Sermon Illustrations on God S Will — page 2

To Change It Would Make It Worse

Mark 9:24

My mother would have been 59 back on the first of March, and would have made 59 look like 45. She was a godly, sweet woman, yet she never saw 57 due to her death from colon cancer.

We watched as a family as God gathered her home to Himself. There were countless tears shed as the cancer progressed slowly for six years. There were numerous questions -- questions that never got answered -- questions that, in many ways, should not and cannot be answered until the coming day of the Lord Christ. Such answers would inevitably extinguish faith, and so we continue to live by faith (Habakkuk 2:4).

In the past two-plus years since her death, there has been much soul-searching that has included occasions of near breakage of personal faith. I am a professor of theology, but theology professors are not impenetrable fortresses of unshakable faith, and no amount of academic training can prepare someone for the pain that is felt when a treasured family member wilts under the weight of such a disease. What textbook can prepare a son to watch his mother essentially starve to death, withering to a mere 82 pounds?

Those who have wrestled through the suffering of a loved one know full well that platitudes are of little comfort in the face of death. The Lord summons His people to study His character and nature as revealed to us in His living word in such circumstances. What is longed for is not the word of man, but the Words of the Lord God. Like Job, we long for Him to speak (Job 38-42).

Yet at the same time it can be difficult for me to flee to Him, given that this was, after all, His plan for her days before there was one of them (Psalm 139). I may delight in His sovereignty, but do I believe in His goodness? Is He truly good? How can goodness delight in suffering? God is good, and all things work together for good to those who love and are called by Him (Romans 8:28). But when what we know doesn’t square with what we see and experience, there is a battle in the dark night of the soul. It brings to mind the honest cry of Mark 9:24, “I believe, help my unbelief.”

In a seminary chapel service a few months ago, Southern Seminary President R. Albert Mohler Jr. made a statement that was tremendously helpful to me as I have been thinking and praying through the issues of God’s goodness vis-à-vis His wisdom. He asserted, “To change it would make it worse.” To change it would make it worse. In other words, to elicit a change or to remove the painful experience, were we able to, would injure God’s purposes in and for suffering. This is “Plan A,” and to alter it in any way would be to make it less “good” and therefore, in the end, less glorious. This is such a sensible statement, and an almost blinding flash of the obvious for those who take delight in the sovereignty of the Lord God.

Such an acknowledgment of God’s sovereignty, in my mind, is essential for an understanding of His goodness. But it is much easier, I would suggest, to acknowledge the Lord’s sovereignty than His goodness and wisdom when faced with suffering. Saying “God is in control” is indeed a great comfort and truth worthy of thoughtful reflection. Yet it is much more difficult to say, “It is good and wise for my mother to die of cancer.” What I mean by this is that for one to assert the Lord’s goodness and wisdom in the midst of such a circumstance is to say, “God is in control, and since His actions are good and wise, her death is good and wise in His sight.” In the end, my own mother’s cancer will be seen to have been a good and wise thing. As God’s child, I must believe that. The Scriptures teach me this. Yet grief and suffering can sometimes make it seem that God is not good, though He is fully good. I cannot merely acknowledge His sovereignty at the cost of His goodness or wisdom; I must also acknowledge His goodness and wisdom in this circumstance, since He is all of these things.

Yet, such is extremely difficult. While I do believe in God’s wisdom, there is gnawing disbelief, particularly on special days such as her birthday. “How can this work for good?” I ask. I do not yet know. Still, in faith I do assert that to change it would indeed make it worse. We exist somewhere between the making and the embracing of that assertion. Theologian John Frame pointedly crystallizes a central point that I personally must reckon with. He writes, “[God] declares His goodness, and He demonstrates it richly. [But] we don’t merely know the bare fact that God is good; we know Him.” Thus, I must seek Him, and at the same time am being upheld and guarded by the very One whose goodness and wisdom I may doubt, yet at the same time, believe.

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Barry Joslin is assistant professor of Christian theology at Boyce College of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.

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[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #5271]

Unfolding the Rosebud

A young, new pastor was walking with an older, more seasoned pastor in the garden one day and feeling a bit insecure about what God had for him to do, he was inquiring of the older pastor. The older Pastor walked up to a rosebush and handed the young pastor a rosebud and told him to open it without tearing off any petals.

The young pastor looked in disbelief at the older pastor and was trying to figure out what a rosebud could possibly have to do with his wanting to know the WILL OF GOD for his life and for his ministry.

Because of his high respect for the older pastor, he proceeded to TRY to unfold the rose, while keeping every petal intact … It wasn’t long before he realized how impossible it was to do so.

Noticing the younger pastor’s inability to unfold the rosebud while keeping it intact, the older pastor began to recite the following poem:

UNFOLDING THE ROSEBUD — by Charlie Gilchrist

It is only a tiny rosebud,

A flower of GOD’s design;

But I cannot unfold the petals

With these clumsy hands of mine.

The secret of unfolding flowers

Is not known to such as I.

GOD opens this flower so sweetly,

When in my hands they fade and die.

If I cannot unfold a rosebud,

This flower of GOD’s design,

Then how can I think I have wisdom

To unfold this life of mine?

So I’ll trust in Him for His leading

Each moment of every day.

I will look to him for His guidance

Each step of the pilgrim way.

The pathway that lies before me,

Only my Heavenly Father knows.

I’ll trust Him to unfold the moments,

Just as He unfolds the rose.

The Best Way To Pray

Luke 11:2

A grandfather was walking past his young granddaughter’s room one night when he saw her kneeling beside her bed, with head bowed and hands folded, repeating the alphabet.

“What are you doing?” he asked her.

She explained, “I’m saying my prayers, but I couldn’t think of just what I wanted to say. So I’m just saying all the letters of the alphabet, and God can put them together however he thinks best.”

Maybe some of the rest of us should have that kind of faith. As “His Prayer” puts it, “THY will be done.”

No Carbon Copy - Prayer, Praise, and Promises

Psalms 33:6

Read Psalm 33:6-11

Are you depending on the counsel of the Lord? The Word of God, His counsel, runs this whole universe. How did God create it? “And God said, ‘Let there be … “‘ (Gen. 1). He spoke, and it was done, which shows the power of His Word. Did you know that the same Word that created the universe holds the universe together and is guiding the universe and human history for you? When we are in tune with the Word of God, we’re in tune with the whole universe and with what He is doing in this world.

Let no one rob you of the beautiful truth that God has His counsel for you. He has an individual plan for your life, just as He did for Moses, Joshua, David, the apostles and the great men and women of Church history.

Notice that the Lord’s counsel comes from His heart. “The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations” (v. 11). The will of God doesn’t come from a machine. He doesn’t photocopy one plan for everyone’s life and fax it to all believers. No, God’s will comes from His heart, completely tailor-made for your life. And His will lasts forever, unlike human plans.

The will of God is His expression of love for you. Don’t be afraid of it. Build your life on the counsel of the Lord.

Because God’s tailor-made plans for you come from His heart, they are an expression of His love. Stay in tune with the Word of God, and He will guide vou according to His will.

For What Should We Pray

Psalms 2:7

A. For what should we pray? « Leader information »

Psalm 2:7–8 (NAS): “I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, ‘Thou art My Son, Today I have begotten Thee. Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Thine inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Thy possession.’”

1. we know that sometimes our prayer is not answered because we « pray amiss ((James 4:3) »

a. so our prayers are half-hearted since we « often wonder whether or not we are asking according to the will of God »

b. sometimes this is because « God does not answer our prayers right away »

c. but more often it is because we « do not have a clear, unequivocal knowledge of what is the will of God »

2. and this is unfortunate

a. because God’s Word clearly reveals to us « many aspects of what constitutes God’s will »

b. for example in these verses we leave the council chambers of the wicked described in verses 1 to 3, we hear God’s pronouncement against them in verses 4 to 6 and now we hear God declare His decree « — that is, an expression of His declared will which God intends to carry out, namely that Jesus Christ, the Son, is going to reign over His kingdom »

c. and Jesus Himself taught us that we can pray confidently for this in His words — “ « Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” » “ and praying in this fashion, we will find that God will involve us in accomplishing His purposes.

Jesus: A Life Out of Balance

Mark 1:35

Under the commonly held concept of the balanced life, Jesus was often out of balance. He missed meals, worked long hours, and seemed to have many short nights. We find Jesus getting up early to pray when He probably could have used the sleep (Mark 1:35). He even spent forty days praying and fasting, to the point that the angels had to minister to Him.

Yet as we read through the gospels, we don’t get the impression that Jesus was always pressing Himself and His disciples to the outer limits, continually neglecting physical rest and nourishment. It is interesting to note that it was Christ — not the disciples — who was concerned about the hungry five thousand.

How did Jesus decide when it was time to minister and when to rest? His statement in John 4 gives us a clue.

Jesus and His disciples, on the way from Judea to Galilee, were tired and hungry when they stopped in a small Samaritan village. Yet Jesus set aside His needs in order to lead an adulterous Samaritan woman to the “Living Water.” As His disciples joined Him by the town well, they were concerned about His need to eat, but He wasn’t. Christ responded, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work” (John 4:34).

Jesus determined when to eat and when to abstain, when to work and when to rest by seeking His Father’s guidance. Christ’s drive was not to achieve balance, but to do the will of the Father.

How George Muller Discerned God's Will

Acts 8:26

George Muller (1805-1898) was a man of God and a man of prayer. Thousands of Christians throughout the years have been inspired by his example of faith and persistent prayer. He once outlined the general method he used to discern God's will. This is good counsel for Christians today in seeking to know God's will when making decisions.

1. I seek at the beginning to get my heart into such a state that it has no will of its own in a given matter. When you're ready to do the Lord's will, whatever it may be, nine-tenths of the difficulties are overcome.

2. Having done this, I don't leave the result to feeling or simply impression. If I do so, I leave myself liable to great delusion.

3. I seek the Will of the Spirit of God through, or in connection with, the Word of God. The Spirit and the Word must be combined. If I look to the Spirit alone without the Word, I lay myself open to great delusions also. If the Holy Ghost guides us at all, He will do it according to the Scriptures and never contrary to them.

4. Next I take into account providential circumstances. These often plainly indicate God's will in connection with His Word and Spirit.

5. I ask God in prayer to reveal His will to me aright.

6. Thus, through prayer, the study of the Word, and reflection, I come to a deliberate judgment, according to the best of my ability and knowledge. If my mind is thus at peace, and continues so after two or three more petitions, I proceed accordingly. I have found this method always effective in trivial or important issues.

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http://www.prayertower.net/GeoMueller.htm

And Prays That the God of Peace May Be With Them

Romans 15:32

“that I may come to you with joy by the will of God, and may be refreshed together with you. Now the God of peace [be] with you all. Amen.” (Romans 15:32-33 NKJV)

And Prays That The God Of Peace May Be With Them

• That…joy — caused by the good spirit in which the saints in Jerusalem accept the help of Gentile converts

• by…God, if God will that I should come

• refreshed — you, by my words; I, by your prayers and help

• God…peace — 2 Cor 13:11, Phil 4:7, 9, 1 Cor 14:33, 5:18 — the author and giver of peace

• be…all — giving you the blessings of peace

Essentials to a successful enterprise — Anon.

I. A good motive.

II. Earnest prayer.

III. The blessing of God.

The God of peace — Anon.

I. His nature is peace.

II. His purpose is peace.

III. His presence secures peace, in every heart, among Christian brethren, from foes without, under all circumstances

Peace with all — Dr Lyth

I. Whence it flows — from the God of peace.

II. How it is secured — by His presence.

III. What is the result — peace within, without, with all.

The joy of doing good — The joy resulting from the diffusion of blessings to all around us is the purest and sublimest that can ever enter the human mind, and can be conceived only by those who have experienced it. Next to the consolations of Divine grace, it is the most sovereign balm to the miseries of life, both in him who is the object of it, and in him who exercises it; and it will not only soothe and tranquillise a troubled spirit, but inspire a constant flow of good humour, content, and gaiety of heart. — Bp Porteus

Cause for joy — Think you it will be a small honour to stand before the throne of God and the Lamb, and be clothed in white, and be called to the marriage-supper of the Lamb, and to be led to the “fountain of living waters,” and to come to the well-head, even God Himself, and get your fill of the clear, cold, sweet, refreshing waters of life — the King’s own well — and to pat up your own hand to the tree of life, and take down and eat the sweetest apple in all God’s heavenly paradise — Jesus Christ, your life and your Lord? Up, your heart! Shout for joy! Your King is coming to fetch you to His Father’s house. — Rutherford

“On others what more easily, or more fruitfully, bestowed than our prayers. If we give counsel, they are the simpler only that need it; if alms, the poorer only are relieved; but by prayer we do good to all.” — Hooker

“That which is good to be done, cannot be done too soon; and if it is neglected to be done early, it will frequently happen that it will not be done at all.” — Bishop Mant

The Infallible Umpire

Colossians 3:15

They take more abuse than anyone in professional baseball. More than the managers who make some dumb decisions. More than players who mess up. No, it's those umpires that many fans love to hate. Oh sure, they make some calls the fans don't like or agree with, but I'd hate to think of a ball game without some objective official deciding whether the pitch is a ball or a strike, or whether a hit is foul or fair. I mean, it would be chaos without the umpire. Perhaps the place he's needed the most - and sometimes appreciated the least - is those close judgment calls when the runner and the ball arrive at the base at the same time. Everyone holds their breath as the umpire signals his verdict - “Safe!” or “Out!”

