Cross to Glory - Mark 9:9-13

    And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead might mean. And they asked him, “Why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” And he said to them, “Elijah does come first to restore all things. And how is it written of the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him.”
(Mark 9:9-13 ESV)

 

I Don't Understand Why

    I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
(John 16:33 ESV)

We can and do spend a great amount of energy wondering why things happen. Why am I sick? What's all this going on in the middle east? Why did I lose my job? Why are my health insurance costs going up? Why did my good friend say that about me?  Why am I separated from those I love the most? Why is my church straying from orthodoxy? Why? Why? Why?

The truth is, we may never know why. It is good to look at Providence to try to understand but we often may not. At these times Os Guinness reminds us that, ..."If the Christian's faith is to be itself and let God be God at such times, it must suspend judgment and say, 'Father, I do not understand you, but I trust you.' ...Notice what this means. Christians do not say, 'I do not understand you at all but I trust you anyway.' Rather we say, 'I do not understand you in this situation, but I understand why I trust you anyway. Therefore I can trust that you understand even though I don't.'"

So as we scratch and claw our way through the trials of life let us take heart. R.C. Sproul wrote that, "God, in his providence, has the power and the will to work all things together for the good of his people. This does not mean that everything that happens to us is, in itself, good. Really bad things do happen to us. But they are only proximately bad; they are never ultimately bad. That is, they are only bad in the short (proximate) term, never in the long term. Because of the triumph of God's goodness in all things, he is able to bring good for us out of the bad. He turns our tradgedies into supreme blessings."

Let us rejoice friends and recall that "In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I [Christ] have overcome the world."

(Both quotes above are taken from Be Still, My Soul, Embracing God's Purpose and Provision in Suffering, Edited by Nancy Guthrie, Crossway Books, pgs, 38 & 47.)

Overcoming Discouragements

Richard Sibbes

Suffering brings discouragements, because of our impatience. "Alas!'. we lament, "I shall never get through such a trial.' But if God brings into the trial he will be with us in the trial, and at length bring us out, more refined. We shall lose nothing but dross (Zech. 13:9). From our own strength we cannot bear the least trouble, but by the Spirit's assistance we can bear the greatest. The Spirit will add his shoulders to help us to bear our infirmities. The Lord will give us His hand to heave us up (Psa. 37:24). 'Ye have heard of the patience of Job,' says James (James 5:11). We have heard of his impatience too, but it pleased God mercifully to overlook that. It yields us comfort also in desolate conditions, such as contagious sicknesses and the like, in which we are more immediately under God's hand, that then Christ has a throne of mercy at our bedside and numbers our tears and groans. (Taken from The Bruised Reed by Richard Sibbes, Banner of Truth, pgs. 54-55.)

Trials, Peace and Rejoicing?

    Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
(1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV)

Though favorite verses of many, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 can and does cause confusion for some. How can we rejoice always in severe trials? How can we pray always, are there not other things in life we must also do? How can I give thanks for having cancer? G.K. Beale in his commentary on 1&2 Thessalonians offers some insight to these questions.

"Paul attaches always, continually and in all circumstances to the three precepts in 5: 16-18 in order to highlight that his readers are not only to rejoice, pray and give thanks for the "good things" but also for the "bad things" that confront this church. Thus the circumstances of the readers' ordeals help explain how anyone can possibly be joyful always and pray continually. No one can literally rejoice and pray every second of their conscious existence, since this would prevent doing anything else. The answer comes from considering the following phrase: give thanks in all circumstances (or "give thanks in everything"), both good and bad. Similarly, the NIV's pray continually expresses that these activities are frequent, not literally every second. The parallelism of these three activities all being continual suggests that the phrase this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus is the ground not merely for thanksgiving but also for rejoicing and praying. During our daily activities, we must focus on the task at hand, but we should never lose sight of God in our spiritual peripheral vision. He should always be "in the background of [our] consciousness" (Findlay 1904: 127). When we are not aware of him in our "peripheral vision, " spiritual accidents occur, as can happen to us physically when we lose our literal peripheral vision."

"Martin (1995: 182) contends that "Paul never instructed the church to thank God for evil events but to thank God that even in evil times and circumstances our hope remains, and God continues his work in our lives (Rom 8: 28). " Romans 8: 28, however, does not say merely that God continues working in us in the midst of trials but that "in all things God works for the good of those who love him. " The same idea is likely in 1 Thessalonians, since Paul has said that "no one [should] be unsettled by these trials" because "you know quite well that we were destined [by God] for them" (3: 3). True, we do not thank God for bad events narrowly viewed in and of themselves, but we should thank him for such events as they are viewed in the "wide-angle lens" as part of his plan to sanctify us and to glorify himself (see 5: 23)."

"Similarly, another commentator affirms that believers should not "rejoice" in all things, such as illnesses, since "Christ did not. in any ordinary sense, rejoice on the Cross" (Whiteley 1969: 83). Perhaps, however, the key is in recognizing that Christians do not rejoice in such events in the "ordinary sense" the way the world rejoices. As in 1: 6, Paul's point is that we should have the attitudes of joy and thanks in response to whatever ups and downs we face. He has in mind a continual attitude of being aware of God's presence. Such an awareness will result in our ability to rejoice in whatever good or difficult things cross our paths under God's sovereign hand, to thank God for all these things and to pray for our needs and the needs of others. As Paul notes in 5: 18, thanksgiving has its ultimate source of being in Christ Jesus. Paul's statement that God's people are in Christ Jesus should remind them that they are to see all things through the lens of Christ and not from their own vantage point. As a consequence, they will experience peace."

