Will You Be Thankful for Your Elected Officials?

Posted on October 20, 2024 by Barbara Harper

Almost every day, I pray for rulers and authorities according to 1 Timothy 2:1-2. Recently I had occasion to look up that passage, and was stunned to find I had forgotten a key point.

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.

The word I had overlooked?

Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving?

How can we be thankful for rulers who don’t rule well (speaking generally across a lifetime of elected officials), who oppose God’s moral law, who stand for things we’re against?

Well, at the time Paul wrote this letter to Timothy, they were under the reign of Nero—not the most moral of leaders, and certainly not friendly to Christians.

Even the worst rulers keep some sort of order. Without them, we’d have total anarchy or mob rule, neither of which is good.

For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience (Romans 13:3).

But besides that, the Bible says that rulers are appointed by God.

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God (Romans 13:1).

For not from the east or from the west and not from the wilderness comes lifting up, but it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another (Psalm 75:6-7).

He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding (Daniel 2:21).

The Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will and sets over it the lowliest of men (Daniel 4:17b).

How can God set up ungodly rulers?

Habakkuk wondered that in the book that bears his name. He complained to God about the sin, violence, strife, and destruction all around him. “The law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted” (1:4).

How did God answer? He was sending the “dreaded and fearsome” Chaldeans, known for their violence, “whose own might is their god.“

If Habakkuk lived in our day, he might have said, “Wait—what?” He protests, and then God elaborates. Their conversation is too long to share here, but I encourage you to read it. God was judging Israel, but He would judge the Chaldeans, too. Habakkuk asks God to “in wrath remember mercy,” and though he trembles, he trusts and will rejoice in God.

God doesn’t always share His reasons for what He does. Sometimes He appoints wicked rulers as a judgment. Sometimes we’re more prayerful when a candidate we’re opposed to wins an election. When “our guy” is in office, we tend to trust him rather than God. Sometimes He has other purposes in mind. But rulers don’t have a free pass just because God appointed them. They are accountable to Him as well.

And even when wicked rulers are in power, God is still on the throne. Statements and evidences of this are all over Scripture, but one clear example is in the book of Esther. God’s name is not mentioned in Esther, but His fingerprints are everywhere. Despite a heathen king and a wicked enemy, God spared His people.

The United States will hold elections in a couple of weeks. Whether our preferred candidates win or not, we should:

Remember God is still on the throne.
Obey authorities unless they ask us to disobey God. “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29); “Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people” (Titus 3:1-2).
Pray for them. “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way (1 Timothy 2:1-2).
Thank God for them (1 Timothy 2:1).
Respect them. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor (1 Peter 2:17).
Serve God. Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God (1 Peter 2:13-16).

Warren Wiersbe share some helpful admonitions in Be Alert (2 Peter, 2 & 3 John, Jude): Beware of the Religious Impostors:

Human government is, in one sense, God’s gift to help maintain order in the world, so that the church may minister the Word and win the lost to Christ (1 Tim. 2: 1–8). We should pray daily for those in authority so that they might exercise that authority in the will of God. It is a serious thing for a Christian to oppose the law, and he must be sure he is in the will of God when he does it. He should also do it in a manner that glorifies Christ, so that innocent people (including unsaved government employees) might not be made to suffer (p. 64).

Speaking evil of others is a great sin, and the people of God must avoid it. We may not respect the people in office, but we must respect the office, for all authority is God-given. Those who revile government officials in the name of Christ ought to read and ponder Titus 3: 1–2: “Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men” (NASB). When Daniel refused the king’s food, he did it in a gracious way that did not get his guard into trouble (Dan. 1). Even when the apostles refused to obey the Sanhedrin’s order that they stop preaching in the name of Jesus, they acted like gentlemen. They respected the authority, even though they disobeyed the order (p. 65, emphasis mine).

What can we pray for elected officials?

Wisdom. “Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?” (1 Kings 3:9).
Justice. “May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice! May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor!” (Psalm 72:2, 4).
Peace; opportunity to live a godly life. “That we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way” (1 Timothy 2:2)
Right counsel, that wrong counsel will be unheeded. “And it was told David, ‘Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.’ And David said, ‘O Lord, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness” (2 Samuel 15:31).
Truth; salvation. Joseph, Daniel, Peter, Paul, and others had opportunities to share God’s truth with the leaders of their day.

No earthly ruler or authority will be perfect, yet God uses them for His own purposes. It matters that we use the voice God has given us through voting as wisely as possible. But then we trust Him for and through the results. And because we trust Him, we can thank Him.

1 Timothy 1:1-2: Pray and thank God for rulers

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

Updated to add: I will not approve any comments pro or against any candidate. My point is that ALL Christians are under obligation to respect, obey, pray for, and thank God for whichever candidates are elected.

Jesus , Our Example and More

Posted on October 13, 2024 by Barbara Harper

Some believe that Jesus is a good example, but they don’t believe He is God in the flesh.

C. S. Lewis famously said that if Jesus is not God, He is not good. Since He claimed to the God, if He isn’t, then He is either delusional or deceptive.

We know by faith, by the Word of God, by His claims, by the testimony of others that Jesus is God.

So we know that Jesus is more than just a good example. Yet the Scriptures tell His children specifically to look to Him as an example in various aspects of life.