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “The Infallible Umpire.”

The umpire decides what's safe or out in baseball - a decision which should not be left to the players themselves. Of course, baseball is just a game. It's in the decisions we make in our everyday lives that we could use a good umpire - who could make a call as to whether what we're considering is “safe” for us or “out.” From God's perspective, that is - the only perspective that is never wrong and always best.

If you've been around Christian things very long, you know about the importance of trying to find out what the “will of God” is in the decisions that define our life. Well, easier said than done. Not because God is trying to hide His plan for us, but because we have a hard time discerning what's His will and what's my will. We know His plans are so much better than ours. But we're pretty caught up in our own plans, and it's often confusing to figure out what's God's will for us.

But God has provided an umpire that will make the call for us. He writes to us about it in Colossians 3:15-16, our word for today from the Word of God. “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts ... and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” Now, that word “rule” carries an interesting connotation in the original Greek language of the New Testament. It suggests someone officiating at an athletic contest. “Let the peace of Christ 'be the umpire' in your hearts.” Or, let Christ's peace decide whether something is “safe” or “out” for you.

When you're struggling with a decision, one helpful guideline in getting it right is this: trust what you have peace about in the times when you're in God's presence. In other words, believe what you feel most consistently when you're praying fervently about that decision. That peace tends to get compromised as we get up from our knees and start listening to all those other voices and to our roller coaster feelings. But the peace of Christ is clearest when we're closest to Him. It doesn't mean the absence of doubts or questions, but a sense of rightness about a certain course, especially when we're listening to Him alone.

That “peace of Christ” is, of course, tied directly to having the “word of Christ” permeating your life. The shaft of light shining on the right road comes as God illuminates a verse from His Word and makes it an arrow pointing His direction. Those who don't spend regular time in the Word of God are unlikely to recognize the will of God. As are those who come seeking God's direction, full of their own will. Many have missed God's best because they tried to manipulate God or His Word so that their will would be God's will. It doesn't work that way.

You'll never know what God wants if you come to Him with a contract containing what you want Him to sign for. You have to come to Him with a blank piece of paper, signed by you, accepting sight unseen what He writes there. The most powerful prayer in the Bible may be Jesus' eight words in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Yet not My will, but Yours be done” (Luke 22:42).

God promised that He would “...instruct you and teach you in the way you should go” (Psalm 32:8). And if you believe Him for the answers He promised, you will experience the peace of Christ over the road He wants you to take - God's infallible umpire to let you know if it's “safe” for you or “out.”

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Knee Deep In Garbage, He Had A Life-changing Exchange With God

Romans 12:1

He is now the president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. But nearly 20 years ago, Danny Akin found himself working in a trash dumpster -- literally.

Having resigned from a church position nearly a year before, he had received no response from the many resumes he had sent out to find another job. He had not even been asked to “say a silent prayer at a dog's funeral,” Akin said in chapel at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Akin took a job for $5.50 an hour to support his wife and three children. Then, on one hot summer's day in Texas, his boss asked him to move garbage from one large dumpster to another. As the day wore on and the sun bore down, Akin said he “got ticked at God.”

“Lord, I know You are the Sovereign of the universe. But I don't think You have a clue about what You're doing today,” Akin recounted. “Don't You know who I am? I have a bachelor's degree from Criswell College. ... I've been to Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and I have a Master of Divinity. I have mastered the divine! I'm working on a Ph.D. in humanities. And you have me up here in the blazing sun moving garbage from one dumpster into another. This doesn't seem the best use of my gifts and talents.”

Akin said he then heard a quiet question from God in his heart: “What if it is My will for you to be in this dumpster?”

He did not answer that question right away, because he was in no mood to answer. But as he pondered the question in his heart, he was able eventually to respond, “Although I don't understand it, if this is Your will for my life, I'd rather be here than anywhere else.”

Akin said God used his surrender to the lordship of Christ to change his life. Ten years after that day, he was standing before 10,000 people in the Georgia Dome to address the Southern Baptist Convention.

Akin said his experience partly illustrates what the Apostle Paul described as living under the lordship of Christ in Romans 12:1-2. He said that Paul wrote that the will of God would always be “good, acceptable and perfect.” Paul did not write that Christians would always understand the will of God, Akin said.

Akin underscored Paul's teaching in Romans that God calls Christians to “consecration and complete commitment” to Himself because of all He has done for believers in Christ.

Cassie Bernal, a teenager killed in the shootings at Columbine High School, was an example of someone with this kind of complete commitment, Akin said. Shortly before she was killed, she wrote, “Now I've given up on everything else. I have found it to be the only way to really know Christ, to know the mighty power that brought him back to life again, and to find out what it really means to suffer and die with him. I will die for my God. I will die for my faith. It is the least I can do for the Christ who died for me.”

Akin emphasized Paul's concern that Christians not be “conformed” to this world. He said the Greek word for “conform” is to be molded or shaped by outside forces. Akin decried what he termed “sick, weak and anemic churches,” churches the world doesn't oppose because they are just like the world.

Instead, Akin said, Christians are to be “transformed,” the Greek word for which is “metamorphosis,” to be changed “from the inside out.”

Paul taught that the method of this transformation, Akin said, was the “'renewal of your minds.’ Your greatest battle as a child of God will not be fought out there in the world. Your greatest battle as a child of God will be fought between your ears: in your mind. You win the battle for the mind, you win the battle for the Christian life. But you lose the battle for the mind, and you'll lose everything.”

Akin said this renewal comes by being “saturated” and “immersed” in the Word of God, and so saturated that Christians “begin to think God's thoughts” and “are not able to think in any other category” than those provided by the Word of God.

This renewal of the mind in Christ leads to “surrender to the lordship of Christ” and to the contentment, satisfaction and peace of being in the will of God, Akin said.

“Even if we find ourselves in the dumpster, knee deep in garbage, there's no place better on earth than being in the will of God and surrendered to the lordship of Jesus Christ,” Akin said.

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How Can You Know For Sure?

Most of us have told the joke about the thermos. We may tell this joke about our biggest football rival, about people with certain colors of hair, or about rednecks. In the joke someone is introduced to a thermos. They are told: “It keeps hot things hot and cold things cold.” And the dumb response is: “How does it know?”

Constantly I hear people speak of how they know that God wants this or that for them. A young man moves to a city and attends a church for the first time, a denomination with which he has had no association in the past. His immediate reaction is: “I knew this was where God wanted me to be.” A lady switches from one religious group to another. She feels some uneasiness with her change on the part of a friend. She responds: “I think I am doing what God wants me to do.” A man leaves his wife and runs off with a girlfriend to whom he later is married. When questioned about his decision, he says: “I know this is what God wants for my life so that I can be happy.”

My question for all of these people is: “How can you know for sure?” How can you know if you are where God wants you to be? How can you know that you are doing what God wants you to do in order to be happy? Mankind has a long habit of transforming personal opinion into God's will. We make God over in our image. God challenges our assumptions that he thinks like we do: “You thought that I was one just like yourself” (Ps. 51:21). We assume that what we want, what makes us feel good, must be what God wants. And when our conscience disturbs us, we try to beat it back by saying: “This is what God wants for me.”

The only way we can really know what God wants for us, beyond the few moral principles we can learn from reason and nature, is to study our Bible. If we can not find it in THE BOOK, then we do not have any reason to say: “I think God wants...”

Providence Cuts Both Ways

From a popular chain-email:

As you might know, the head of a company survived 9/11 because his son started kindergarten.

Another fellow was alive because it was his turn to bring donuts.

One woman was late because her alarm clock didn't go off in time.

One was late because of being stuck on the NJ Turnpike because of an auto accident.

One of them missed his bus.

One spilled food on her clothes and had to take time to change.

One's car wouldn't start.

One went back to answer the telephone.

One had a child that dawdled and didn't get ready as soon as he should have.

One couldn't get a taxi.

The one that struck me was the man who put on a new pair of shoes that morning, took the various means to get to work but before he got there, he developed a blister on his foot. He stopped at a drugstore to buy a Band-Aid. That is why he is alive today.

Now when I am

stuck in traffic,

miss an elevator,

turn back to answer a ringing telephone...

all the little things that annoy me.

I think to myself,

this is exactly where God wants me to be at this very moment.

Next time your morning seems to be going wrong, the children are slow getting dressed, you can't seem to find the car keys, you hit every traffic light, don't get mad or frustrated; God is at work watching over you.

May God continue to bless you with all those annoying little things and may you remember their possible purpose.

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Holwick: this is popular theology but not very good theology. Yes, there were people who survived because of a nuisance in their routine. But there were probably others who had nuisances that caused them to be in those buildings at the wrong time. On 9/13 I went to lower Manhattan and pinned up a picture of a girl from Hawaii who was only in New York one day for a business meeting - in the World Trade Center. She has not been seen since. Was God not watching over her? Was she in a place God did not want her to be? What about those who could have gotten out of the Towers but stayed behind so they could help others, only to perish? In life-or-death situations, God's will and his place for you can be in either situation. Just ask the martyrs.

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I Asked the Lord

Wendy Welch wrote this poem just before his death:

I asked the Lord to heal me and to make me whole,

But he lamed me to teach me humility.

I asked him to make me rich,

But he impoverished me to teach me to trust him.

I asked him to let me run my life and do his wishes tomorrow,

But he admonished me that there may never be a tomorrow.

I asked him to let me enjoy the sin of pride in material things,

But he took them away to make me dependent upon him alone.

He gave me nothing that I asked for, and everything that I wanted.

I have no choice but to trust him with everything, from now to eternity.

This expresses what God is doing in our lives. He is working out the situation not to supply our wants but our need of spiritual growth. Those spiritual needs find expression in the deep unuttered longings of our hearts. They express those restless dissatisfactions that show we cannot be satisfied with what we are presently going through, but cry out for something more, something greater, something yet to satisfy the thirst of our soul for God.

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Is It All For the Good?

Romans 8:28

Sermon in Romans series, #10 Romans 8:28-30

IS IT ALL FOR THE GOOD?

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I. A church called Wedgwood.

A. Where was God that Wednesday night?

B. God's purpose for our lives is a deep mystery.

C. Romans 8:28 is one of the most popular verses in the Bible.

II. What Romans 8:28 does NOT say:

A. All things work together for the good of all people.

B. All things that happen are good.

III. Five unshakeable truths Romans 8:28 does say:

A. God works in our lives.

B. God works for our good.

C. God works for our good in all things.

D. God works for good of those who love him.

E. God works for good of those who are called to his purpose.

IV. God's purpose is a process.

V. Since God sees the big picture, don't sweat the details.

A. God can turn any bad into good, if you love and trust him.

B. What can God do for you?

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Dark Night of The Soul: The Church's Available Resources

Job 1:9

I'm a product of the very best in evangelicalism: converted thirty-two years ago after hearing the Gospel and then taught by great evangelical theologians. I know the strength of evangelicalism in bringing people to an intimate relationship with Jesus -- something often missing in more liturgical traditions.

But what do we do when God seems distant? What happens in the dark night of the soul?

Well, as many of you have, I found out this year. Soon after finishing my book THE GOOD LIFE, my son Wendell was diagnosed with bone cancer. The operation to remove the tumor took ten hours -- the longest day of my life. Wendell survived, but he's still on chemo.

I had barely caught my breath when my precious daughter Emily was diagnosed with melanoma. I was soon back in the hospital, again praying fervently. Two of my three kids with cancer: Where was my good life?