Beale, G. K. (2010-02-17). 1-2 Thessalonians (Kindle Locations 2412-2435). Intervarsity Press - A. Kindle Edition.

What a gracious and wonderful God we serve who allows us to have peace in the most distressing trials of life. Consider what the Lord has done for you today.

Knowing Jesus through Trials

Octavius Winslow

Shrink not from, nor rebel against, that which makes you more intimately acquainted with your best Friend, your dearest Brother, the tender, sympathizing, Beloved of your soul. You will know more of Jesus in one sanctified trial than in wading through a library of volumes or in listening to a lifetime of sermons.

Winslow, Octavius (2011-11-01). The Works of Octavius Winslow (Kindle Locations 85009-85012). Monergism Books. Kindle Edition.

The Preciousness of Christ in Trials

Octavius Winslow

It is in adversity that human friendship is tested. When the wintry blast sweeps by, when fortune vanishes, and health fails, and position lowers, and popularity wanes, and influence lessens, then the summer birds of earthly friendship expand their wings and seek a warmer climate! The same test that proves the hollowness of the world's affection and constancy confirms the believer in the reality, power, and preciousness of the friendship of Jesus. To know fully what Christ is we must know something of adversity. We must be tried, tempted, and oppressed—we must taste the bitterness of sorrow, feel the pressure of want, tread the path of solitude, and often be brought to the end of our own strength and of human sympathy and counsel. Jesus shines the brightest to faith's eye when all things are dark and dreary. And when others have retired from our presence, their patience wearied, their sympathy exhausted, their counsel baffled, perhaps their affection chilled and their friendship changed, then Christ approaches and takes the vacant place; sits at our side, speaks peace to our troubled heart, soothes our sorrows, guides our judgment, and bids us "Fear not." Beloved reader, when has Christ appeared the nearest and most precious to your soul? Has it not been in seasons when you have the most stood in need of His guiding counsel and of His soothing love? In the region of your heart's sinfulness you have learned the value, completeness, and preciousness of His atoning work, of His finished salvation. But the tender, loving, sympathetic part of His nature, you have been brought into the experience of only in the school of sanctified trial. Oh, how precious has that trial made Him!

Winslow, Octavius (2011-11-01). The Works of Octavius Winslow (Kindle Locations 84990-85001). Monergism Books. Kindle Edition.

Profiting from Trials

Octavius Winslow

The more your faith is tried, the more it deals with God, and travels to Christ; and it is impossible for you to spend one minute with God, or to catch one glimpse of Christ, and not be sensibly and immeasurably the gainer. The more your faith leads you to the throne of grace, the more precious will prayer become. The more your faith deals with the atonement of Christ, the more will the glory of His work unfold to your mind. The more your faith takes hold of the Divine promises, the more will it be confirmed in the truth of God's word. Thus faith—so supernatural and wondrous a grace is it—transmutes everything it touches into most precious gold, and so confers upon its tried but happy possessor "greater riches than the treasures of Egypt."

Winslow, Octavius (2011-11-01). The Works of Octavius Winslow (Kindle Locations 84944-84949). Monergism Books. Kindle Edition.

We don't have to pretend...

Gracious and wise words from Mark Dever...

Embracing trials doesn’t mean that we are to pretend that they are not trials. It simply means that we are not to let our reactions to them be determined by how they first feel to us. How many times do parents have to do this with children? Or doctors with patients? Or good public servants with constituents, if they’re to serve them well?

And we should be encouraged by remembering that God is glorified by our perseverance in trials. First Peter 4:19 says, “Those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.” Through every trial we learn that God is enough. We don’t need this or that good circumstance in order to feel that it’s worthwhile to serve God and to love Him. Like Paul with his thorn, by considering trials as part of our faith in God, we display His strength through our weaknesses.

Read the whole post here.

Finding God in the Waiting Room

If we have eyes to see and ears to hear, the cancer-clinic waiting room reminds us that our lives are a vapor; that our days are all numbered; that He gives us life and breath and all things, and, therefore, we are utterly dependent creatures; that sin is real and has a million tragic consequences; that pride is ridiculously ugly and meekness wonderfully beautiful; that we are called to rejoice with those who are rejoicing and weep with those who are weeping; that people are either saved or lost; that God’s grace is real, His Son all-sufficient, and through the cross, cancer will one day be no more.

Read, the entire post from Mike Pohlman on The Gospel and the Oncology Waiting Room. It is an extremely poignant post for all of us.

Critical Questions (5) 1 Peter 4:16-19

1 Peter 4:16-19

16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And “If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” 19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

Christ, A Remedy for Despair

What do you do when you encounter trials and suffering?

Free Grace and Hard Trials

I know no sweeter way to heaven, than through free grace and hard trials together, and none of these cannot well want another. Taken from The Loveliness of Christ, by Samuel Rutherford, pg. 75).

If you don't have this little tome may I suggest you purchase one today. It's full of encouragement and helps for the Christian walk. In Sinclair Ferguson's foreward he shares that this small book is the one he has most often lent and quoted. And so it should be.