Trusting God in the storm

Last Sunday I quoted some words from the hymn-writer, John Newton.  Newton said, 'everything is needful that he [God] sends; nothing can be needful that he withholds.'

On one hand those are the most comforting words that I can imagine.  Your life is not the subject of blind chance or chaos.  You don't have the unbearable responsibility of being the master of your fate and the captain of your soul.

On the other hand these are amazingly challenging words.  How do we trust the God who is in control when our life seems to be stranded on the rocks?

Hazel Oakley was a wonderful woman who attended our church until her death, a year and a half ago.  She experienced Multiple Sclerosis for most of her life.  I met a man in Bandon who knew Hazel as a young woman.  He said that when she was diagnosed Hazel declared with great faith that ‘if God intends Hazel Oakley to have Multiple Sclerosis then Multiple Sclerosis must be the best thing for Hazel Oakley.’  She then held God's hand through the storm.

She lived the truth that, 'everything is needful that he sends; nothing can be needful that he withholds.'

The Father-heart of God (Lent)

 'As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him' (Psalm 103:13).

During times of darkness and depression one of the things that keeps people functioning is their love for their family.  They may want to give up, but they know that those who love them want them and need them.  God has given the human heart the wonderful blessing of family love.  There is probably no more damaging thing to a person's development as when such love is absent.  But perfect fatherly love is offered to us in God.  Don't let the imperfections of any earthly father rob you of the infinite love that the heavenly Father wants to pour over you.

Keller writes:

'An adult can see right into the heart of a child who does not have the skills to hide selfishness, impatience, and a lack of wisdom ... Yet a good father loves his children anyway.  Indeed, the more weak and needy a child is, the more the father's heart goes out to him or her.  So God loves us to the bottom yet nevertheless loves us to the skies - literally.  God does not just pardon our sin, He adopts us into his family, giving us his love, access in prayer, a share in the inheritance of glory, and even family resemblance.'

The God who satisfies his own justice (Lent)

The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love ... he does not treat us as our sins deserve  (Psalm 103:8 and 10).

'God's anger is different from ours.  We are quick to anger, we make people pay who have wronged us, and then, nonetheless, we nurse our grievances.  God is slow to anger, provides for our forgiveness, and then remembers our sins no more (Keller).  

Keller points out that the above verse (Psalm 103:8), is a quote from Exodus (34:6).  In the Exodus text Moses says that God 'does not leave the guilty unpunished.'  How can Moses say the guilty will not go unpunished and yet David write that 'he does not treat us as our sins deserve'?  The answer, of course, is the cross.  The cross shows us how much it cost God to punish sin without punishing us.  That's why this Psalm can speak of an infinite love as high as the heavens are above the earth, and a perfect forgiveness that removes our rebellions as far as the east is from the west.

Preach the gospel to yourself (Lent)

At Christmas Caroline gave me a book of reflections on the Psalms that was written by Tim Keller.  The next two reflections are based on his thoughts.

Praise the LORD, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name ... who forgives all your sins (Psalm 103:1 and 3)

Notice what David is doing here.  He is speaking to himself.  He is preaching the gospel to himself.  'Praying the Gospel.  Here is how to work the Gospel into one's own heart until it transforms ... Biblical meditation, unlike the popular varieties, is not a relaxation technique for emptying the mind but rather one that fills it with truth, using thoughts and memory to set your heart on fire (Keller).'

Dear Lord, help us to see that you delight to forgive.  Help us not fear the fact that we do not deserve your love, but rest in the truth that you love us in your grace.  Help us remember that there are no exceptions to your promise to accept anyone that comes to your Son in repentance and trust (John 6:37).  Help us live free from feelings of guilt and thankful that we are set free.  Amen.    

The God who forgives (Lent reflection)

On Sunday Caroline began our service by reading Psalm 103.  Its words were balm to my soul.  Listen to some of the amazing statements that David declares about the love of God:

Praise the LORD, my soul,

all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits - 

who forgives all your sins

and heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit

and crowns you with love and compassion

who satisfies your desires with good things

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's ...