We don’t follow His example to try to be enough like Him to earn salvation. That would never work. We could never be “good enough.” Plus, He’s told us that salvation is by grace through faith, not ourselves (Ephesians 2:8-9).

So first, we look to Him for salvation (John 3:16-18). Then we look to Him as our perfect example for leading a godly life.

Love. “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:1-2).

Endurance. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.” (Hebrews 12:1-3).

Service. “When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them” (John 13:12-27).

Putting others first. “We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, ‘The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me'” (Romans 15:1-3).

Humility and sacrifice. “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:5-11).

Suffering. “For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:19-24).

“Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God” (1 Peter 4:1-2).

Taking up our cross. “Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it'” (Matthew 16:24).

There are also many ways He was an example to us where the Bible doesn’t use that word. For instance, as He resisted Satan with the Word of God, He showed us how to do the same. (Matthew 4). 1 John 2:6 says, “Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”

However, looking to Jesus as an example naturally leads to this thought: He is God. Of course He could do all these things perfectly. I am not and cannot.

Of course, we’ll never do any of these things perfectly. But looking to Jesus does more than inspire us and give us an ideal.

When I look at how Jesus suffered unjustly without “reviling” or “threatening,” my tendency to chafe under my minor trials melts away.

When I see how He didn’t stand on His “rights” as the Son of God, my grasp on my own rights loosens.

When I see the love He expressed to me and to others, His love fills me and overflows.

Colossians 2:3 tells us that in Christ “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Similarly, 1 Corinthians 1:30 says, “And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption.”

So we not only learn wisdom as we observe in the Bible what He did when He was on earth, but our very righteousness and sanctification are in Him.

Furthermore, 2 Corinthians 3:18 tells us “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

As we behold Him, we don’t just see an inspirational example to follow. In some way, we’re actually transformed to be more like Him.

May this be our prayer:

Oh! to be like Thee, oh! to be like Thee,
Blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

Thomas O Chisholm

For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. John 13:15

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

To Confront or Cover?

Posted on October 6, 2024 by Barbara Harper

There are times the Bible tells us to overlook offenses.

Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses (Proverbs 10:12).

Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends (Proverbs 17:9).

Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense (Proverbs 19:11).

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8).

But other times, we’re told to confront sin.

Whoever rebukes a man will afterward find more favor than he who flatters with his tongue (Proverbs 28:23).

If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector (Matthew 18:15-17).

My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins (James 5:19-20).

How do you know when to confront someone and when to overlook what they did?

That’s something I have wrestled with most of my adult life. By nature, I tend to avoid confrontation unless I am in a position of authority, such as with my children or a class.

As I have pondered these questions, it seemed confrontation is clearly called for when someone

commits a crime
violates a clear, specific biblical command, like lying or committing adultery
hurts someone else, like an abuser
premeditates any of these things.

On the other end of the scale, we should obviously overlook minor irritations like squeezing the toothpaste tube or putting toilet paper roll on the “wrong” way.

But a vast gray area exists between those extremes.

Once I was talking with a friend who was upset with our pastor. He had preached a strong Mother’s Day message about the value of a mother in the home. He never said a mother shouldn’t work outside the home, but my friend felt that’s what he meant. She felt that she had no choice but to work while mothering. She was so troubled that she was already planning to avoid church the next Mother’s Day.

We moved shortly thereafter, but I was concerned about a larger breach forming between my friend and the pastor. I didn’t think she had sinned, but Hebrews 12:15 warns of a “root of bitterness” which would have caused much grief and more hurt. I don’t remember what I said in the moment, but this concern grew to the point that I wrote my friend a letter, trying to bring understanding and smooth things over. Still feeling uncertain over whether I should say anything, I asked God to let the letter get lost in the mail if it wasn’t His will for it to reach her.

Soon I got a note from my friend saying, “I hope you didn’t send me a bunch of money, because I received an envelope from you with nothing in it.”

Furthermore, the next time we talked, she spoke of the pastor in glowing terms. So no breach had formed at all.

Well—God definitely answered my prayer! But I was also a bit shaken. This was obviously not a time God wanted me to intervene. So how could I know when He did, especially when my bent was to avoid doing so?

How do we navigate the gray areas? I still don’t have all the answers, but these principles come to mind.

Pray much. We can cause further problems if we jump in where we shouldn’t. We need God’s wisdom and guidance.

Be swift to hear, slow to speak (James 1:19). Unless someone is in imminent danger, it’s better to act slowly and cautiously. “The one who gives an answer before he listens — this is foolishness and disgrace for him” (Proverbs 18:3).

Speak from a relationship. An expression of concern will go over much better if there is a previous relationship. Someone who knows me and cares about me has more of a right to point out something wrong than an acquaintance.

Speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). Someone whose blog I have lost track of wrote about a woman in her church who spoke to her rather harshly about dressing immodestly at church. To this younger lady’s credit, she took the woman’s rebuke to heart and agreed with her. But the way it was handled caused unnecessary pain.

Aim for restoration. Most rebuke in Scripture is meant to help turn the person around. We live in such a smack-down culture, we need to remember not to just lob attacks at people. We don’t point out wrong in order to elevate ourselves as “right,” but to help the person see what’s wrong and be motivated to correct it.

