inscribed in a book

Oh that my words were written!
Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
Job 19:23

This prayer of Job's, spoken in desperate pain as a wild wish is fulfilled as I read his story right now. One of Job's cries was for vindication from the attacks of his friends. A record of that is the impossible longing of his heart. And reading that story millennia later lets me know that God answered his prayer! His faith and confidence in God, even as his frustration mounted and he stumbled, was bold enough to make this request of God. And God answered with a powerful move of His Holy Spirit in divine inspiration, forever telling Job's story in holy writ. Wow! That's quite the answer to prayer.

When I am desperate, God hears me. He is writing my story. He may share it in some way with others. He can choose to write "my book" as He pleases. Because He did so with Job, I gain insights into a theology of suffering that I would never have had otherwise.

Thank You, Lord, that You are gracious, holy, sovereign, and just. You never fail. You give perspective and hope. You answer prayer. You come to our rescue. I am able to write these words in my journal now because You told Job's story inscribed in Your book. And all my life You have led me by the wisdom of Your ways in Your book. What a blessing! What a cause for my Thanksgiving today!
Amen

a prayer for strength & peace

May the LORD give strength to his people!
May the LORD bless his people with peace!
Psalm 29:11

Oh Lord
I am weak
small
insignificant
and powerless
Fill me with Your strength!

I cannot change myself.
I don't rule my world.
I am one among billions.
I need Your help.
Fill me with Your strength!

Dear God
I am afraid
torn
trembling
and in conflict
Comfort me with Your peace!

I cannot be settled,
I am not in control.
I need real calm.
I long to know Your rest.
Comfort me with Your peace!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Stress & God's sovereign love

"The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!”
Ruth 2:12

Reading the entire story of the book of Ruth in one sitting is an interesting exercise. I don't know that I had ever done it before, and it is short enough to do in about 15 minutes time. Laying aside some of the cultural questions that come to the modern reader, nonetheless one can quickly see that this is a love story, but much more than a mere romance. It is a story of God's love and protection in the drama of loss and emptiness.

These words from Boaz (Ruth 2:12) bring the big theme (God's sovereign love) and the moving circumstances (a love story growing between Ruth and Boaz) together in the text. From this nexus of plot, we see the story grow towards resolution. Boaz is clearly attracted to Ruth by virtue of her character and commitment, and he is a godly man who knows that she and Naomi are under a greater care than his. God has led them back to Israel and into the care of the one man best suited to provide for them in their poverty and loss.

The timeliness and the authority of God found in His sovereign love and care for us will be known in His people. We may not see it immediately. Ruth and Naomi first lost everything. They were without home or income or family when they returned to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest (Ruth 1:22). But that was exactly the right time and place to bring them directly into God's care. Naomi was broken and bitter. Ruth was faithful to her mother-in-law though a complete stranger in a strange land. They were both widows with no family or means of support. Yet God moved immediately when they arrived.

I appreciate the timing of my reading of this story. Right now, the past few weeks have been a stress train wreck of sorts, with car after car careening off the tracks. I won't elaborate, but will use another metaphor: the dominoes are tumbling all around me in terms of family, ambitions, ministry dreams, and my own personal sense of fulfillment. It is not as bad as it could be, but it is extremely stressful. I am not depressed, but a little disillusioned, wondering what God is going to make out of this. I do not lose any hope. Sovereign love will lead me to the right barley field (Ruth 2:3) where I will be comforted knowing I too am in refuge under God's wings.

can't keep a good man down

But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
Genesis 39:21

The story of Joseph is an amazing account of how the worst turns in life don't have to result in our wounding. Joseph was the youngest son, and he never asked to be his father's favorite. But because of the bitterness that emerged from his special treatment, his family was bitter and divided over him. He was eliminated from his family by his heartless, jealous brothers.

Joseph was not born a slave. He was sold away by cruel hate and as a slave gained the favor of an influential Egyptian official. He was treated with respect and responsibility by Potiphar... until again he was manipulated, this time by a vengeful temptress who would not respect Joseph's faith and morality. He never asked to be so treated, but God would take care of him even as he resisted temptation.