Awake at night, I asked God why He was allowing this. Alone, shaken, fearful, I longed for the closeness I had experienced even in the darkest days of prison.

An answer came in September. I stood alone on the deck of a friend's home in North Carolina, looking over the spectacular Smokey Mountains rising out of the mist. And I was moved, as I so often am, by the glory of God's creation. It's impossible not to know God as Creator, I realized, for there is no other rational explanation for reality. God cannot not be.

It struck me that I need not make sense of the agonies I was given to bear, or hear a clear answer. God is not the creature of my emotions or senses. God is God, the One who created me and in whose care lies my children's destinies and my own. I could cling only to the certainty that He is and He has spoken.

I'm not sure the evangelical world prepares us for dark nights like this; I suspect many of us experience them, but are afraid to admit them because people would think we are not spiritually strong enough. At such times, however, we can turn for strength to a rich spiritual tradition probably unfamiliar to most of us -- writings by the saints who endured agonies both physical and spiritual in the centuries past.

St. John of the Cross, a sixteenth-century Spanish monk, is one. He was persecuted and thrown into prison, and wrote the classic book THE DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL. He wrote, “O you souls who wish to go on with so much safety and consolation, if you knew how pleasing to God is suffering, and how much it helps in acquiring other good things, you would never seek consolation in anything; but you would rather look upon it as a great happiness to bear the Cross of the Lord.”

His point is that faith becomes strongest when we are without consolation and walk into the darkness with complete abandon.

Faith is not really faith, is it, if we always hear the still voice of God cheering us on? The gift of faith is most real when we trust even when every outward reality tells us there is no reason to do so.

In times of trouble, evangelicals need more than the cheerful tunes and easy answers. And we can find it by digging deeply into the Church's treasures to find the reality of what it is like to worship God -- not because of our circumstances, but in spite of them.

This year, I've realized that God is not just the friend who takes my hand -- which He does so often -- but the great, majestic Creator who reigns forever.

________

Does God Strike Disobedient Politicians?

Joel 3:2

Comments by Pat Robertson regarding the medical condition of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon were arrogant and insensitive, a Southern Baptist leader said Jan.6, 2006.

“I am both stunned and appalled that Pat Robertson would claim to know the mind of God concerning whether particular tragic events, such as former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination in 1995 or Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s stroke, were the judgments of God,” said Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. “Pat Robertson should know better,” Land added.

In remarks aired on his Jan. 5, 2006, television program, “The 700 Club,” Robertson seemed to suggest that Sharon’s stoke was the result of the prime minister’s decision to have Israel withdraw from the Gaza Strip last year. In the same program, Robertson referred to the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin who, like Sharon, had agreed that giving land to the Palestinians should be a part of the peace process.

“It was a terrible thing that happened, but nevertheless he was dead,” Robertson said of Rabin.

“God considers this land to be His. You read the Bible and He says, ‘This is my land,’ and for any prime minister of Israel who decides he is going to carve it up and give it away, God says, ‘No, this is mine,’” Robertson is quoted as saying in press reports.

Sharon suffered a massive stroke Jan. 4 and remains in serious condition in a Jerusalem hospital. The Israeli leader suffered a mild stoke Dec. 18 and, prior to the second stroke, was to undergo surgery to repair a hole in his heart.

“A far greater expert on God’s will than Pat Robertson will ever be, the Apostle Paul, declared, ‘O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?,’” Land said, quoting Romans 11:33-34.

Land said whether or not a particular event is God’s judgment is something that Paul said is “past finding out” because no one has “known the mind of the Lord.”

“Even if one agreed with Pat Robertson’s position that the Israelis do not have the right to grant part of the Holy Land to the Palestinians, it would be well beyond Rev. Robertson’s competence to discern that these tragic events were in any way, shape or form the result of God’s judgment on any individuals,” continued Land.

“I am almost as shocked by Pat Robertson’s arrogance as I am by his insensitivity,” Land added, noting he had conducted a small informal poll among students and faculty on the issue at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, while on campus to teach a class.

“I did not find one person who agreed with Pat Robertson and who was not both embarrassed and incensed by his comments,” Land said.

During the telecast, Robertson said, “Sharon was personally a very likeable person and I am sad to see him in this condition,” noting he had prayed with the prime minister in the past. Robertson also said in Scripture the prophet Joel “makes it very clear that God has enmity against those who ‘divide my land.’”

“But here he’s at the point of death. [Sharon] was dividing God’s land and I would say woe unto any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar course to appease the EU [European Union], the United Nations or the United States of America. God says, ‘This land belongs to Me. You’d better leave it alone,’” Robertson said.

Land was not alone in criticizing Robertson.

A White House spokesman said, “Those comments are wholly inappropriate and offensive and really don't have a place in this or any other debate.”

According to the Associated Press, the Anti-Defamation League and others took aim at Robertson for his comments.

A press release issued by Robertson’s office noted Robertson had met with Sharon at “significant times and considers him a friend.” It said Robertson was a “lifelong supporter of Israel and has continually expressed grave concern over dividing the land of Israel.”

According to a spokesperson for Robertson, the evangelist was “simply reminding his viewers what the Bible has to say about efforts made to divide the land of Israel.”

*

Make Light Or Make Strong?

Romans 12:2

That ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. — Romans 12:2.

We may well afford to leave it with Him to choose for us whether He will lighten the burden to suit the back, or strengthen the back to bear the burden; whether He will bring us out of the fire to Him, or come and walk in the fire with us.

We leave it to Himself,

To choose and to command.

We soon shall see with wonder filled

How wise, how strong His hand.

Goodness of God's Will

Matthew 6:32

Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things … Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. — Matthew 6:32, 34.

The anxiety that dreads an evil thing on the morrow is nothing but unbelief. When tomorrow comes, the evil may not be there: if it comes, God will be there, too. He may allow us to taste what it is to indulge our own wills: but if our souls are subject to Him, how often the dreaded evil never appears. When the heart bows to the will of God about some sorrow that we dread, how often a sorrow is taken away, and the Lord meets us with unexpected kindness and goodness. He is able to make even the sorrow to be all blessing. Whatever be His will, it is good.

He always wins who sides with God, to him no chance is lost;

God’s will is sweetest to him, When it triumphs at his cost.

Ill that God blesses is our good, and unblest good is ill;

And all is right that seems most wrong, if it be His sweet will.

Return From Miletus To Jerusalem

Acts 20:36

Acts 20:36–21:16 — Return from Miletus to Jerusalem (outline by F. F. Bruce, NICNT) « Leader information shown in this fashion »

{A.} The Birth of the Church (1:1–5:42)

{B.} Persecution and Expansion (6:1–9:31)

{C.} The Acts of Peter & Beginnings of Gentile Christianity (9:32-12:25)

{D.} Church Extension from Antioch & Apostolic Decree at Jerusalem (12:25–15:35)

{E.} Paul Leaves Antioch & Moves to the Aegean World (15:36–19:20)

{F.} Paul Plans to Visit Rome and Gets there by an Unforseen Route (19:21–28:31)

{1} He Prepares to Leave Ephesus for Macedonia and Achaia (19:21–20:6)

{2} The Journey to Jerusalem

A. Paul at Troas (20:7–12)

B. From Troas to Miletus (20:13–16)

C. Paul Sends for the Elders of the Ephesian Church 20:17)

D. Paul Bids Farewell to the Ephesian Church (20:18-35)

1. Retrospect on the Ephesian Ministry (20:18-21)

2. Paul’s Prospects (20:22-24)

3. His Charge to the Elders (20:25-31)

4. Final Admonition (20:32-35)

E. An Affectionate Parting (20:36–38; NKJV): 36 And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. 37 Then they all wept freely, and fell on Paul’s neck and kissed him, 38 sorrowing most of all for the words which he spoke, that they would see his face no more. And they accompanied him to the ship.

1. This immediately follows Paul’s parting message to the elders from the church of Ephesus; given what he has just said, what would be priorities in his prayer? « – that they be protected from those false teachers and that they remain faithful »

2. Paul is sometimes described as uncompromising to the point of harshness; is that consistent with what is in these verses? « – discuss; their sorrow at his going, their not seeing him again, and their dragging out the time of parting. This opinion comes from those who think that Christian truth is necessarily at strife with Christian love and usually draws on the division between Paul and Barnabas. »

3. What are the benefits and dangers of being drawn into close affection toward a Christian leader? « – discuss; cf 1 Timothy 5:17; looking to a man rather than to the Lord; share his burdens »

F. Miletus to Tyre (21:1–6; NKJV): 1 Now it came to pass, that when we had departed from them and set sail, running a straight course we came to Cos, the following day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara. 2 And finding a ship sailing over to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail. 3 When we had sighted Cyprus, we passed it on the left, sailed to Syria, and landed at Tyre; for there the ship was to unload her cargo. 4 And finding disciples, we stayed there seven days. They told Paul through the Spirit not to go up to Jerusalem. 5 When we had come to the end of those days, we departed and went on our way; and they all accompanied us, with wives and children, till we were out of the city. And we knelt down on the shore and prayed. 6 When we had taken our leave of one another, we boarded the ship, and they returned home.

1. The team’s route led them through by way of some towns, of which there is no record of evangelistic activities; the ship did not stop at Cyprus (where Barnabas and Mark may still have been ministering) but arrived at Tyre to unload its cargo. Phoenicia was the coastal area of Syria, Tyre its main port.

2. What do we gather the team did when they came to a town? What would this necessarily involve? « – they sought a believing community with whom they could have fellowship; it would mean asking around about ‘followers of the Way’ and this would incidentally involve witnessing to Jesus Christ. »

3. What information do we have concerning the state of these disciples at Tyre? « – (1) they were Spirit led or had prophets in their midst; (2) they quickly established a close relationship with Paul; (3) they were not ashamed to have public prayer »

4. What does these verses teach about the church? « – the bond in Christ that exists among believers as children of God, should show itself regardless of how long we know another Christian »

G. Tyre to Caesarea (21:7–9; NKJV): 7 And when we had finished our voyage from Tyre, we came to Ptolemais, greeted the brethren, and stayed with them one day. 8 On the next day we who were Paul’s companions departed and came to Caesarea, and entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. 9 Now this man had four virgin daughters who prophesied.

1. Ptolemais (Acco, Accho, Acre) was a day’s sailing south, Caesarea a further day; it is expedient in coastal waters to harbour over each night for fresh water and food. We are not told if they sailed or walked from Ptolemais to Caesarea.

2. This is Paul’s only recorded visit here; what must we conclude? « – there were others involved in evangelizing Gentile cities; the names of the apostles were widely known »

3. Who was this Philip? … who not? « – He was one of those chosen in Acts 6:1-6 to minister to the Greek-speaking widows; he was involved in evangelism and last mentioned in Acts 8:40. It is most unlikely that he was the same as Philip of Bethsaida, one of the Lord’s disciples (John 1:44) or he would be so identified »

4. Philip’s unmarried (the word denotes a natural virginity of a chaste woman, not an unnatural celibacy) daughters had the gift of prophecy; what did this fulfill? … what did it evidence? « – it fulfilled Joel’s (2:28) prophecy recounted in Acts 2:17; it was evidence of that time being the ‘last days,’ either of the Jewish covenant, or of the ‘day of grace’ in which we now live. »

H. Agabus Reappears (21:10–14; NKJV): 10 And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 When he had come to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’” 12 Now when we heard these things, both we and those from that place pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul answered, “What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” 14 So when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, “The will of the Lord be done.”

1. We first met Agabus in Antioch; what did he prophesy there (Acts 11:28)? « – that a famine was coming »

2. In what manner does Agabus exercise his prophetic gift. Of what is this reminiscent? « – he uses a visual representation, with himself being the object lesson; this is like the Old Testament prophets (Isaiah going naked; Hosea marrying Gomer; Ezekiel with his model of Jerusalem; Jeremiah and the clay vessel, etc) »

3. This is the last of the warnings to Paul concerning his going to Jerusalem, yet Paul pursued his purpose in going there.

a. Why was he going there?

1. Acts 19:21 « – a step in his purpose to go to Rome »

2. Acts 20:22 « – because of the obligation by the Spirit »

3. Acts 24:17 « – to deliver collection for saints at Jerusalem »

b. What is Paul’s answer? « – his words tell us he is following the strong leading of God in this matter, even to the point of sacrificing himself for Christ (cf 2 Timothy 4:6) »

c. What similar example to we have to follow (Luke 9:51, 22:42; Mark 8:31-33)? … what is the overriding principle? « – the Lord Jesus Himself; that God’s will be done in all things »

I. Arrival at Jerusalem (21:15-16; NKJV): 15 And after those days we packed and went up to Jerusalem. 16 Also some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us and brought with them a certain Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we were to lodge.