Give the benefit of the doubt. For example, if a person seemingly snubbed you at church, consider that maybe they didn’t see you or were preoccupied.

Consider extenuating circumstances. When people are under stress, they say and do things they wouldn’t otherwise. After everything calms down, we might need to discuss how what they said hurt our feelings. But then again, we might write the offense off as uncharacteristic.

If this kind of reaction is a habit, though, I think a discussion is probably necessary. Abusers often follow this pattern of blowing up, then blaming their reaction on the other person.

When you overlook, truly overlook. If we’re not going to speak to someone about their offense, we shouldn’t stew over it.

Don’t be a busybody. A young woman in a former church shared with some of us that an older woman told her that she and her husband shouldn’t wait until he finished school, as they planned, to have children. This same older woman told another young mother that she was having too many children too close together. Though I know this older woman felt she was “helping,” she seems to me to have stepped over the line.

When the young wife told us of this incident and how it hurt her and seemed an unnecessary intrusion, I said, “That sounds like Mrs. X.” It was Mrs. X. Another lady in the group spoke of needing to know how to take Mrs. X. so as not to get feelings hurt. But I have often wondered if someone should have said something to Mrs. X.

Ephesians 4:1-3 says, “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

Sometimes love bears with each other in our faults and foibles; sometimes love points out wrong that it may be confessed and forgiven.

What helps you decide when to do which?

Speaking the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15a)

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

God’s Grace for This Moment

Posted on September 29, 2024 by Barbara Harper

As we were preparing for bed one night last week, my husband shared a concern on his heart for our country, especially in regard to the next election.

I’m thankful for a husband who keeps informed and understands more about these things than I do. I’m afraid I am not nearly as interested in politics as my husband is. It’s not that I stick my head in the sand and ignore what’s going on. I believe in being informed, voting, and using our voice, especially since we have a voice and vote in this country. But sometimes it seems nearly impossible to know what’s really happening behind closed doors and what news services are trustworthy.

The country’s and the world’s problems are too big for me. There’s not much I can do about any of them besides pray. And though I acknowledge that praying is the main and best thing I can do, I get overwhelmed, frustrated, and burdened if I think too much about the needs of the world. I have enough to do with the things I have responsibility for.

As I continued my nightly routine, I began to think of some of those responsibilities closer to home. We had a few more events than usual on the calendar. At this stage of life, having a busy calendar stresses me even when I look forward to the events.

Before I go to bed, I like to read the evening selection from Daily Light on the Daily Path. At that time of night, I don’t dive deep, pull out commentaries, or look up definitions like I might during my main Bible reading in the mornings. I mainly read a few verses of truth at night to settle my mind and close my day.

This night, however, I had trouble focusing even for those few minutes. It’s not that I was worried or stressed at the moment because of national or personal needs. But my thoughts pinballed at high speed between all the different concerns on my mind.

I told myself I needed to shut everything else down and just focus at this very moment on the words of truth before me. I think I prayed that, but I don’t remember for sure.

As God helped me concentrate, these are some of the verses I read:

My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).

God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work (2 Corinthians 9:8).

We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us (2 Corinthians 4:7).

Instantly, my mind, heart, and soul were at rest. All of these verses were familiar to me, but I needed them once again. Whatever is ahead, on a personal, national, or global level, God’s grace is sufficient.

Decades ago when we took a childbirth class during my first pregnancy, our instructor had a couple from one of her previous classes come back and share their experiences. I remember the new mom saying that during labor, if she thought, “How many hours will I have to do this?” she felt defeated and tired. But if she took each contraction as it came and used the techniques she had been taught, she coped better.

All we have to do is trust God and walk with Him in this very moment. That’s what a walk is, after all—a series of steps. We don’t have grace for what’s ahead, because we don’t need it yet. As we rely on Him step by step, He’ll carry us through whatever we have to face.

When life seems too much, just focus on this moment and rely on your heavenly Father. God’s grace is available every step.

Day by day, and with each passing moment,
Strength I find to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment,
I’ve no cause for worry or for fear.
He, whose heart is kind beyond all measure,
Gives unto each day what He deems best,
Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest.

Every day the Lord Himself is near me,
With a special mercy for each hour;
All my cares He fain would bear and cheer me,
He whose name is Counsellor and Pow’r.
The protection of His child and treasure
Is a charge that on Himself He laid;
“As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,”
This the pledge to me He made.

Help me then, in every tribulation,
So to trust Thy promises, O Lord,
That I lose not faith’s sweet consolation,
Offered me within Thy holy Word.
Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,
E’er to take, as from a father’s hand,
One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,
Till I reach the promised land.

Lina Sandell Berg, 1865

2 Corinthians 9:8: And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency[a] in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

Updated to add: I wrote this a week ago without thought of Hurricane Helene. If anything would overwhelm, what I’ve seen and heard of Helene’s effects would. My heart goes out to those who are suffering in the hurricane’s wake, and I pray they find God’s presence, comfort, and provision sufficient for all their needs.

