Tag: Power

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Redounding to His Glory

My dear Sister,

It came to my attention that your heart is aching…aching because of a longing, a yearning which is not yielding the desired results. You’ve prayed so much. You have begged the Lord–but you only hear silence.

I was not told what it is you are longing for, but oh, how I have a sense of what you are experiencing. No, I cannot say I know just what you are feeling. It isn’t comforting when someone says those words, “I know exactly what you’re going through”, because no mortal can know exactly how another experiences a trial. I can have a glimmer of it, but not fully. You are different from me and I from you, but I can tell you of that One who knows you perfectly, the One who was tempted in all points like you. He tells you that He feels your infirmity with full knowledge and will help you in your time of great need. (Hebrews 4:15-16 )

I will try to encourage you, try to comfort you, but my words will always fall short, certainly not for want of trying. This One I am telling you about will never fall short or fail you. Our great Savior, through the Psalmist, tells us that unless He is our help, our souls would settle in silence. He says that when our feet slip, He will hold us up. And the author of Psalm 94:17-19 also says that when we are filled with anxieties, as you are at this time, God’s comforts will delight our souls.

Dear, dear sister…In your very real yearning and anxiety and even emptiness, immerse yourself in the Psalms. There you will find our God in all His goodness and tenderness and comfort and power and majesty. You will have taken a deep course in Theology. When you make it a habit of viewing Him in His beauty through His Word, your trouble in the present will blur, even dim. If you practice lifting your heart in responsive praise because of Who He is in spite of your agony, you will begin to view your situation with new eyes, eyes that dwell more on the beauty of the Savior than on the grief and unrequited desire.

What I have said to you was expressed beautifully by that Puritan of old, Thomas Chalmers, when he talked about “the expulsive power of a new affection”. When we love God more than our own desires, even desires for good things, our affection for Christ will expel our affinity for the things of this world.

My suffering sister, commit to loving Him above all else. Stay your mind on Him. Sing. Worship. He will give you His peace, (Isaiah 26:3)… His joy…Such freedom from care…Such grace…Such resolution for the sadness of the soul…Such hope in your pain. As the old chorus says, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.”

If you will begin to think and act in these ways, you may find your situation remaining the same, but your perspective, your heart’s desire, your vision will change and you will become more like our Savior, in whose image you are made. And that is just what He wants–and what He wants is always good. Always.

Oh, yes. One more thing. Think of this when the tendency is to dwell on yourself because of the pain–your suffering actually redounds to His great glory. It is putting Him on display. His mighty strength is made perfect in your utter weakness. How lovely is that!

I love you and will continue to pray for you in your journey.

Love in God’s Truth and His mercy,

Your Sister in Christ,
Cherry

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Clinging to the Giver

Dear sister,

I see that you struggle with the topic of prosperity, as do I. It is a delicate issue for many, as likely you connect your worth to your prosperity, as many do. Thank you for giving me the chance to talk with you on this subject, as we learn and grow together. Nothing brings me more joy than growing and building relationships with dear sisters like you.

I remember a conversation we had several months ago, in which you told me of your desire to sell all you have and move to Africa. I have thought in depth about your comments, which remind me of similar sentiments I had around my departure from college. I thought it would honor God to sell my car and all my belongings and move to Africa as well. To do what? I wasn’t sure. But it seemed like a reasonable desire. Certainly, if God has called you to this, I would encourage you to embrace the call fully. But not all, not many, are called to this type of service. Many are called to live and work, have children, or not, but to live in this world, and rub shoulders with those whose every-day struggles keep them from God. They need to hear God’s call into the kingdom, and for many, this is closely tied with their views on money, possessions, and power. That threesome, it is deadly, when channeled towards ungodly gain.

You have the opportunity to share God’s truths on this topic, as you continue to wrestle through the implications yourself. Something my beloved husband has taught me on this topic is that money in and of itself is not evil. Similarly, it is not wrong to work hard and receive material reward for that service. I have the privilege of seeing him live out this hard-work ethic every day. God tells us in Proverbs 14:23 that, “There is profit in all hard work, but endless talk leads only to poverty.” Of course our Father, God, would not inspire these words if He did not intend them for our good. From 1 Timothy 6:17, we read, “Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be arrogant or to set their hope on the uncertainty of wealth, but on God, who richly provides us with all things to enjoy.” This is the essence of what I want to encourage you with: money and possessions are not evil; it is when our hearts love them more than our Savior that they become evil. God our Father gives good gifts, He delights to do so! (James 1:17)

Enjoy the gifts your Father has showered on you, and remember as I struggle to remind myself, that there is even more joy in sharing these gifts, than there is in hoarding them to ourselves. Acts 20:35: “In every way I’ve shown you that by laboring like this, it is necessary to help the weak and to keep in mind the words of the Lord Jesus, for He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

You are a beautiful woman, and I’m so thankful for my relationship with you. Take these words, test them with your own knowledge of Scripture, and keep only what is true. They are my offering of all that God has taught me and I hope they will bless not only you, but also all those with which you live and work, love and play, cry and eat. Truly, our Father loves us and delights to show us mercy. Let us cling to the Giver, more than the gifts.