1. Better to read as the NAS and others, “… taking us to Mnason … “ – this long-standing disciple was to be the host

Don't Waste Your Cancer

Job 2:7

Editor's note: John Piper wrote this column in February before he had prostrate surgery. The surgery went well, and doctors reported finding no cancer as spreading to surrounding tissue. That is the “best news possible” in terms of life expectancy, according to a statement on his ministry's website.

MINNEAPOLIS (BP) -- I write this on the eve of prostate surgery. I believe in God’s power to heal -- by miracle and by medicine. I believe it is right and good to pray for both kinds of healing. Cancer is not wasted when it is healed by God. He gets the glory and that is why cancer exists. So not to pray for healing may waste your cancer. But healing is not God’s plan for everyone. And there are many other ways to waste your cancer. I am praying for myself and for you that we will not waste this pain.

• You will waste your cancer if you do not believe it is designed for you by God.

It will not do to say that God only uses our cancer but does not design it. What God permits, He permits for a reason. And that reason is His design. If God foresees molecular developments becoming cancer, He can stop it or not. If He does not, He has a purpose. Since He is infinitely wise, it is right to call this purpose a design. Satan is real and causes many pleasures and pains. But he is not ultimate. So when he strikes Job with boils (Job 2:7), Job attributes it ultimately to God (2:10) and the inspired writer agrees: “They ... comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him” (Job 42:11). If you don’t believe your cancer is designed for you by God, you will waste it.

• You will waste your cancer if you believe it is a curse and not a gift.

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13). “There is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel” (Numbers 23:23). “The Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11).

• You will waste your cancer if you seek comfort from your odds rather than from God.

The design of God in your cancer is not to train you in the rationalistic, human calculation of odds. The world gets comfort from their odds. Not Christians. Some count their chariots (percentages of survival) and some count their horses (side effects of treatment), but we trust in the name of the Lord our God (Psalm 20:7). God’s design is clear from 2 Corinthians 1:9, “We felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” The aim of God in your cancer (among a thousand other good things) is to knock props out from under our hearts so that we rely utterly on Him.

• You will waste your cancer if you refuse to think about death.

We will all die, if Jesus postpones his return. Not to think about what it will be like to leave this life and meet God is folly. Ecclesiastes 7:2 says, “It is better to go to the house of mourning [a funeral] than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.” How can you lay it to heart if you won’t think about it? Psalm 90:12 says, “Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Numbering your days means thinking about how few there are and that they will end. How will you get a heart of wisdom if you refuse to think about this? What a waste, if we do not think about death.

• You will waste your cancer if you think that “beating” cancer means staying alive rather than cherishing Christ.

Satan’s and God’s designs in your cancer are not the same. Satan designs to destroy your love for Christ. God designs to deepen your love for Christ. Cancer does not win if you die. It wins if you fail to cherish Christ. God’s design is to wean you off the breast of the world and feast you on the sufficiency of Christ. It is meant to help you say and feel, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” And to know that therefore, “To live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 3:8; 1:21).

• You will waste your cancer if you spend too much time reading about cancer and not enough time reading about God.

It is not wrong to know about cancer. Ignorance is not a virtue. But the lure to know more and more and the lack of zeal to know God more and more is symptomatic of unbelief. Cancer is meant to waken us to the reality of God. It is meant to put feeling and force behind the command, “Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord” (Hosea 6:3). It is meant to waken us to the truth of Daniel 11:32, “The people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.” It is meant to make unshakable, indestructible oak trees out of us: “His delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers” (Psalm 1:2). What a waste of cancer if we read day and night about cancer and not about God.

• You will waste your cancer if you let it drive you into solitude instead of deepen your relationships with manifest affection.

When Epaphroditus brought the gifts to Paul sent by the Philippian church he became ill and almost died. Paul tells the Philippians, “He has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill” (Philippians 2:26-27). What an amazing response! It does not say they were distressed that he was ill, but that he was distressed because they heard he was ill. That is the kind of heart God is aiming to create with cancer: a deeply affectionate, caring heart for people. Don’t waste your cancer by retreating into yourself.

• You will waste your cancer if you grieve as those who have no hope.

Paul used this phrase in relation to those whose loved ones had died: “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). There is a grief at death. Even for the believer who dies, there is temporary loss -- loss of body, and loss of loved ones here, and loss of earthly ministry. But the grief is different -- it is permeated with hope. “We would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). Don’t waste your cancer grieving as those who don’t have this hope.

• You will waste your cancer if you treat sin as casually as before.

Are your besetting sins as attractive as they were before you had cancer? If so you are wasting your cancer. Cancer is designed to destroy the appetite for sin. Pride, greed, lust, hatred, unforgiveness, impatience, laziness, procrastination -- all these are the adversaries that cancer is meant to attack. Don’t just think of battling against cancer. Also think of battling with cancer. All these things are worse enemies than cancer. Don’t waste the power of cancer to crush these foes. Let the presence of eternity make the sins of time look as futile as they really are. “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?” (Luke 9:25).

• You will waste your cancer if you fail to use it as a means of witness to the truth and glory of Christ.

Christians are never anywhere by divine accident. There are reasons for why we wind up where we do. Consider what Jesus said about painful, unplanned circumstances: “They will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. This will be your opportunity to bear witness” (Luke 21:12 -13). So it is with cancer. This will be an opportunity to bear witness. Christ is infinitely worthy. Here is a golden opportunity to show that He is worth more than life. Don’t waste it.

Remember you are not left alone. You will have the help you need. “My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).

[see also HolwickID #1316]

God's Unchangeable Will

Do you feel that you have lost your way in life? Then God Himself will show you your way. Are you utterly helpless, worn out, body and soul? Then God's eternal love is ready and willing to help you up, and revive you. Are you wearied with doubts and terrors? Then God's eternal light is ready to show you your way; God's eternal peace ready to give you peace. Do you feel yourself full of sins and faults? Then take heart; for God's unchangeable will is to take away those sins and purge you from those faults.

-Charles Kingsley

God's Promises

God's promises are ever on the ascending scale. One leads up to another, fuller and more blessed than itself. In Mesopotamia, God said, "I will show thee the land." At Bethel, "This is the land." In Canaan, "I will give thee all the land, and children innumerable as the grains of sand." It is thus that God allures us to saintliness. Not giving us anything till we have dared to act-that He may test us. Not giving everything at first-that He may not overwhelm us. And always keeping in hand an infinite reserve of blessing. Oh, the unexplored remainders of God! Who ever saw His last star?

-F. B. Meyer

When the Waves Rise

A little boy made himself a boat and went off in high glee to sail it on the water. But presently it got beyond his reach, and in his distress he appealed to a big boy for help, and asked if he could get it back for him. Saying nothing, the big boy picked up stones and seemed to be throwing them at the boat. The little chap thought that he would never get his boat again, and that instead of helping the big boy was annoying him. But presently he noticed that instead of hitting the boat, each stone went beyond it and made a little wave, which moved the boat nearer to the shore. Every throw of the stones was planned, and at last the toy was brought within reach, and the little boy was happy again in the possession of his treasure.

Sometimes things in our lives seem disagreeable and without sense or plan. But if we wait a while, we shall see that each trial, each striking of a stone upon the quiet waters of our lives, has brought us nearer to God.

Pain and Purpose

2 Corinthians 4:17

Imagine walking into a room to find an infant wailing as if her life depended on it. An adult, piercing the infant’s skin with a sharp object, is causing the distress. Any compassionate person would attempt to intervene and rescue the child, wouldn’t he? But let’s add a few more details into this scenario. What if the woman wounding the infant is a doctor and her instrument is a syringe? What if she tells you that this child must be immunized, or later she could contract a serious illness?

Sometimes something that seems terribly cruel or senseless has a good purpose. That purpose is not always as readily apparent as in this scenario. Although someone familiar with preventative medicine may see the purpose in causing pain to a helpless child, the child itself cannot understand why she is in pain.

There are times in life when we are like this infant. We cannot imagine why God -- the one who is supposed to love us -- doesn’t step in and stop our pain. Assurances from others that God knows best are about as useless as a mother’s soothing assurances, drowned out by the infant’s cries. “If you love me, why don’t you take away this pain?” ask the child’s cries.

Philosophers and theologians have wrestled for ages with the questions that arise from pain and suffering. It is tempting to think that if we had more knowledge, we could resolve the Problem of Pain. If we only knew WHY God allows what seems to be senseless suffering to exist, it would cease to trouble us. But even if the doctor explained the biology of vaccinations to the infant, her mind could never understand it; neither can we, with our finite minds, grasp the divine purposes of God, even if He were to draw back the curtain of his will.

Yet there is reason to hope. As a child grows, he learns to trust his parents long before he learns how inoculations work. A shot might hurt a six year old boy just as much as it hurt his infant sister, but he clenches his teeth in determination to be a big boy. Although he may fear the pain, he doesn’t fear that his mother has turned on him by allowing this doctor to hurt him. Why? He has come to trust her. She has told him that this shot will hurt, but it is for his good.

If your “why” questions seem to fall on deaf ears, try asking some “who” questions. Who is God? What do you know about his character? Do you know Him? Are you willing to trust Him in your pain until He reveals his purpose?

This is the kind of trust that Jesus demonstrated for us in the Garden of Gethsemane. He prayed to his Father, “Let this cup pass from me, yet not my will but yours be done.”

We are assured in God’s word that “this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17). This is not something that we can prove to ourselves. We are given the choice to trust God. Suffering is inevitable. If we choose to trust God in our pain, we have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

________

God Knew the House They Needed

Job 30:20

We can be confident that he will listen to us whenever we ask him for anything in line with his will. (1 John 5:14)

A couple in our church phoned to ask me to pray about a house they wanted to close on. It was near a preferred school and the price was right. We prayed over the phone. Later their realtor called. Someone else had offered a higher price.

More than the deal collapsed. Faith crumbled too. The couple’s disappointment watered previously hidden seeds of doubt that God really cared for them. We countered their crumbling faith by praying repeatedly that God would provide the best. Then we waited to see what God would do.

Two weeks later the local building inspector, also a friend of the home - searching family, called. In preparation for a loan approval, he’d inspected the house they wanted. It was full of dangerous mold and faulty wiring. Thousands of dollars would be required to make it safe. The family now realized that God had spared them from a financial disaster.

A home that provided for the family’s needs eventually became available. It wasn’t pretty on the outside, but the couple no longer doubted God’s care. Seeing how God had spared them from greater pain made them confident of His love and of the power of prayer.

________

The Will of God

Psalms 40:8

“I delight to do your will, O my God … “ (Psalm 40:8).

A “Daily Encounter” reader recently wrote to me saying how he wasn’t sure what to do about a change of profession because he wasn’t sure that what he wanted to do was what God wanted him to do. He gave the impression that no matter what he did, God wouldn’t be happy with him.

I could understand his thinking because in younger years I used to think that if I did God’s will, he would send me off to a some place where I didn’t want to go, to do something I didn’t want to do, to be with someone I didn’t want to be with!

This kind of thinking has more to do with our relation- ship with our earthly father — the one we felt we could never please when we were growing up — and maybe still can’t please. And then we project these same feelings onto God, our Heavenly Father, believing that no matter what we do, we can’t please him. Sadly, this is very faulty thinking.

Gratefully, I long since learned to think differently. In fact, when I work with a person who doesn’t know what he or she wants to do either with their life or with their profession, I ask, “If money weren’t an issue, what would you really like to do?”

I ask this question because if we are genuinely com- mitted to God, more often than not it’s what we want to do deep down that is what God wants for us to do and has gifted us to do.

When David wrote, “I delight to do your will, O my God …” he was prophetically stating these words as coming from the Messiah (Jesus Christ).

The same is true with us. When we are living in harmony with the principles for living as given in God’s Word, the Bible, we will also delight in doing God’s will no matter what it may be. It may not be easy, and it probably will have many challenges, but there is a deep down satisfaction knowing that what we are doing is exactly what God wants for us to do.

If you aren’t sure what God wants you to do with your life, your profession, or with a major decision you may be facing right now, perhaps a good place to start is with the following prayer.