Joseph never thought he would be a prisoner, suffering falsely for a slave's crime. But even in prison, God took care of him and rewarded his integrity. God was faithful even as people mistreated Joseph. And God rewarded Joseph with leadership and influence even as a prisoner. There was no turning back. Joseph's integrity and faithfulness to God made sure that no roadblock from sin and the world could stop what God wanted to do through him. His story encourages me to look to God in difficult situations.

hope in the Risen One

But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.”
Matthew 28:5-7

I can't imagine this moment without thrill and wonder seizing me. I have seen death... regularly. It attends vocational ministry. Death has come to my life personally and taken those I love. My first brutal awareness of its finality came as a child when my mother's father died. And as I grew, death claimed my mother in my teens. It claimed all my grandparents eventually. Aunts, uncles, in-law relations, even friends now. Most recently, my father died two years ago. In all cases, death is final. It is a parting... an end.

But with Jesus something changed. He died but He now lives again. He brought the hope of new life, of resurrection, of hope beyond death by dying and then rising from the dead. These women found an empty tomb that Sunday morning and a promise from an angel to go to Galilee and see the Savior alive again. How astonished they must have been. It all happened as Jesus said it would. He was led away by the authorities. He was crucified. But He rose from the dead on the third day. This is still so amazing two millennia later!

The gospel's good news centers on the atoning sacrifice of Christ on the cross. But the "good" in the news... the wildly exciting part of the gospel... is that Jesus beat back death's hold on humanity. He gives eternal life beyond death. We pass from death to life in His resurrection. We need not fear the grave. It is a bed from which Christians awaken to eternity with the Lord. It is the resurrection that gives us that confidence and hope. It is the new life in the Risen Savior that takes away the sting from death!

a foolish power

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
1 Corinthians 1:18

The gospel is simultaneously the most appreciated truth on the planet and the most misunderstood. It is loved by those to whom it is salvation. It is hated by the enemies of the cross. To those in the process of perishing it is a joke. To those who are seeing their lives redeemed by its amazing message on a daily basis, it is the undeniable, unstoppable power of God.

So how can the saving gospel of Jesus Christ be so paradoxically received? It has to do with two factors I think. The first is that it is offered to sinners. And sinners by definition do one thing: sinners sin. Sinners will sinfully evaluate the gospel, rejecting and/or mocking it in the process. The gospel offends our sinning ways. It calls us to repent. And sinners must first be humbled to do so. When they aren't, the gospel is pure folly.

Another reason it is paradoxically received is that the gospel is offered to all. It is not just preached in the assembly of the saints. If it were, it would never be seen as folly. When the gospel is proclaimed in the world, it will be rejected by the perishing philosophies of the day. It will be considered foolishness by the crowd. But that is the risk we must always take, because God is not willing that any should perish. And some will respond to His call in the good news. If the gospel is not being controversial in its proclamation to the world, then it is not being preached.

I am so glad that I am being saved by the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The word of the cross is my most precious belief. It has founded my footsteps for life. It has given me peace in my turmoil. It has strengthened me to help others in their own turmoil. And I will always hold the folly of the message as my dearest hope and most precious treasure.

confidently forgiven

Behold, the Lord God helps me;
who will declare me guilty?
Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment;
the moth will eat them up.
Isaiah 50:9

The confidence that comes in the salvation that God brings is an amazing work of God's grace. It is the message that Isaiah is bringing to Israel in this passage. Although they would experience a time of judgment for their disbelief, God would restore them as they returned to Him. God would continue to keep His covenant. He would love them. He would help them. He would save them.

And when God saves us, helps us, and forgives us, who else could condemn us? The answer is clear: nobody. God removes our guilt and nobody else can bring it back. No person can declare guilty someone whom God has forgiven and set free. Their accusations are temporal while God's forgiveness is eternal. They will all wear out and fade away. They will crumble like moth eaten cloth.

Lord,
The stuff of this world fades and falters. It degenerates. It may consume my thinking sometimes until I stop and contemplate Your great grace. Then I realize You have helped my soul at my greatest need. And that is really all I need to know. When You forgive me no other accusation can stand against me. I am thankful for such grace.
Amen