Freedom to Lament

Posted on September 22, 2024 by Barbara Harper

When we were taking care of my mother-in-law at home, nothing quite helped like talking to others who were doing or had done the same. They knew by experience what was involved. It’s not that we wanted to gripe about our situation, but there were difficulties and pressures these friends would understand. It’s not that other friends weren’t a help, but with these we felt a freedom to talk like we didn’t always feel with others.

That’s one reason Paul says in 2 Corinthians 2:3-4, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” God comforts us through His Word, His Spirit, and His people.

When this passage came up in our recent ladies’ Bible study, someone pointed out that we need to feel free to be vulnerable with each other, to share when we’re struggling.

I came to that realization some years ago after I contracted transverse myelitis. We got our first computer a few weeks later, and transverse myelitis was the first thing I looked up. In that era before Facebook and message boards, I found a subscriber group of TM patients and caregivers. They were a lifeline to me as I navigated a little-known disease.

I wanted to be a good testimony there. I knew that would mean not hijacking conversations to “preach,” which would not have been well-received. But I wanted to give God the glory for the help and grace He gave and point others to Him. I thought the best way to do that was to always be cheerful and positive.

Some years later, another woman came into the group who was also a Christian. She was very transparent about her frustrations and struggles with TM. She wasn’t complaining, but she was honest. She gave God glory, and it rang true because we saw how He helped her.

I realized we’re not much help to others if we come across as always having everything all together. We’re more authentic when we share our struggles and burdens.

The Sunday after the Bible study session where we discussed these things, our care group met for lunch after the Sunday morning service. Our pastor emeritus had given an excellent message that morning about God’s grace through suffering–in his case, months in the hospital in isolation with Covid, a lung transplant, a blood clot, and more. The host of our care group asked if anyone had anything to share in connection with the message.

One woman shared how hard it was after her son committed suicide. When people asked her how she was doing, and she tried to tell them, she’d have to short-circuit what she wanted to say. She could see by their faces that they weren’t ready for what was on her heart. She pointed out that we need to allow for lament in the church such as the psalmists display. About a third of the psalms are laments, which are different from complaints. The writers conveyed a range of emotions based on their troubles. They eventually reminded themselves of God’s character and love, but they had to spend their grief and confusion first before they could receive it.

Granted, the psalmists did not have as much of the Word of God as we do now, which might have helped with some of their questions. But there are always mysteries as to why God allows certain painful things or doesn’t grant things that seem beneficial.

Paul was honest about his struggles as well:

. . . far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches (2 Corinthians 11:23-38).

In Peter’s epistles, he was also quite frank about suffering believers experience.

When people are hurting, we want to fix their problems and make them better. But healing takes time. Sometimes pain drowns everything else out. We can’t help others when we apply Bible verses like band-aids over gaping wounds. There is a time to share Scripture. I’ve been greatly encouraged by a shared verse at just the right time. But first we need to listen and “weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15). Sometimes the tender care and concern shared in the midst of someone’s pain will open their hearts to receive truth.

Someone has said that Job’s friends ministered to him much more when they sat with him in silence for a week than when they started talking.

Some years ago, in our early married life, someone at church shared a prayer request for a man who had just been diagnosed with cancer. The speaker went on to say that the wife wasn’t taking the news well.

I thought, “How does someone take that kind of news well?” Wrestling through pain, confusion, and grief doesn’t mean one doesn’t have faith. This woman needed someone to come alongside her, not judge for her initial reaction to devastating news.

There is no one formula for aiding people in their worst times. We need to ask God’s guidance for what to share when. But we need to give them space to grieve. We need to listen, empathize, support, and love without judgment and pat answers.

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

The Most Important Thing

Posted on September 15, 2024 by Barbara Harper

It’s so easy to get off-track as Christians.

For instance, we set up routines to help us get into God’s Word regularly. But we can find ourselves just going through the routine without really engaging with Scripture. Or we set up various programs for good at church, but then get lost in the minutia of maintaining the program, forgetting its purpose. There is nothing wrong with good routines and programs in themselves: we just need to keep the main things the main things.

I was struck in my recent Bible reading by the number of times phrases like “knowing God” or “the knowledge of God” came up. Among other things, these verses reminded me of the importance of getting back to basics. As A. W. Tozer wrote in The Pursuit of God:

The simplicity which is in Christ is rarely found among us. In its stead are programs, methods, organizations and a world of nervous activities which occupy time and attention but can never satisfy the longing of the heart . . . If we would find God amid all the religious externals, we must first determine to find Him, and then proceed in the way of simplicity.

I decided to explore more of what the Bible says about the knowledge of God. Here is some of what I found.

Do you want eternal life? Know God.

“And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3).

Do you want grace and peace? Know God.

“May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord” (1 Peter 1:2).

Do you want to know how to live a godly life? Know God.

“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3).

Do you need wisdom? Know God.

“I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him” (Ephesians 1:16-17).

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight” (Proverbs 9:10).

“That their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:2-3).

Do you want to be more like Jesus? Behold Him.

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Knowing God is more important than our rituals and duties.

“For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:6).

Knowing God is worth more than anything else.

“I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death” (Philippians 3:8-10).

“Thus says the Lord: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight,’ declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 9:23-24).

We know God through His Son.

“And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life” (1 John 5:20).

“Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father?’” (John 14:9).

“For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” 2 Corinthians 4:6).