“Dear God, please give me the want to be what you want me to be and the want to do what you want me to do. And grant that I can be a part of your plans and what you are doing in the world today so that I, too, will be able to say from my heart, ‘I delight to do your will O my God.’ Gratefully in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

In His Time

Ezra 4

This people says, “The time has not come, the time that the Lord’s house should be built.” —Haggai 1:2

I know of a church that has desperately needed to expand for a number of years. Many of the members have had a desire to build for quite some time and are ready to press ahead with the project. There are others, however, who believe that because the church hasn’t been able to raise the full amount necessary to pay for the project, the timing isn’t right.

When doing God’s work, the issue of His will and timing is a very important one. The Israelites in Haggai’s day faced such an issue in the rebuilding of the temple. After years of captivity in Babylon, they returned to Jerusalem. With God’s instructions, they began the project (about 15 years prior to Haggai’s prophecy). But then, because of fear and intimidation, they quit (Ezra 4). As days and years went by, they excused their inaction by saying that the timing wasn’t right (Haggai 1:2). Nonsense! The real problem was that they were too busy increasing their own comfort—building and living in their own “paneled houses” (Haggai 1:4)—to give any time or effort to constructing the house of God.

How careful we must be to avoid becoming so absorbed in building our own “houses” (physical or financial) that we ignore the work of God. Let us always seek to do His work in His time and according to His instructions. —DCE

Lord, I would always do Your will,

Your perfect plan I would fulfill;

Don’t let me move too fast or slow,

For it’s Your timing I would know. —Fitzhugh

Now is the right time to do God’s will.

God's Using You

“And he said to him, “Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Even my father Saul knows that” 1 Sam 23:17

Jonathan knew the truth. He would never be king. It didn’t make any difference what his father wanted, he was not king material and he knew it. He was satisfied with the role that God seemed to have made for him — second in command.

We need to be just like Jonathan in this respect. It makes no difference what we want to be, or what our parents want us to be, or what our spouse thinks we should be. What is important is that we be content with what God wants us to be. If He wants us to lead thousands, we will and be happy about it. If he wants us to lead a solitary life and write books, fine make it so, we will be content doing it.

Our problem is that we often look to the glamorous things to do. We want the good life. We want the high profile tasks. We want. . . . Then, when we get it, we are not satisfied. Something is missing. It just isn’t enough. Why? Because we are not what we were created to be. We will never be satisfied until we fulfill that role.

Could this explain why so many people change jobs frequently? Could this explain the arguments and fights that take place in Church board meetings? Is it possible that this is why there is so much in-fighting and back-biting in the Fellowship of God? Indeed, it could be. We need to spend our time doing what God wants. He will lead us in paths that will satisfy us. As a matter of fact, if you are not fulfilled in your present position, perhaps you are in the wrong one. Are you there because you want to be there, or because God put you there?

Mostly, God will use you where your talents and enjoyments lie. He will never make a cook out of someone who hates to be in the kitchen. Likewise, he will never make a mechanic out of someone who loves to cook. He has given you the talents and abilities you have for His purpose. Use them for Him and you will find contentment — This I guarantee!

Is It the Will of God?

Job 22:16

Dr. William Sloan Coffin of New York’s Riverside Church said this in the April 20, 1984, Lutheran Standard after the death of his son, Alex:

The night after Alex died, I was sitting in the living room of my sister’s house outside of Boston, when a middle-aged lady came in, shook her head when she saw me and said, “I just don’t understand the will of God.” Instantly, I was up and in hot pursuit, swarming all over her. “I’ll say you don’t, lady!!” I said. (I knew the anger would do me good, and the instruction to her was long overdue.)

I continued, “Do you think it was the will of God that Alex never fixed that lousy windshield wiper of his, that he was probably driving too fast in such a storm, that he probably had had a couple of ‘frosties’ too many? Do you think it is God’s will that there are no street lights along that stretch of road, and no guard rails separating the road and Boston Harbor?”

Nothing so infuriates me as the incapacity of seemingly intelligent people to get it through their heads that God doesn’t go around this world with His fingers on triggers, His fist around knives, His hands on steering wheels. God is against all unnatural deaths. And Christ spent an inordinate amount of time delivering people from paralysis, insanity, leprosy and muteness. As Alex’s younger brother put it simply, standing at the head of the casket: “You blew it buddy. You blew it.”

The one thing that should never be said when someone dies is, “It is the will of God.” Never do we know enough to say that. My consolation lies in knowing that it was not the will of God that Alex die; that when the waves closed over the sinking car, God’s was the first of all our hearts to break.

Sermon: Do Our Problems Have A Purpose?

Deuteronomy 8:1

Sermon on handling problems. Deuteronomy 8:1-6

DO OUR PROBLEMS HAVE A PURPOSE?

===============================

I. Everybody's got problems.

II. Problems don't come out of nowhere.

A. We often attribute them to bad luck.

B. Bad choices by us.

III. Four possible purposes of problems.

A. Problems can show where we are weak. 8:2

B. Problems can be intended to humble us. 8:3

C. Problems can increase our faith. 8:4

D. Problems can mold us into a stronger Christian.

IV. Now what?

A. Identifying the reason for problems is only half of it.

B. How people cope.

V. We don't have to know what it all means.

A. We don't need explanations - we need hope.

B. We have a Savior who has been where we are.

He Was Sold As A Black Market Baby

Romans 8

Florida deacon Bobby Falcone was seeking to become the legal guardian of his handicapped sister when he discovered a trail of stolen, black-market babies.

“These poor people,” Falcone said to his wife, Stephanie, in September 2020. “Two-hundred-plus babies illegally taken at birth from their mothers.” Some of those mothers, he added, were told that their babies had died when they were instead sold to families in Akron, Ohio, and elsewhere.

“My wife looked at me and said, ‘I hate to tell you this, but you’re one of those 200-plus people that are in the story.’ And so, the reality sunk in.”

Hours after Falcone was born a twin at The Hicks Community Clinic in McCaysville, Georgia, in August 1963, a Dr. Thomas Hicks, now deceased, handed the prematurely-birthed baby to a couple waiting in their car in a back alley. The couple, Falcone’s adoptive parents, had driven 600 miles from Akron, Ohio on a moment’s notice to the clinic and exchanged cash for a baby and a blank birth certificate signed by Hicks and a witness. They then turned around and drove back to Akron, raising Bobby as their own. His parents filled in the remaining lines on the birth certificate – including his birthday incorrectly occurring in December – and filed it with the state of Georgia.

Falcone said his adoptive mother, now 94, has confirmed the facts.

“All of this speaks to the power of adoption. And you can’t tell the Gospel story without understanding Romans 8, that we are being adopted into God’s family,” Rev. Purvis, Falcone’s pastor, told Baptist Press. “I think everything about this is an opportunity for Bobby to cling to and to hold on to that faith he has through the Gospel. But also, as he meets new family members, he has the opportunity to have exposure, to just point others to the Gospel and to the hope he has because of that.

“Certainly in the moment, what that individual (Hicks) did was extremely disturbing, and again going back to Romans 8, our God really does specialize in taking all of these things that take place on this sinful Earth, these things that are so often not good. And yet to those of us who love Him and are called by His name, He’s constantly in the process of working them together for good.

“I think He has done that in Bobby’s life, and I think He’s going to continue to do that and I think He’s going to get glory through this situation that started out of the sinful acts of an individual.”

Research first unveiled in the mid-1990s paints McCaysville, Georgia, as a small mining town with a history steeped in deception and sexual immorality including adultery, incest, fornication and prostitution involving top city leaders and law enforcement officials. As the stories go, unwed mothers from McCaysville and nearby towns would go to The Hicks Community Clinic for abortions as early as the 1940s when the procedure was illegal. At some point, researchers say, Hicks began convincing mothers to carry their babies to term.

Falcone relies on his faith and God’s sovereignty, recalling one of the first sermons he heard Rev. Purvis preach.

“One of his sayings was, ‘Nothing takes God by surprise.’” Falcone recalled. “Fast-forward 10 years later when this stuff happened and everything that I found out, the first thing that came to my mind was his comment that nothing takes God by surprise,” Falcone said. “I think that’s been something I’ve lived through this past year going through all this knowledge, and every time I uncover another stone, I think this doesn’t take God by surprise.”

Falcone credits his adoptive parents with loving him and giving him a life filled with everything he needed and most things he wanted, a privilege he believes many of the Hicks babies did not enjoy.

Falcone met his biological father and his father’s current wife of 30 years in May in Knoxville, Tenn., in what he called a “hallmark moment.” Falcone is among seven children of his biological father’s, including Falcone’s twin sister, a half-sister, and four other half-siblings. His biological father had not known of the twin birth from a pregnancy launched in a brief affair, Falcone said. DNA has confirmed paternity, and Falcone is searching for his biological mother.

“I looked at the past life of my biological father – and he’s just distraught over the fact that this happened and he’s so apologetic every time we talk – and I said to him, ‘It’s OK. I don’t harbor any hard feelings against you or even my biological mom, whatever her reasons were. Was I taken and stolen from her at birth? Was I given up willingly? Whatever the circumstances are around that, I’m O.K. with that.’

“So anything we’ve done, it doesn’t matter what it is – just stolen a candy bar from the grocery store – whatever that is, that comes to light later in life. Whether it’s a criminal record, or an accidental pregnancy or whatever that looks like, it’s not the end of the world. God knew that was going to happen.”

The key for Christians is to get to the next level, Falcone said, and to make tomorrow better than today.

Five Myths Christians Believe

Luke 6:37

I used to believe that as long as I was “doing the Lord’s work,” God would protect me from physical harm with some kind of magic force field whenever I visited overseas mission fields.

Historical ignoramus that I was, it didn’t dawn on me until years later that countless faithful believers have died through the ages from sickness, accidents, attacks or persecution while serving the Lord. Was I supposed to get a special exemption when they didn’t?

I still occasionally rely on the magic force field idea to help me get through turbulent plane flights. It’s not faith; it’s a mental trick to keep me from running up and down the aisle screaming, “We’re all gonna die!”

Lots of otherwise reasonable Christians depend on various shortcuts, myths and spiritual distortions to get through the day. Often we buy into such counterfeits to avoid trusting God and obeying Him. California pastor/author Larry Osborne addresses some of them in his book, “10 Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe” (Multnomah, 2009).

At least five of the myths Osborne identifies affect how we respond to God’s call to take the Gospel to the world:

• “Faith can fix anything.”

Faith in an ever-faithful God sustains us moment by moment as we follow Him. But it doesn’t “fix” everything the way we want it fixed. Nor does God. He is concerned with accomplishing His will, not ours.

Faith is not “an impenetrable shield that protects us from life’s hardships and trials,” Osborne writes. “It’s not a magic potion that removes every mess. It’s a map we follow.... It’s designed to guide us on a path called righteousness. Along the way, it doesn’t promise to fix every flat tire.”

That applies to daily life -- and to missions. Missionaries get a lot of flat tires. Cross-cultural ministry entails endless frustrations, hassles, confusion, misunderstanding and discouragement. The payoff might not come for years, even generations. But it will come. The Word of God does not return void.

• “God has a blueprint for my life.”

A blueprint contains detailed instructions for building an entire structure (i.e., life). God gives us guidance for today and asks us to trust Him for tomorrow. Thinking too far beyond that brings little but anxiety.

“The starting place for finding God’s will is obeying the commands and instructions we already know” from His Word, Osborne reminds his readers. “The pathway of obedience always leads to further light.”

If God tells you to go to a strange, possibly hostile place or culture with no guarantee of success or safe return -- no blueprint, in other words -- how will you respond?

• “Christians shouldn’t judge.”

How convenient. If we redefine Christ’s command not to condemn sinners (when we are sinners ourselves) to mean that we cannot call good and evil what they are, we have surrendered to evil.

Osborne: “Underlying the idea that we have no right to judge the beliefs and moral standards of others is another widely held belief. It’s the dogma that truth and morality are relative.... If we refuse to label the behaviors Jesus called sin, sin, we’re disagreeing with Jesus, not following Jesus.”

We’re also undermining His mandate to make disciples among all peoples. If the world isn’t lost in sin, what’s the point of preaching the Gospel of salvation?

• “A valley means a wrong turn.”

“Most of us understand that hardships (even long-term hardships) are a natural part of life,” Osborne acknowledges. “But something fundamentally changes when the deep and lengthy valley is our valley. The truths we so easily accept in theory and so quickly apply to others become difficult to fathom in our own life.”

