way, just as the lamp cannot produce light apart from the power.  Our inability to behave righteously apart from Christ is not proof of a sinful nature; it is proof that we are totally dependent on Christ for life.  

We are now free to focus on expressing Christ’s life in our everyday life.  It doesn’t matter what our circumstances look like, Christ is able to navigate every condition, every temptation, every thought, emotion and choice.  If we could walk in victory simply because we desire to, we would not need Christ.  We were made for relationship and in that relationship with Christ His light (glory) is displayed.

Trust your godly desires; God put them there.  With those desires, He supplies the power.  You don’t have to manufacture strength, you get to rest in His strength!

Amazing News!

“But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.  Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’  Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.” (Gal. 4:4-7, NASB)

Imagine yourself as a slave or an indentured servant.  You would be enslaved to someone else with no hope of being set free.  There is a purchase price, that if paid, ownership could transfer to another.  However, you would still be a slave.  If you could somehow pay the price, you could set yourself free.  There is no hope of that happening; after all, you are a slave and cannot own anything.

Now imagine someone very wealthy coming along and paying that purchase price.  Now that the ownership has been transferred to your new master, your new master says, “You are now free!”  Wouldn’t that be good news?  That would be amazing news! 

Let’s not stop there.  Now imagine your new master going further and saying, “I want to adopt you as my child.”  What?!  It is remarkable enough to be bought from slavery and set free, it is something all together more marvelous for that former slave to be adopted as a child.  Now that you are adopted into this wealthy family, you are an heir.  You have all the benefits of being in this new family.  You have gone from being a slave to being an owner.

This is the word picture Paul was painting for the believers in the churches of Galatia.  He wanted them to understand that they were slaves to sin and were unrighteousness creatures needing to be guided and maintained by a law system, but no longer.  He wanted them to understand that they are now joint heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:17) with the full benefits of being children of God. 

Paul continued to say that God has put His Spirit in their hearts.  So, God redeemed or purchased the slave, made them a child, and then put His Life into that child.  All three aspects are extremely important.  However, the third aspect is the most important because it is the ultimate goal of God.  Putting His Life into the creature is what God desired more than anything.  Before the creature can have God’s Life, it must first be a child, before that creature can be a child, it must be purchased out of slavery.

You may be thinking, “Why did God have to purchase anyone out of slavery?  Why didn’t He just create a new race of “free” creatures to make his children?”  I don’t really know the complete answer to those questions, but I do know that God chose to redeem Adam’s race.  He did not give up on Adam’s children, but demonstrated His love for them through Christ.  This is good news for us because we are all from Adam.  We are all Adam’s race.

Without a complete understanding of what Paul is saying to these Galatian believers, we (as the contemporary church) can spin off into an incomplete awareness of who we are as believers. 

If we stop at just being redeemed, that can lead to a continued slave mentality.  At best we may recognize that we have a new master, but we may find ourselves trying to please the new master through self-effort.  This can lead to a constant sense of failure because I can’t be “good enough” that gnaws at us day and night.  Or it can lead to just the opposite, a sense of pride that says, “Look at what I can do!”  The Bible does use the slave imagery in describing a believer (Rom. 6:18,22; 1 Cor. 7:22; Eph. 6:6; 1 Pet. 2:16), but even in those passages there is the implication of freedom. 

If we see ourselves only as redeemed and set free, we may attempt to get our needs met through our old “slave” ways.  This incomplete understanding of who we are leads to believing that we are still sinners to the core.  Our mantra could become, “we are just forgiven sinners!”  If that is the case, then our hope (at best) is future and not present.  Nothing has changed except for our destination (heaven instead of hell). 

Let’s add the next layer: being adopted as a child and becoming an heir.  At this point we can see that our identity has changed from slave to child.  We begin to see our rights as a child of the King.  However, if we stop at this point, we can build a belief system based on what we perceive to be Godly behaviors and then judge ourselves accordingly.  We also judge those around us.  We think or say things like, “If they were really a Christian, they wouldn’t ________.” Or “they would ________.”  This way of thinking causes us to compare and contrast.  Everyone may have a different understanding of what it looks like to be a Christian.

We need the full understanding of what God has done.  He has redeemed us from being slaves to sin and set us free from the bondage of living under the law.  He has made us His children and we have become joint heirs with Jesus.  The best news is, however, we have been given His Life.  None of us can live the Christian life without God’s Life.  Because we have been made alive through Christ, we can cry out from the deepest part of our being, “Abba, Father!”

This is the heart of God for us.  This is true freedom and true life.  Enjoy Him forever!