We know God through His Word.

“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire” (2 Peter 1:3-4). (See also Proverbs 2.)

We know God through repentance.

“And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will” (2 Timothy 2:24-26).

We know God through His people.

“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ” (2 Corinthians 2:14-17).

We can get to know Him better all through life.

“Until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” Ephesians 4:13).

“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:9-10).

“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).

Results of knowing God:

We’re enabled to keep His commandments. “And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says ‘I know him’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him” (1 John 2:3-5).

“And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him” 1 John 3:23-24).

We’re enabled to have victory over sin. “No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him” 1 John 3:6).

We’re enabled to love. “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:7-8).

We trust God. “And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you” (Psalm 9:10).

The Holy Spirit dwells within us. “By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit” (1 John 4:13).

We’re strengthened to do things for God. “The people who know their God shall stand firm and take action” (Daniel 11:32; The KJV says they will “be strong and do exploits”).

I’m sure much more could be added.

I normally wouldn’t post primarily a list of verses. But I think the impact of them is stronger this way than if I tried to weave them together into a winsome post. I don’t think they need any more of my words added to them. They blessed me, and I hope you are blessed by them, too.

May we know our God, grow in our knowledge of Him, and make Him known to others.

And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
John 17:3

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

When Trying to Avoid Pain Creates More Pain

Posted on September 8, 2024 by Barbara Harper

When we first brought my mother-in-law, Colleen, home from the nursing home several years ago, the muscles in her legs and left arm were contracted due to her being bedridden and not having her arms and legs stretched. We had not thought to ask if that was being done, both because we didn’t know it needed to be, plus we assumed the staff was doing what they were supposed to.

Colleen’s arm was contracted to the point that it was usually folded at the elbow, with her hand up by her chin. One problem, besides discomfort, of having her arm folded against itself all the time was the danger of moisture creating a prime dwelling spot for bacteria to grow, causing skin problems and possible infections. It was hard to clean the area as well. She could open her arm, if we could get across to her that’s what we wanted. But normally, the atrophied muscle kept her arm folded.

On top of that, Collen developed Dupuytren’s contracture in one hand where two fingers are bent in toward the palm and can’t straighten.

An occupational therapist was sent to our home to work with Colleen’s arm and hand. As you can imagine, trying to work contracted muscles was painful, no matter how gentle the therapist was.

Colleen was not a very talkative person except among family or close friends. But when the therapist came, Colleen would start chattering, telling him about her family or anything else she could think of, trying to delay the inevitable. As he worked, Colleen would say he was hurting her, and she’d get more agitated the longer he went on. The therapist, aide, and I tried to encourage her to relax and work with him, but in her mental state at that time, she couldn’t take in the idea that the momentary discomfort would eventually pay off and her arm would feel better.

Her discomfort increased to the point that she’d tense even when the therapist entered her room, making progress even harder. Therapy eventually stopped.*

Sometimes our efforts to avoid getting hurt create more pain. I took a tumbling class for one college P. E. course. The teacher advised that if we ever found ourselves falling, we should roll with it. She said most injuries from falls occur as we try to stop ourselves from falling. That happened to a guy I knew–he was playing soccer, slipped, threw out his arms to catch himself, and broke his wrist.

When God starts working with our tight places, we recoil from the pain. We want to pull away. We want it all to stop.

When we anticipate bad things that could happen, we tense with fear and dread.

When we face difficult situations with tension, we miss the good that our situation is accomplishing and make the experience all the more difficult.

Our pastor recently said something like worry is fear that God won’t get things right. I had to think about that. I was convicted of its truth.

We know from His Word that He has a purpose in all He allows, even suffering. We know He has promised to be with us and give us grace to help in every situation.

But even knowing those truths, knowing He always does what is right, sometimes the problem is we’re afraid we’re not going to like what He allows. As C. S. Lewis said, “We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us, we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be.”

Look at Job, after all. Who among us would want to go through all he did? Or Joni Eareckson Tada, who has spent more than fifty years in a wheelchair due to a diving accident and then dealt with cancer and chronic pain on top of that. Or Elisabeth Elliot, whose first husband was murdered and whose second husband lost a horrific battle with cancer.

We can scare ourselves to death with “what ifs.” If what we fear comes true, then we’ve doubled our angst by worrying about it ahead of time plus dealing with it when it happens. And if the worst never happens, then we’ve wasted all that time and energy worrying about it.

I’ve known some occupational therapists who are warm and kind. I’ve known others who are not unkind, but their manner is matter-of-fact and down-to-business. But I think any of them would tell us they don’t torture people because they enjoy it. Rather, they know the temporary pain of stretching and working reluctant muscles will lead to greater usefulness and movement and will prevent further deterioration or, in some cases, infections.

God is not just a doctor putting us through the paces for our health. He’s a kind and loving Father. He’s not capricious. He doesn’t act on a whim. Everything He allows is for a purpose. He understands our lamentations. He’s promised to be with us and give us grace every step of the way.

Amy Carmichael wrote a poem about not finding peace in forgetting, endeavor, aloofness, and even submission, but in acceptance. The last stanza goes:

He said, ‘I will accept the breaking sorrow
Which God tomorrow
Will to His son explain.’
Then did the turmoil deep within me cease.
Not vain the word, not vain;
For in acceptance lieth peace.