Valleys, especially ones that pass through the shadow of death, force us to trust God or despair. In missions, deep valleys often come before mountaintop breakthroughs.

• “Dead people go to a better place.”

Really? All of them? Jesus spoke of the place of weeping and gnashing of teeth for those who reject God. He spoke of the narrow path to heaven and the wide highway to hell.

“To our modern-day sensibilities, the exclusivity of Christ, the reality of hell, and the need for salvation that includes personal piety have all become passé, if not downright offensive,” Osborne says. “And it’s not just our culture that rejects these ideas; so do many Christians....

“The cross and salvation are central to the Gospel. Once we lose any real concept of hell, the natural consequence is more than just putting us at odds with Scripture; it eventually devalues the cross, redefines salvation, and turns obedience into an extra-credit spiritual add-on.”

The Bible is a hard book to read in our day. It contains judgments, absolutes and non-negotiable commands -- as well as the words of the Lord’s abounding grace, love and mercy.

It’s not the message we want to hear. It’s what we need to hear.

A Terrible Lesson: Lincoln, Slavery, and the Civil War

Acts 20:27

As the Civil War dragged on and Americans died in previously-unimaginable numbers, preserving the Union became a weak justification for what historian Drew Faust Gilpin called “the Republic of Suffering.”

Making sense of the carnage required moving beyond politics and putting the war in its proper moral context, a context derived from a biblical understanding of God and His purposes.

That’s what Abraham Lincoln did.

Lincoln was an unlikely prophet: At the beginning of the war saving the Union had been his “paramount concern.” He once said: “If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it.”

In addition, while his parents were devout Baptists, Lincoln, at least prior to becoming president, could rightly be called a skeptic. In 1846, a political opponent even called him an “infidel.”

Both things began to change during the war, and the catalyst was the death that surrounded him. The death of so many soldiers weighed heavily on Lincoln, a gentle man who felt things deeply.

Even worse was the devastating death of his beloved son, Willie, in 1862. While Mrs. Lincoln never recovered from the blow of Willie’s death, it transformed the president. The sermon at Willie’s funeral was delivered by Phineas Gurley, the pastor at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, which Lincoln had begun to attend.

Gurley’s sermon, which exhorted the president to “trust in biblical Providence,” prompted Lincoln to consider the possibility that the war and the suffering it caused, was part of a divine plan.

In what posthumously came to be called “Meditations on the Divine Will,” Lincoln wrote that “God could have either saved or destroyed the Union without a human contest. Yet the contest began.” God could have given either side victory, Lincoln pondered, but He hadn’t. Why?

Because, Lincoln wrote, “it may be that God’s purpose is different from the purpose of either party.” What was that purpose? Ending slavery.

It was a sin in which the entire nation was complicit -- a nation overwhelmingly comprised of Christians who believed that they were a “chosen people” favored by God. Thus a terrible lesson had to be learned by both sides.

That lesson was the subject of Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address. In it, he expressed the hope that the “scourge of war” might finally pass. Then he added “if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said ‘the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.’”

It was a lesson his audience didn’t care to learn. Six weeks later, Lincoln was dead. And it would be another century before the bondsman’s descendants would be truly free. Once again, Christians were divided: some behaved heroically, others behaved shamefully, and many pretended not to see what was happening.

________

A Prayer of Surrender

Job 1:21

Christ has called for unconditional surrender, death to the flesh, for all who would follow Him. When we become Christians, we are “crucified with Christ” (Romans 6:6; Galatians 2:20). Our rebellious sin nature is forever put to death by Christ’s sacrifice on the cross; yet in practical terms, “the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another” (Galatians 5:17).

There are still times, in other words, when we don’t feel like surrendering. We’d rather die than give up our independence, our individuality and our indecencies. But Jesus draws a firm line in the sand: “Whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:27).

Jesus offers one term of surrender: The cross you died on positionally must be the cross you live on personally, each and every day. For the saints of God, surrender leads to an entirely new kind of life. In fact, we are born again to a new and living hope (John 3:3; 1 Peter 1:3). But to experience that life we have to surrender not just once but every day.

There are numerous examples of saints in Scripture who chose life by surrendering. Think first of Job. Though he was assailed with calamities greater than most of us will ever face, a prayer of surrender was found frequently on his lips: “‘The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD.’ In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong” (Job 1:21-22).

The truest test of whether we are surrendered to the Lord is in times of personal defeat. Pride says, “Rise up and fight!” But the Spirit says, “Surrender and live.” Job was wise enough to know the difference and lived (Job 42:10-17).

Jonah might be the surrendered saint we most readily identify with. In the end, he realized it was better to be closer to God than to himself. He was brought to the surrender ceremony kicking and screaming, with both heels dug into the sand. He wanted nothing to do with God’s terms of surrender: “Go to Nineveh and preach a message of judgment to the Ninevites.” “Thank you. No,” might as well have been Jonah’s reply. He did an about face and hopped the first ship headed for Spain. Well-known is the rest of the story.

From the belly of a great fish Jonah prayed his prayer of surrender: “I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD” (Jonah 2:9). Jonah learned it was better to surrender sooner than later. He went to Nineveh and God used him mightily.

Finally, the stakes were the largest for Jesus Himself. Even as a young boy, He sensed the need to be surrendered to the will of His Heavenly Father (Luke 2:49). And at the outset of Jesus’ public ministry, the devil himself offered Christ terms of surrender, which Jesus soundly rejected (Luke 4:1-13). Jesus made it to His last night on earth able to say, “I have finished the work You gave Me to do” (John 17:4). Yet His greatest challenge came just moments after He said those words.

When Jesus prayed His prayer of surrender, “Not My will, but Yours be done” (Luke 22:42), He set the pattern for surrender for all who would follow Him into the kingdom of heaven. Ultimately, no one who says to God, “I’d rather be closer to me than to You,” enters the kingdom of heaven. No one goes to heaven who says to God, “Not Thy will, but mine be done.” The ruler of hell itself earned his position with just such words as those (Isaiah 14:12-14).

How do we accept Christ’s terms of surrender, living daily on the cross? Begin each day with a prayer of surrender: “Lord, today I surrender my life to You. I choose Your will to be done, not mine. I want to be closer to You, God, than I am to myself. I accept Your terms for my life today and purpose to live personally the crucified life which I received positionally through faith in Christ. I ask You to give me grace today to be a surrendered soldier of the cross.

“Amen.”

Ready, Set Wait! Trusting God In Your Waiting Season

Mark 15:43

When I was about 8 years old, my family had a bunch of people over for a pool party. I was so excited to jump in with the crowd until my parents told me that since I’d just gotten over being sick, I’d have to sit this party out.

I was disappointed, to say the least. I had my very fashionable goggles and was ready to go, only to find out that “for my good” I would have to sit on the sidelines, by myself, when everyone else was having a party. To my 8-year-old social life, this was devastating. All the people were there, the pool was right there -- all I had to do was jump in! I was supremely bummed.

But later, as I was sulking on the porch, my parents surprised me with the reason for the restriction: In just a few days I’d be getting on a plane and traveling 3,000 miles to see my favorite childhood friends. My little 3rd grade heart was elated. All of sudden I didn’t feel so left out. Another sniffling nose or ear ache would have made for a rather miserable trip. Then I realized that what seemed like a joy-stealing restriction was actually a preparation. Once I realized what was coming, I didn’t mind temporarily sitting off to the side.

While the days of pool parties may have passed, there are still times when it seems like I’m sitting on the sidelines, waiting for some divine revelation to make sense of all the “whys.” Maybe you’ve been there too, asking God: Where do I go from here? What’s the next step? Is this ever going to change?

Sometimes we feel stuck waiting for the answer. Or, perhaps we’ve convinced ourselves that we have the answer, but God doesn’t seem to be on the same page. The solution is seemingly right there -- you could just jump in! But, for whatever reason, you’ve been given what seems like a joy-stealing restriction or another closed door and you’re left wondering whether God really is the caring, involved Father that He says He is.

But learning to wait on the Lord seems to be an unavoidable aspect of the Christian walk. Miles Stanford said, “God does not hurry in His development of our Christian life. He is working from and for eternity! So many feel they are not making progress unless they are swiftly and constantly forging ahead” (Principles of Spiritual Growth). If the pace of our lives is in His hands, then even our seasons of silence are for a purpose that goes way beyond our current circumstance.

In fact, one biblical woman shows us that how we wait for God is just as important as what we’re waiting for Him to do. Hannah had wanted just one thing from the Lord -- a son. After enduring years of being reproached in her society, ridiculed by the child-bearing second wife, and perhaps feeling forgotten by God, she pleaded with the Lord: “O LORD of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life” (1 Samuel 1:11). She prayed, wept and poured out her soul. Then, without any guarantee that the Lord would even fulfill her longing, Hannah got up and “her face was no longer sad” (verse 16). She trusted the heart of God even before she knew His answer. She had surrendered herself to whatever He had in store.

But what’s even more striking about Hannah’s request was her focus. In the deepest cry of her heart, her focus was still not on her own happiness. She had already determined that, should God give her the one blessing she wanted, she wouldn’t hold onto it for herself. Hannah vowed that if the Lord gave her a son -- the one thing in this life that she wanted -- she would give that son back to the Lord, dedicating him to His service.

Perhaps we can learn something from this woman in waiting. Hannah surrendered to trusting the will and timing of God, even if it meant giving back the very blessing she’d hoped for all these years. God did give Hannah a son (1 Samuel 1:20), and Hannah gave her son back to God (1 Samuel 1:28). It was only when she determined to give God glory in whatever He chose to give her that she was finally blessed with it.

It’s true -- we don’t have any guarantee that our specific request will be given. If you’re anything like me, it’s easy to hear Hannah’s story and think “OK, great! All I have to do is want God’s will above all else and then He will have to say yes!” Our hearts could be entirely surrendered and yielded, and in the wisdom of God, our circumstances may stay the same. But perhaps what Hannah’s story would teach us today is that when we pursue God for who He is more than for what He can do, our waiting seasons don’t have to be miserable. When we rest in the truth that the same God who ordered our steps (Psalm 37:23) is our loving Father who wants only our good, and gives only good things to His children (Matthew 7:11), then our seasons of waiting can become times of expectant hope. What may seem like a setback or a delay is actually His perfecting preparation. Like Hannah, when our hearts are more intent on displaying the reality of God than obtaining His blessings -- when we let go of those hopes we cling to so tightly and surrender to His perfect will -- perhaps then we come to a place where He can act for and through us.

What do you find yourself waiting on today? Will you trust that even in your seasons of silence, God has a refining purpose? Sure, you could jump into the convenient, “quick-fix” solution, tired of feeling restricted and like you’re on the outside looking in. But God has promised that He is good to those who wait for Him (Psalm 27:14) and that if you’re called according to His purpose, He will work all things together for your good (Romans 8:28).

He has only good in mind for you! Even more, The Lord has already promised that He will fulfill His purpose for you (Psalm 138:8) and that none of those who wait for the Lord will be ashamed (Psalm 25:3). Will you trust His kind intentions for you, even when it feels like you’ve been forgotten? Will you wait for Him to act when it seems like you’ll never see the results?

“For since the world began, no ear has heard, and no eye has seen a God like you, who works for those who wait for him!” (Isaiah 64:4). Will you wait on the Lord in your waiting season?

________

This column first appeared at BiblicalWoman.org, a blog of Southwestern Seminary. Katie McCoy is the editor of BiblicalWoman.com

Is God's Plan Always Wonderful?

Jeremiah 29:11

Inspired by Ray Comfort's book, "God Has A Wonderful Plan For Your Life: The Myth of the Modern Message" (Living Waters, 2000)

Rev. David Holwick ZD

First Baptist Church

Ledgewood, New Jersey

October 5, 2014

Jeremiah 29:11

IS GOD'S PLAN ALWAYS WONDERFUL?

I. Bill Bright's famous tract.

A. It is always profitable to start out positive.

1) His "Four Spiritual Laws" tract follows this principle.

a) God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.

1> The middle talks about sin and judgment, but the

beginning and end are positive.

b) We want the gospel to be that way.

1> We want our lives to be that way.

2) Most evangelism promises a better life for you.

a) Humans naturally want something better.

b) Everyone is seeking true happiness.

3) This is why Jeremiah 29:11 is so popular with Christians.

a) God wants to prosper us and not harm us.

1> He wants to give us hope and a future.

b) If you are destitute and feel everything is crashing

in on you, this is a powerful promise.