The Lord is compassionate and gracious,

slow to anger, abounding in love.

He will not always accuse,

nor will he harbour his anger forever,

he does not treat us as our sins deserve

or repay us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

as far as the east is from the west, 

so far has he removed our transgressions from us,

As a father has compassion on his children,

so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;

for he knows how we are formed,

he remembers that we are dust (Psalm 103:1-14).

On Monday I want to resume our Lent reflections with some further thoughts on the great Psalm.

Lent 2: The difficult (and comforting) doctrine of a soveriegn God.

'Everything is needed that he sends; nothing can be needful that he withholds' (John Newton).

Gosh!  These are big words.  'Everything' and 'nothing'.  God in control of all things.  Can we really accept this?  These words are meant to bring us comfort, but they can leave us perplexed.

This week I went to see friends whose son died by suicide.  How do we speak of a sovereign God in a situation like that?  What possible good could God have in mind through that young man's death?  It all seems to much!

But then I am reminded of Simon Peter.  Confronted with hard teaching, that lead many to reject Jesus, he exclaimed, 'where else can we go?  You have the words of life!' (John 6:66).

Where else can we go when we are confronted with the difficult doctrine of the sovereignty of God?  What is the alternative?  Would it really be better to believe that our suffering was pointless?  Would it really be a comfort to think that we had a weak God who looks on helplessly as our circumstances are tossed about on the waves of chaos?

Before Christmas I had a small breakdown.  As I lay in bed shivering with anxiety, I did think, 'God must have a purpose in this!'  I am not sure that brought any comfort at that moment.  But in the last couple of weeks (days characterised by varying degrees of depression) I have had times when there has been no better realisation that God knows what he is at and he will bring good out of this.  

I can't speak easily into the lives of people who have suffered far more painful things than I have.  I can't tell them that I know how they feel.  I certainly don't expect them to be able to easily embrace the sovereign rule of God.  But I do know that the alternative to a sovereign God is terrifying.  May God give us the strength to find comfort in the fact that he can be trusted!

Lent reflections 1: Gracious call to peace

Welcome to the beginning of Lent.  As some of you know I have been passing through a time of difficulty with my mental health.  I find that such times are not the right place for deep thinking.  Instead, when your soul is troubled, I think we need to be reassured of the love of God.  As a result, these lent reflections (each weekday of Lent) will seek to remind us of the goodness and grace of the God we follow.  I hope you will be blessed and feel the reality of his grace.

I am not angry.  

If only there were briars and thistles confronting me!

I would march against them in battle;

I would set them on fire.

Or else let them come to me for refuge, let them make peace with me, 

yes, let them make peace with me (Isaiah 27:4-5).

In these verses God is inviting people to be at peace with him.  The amazing thing about this invitation is that it is being issued to those very people who oppressed Israel [his people in the Old Testament].  God desires to be reconciled with his enemies.(Romans 5:10).  He assures them that if they come to him in repentance and trust they will receive welcome and love.  'He is not determined to destroy them.  If they will "make peace" with him, they can find "refuge" in him' (NIV Zondervan Study Bible).  

Thomas Chambers, a Scottish pastor of the 1800s, explains that "the tone of God's invitation is not a tone of anger - it is a tone of tenderness.  The look that accompanies the invitation is not a look of wrath - it is a look of affection ... it may well be said of God to all who are now seeking His face and favour, that there is no fury in him.'

It is not that I am denying that there is a Day of Judgement to come.  That will be an awful day for those who have refused the offer of grace and mercy available in Christ.  But at this time his offer of acceptance is open and sincere to all.  We will only have ourselves to blame if we refuse it.  He is after all a God who takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but would prefer that they would repent and live (Ezekiel 33:11).

Happy Valentines Day from the God of Love.