Instead of tensing at what God might do and allow in my life, I need to trust my good and loving Father and seek His grace all along the way.

Be assured that the testing of your faith [through experience] produces endurance [leading to spiritual maturity, and inner peace]. And let endurance have its perfect result and do a thorough work, so that you may be perfect and completely developed [in your faith], lacking in nothing.
James 1:3-4, Amplified Bible

The testing of your faith produces steadfastness. . . James 1:3-4

Revised from the archives

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

For those who might wonder, we dealt with Colleen’s bent arm by cutting the foot portion off an old tube sock and sliding it up to cover the middle part of her arm to help keep from chafing or getting too moist. Thanks be too God, she never got a skin infection there the five years she lived with us.

Believing What We Don’t See

Posted on September 1, 2024 by Barbara Harper

When you talk to people about God, some respond with, “I don’t believe in what I can’t see.”

Before we’re too hard on our skeptical friends, let’s ask ourselves what we’d say if someone told us they’d seen a fairy underneath a mushroom in a garden. We’d likely say something like, “Oh, really? Show me.” And when they couldn’t, we’d say inwardly, if not outwardly, “That’s what I thought.”

We tend toward belief in what we can see, hear, feel, taste, and touch. That’s the scientific method we grew up with, after all. We learn about the world around us by examining it and testing it.

We also try to fit our experiences into our current frame of reference. When we hear that a mild-mannered neighbor has been arrested for assault, we’re astonished. We never saw anything to indicate he was capable of raising a hand to someone. We try to make sense of his behavior by wondering if he was ill, drugged, drunk, or provoked in some way.

How many times have we heard someone say, “If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it.”

When someone chooses not to believe in God because they can’t see Him, we usually point out that there are several things we believe in without seeing. Wind, for one. We see its effect. We can track its movement on weather maps. But we don’t see wind itself. We could say the same about gravity, electricity, love, and many other life experiences.

And we could point out that, just like wind and gravity and such, we see evidences and effects of God at work. We see His hand in creation. “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1). “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20).

We could also point out history. How do we know such persons as George Washington or Alexander the Great or others really existed? We might have some of their own writing or effects to examine. But more than that, we have historical evidence in documents and testimony about them.

We have the same with God. He has spoken through His Word over the course of thousands of years, with various people giving their testimonies of what He said to them, which all provides a coherent whole.

The field of apologetics, which comes from a Greek word meaning “speaking in defense,” according to Wikipedia, explores these kinds of things. Many books have been ably written by men such as Josh McDowell (Evidence That Demands a Verdict) and Lee Strobel (The Case for Christ, his own testimony of coming to Christ while in the process of trying to disprove Christianity), and others.

These have done a much better job explaining and defending the evidences for Christian faith than I could, especially in a small blog post.

Faith is not a blind leap in the dark. Faith is based on God’s Word and testimony about Himself and His gift of opening our eyes and hearts to His truth. Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

Recently, I began to ponder just how much of what we believe in is unseen.

Our Savior. “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:8).

Our protection. Once the king of Syria came after the prophet Elisha, because God had warned his people through Elisha how to avoid the king’s armies. Then, “When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, ‘Alas, my master! What shall we do?’ He said, ‘Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’ Then Elisha prayed and said, ‘O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.’ So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha” (2 Kings 6:8-23).

Similarly, in the book of Esther, God is not mentioned once, but His fingerprints are all over that narrative.

I hope one thing we might do in heaven is hear more about those “behind the scenes” times God was protecting us.

The heavenly realm. I marvel at Ephesians 3:10, which says “that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.” Imagine, beings in heaven learn more about God by seeing how He deals with us!

Not only are there unseen beings in heaven, but later in Ephesians 6, Paul tells us to put on the whole armor of God, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

Coming glory. “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

All of God’s promises fulfilled. We’ve seen multitudes of God’s promises fulfilled in our own lives and through people in the Bible. But some of what has been prophesied has not happened yet. Hebrews 11 is often called the “hall of faith,” telling how God worked in and through the lives of many heroes of the faith. But, the passage says, “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth” (verse 13). Later in the chapter, the writer says, “And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect” (verse 39). Some of the promises were fulfilled in biblical times, some in our time, and some are yet to come.

Our heavenly home. The writer of Hebrews says of those who “were strangers and exiles on the earth,” “For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city” (Hebrews 11:14-16).

What do we do with these invisible realities?

We keep believing. “And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord” (Luke 1:45).

We endure. “By faith [Moses] left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:27).

We lay up treasure in heaven. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).

We live with eternity in view. “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:1-2).

We run the race, looking to Jesus. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1-2).

We do the work He left for us. 1 Corinthians 15 deals with the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and our resurrection after we die. At the end of the chapter, after talking about mortality putting on immortality, and death being swallowed in victory and losing its sting, Paul says, “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (verse 58).

Ephesians 2:8-10 says we are saved by grave through faith, not works. But “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” We work, not to earn salvation, but as a result of our salvation.

We look forward to heaven. “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18).

We’re encouraged. “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18).

We are blessed. After His resurrection, “Jesus said to [Thomas], ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed'” (John 20:29).