Blessings to you dear sister,

Ruth

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It’s Just Not Fair

My Dearest Sister,

​”Life isn’t fair.”

​I can’t tell you how many times I heard that phrase said to me when I was growing up. From parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, teachers, you name it. Any time I complained because another kid seemed to have it better than me, any time I got angry because I had to do some boring chore that no one else possibly had to do, and any time I uttered the words “It’s not fair!”, that phrase seemed to be the appropriate response. And as hard of a pill as that is for an eight-year-old to swallow, it’s true. Life really is not fair sometimes. The worst part is, it can be more unfair to some than it is to others. Sure, we will all have suffering and pain, Jesus promised us that (John 16:33). But we each suffer in different ways at different times in our lives. Sometimes we suffer in ways we deserve; We call those consequences. Other times though, we suffer in ways that are so wrongful and unjust that we can’t help but ask the question “Lord… Why?”

​The topic of suffering has weighed heavy on my heart this past week. You see, last week an Army wife friend of mine lost her dear husband, a hero and defender of our nation’s freedom. His helicopter was shot down on his first deployment to Afghanistan, just a few short months after graduating flight school. Today, she will stand alongside their family and friends and bury her beloved; today, she will have to say goodbye. And then somehow she will have to continue on in this life. She is now the widow of a fallen soldier and a single mother of two young boys. Her sons will have to grow up without ever really knowing their earthly father; never waving goodbye to him on their first day of school, never playing catch with him in the yard, never being taught by him how to shave; the youngest, who is only eight months old, will never even get to smile up at him with pride as he takes his first steps or says his first words. Though his memory will live on in those who loved him, he has gone to be with Jesus, even if it does seem too soon. It is at times like these that I can only ask, “Lord, why?” Why would God allow so much suffering to come upon this sweet and faithful little family? It just isn’t fair.

​I have heard many people say that if God really loved us, He wouldn’t allow suffering and pain to come upon innocent and undeserving people. Maybe you have encountered someone in your life that thinks this way. This concept of wrongful suffering is such a stumbling block to them that they want nothing to do with God whatsoever, believing Him to be this big bully in the sky who just stands by and lets bad things happen to us, who just watches us stumble and fall. Oh, sister, how misled they are! The truth about suffering is that it is just yet another symptom of the disease of sin in this fallen world. Ever since Adam and Eve were banished from the garden, sorrow and hardships have been a regular part of life. All over the world people suffer wrongfully, on a daily basis: Women are beaten. Girls are sold as sex slaves. Children starve. Young husbands and fathers die. This suffering is not always deserved or fair and some will experience more than others, but it is there because of man’s sin, not for a lack of God’s love.

​Quite the opposite in fact, for His love provides a treatment for suffering. The Bible says that the Lord tends to the brokenhearted and sorrowful (Psalm 34:18), healing deep wounds that no one else can even touch. Our Mighty Father gives power to the weak, to those who cannot stand in their own strength (Isaiah 40:29). He comforts us in our tribulation so that we may in turn comfort others (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). We may not always understand why some endure such wrongful suffering in their life, but the love of Christ that has been freely given to us surpasses all of our understanding (Ephesians 3:19). He is the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, and oh, how He loves us and wants to make us whole! All we have to do is reach out our arms and let Him lift us up out of our sorrow.

​Just as God’s comfort is the treatment for suffering here on earth, Christ’s return is the complete cure. In Revelation 21:4, God promises of a time where suffering will be a thing of the past: “’And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there will be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.’ Then He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’” Yes dear friend, we will suffer in this world, that much is true; but praise the Lord it is only temporary! There is coming a day when this bitterness will pass away and all things will be new in Christ. My friend will see her husband again, not in this wretched world where suffering abounds, but in a place where we will worship the Risen King in all His glory. No more heartache. No more pain. God himself will wipe away our tears as He welcomes us into His new kingdom. Take heart my sister, for this is our promise and our hope in Him, both now and forevermore!

​Your hopeful sister in Christ,
Lauren
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