B. Unfortunately, warm promises run up against harsh reality.

1) What happens when the promises don't seem to pan out?

2) If I accept Jesus and my life still has disappointments,

has God failed me? Have I believed the wrong way?

II. Christians are invested in the positive.

A. Prosperity preachers and miracle workers get the biggest crowds.

1) Benny Hinn and Kenneth Copeland fill arenas and the

airwaves.

a) God wants you to be happy and rich and healthy.

b) It has certainly worked for them. (mansions, planes…)

2) Reinhard Bonnke and his massive rallies in Africa.

a) He has attracted some of the largest crowds in the

world and you probably haven't even heard of him.

1> He is almost unknown in America but he is huge

news in Africa.

2> This German charismatic evangelist has had rallies

that attracted 1.6 million people.

3> He claims 72 million people have filled out decision

cards in response to his salvation invitations.

b) His big drawing card is miracles.

1> He claims he has seen the blind receive sight and

lame people walk again.

2> One of the most controversial healings was the

reported resurrection from the dead of a Nigerian

pastor in 2001.

Three days after the pastor was declared dead by a

local doctor, his wife took his body to a nearby

Bonnke-sponsored prayer service.

Pastors there prayed and massaged his body.

The dead body suddenly revived.

He has since resumed the ministry. [1]

B. Even ordinary Christians focus on Jesus solving our problems.

1) He rescues us from problems and makes us happier.

2) Doesn't Jesus himself teach this?

a) He says in John 10:10b, "I have come that they may

have life and have it to the full."

b) He heals the sick, gives rest to the weary and if we

have enough faith, he answers all our prayers.

3) Reading about Jesus, I can see where those TV preachers

get their emphasis. The Gospel truly is Good News.

III. There is another side to Christian existence.

A. Horrible things can happen to any believer.

1) Tragedies - we can suffer like anyone else.

It was the summer of 1972, a few months after Wendy Zoba's

conversion at the age of 16.

That when she confronted, firsthand, Bill Bright's

evangelistic mission.

She had taken a Greyhound bus cross-country from Ohio to

Dallas, Texas, to attend Explo '72, Campus Crusade's

week-long evangelism training conference.

She was trained to use the Four Spiritual Laws and then

unleashed on her hometown.

Her first target was her little sister.

Wendy hoodwinked her into meeting her on the swing set,

and then she laid out God's blueprint:

1. GOD LOVES YOU AND OFFERS A WONDERFUL PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE.

2. MAN IS SINFUL AND SEPARATED FROM GOD, THUS CANNOT KNOW

AND EXPERIENCE GOD'S LOVE AND PLAN.

3. JESUS CHRIST IS GOD'S ONLY PROVISION FOR MAN'S SIN.

4. WE MUST INDIVIDUALLY RECEIVE JESUS AS SAVIOR AND LORD.

Without hesitation her sister told her she wanted to

"receive Christ" and "pray the prayer."

Wendy read the prayer from the booklet and her sister

echoed it.

She cried; Wendy cried.

Wendy thought, THIS IS EASY.

She believes that encounter saved her sister.

Fifteen years after that Ohio summer she and Wendy shared

another life-changing moment.

They buried her sister's first-born child, who died of head

injuries sustained in a freak accident.

The little girl died the day before her second birthday.

The birthday cards were already in the mail.

During those dark days Wendy pleaded with God that the faith

her sister owned that day on the swing set would hold up.

In the end, it held, but both of their understanding of

God's "wonderful plan" moved into a new dimension.

#4238

2) Persecution - we can suffer specifically for being Christian.

a) Our imprisoned Iranian pastor.

Pastor Saeed Abedini is a native Iranian.

In 2005 he moved to the United States and four years

ago he became an American citizen.

He never severed ties to his homeland and in 2012 he

returned to build an orphanage.

The Iranians accused him of setting up Christian house

churches and sentenced him to eight years in prison.

He has now spent two years there.

Radical Muslims in the prison have threatened to kill

him and he has been beaten up several times.

How is Pastor Saeed responding?

Last week, a Christian organization released a letter

from Pastor Saeed to his daughter for her birthday.

After wishing her happy birthday and telling her how

much he wants to see her, he wrote the following:

"I know that you question why you have prayed so many

times for my return and yet I am not home yet...

The answer to the why is who.

Who is in control?

Lord Jesus Christ is in control...

"God is in control of the whole world and everything

that is happening in it is for His good purpose, for

His glory, and will be worked out for our good...

"...my dear beloved daughter Rebekka Grace, I pray God

will bring me back home soon.

But if not, we will still sing together ...'Hallelujah,'

either separated by prison walls or together at home.

"So, let Daddy hear you sing a loud 'Hallelujah' that

I can hear all the way here in the prison!

"Kisses and Blessings,

"Daddy"

John Stonestreet challenges us to ask how our faith

would hold up if we were put into prison.

How would you handle the separation from your family?

#64600

What if you were one of those prisoners of ISIS?

Would you be able to see your beheading as part of God's

wonderful plan for you?

b) The New Testament Christians knew what it was to suffer.

1> Paul's life was fulfilled, but often not happy.

A> He was beaten up, rejected by friends, starved,

and left for dead.

B> At times he wished he was dead. 2 Cor 1:8

2> Many early Christians didn't just suffer, they died.

3> Gordon-Conwell Seminary, where I studied, estimates

171,000 Christians are martyred every year. [2]

B. Christianity doesn't solve your problems.

1) It can help you overcome many things, but there are no

guarantees you will overcome everything.

2) We learn to make better choices in life.

3) And God can intervene supernaturally for us.

4) But we still live in a fallen world and can suffer like

anyone else.

IV. The background of Jeremiah 29:11.

A. The context is very interesting.

1) God is promising nice plans to a people who have been

driven into exile.

2) Their temple had been destroyed, their land devastated.

3) Perhaps hundreds of thousands had been killed.

4) Tens of thousands had been force-marched to other places.

B. Jeremiah predicts they will have 70 more years of this. 29:10

1) He tells them to make the best of it.

2) Settle down, pray for the pagans, don't rock the boat.

3) And then, finally, you will be able to go back home.

C. God's plan is always good - in the end.

1) Just like Pastor Saeed wrote, God will eventually work

everything out for our good. Rom 8:28

2) But you may have to wait a lifetime to see it unfold.

V. The Christian message is for everyone.

A. Christianity is not just for unhappy people.

1) We often assume only miserable people want to get saved.

a) It is not uncommon for troubles to drive us to God,

of course.

b) But plenty of self-satisfied people need Jesus, too.

1> You may have a happy family, money in the bank,

and great health - you still need Jesus.

2> You need him because you are a sinner.

A> Every one of us has broken God's law.

B> We are all fighting God in our own way.

3> Only the blood of Jesus can bring us spiritual peace.

2) All we can offer is truth.

a) Other religions offer happiness, too.

b) But they cannot wipe away your sins.

B. It is about Jesus, not us.

1) Move beyond personal fulfillment and satisfaction.

a) Note the emphasis in many of our appeals:

"God loves YOU and has a wonderful plan for YOU."

"Live your best life now!"

b) We are not the center of the message. #32955

1> The cross should be at the center.

2) Have a faith that rises above your current circumstances.

a) The Christian hope is for the long-haul.

b) As Paul wrote in Romans 8:18 --

"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth

comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us."

1> That hope kept him going.

2> It should be good enough for us, too.

=========================================================================

SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:

[1] The Bonnke material comes from Wikipedia.org and from the articles

“The Crusader: Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke brings old-time gospel

back to America,” John W. Kennedy, Christianity Today, October 22,

2013,

and “Daniel: Raised from the Dead,” Susan Mann and Ken Hulme, The 700 Club,

.

One of my younger members asked me about the validity of the claim

the Kenyan pastor was raised from the dead. The best analysis I have

found is "’Raised From The Dead’ by Reinhard Bonnke: Oh Really?”

Sandy Simpson,

[2] Ray Comfort, “God Has a Wonderful Plan for Your Life: The Myth of the

Modern Message (Living Waters, 2010), p. 28.

# 4238 “Evangelicalism's Power Couple Closes In On Their Radical Mission,”

Wendy Murray Zoba, Online Christianity Today, page 14, July 14, 1997.

#32955 “The Big Narrative,” I'Ching Thomas, A Slice of Infinity: Ravi Zacharias

International Ministries; http://www.gospelcom.net/slice/,

July 20, 2006.

#64600 “God's Wonderful Plan In An Iranian Prison,” John Stonestreet;

edited by David Holwick; September 30, 2014.

These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be

downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html

=========================================================================

Congregational handout:

IS GOD'S PLAN ALWAYS WONDERFUL?

===============================

Jeremiah 29:11

I. Bill Bright's famous tract.

A. It is always profitable to start out positive.

B. Unfortunately, warm promises run up against harsh reality.

II. Christians are invested in the positive.

A. Prosperity preachers and miracle workers get the biggest crowds.

B. Even ordinary Christians focus on Jesus solving our problems.

III. There is another side to Christian existence.

A. Horrible things can happen to any believer.

B. Christianity doesn't solve your problems.

IV. The background of Jeremiah 29:11.

A. The context is very interesting.

B. Jeremiah predicts they will have 70 more years of this. 29:10

C. God's plan is always good - in the end.

V. The Christian message is for everyone.

A. Christianity is not just for unhappy people.

B. It is about Jesus, not us.

When Things Don't Go As Planned

Job 17:11

Try as I might, some things just don’t go quite like I’ve planned. You probably have had things go awry as well.

Some have been disappointing, others have been devastating: the marriage that ended, or the marriage that hasn’t happened yet; the baby you’re unable to conceive, or the baby who grew up and broke your heart; a devastating diagnosis, or an illness they can’t diagnose; the parent you lost at a young age, or the parent you care for in their old age; a job change, or a job loss.

Whatever it is, it wasn’t part of your plan.

What happens when our plans fall through, when that hope we’ve been aiming at and working toward doesn’t materialize -- when, because of our choices, someone else’s choices, or simply the sovereign hand of God, we look around and say to ourselves, “I didn’t sign up for this”?

If there’s one verse I have to tell my own soul over and over again, it’s Psalm 138:8. Its words are so simple, yet the promise is so breathtaking: “The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me.”[*] Just let that sink in. The Lord [the God who made you, loves you, and gave Himself up for you] will [that’s a fact; it’s a certainty; you can bank on it] fulfill [bring to fruition and completion] His purpose [the one for which He created you, not anyone else’s, including your own] for you [yes, you!].

And here’s another: “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand” (Proverbs 19:21). That means no matter what you and I have mapped out for our lives -- no matter how detailed our 5-, 10-, or 20-year plans may be -- the Lord will never be deterred from fulfilling His purpose for your life and mine.

Whether my soul responds to this promise with peace-filled praise or anxiety-induced petitions is, more often than not, a reflection of my confidence that God is who He says He is.

Sometimes, even my prayers betray the posture of my soul. What if the Lord’s purposes don’t exactly fit my plans? And then I have to wonder: What if God and I have been aiming at different things?

Take a look at all that the Lord has promised for us in the future, and all that He’s told us to do in the present, and we see that Scripture gives us a different way of thinking about our big dreams and life plans. It adjusts our vision. And while we may not be able to plan out all the details, the Lord’s purposes for our lives are clear.

Here are just a few of them. That we would:

• love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul and mind (Matthew 22:37).

• love others as ourselves (Matthew 22:39).

• seek first God’s Kingdom and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33).

• be sanctified and conformed into the image of Christ (1 Thessalonians 4:3; Romans 8:29).

• be the Lord’s witnesses and ambassadors (Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 5:20).

• walk in holiness, unstained by the world (1 Peter 1:13-16; James 1:27).

• fight for sexual purity (1 Corinthians 6:18-20; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5).

• use our gifts to build up and benefit God’s family (1 Peter 4:10).

• walk worthy of the Lord and the calling we have received (Colossians 1:10; Ephesians 4:1).

• trust in the Lord, knowing He will direct our path (Proverbs 3:5-6).

• know Christ, even His sufferings (Philippians 3:10).

• glorify the Lord in every aspect of our lives (Colossians 3:17).

So how do we live in this? How do we allow the Lord’s purposes to shape our direction? Proverbs 16:3 gives some insight: “Commit your works to the Lord, And your plans will be established.” That word “commit” actually means “roll.” Think of it as rolling all that you do -- giving it all -- to Christ. The more we roll our works onto Him, the more we orient our lives around Him. And the more we orient our lives around Him, the more His Spirit shapes and even transforms our plans. His purpose becomes our plans.