In the second half of John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, which tells the story of the Pilgrim’s wife, Christiana, one character only looks down, gathering up debris with a muck-rake. Someone stands above him, offering a celestial crown. But the man with the rake never looks up. The Interpreter tells Christiana, “Now whereas it was also shewed thee that the man could look no way but downwards, it is to let thee know that earthly things when they are with power upon men’s minds, quite carry their hearts away from God.”

Our senses are so filled here, we forget there are unseen realities. But those realities are more firm and lasting and important than what we see. “For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18b). May God give us grace to look up, believe, and live for eternity.

Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. John 20:29b

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

Don’t Wait Until You Feel Like It

Posted on August 25, 2024 by Barbara Harper

It’s time to read the Bible. But I had a late night last night and tons of things to do today. I’m just not in a mental frame to read the Bible right now.

It’s time to pray. But I just don’t feel like praying right now. I’ll wait til I am feeling more spiritual.

It’s time to get ready for church. But I’ve had a lot of appointments this week. I just don’t feel like being around a lot of people and activity. I think I’ll just watch the service from home.

Have you ever faced any of those scenarios? I think we’ve all had times we haven’t felt like doing what we know we need to.

Sometimes it even feels like we’d be faking it if we proceeded with prayer, Bible reading, or going to church without the proper spiritual feelings in place.

But I’d like to suggest that we wouldn’t be faking it. Instead, by doing what we ought to do even when we don’t feel like it, we’d be battling our fleshly nature, what the Bible calls our “old man.”

We received a new nature at salvation. But we still have the old one as well. Our old nature constantly pulls us in the direction giving in to ourselves, yielding to fleshly desires.

If we never felt like doing any spiritual activities, we’d have cause for concern about our relationship with the Lord.

But even having experienced the blessing of prayer, Bible reading, and church attendance, sometimes we’re still sluggish and reluctant to participate in them.

What can we do?

Get enough rest. Sometimes the cause is physical. I’m often too drowsy for my morning Bible reading if I stayed up too late the night before. Those times of life when a full night’s sleep is impossible—when a new baby is in the house or we’re sick—we may have to adjust our time with the Lord into smaller breaks throughout the day.

Search our hearts. Sometimes that sluggish or negative feeling might indicate something is wrong somewhere. We can ask God to “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! (Psalm 139:23-24). If He brings something to mind, we can confess it to Him, ask His forgiveness, and make arrangements to do whatever else we have to do to make it right (apologize to someone, return an item, etc.).

Search whether we’re filled with other things. Almost every mother I know has had to tell her children they can’t eat sweets or munchies before dinner, because those things would blunt their appetite for good, nourishing food. Maybe we need to lay aside something that’s dulling our spiritual appetites.

Get help. Elisabeth Elliot wrote in On Asking God Why, “When I stumble out of bed in the morning, put on a robe, and go into my study, words do not spring spontaneously to my lips–other than words like, ‘Lord, here I am again to talk to you. It’s cold. I’m not feeling terribly spiritual….’ Who can go on and on like that morning after morning, and who can bear to listen to it day after day?” She chose to read psalms or hymns to help get her heart in the right place.

Don’t turn away from the primary means of reviving us. “I will never forget Your precepts, For by them You have revived me and given me life” (Psalm 119:93, AMP). God uses His word, prayer, and His people to work in our lives. When we neglect them, we’re denying our souls the very things they need to thrive. One of my former pastors used to say that one of his best times of prayer happened after he had to confess to the Lord that he didn’t feel like praying.

Don’t expect perfection. We haven’t failed at our devotional time if we haven’t run through our whole to-do list—pray so many minutes, read so many chapters, journal so many pages. Remember, it’s not a routine or a performance. Time in the Bible and prayer is simply communicating with the One who loves us best, getting to know Him better.

Ignore the feelings. That’s part of maturity. Every day we have to do things we don’t feel like doing (go to work, wake up before we want to, make or at least provide for dinner, say no to excess sugar). If we only ever did what we’d felt like—well, many of us would be couch potatoes in dirty laundry living off fast food.

I’ve only rarely had this problem, but sometimes people don’t feel like eating. Or they might, but they don’t want what’s available. But if they eat, the food nourishes them.

J. Sidlow Baxter once wrote an amusing account of trying to get into the habit of regular prayer. First he had to fend off the constant pull of distractions and duties. But then he had to just do it.

I found that there was an area of me that did not want to pray, and there was a part of me that did. The part that didn’t was the emotions, and the part that did was the intellect and the will.

So I said to my will: “Will, are you ready for prayer?” And Will said, “Here I am, I’m ready.” So I said, “Come on, Will, we will go.”

So Will and I set off to pray. But the minute we turned our footsteps to go and pray all my emotions began to talk. “We’re not coming, we’re not coming, we’re not coming.” And I said to Will, “Will, can you stick it?” And Will said, “Yes, if you can.” So Will and I, we dragged off those wretched emotions and we went to pray, and stayed an hour in prayer.

If you had asked me afterwards, Did you have a good time, do you think I could have said yes? A good time? No, it was a fight all the way.

