Hi Sweet Friends,
Have you ever read a verse in the Bible and thought, “Well, who put that there?” I recently read a verse that jolted me. I know I must have read it several times in my life, but why was I just now really seeing it? I had to stop, take notice, and consider if I was a participant in the words it spoke. Isn’t that just how a faithful Father works in us? When our life experiences and maturity are at a point of making us able to receive the words, they become very personal. It’s as if they are written just to us because it’s time in our journey to be able to hear and receive them as the instruction, reproof, and love that they are. The verse that shook me is Psalm 50:21 where God tells the Israelites that He has no need of anything, because everything is already His. They were living in sin and then bringing sacrifices to try to appease God, as if He could be bought. He tells them, “…you thought I was just like you.” Can you hear my breaks squeal and smell the rubber from my tires? When I read those words, I felt God asking me to answer this question: “Is this true of me?”
As I’ve considered this verse, God has used many other verses and circumstances and memories to keep that question alive in me. As God’s people, His redeemed, His beloved, how do we see Him? Do we invent a view of Him based on our earthly relationships and experiences or maybe even our own father? Is our image of Him based on what we believe we need to be true about Him? Is it based on the distorted lies that the enemy of our God and of our souls would have us to believe? If I have based my belief on anything other than what Scripture says is true about God, I will be blown around like a loose balloon on a windy day. As my circumstances change and suffering inhabits me, I will have nothing stable to hold me down. I will begin to believe things that make sense to me, comfort me, or legitimize my anger as I look at myself and my world, but may be contrary to the truth of God. We can easily believe, as Lysa Terkheurst says in her book It’s Not Supposed To Be This Way, that we know how a good God should act. We believe that we know what someone who loves us and has the power to make things happen would do. We think we know that the good thing is always fairness, no pain, no loss, no suffering, no lacking, and no wanting based on our views. We certainly know what we would do. And God says, “You thought I was just like you.”
I’ve noticed that I never scream, “Not fair!” when I am looking at those who have what I don’t want, only when looking at those who I want to trade places with. And the truth is, all I see are circumstances. I don’t know the awful hurts in relationships or self-loathing or horrible fear that may plague them. The narrative in my head is, “Aren’t they the lucky ones? Surely they don’t suffer like I do.” And maybe not, but I promise you that they are suffering, have suffered, and will suffer in varying degrees. Why am I so sure? Because we live in enemy territory. We are under constant attack. The consequences of living in a cursed world are profound. But take heart, God is more profound. John 16:33 promises tribulation in this world and also promises that God has overcome the world. Suffering is a necessary part of living here. We don’t want it, but God uses it to do something solid, strong, maturing, and selfless in us. Certainly happiness is sometimes part of the equation, but never the goal. God is growing an army, not a sorority.
Let me share with you a great illustration of the results of a lack of suffering that I learned in our ladies’ study by the author mentioned above. In Jeremiah 48, we read that the kingdom of Moab had been at rest from youth. It had not been tested by war nor gone into exile. It is compared to wine that is left alone and not exposed to the air. It stayed unchanged and is unprepared for what is coming. Moab is described as arrogant, insulant, prideful, conceited, and haughty. Lack of suffering left them weak and immature, unable to face their enemies. Moab was left alone and is totally unprepared for war and will be overtaken. Please be aware that the indulgence of all of our wants could leave us weak and vulnerable, not to mention selfish and arrogant. That doesn’t mean that our longings and heart desires are wrong, it may just mean that we’re not ready for them yet or God wants to grant them in a different way than we imagined. Can we trust Him with our journey? Can we trust Him with the timing? Can we trust Him with our heart? Is it possible that God knows what we don’t know? Is it possible that He knows what’s coming and how to best prepare us for it? Can the answer “no” or “not yet” go with “I love you?” And is it possible to say in return, “This is about Your glory, God. How do you want me to join You in it?”
In the verses surrounding Psalm 50:21, God tells us to “Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High; and call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will rescue you, and you will honor Me.” In verse 23 He tells us, “He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me; and to him who orders his way aright I shall show the salvation of God.” I pray that God would create a spirit of thanksgiving in us. May we never again make the mistake of thinking that God is just like us. Remember, sweet friends, there is a holy, loving, all-knowing, all-powerful, good, and faithful God. It’s just not us.
P.S. When I realized I still had four more hand-written pages to type, I knew we were in trouble. You’re getting a twofer on this blog. The rest will follow shortly. Calm down, there will be no extra charge. Where is the sneaky face emoji when I need it? Or the heart? Love you much.
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