It might sound simple. And, I suppose it is simple. But between our plans and God’s purposes is often a struggle that involves unclenching our hands and pouring out our hearts to offer the simple prayer: “Thy will be done.”

We don’t need a 5-year plan to be people of vision. We need a relentless hope, an immovable trust in the purposes of the Lord. He will fulfill His purpose for you. It is certain. It is written. It is yours. Just give Him all of your heart, including your plans.

While I can’t say I’ve got this one all locked up, I’m willing to start trading my plans for His purposes.

________

* Holwick: the 2011 version of the NIV translates it quite differently - "The LORD will vindicate me."

Seeking God's Will

John 7:17

I visited with two young men who were trying to decide on a place of ministry recently. Both were considering opportunities that would change the trajectory of their lives.

I shared with them five principles I use in seeking to know God’s will. Whether you are starting in ministry or coming to the end of your ministry, the principles still apply in determining God’s will:

The foundational principle in finding God’s will is the Bible.

Every Bible text has a primary interpretation and a practical application. Some Bible texts have a prophetic revelation. The following questions are important to ask to find the primary interpretation. Who is speaking? Who is the audience? What is the time frame? What is the occasion for the writing? What is the subject matter? Answering these questions correctly will give you the understanding of the historical context. Even the verses intended for ancient Israel or the early church have a practical application for us today. Not every text is to us, but every text is for us. God can speak from His Word directly into your current situation. Without allegorizing, you can find the answer you need. The psalmist said, “Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path” (Psalm 119:105).

Living inside every believer is the Holy Spirit to guide the child of God in truth (John 16:13).

Some might dismiss the inexplicable voice of the Spirit speaking to our hearts. The Holy Spirit will not reveal any new truth but He will confirm revealed truth. The Spirit of God never leads a person to do something that is contrary to the Word of God. Confirm the Holy Spirit’s voice by the written Word of God. Listen to the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit.

Seek out godly counsel (Proverbs 11:14).

Let longstanding believers who have lived a consistently faithful life for Jesus speak into your life. Spiritually mature believers will have experienced life’s challenges and can help you avoid pitfalls. Too much counsel can be confusing. Two or three people who love Jesus and love you are enough. God uses people to help us know God’s will.

Listen to God’s Word being preached or taught by a trusted source.

When a speaker brings out something obviously personal, you can sense God using the words spoken to help you make your decision. Divine appointments are possible when we have a listening ear. Serendipitous encounters can produce confirmation of God’s will.

Finally, circumstances play a part in finding God’s will.

A person might think that he should be on a seminary faculty, for example, but circumstances might prohibit him from doing so. He does not have a terminal academic degree. He is not credentialed in the proper field of study. There are no teaching positions open. Any one of a hundred different roadblocks could be in the path regardless of how strongly someone feels he should be in the position. Open doors are opportunities that arise out of circumstances when we walk in the Spirit. This does not mean we are immune to conflict. Anytime we are doing God’s will, the evil one will oppose us. Yet, God is able to work through circumstances and place you where you need to be.

There is no singular tool to finding God’s will when you are making major life decisions. Thankfully, we have several principles that enable us to seek out His perfect plan.

Ultimately, we must be willing to do whatever God tells us. He will not reveal His will to us out of our curiosity. He wants us to know Him and to know His will (John 7:17). We must put our “yes” on the table. When our will is submitted to His will, He will show us the proper path.

________

Jim Richards is executive director of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. This article first appeared at the Theological Matters website (www.theologicalmatters.com) of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Making A 'Faith Bet': Discerning God's Will Includes 'Rolling the Dice'

Mark 15:24

Let’s see a show of hands. How many of us grew up hearing testimonies and sermons at Vacation Bible School, church camps and revivals, implying that God’s will is an ironclad, one-option-only maze? One wrong turn, and you’re toast. Such teaching left the impression that if we are spiritual enough, we will always know with scientific certainty how and where our Creator is leading.

A careful reading of Scripture reveals that discerning God’s will is much messier, less formulaic and much, much less certain than we may have thought. In Acts 1, we read of the infant church facing one of its first post-resurrection decisions. Who would replace Judas Iscariot as an apostle? Most Baptists would recognize the early steps the church took: Simon Peter preached on the importance of their decision (vv. 15-20). Then the qualifications for the position were enumerated (vv. 21-22). Next, it appears the small congregation was allowed to nominate persons (v. 23). Finally, they prayed, acknowledging God’s sovereign purposes and humbly asking for divine direction (vv. 24-25).

So far, this discernment process sounds much like a 21st-century church. But then the story gets strange. The next step in the “call” process? “They…drew straws” (v. 26, The Message). Really? That’s what my mom used to do when my three siblings and I argued over who would have to be first to take a Saturday night bath! OK, so the NRSV says “they cast lots,” instead of “they drew straws,” but explain to me how that is different.

Some commentators claim that the casting of lots was the way the early church practiced democracy, that each of the two candidates had a basket and people dropped a pebble in one or the other to “vote.” But that’s a stretch. The Greek words used in verse 26 are identical to the ones found in the gospels, describing the Roman soldiers casting lots to divide up Jesus’ clothing (Matthew 27:35; Mark 15:24). I seriously doubt that those guards were casting democratic votes. No, as we listen to the biblical text honestly, we are faced with the reality that the first Christian congregation probably put two pebbles in a basket and whichever name came tumbling out determined the future makeup of the apostolic band.

And here is the real kicker: We never hear another word about Matthias, the one chosen. We don’t know if he was a great success or a dud. Yet even that is instructive. Instead of being embarrassed by the humanity of our sacred story, why can’t we just embrace it? Discerning God’s will is a mixture of faith, prayer, careful listening and eventually, “rolling the dice.” If the first followers of Jesus had waited on certainty, they might still be waiting!

When all is said and done, perhaps discerning God’s will is neither as glamorous nor as esoteric as we thought. Perhaps, like the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, it is a mysterious mixture of the human and divine. In our journey to know God’s will, after we have prayed, sought appropriate counsel, considered circumstances, studied scripture and used the brains given to us by God, we eventually have to “put our money down” and make a faith bet. That faith bet is in the form of a humble prayer, uttered from our hearts, “God, I have sought your will and still long to do it, but I am not sure what I am supposed to do. To the best of my knowledge, I make this choice. If it is not your will, please show me my error and forgive me.” I am a child of grace. I am free to fail. God will love me anyway!

And besides, if you believe God has only one plan, think again. Scripture reveals that the One who oversees the cosmos is sovereign and perfectly capable of adjusting to our imperfect and sporadic obedience. After all, when my siblings and I drew straws, what really mattered to my mother was that all four of her children went to bed clean. Perhaps our loving Heavenly Parent doesn’t sweat the small stuff as much as we do.

When God Says 'No'

Acts 1:8

When God says “no” it can be even more marvelous than when He says “yes.”

The apostle Paul, in Acts 16, begins his second missionary journey, carefully planning to revisit the cities in his first missionary journey and then go on to western Asia to preach the Gospel.

His plans were good. God had given the church the Great Commission and had told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem until the power of the Holy Spirit came upon them. God wanted the Great Commission to be led by the Holy Spirit, which He gave to believers preceding Jesus’ instruction in Acts 1:8: “ ... you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Paul was being obedient to those commands. This second missionary journey started well.

Paul and Silas headed north out of Antioch of Syria and visited Paul’s hometown of Tarsus. They then went on to Derbe, Lystra, Iconium and Antioch of Pisidia where they had been on first missionary journey. They delivered the decision from the Jerusalem conference found in Acts 15 and greatly encouraged the churches.

Paul’s plan was to turn west at Antioch of Pisidia and evangelize the area known today as Asia Minor. However, they were led by God to go toward Asia to the north all the way to Mysia in modern-day Turkey. In a bewildering way, God forbad them to preach the Gospel in Asia and when they came to Mysia, on the border of Bithynia, they were forbidden to go into Bithynia to preach.

Why did God say “no” to their plan to preach in Asia and Bithynia? Were there no needs for the Gospel there? Were they not included in the Great Commission?

The reason is clear. God had a better plan -- a perfect plan -- one that would reach Europe and the West, and all of Asia and Bithynia.

Bypassing Bithynia they came to Troas and on to Neapolis where Paul would go into Macedonia. In Philippi they met Lydia and others worshipping down by the river and led Lydia and her companions to faith in Christ.

Several decades later, Pliny the Younger, governor of Bithynia, wrote to Emperor Trajan in A.D. 112 that Christianity had spread to the cities, villages and rural areas of Bithynia. That letter is the first pagan account of the spread of Christianity.

How did this all happen? Lydia was from Thyatira in Asia. It was not a great city but it was the center of trade guilds for workers in various industries, including linens, garments, dye, wool, leather, pottery and bronze. It was famous for its dyeing facilities and purple cloth. Those products from Thyatira saturated Asia.

Lydia was probably one of the founding members of the church in Thyatira, and from there the Gospel spread through the sales force that went out from Thyatira. God used a traveling saleswoman from an apparently insignificant town to spread the Gospel to the areas where Paul had been forbidden to go. Amazing! The Gospel spread in Asia and on to Bithynia through Lydia.

Later Paul would be led back to Asia and he reported that “All the inhabitants of the province of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the Word of the Lord” (Acts 19:10). He shared in the preaching in Asia and Bithynia but only after God had introduced the Gospel through Lydia.

God had better plans for Paul. Paul was obedient, but God gave him a new call as he was aggressively following God’s will. Paul’s obedience took the Gospel to Europe and the West. Because of that, we heard the Gospel. Each step of Paul’s journey was led by God.

It is His desire to lead each of us in our witness. God did not give us the Great Commission and then leave us alone to determine how to do it. His method was to have disciples who walk so closely to Him that they can walk in obedience to His presence and guidance.

Obedience is preparation to each of us to hear God’s call. God gives vision to those who are obedient. Too often we make our plans and ask God to bless them. God desires to lead us to accomplish His plans which are infinitely better.

As contemporary author Francis Chan noted, “The church becomes irrelevant when it becomes purely a human creation. We are not all we were made to be when everything in our lives and churches can be explained apart from the work and presence of the Spirit of God.”

The real issue is whether we live in such close relationship with God that we can follow His plan. No attack of Satan can defeat us if we begin each day by surrendering it to God and walk through the day aware of His leadership and power. God desires to join each of us every moment of our ministry and life. Our obedience makes it possible for Him to lead us every step of our journey. When God says “no” to our plans, it is always because He has a better plan!

Whose Will Is Bent?

Charles Brent (1862-1929) on prayer: "Prayer is not so much the means whereby God's will is bent to man's desires, as it is that whereby man's will is bent to God's desires. The real end of prayer is not so much to get this or that single desire granted, as to put human life into full and joyful conformity with the will of God."

Got What He Wanted

The carriage was being driven along the road. The mother sat on the

front seat and the maid, caring for the spoiled baby, on the back

seat. The child began screaming for something. The mother impatiently

said, "Why don't you let him have what he wants?" The nurse let him

have it. What he was crying for was a wasp on the window. Then he

screamed vociferously when he felt the terrible sting of the wasp. The

mother then called out to ask, "What is the matter with him now?" The

maid quietly replied, "He got what he wanted." How often have we seen

this! It is better to seek the will of God first.

William Moses Tidwell, "Pointed Illustrations."

Safe in the Will of God

David Livingstone tells how he was chased up a small tree and

besieged by lions. He said the tree was so small that he was barely

out of reach of the lions. He said they would stand on their back feet

and roar and shake the little tree, and that he could feel the hot

breath of the lions as they sought him. "But," he states, "I had a

good night and felt happier and safer in that little tree besieged by

lions, in the jungles of Africa, in the will of God, than I would have

been out of the will of God in England."

There is one safe and happy place, and that is in the will of God.

William Moses Tidwell, "Pointed Illustrations."

WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT

The Two Frogs

TWO FROGS dwelt in the same pool. When the pool dried up under the

summer's heat, they left it and set out together for another home. As

they went along they chanced to pass a deep well, amply supplied with

water, and when they saw it, one of the Frogs said to the other, "Let

us descend and make our abode in this well: it will furnish us with

shelter and food." The other replied with greater caution, "But

suppose the water should fail us. How can we get out again from so

great a depth?'

For this reason, Christians need a lot of discernment before they

undertake something major in their lives. Therefore, they should

consult Heaven through prayer to determine if it is God's will or not.