What I would have done without the companionship of Will, I don’t know. In the middle of the most earnest intercessions I suddenly found one of the principal emotions way out on the golf course, playing golf. And I had to run to the golf course and say, “Come back”… It was exhausting, but we did it.

The next morning came. I looked at my watch and it was time. I said to Will, “Come on, Will, it’s time for prayer.” And all the emotions began to pull the other way and I said, “Will, can you stick it?” And Will said, “Yes, in fact I think I’m stronger after the struggle yesterday morning.” So Will and I went in again.

The same thing happened. Rebellious, tumultuous, uncooperative emotions. If you had asked me, “Have you had a good time?” I would have had to tell you with tears, “No, the heavens were like brass. It was a job to concentrate. I had an awful time with the emotions.”

This went on for about two and a half weeks. But Will and I stuck it out. Then one morning during that third week I looked at my watch and I said, “Will, it’s time for prayer. Are you ready?” And Will said, “Yes, I’m ready.”

And just as we were going in I heard one of my chief emotions say to the others, “Come on, fellows, there’s no use wearing ourselves out: they’ll go on whatever we do…”

Suddenly one day weeks later while Will and I were pressing our case at the throne of the heavenly glory, one of the chief emotions shouted “Hallelujah!” and all the other emotions suddenly shouted, “Amen!” For the first time all of me was involved in the exercise of prayer. And God suddenly became real and heaven was wide open and Christ was there and the Holy Spirit was moving and I knew that all the time God had been listening.

The point is this: the validity and the effectuality of prayer are not determined or even affected by the subjective psychological condition of the one who prays. The thing that makes prayer valid and vital and moving and operative is my faith takes hold of God’s truth.

The Christian life isn’t without emotion. Emotional highs and lows are expressed all through the Bible, especially the psalms. But emotions are variable and unreliable. They shouldn’t be running our lives. One of my college professors used to say, “Good feelings follow right actions.”

God understands our human frailty. “For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust” (Psalm 103:14). Jesus is the One who told his disciples (and us), “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41).

It’s wonderful when will and mind and emotion all work together. But when they don’t, let’s not wait til we “feel spiritual” to do spiritual things. God may use what we didn’t feel like doing to create the right feelings.

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

This I Call to Mind

Posted on August 18, 2024 by Barbara Harper

In some ways, it’s easy to call on the Lord for help when some outside issue comes upon us—illness, job problems, weather threats, and so on.

But when we’ve gotten ourselves into a mess because of our own actions, lack of action, thoughtlessness, or selfishness—well, that’s a different story. We’re ashamed. We feel we deserve whatever trouble we’re in, so why would God help us out of it?

Actually, we don’t deserve any blessings or help, whether we’ve done good or bad. God blesses us out of His grace, not what we deserve.

But sometimes the consequences of our actions are designed to bring us to the end of ourselves so we’ll look to Him.

I’ve just finished reading through Jeremiah and Lamentations. The prophet Jeremiah’s task was to warn God’s people of impending judgment. God had reached out to them and sent various messengers for years. But the people continued to worship idols, rely on nations that did not know God for help instead of going to Him, and various other transgressions. Now God was sending the Babylonians to desecrate their land and bring most of the population into exile.

The book of Lamentations is set just after the Babylonian invasion. As the title indicates, the author mourns the devastation. Jerusalem had been under siege for so long before being taken into exile that parents were cannibalizing their own children. People had died. The temple was destroyed. The author says, “I have forgotten what happiness is” (3:17).

In the middle of these Lamentations, the author makes an astonishing statement.

Remember my affliction and my wanderings,
    the wormwood and the gall!
My soul continually remembers it
    and is bowed down within me.
But this I call to mind,
    and therefore I have hope (Lamentations 3:19-21).

What does he call to mind?

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
    his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
    “therefore I will hope in him.”

The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
    to the soul who seeks him.
It is good that one should wait quietly
    for the salvation of the Lord.
It is good for a man that he bear
    the yoke in his youth (3:22-27).

In the midst of an utter wreck of his life and country, the writer remembers God’s mercy and faithfulness.

God’s chastening is not a sign that He’s done with us. The ESV note on verses 31-33 says, “[God] sends judgment in order to effect restoration . . . God’s first instinct is not to punish. He only does so when his patience with sinners does not lead to repentance” (p. 1488).

The prophetic books of the Bible are known for their condemnation of sin and warnings to turn back to God. But they are also full of God’s expressions of mercy and pleading in love for the return of his wayward children.

I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, And like a cloud, your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you (Isaiah 44:22, NKJV).

Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he my darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I do remember him still. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, declares the Lord (Jeremiah 31:20).

Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? (Ezekiel 18:23).

“Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster (Joel 2:12-13).

When we’re down in the dust, God doesn’t want us to stay there. He wants to give us hope. He wants us to look up to Him. He wants us to recall His love and mercy and come back to Him.

Let us test and examine our ways,
and return to the Lord!
Let us lift up our hearts and hands
to God in heaven . . .

I called on your name, O Lord,
    from the depths of the pit;
you heard my plea, ‘Do not close
    your ear to my cry for help!’
You came near when I called on you;
    you said, ‘Do not fear!’

You have taken up my cause, O Lord;
you have redeemed my life (Lamentations 3:40-42; 55-58).

Come, let us return to the Lord.