In His Time

This blog is an unexpected postscript to yesterday’s post.

I was reading an article in a secular magazine where a man was recounting his travels in Europe. In the middle of the article he commented, “I’ve chosen to eventually pursue a medically assisted life exit.” (I had to wonder why he was buying souvenirs on his trip!) His blasé attitude toward death disturbed me more than I expected. We’ve all heard of people who have committed suicide in order to escape a devastating disease (muscular dystrophy in this man’s case), but I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone planning their farewell tour in this manner. I don’t know anything about this person or what he believes about life and death, but I prayed that he would encounter God’s arresting presence.

For the Christian, there is no easy way to ignore Scriptures such as 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” And from one of my favorite chapters, Psalm 139:16, “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in Your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” Choosing death is a denial of God’s authority as both our Creator and Redeemer. It is sin (though not unforgivable as some believe), and it is hurtful to those who love us.

It's easy to wish for a way out from the challenges of life, but I know I could not choose that because of how it would impact friends and family. Even the Apostle Paul desired to depart this life, but knew he needed to remain as long as God had determined (Phil. 1:23-26). None of us want to live with broken bodies and minds, but we are not the ‘master of our fate or the captain of our soul.’ There is only One who can claim that role, and He recorded our days long before we were even a glimmer in the eyes of our parents. If He desires for us to go on living, He will provide the strength to endure. Our job is to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matt. 6:33), not our own comfort or expediency. By His grace He has given us life, and by His mercy He has determined our days.

May we never be inclined to second-guess our Creator and Sustainer!

“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’” (Lam. 3:22-24).

© 2025 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

In His Image

The September 2025 issue of Christianity Today included an article by John Swinton titled, “It Was ‘Good’ Not Perfect,” on how the church views disability. He makes the statement:

Some of our errors in theology around disability stem from a reading of the Genesis creation narrative that idealizes Adam and Eve as perfect examples of human beings. The implication is that there was not disability in the Garden of Eden and therefore disability must have arisen after the Fall… While Eden was originally untainted by sin, the Bible does not suggest that creation was perfect in the sense of flawlessness or static idealism.

Instead, the divine pronouncement is that the creation is good (tov in Hebrew). This word, in its biblical and theological context, does not imply perfection or uniformity but denotes relational integrity, aesthetic richness, diversity, and the capacity for fruitful, dynamic life and connection.

While I agree with many of his points in the article, in particular the definition of the imago Dei as a relational concept and not mental or physical abilities, I struggle with some of his ideas. By his interpretation, even if Adam and Eve had not sinned by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, there would still be people who live with cerebral palsy (the example he used to start the article) and other mental and physical illnesses, disabilities, and diseases. Toward the end, Swinton does note:

Many forms of disability are not experienced as benign differences and should not be idealized… Suffering is real. And for some, it is relentless. Yet we are not without hope: In the new heavens and new earth, Christ will wipe away every tear, and mourning, crying, and pain will cease (Rev. 21:4). But this does not mean that disabled bodies fall outside the scope of creation’s goodness. All human lives bear the imprint of fragility; every body carries its own marks of limitation and vulnerability.

It is certainly true that God created a wide variety of people with differing gifts and abilities, and some of those may be things that some people would consider disabilities. (Consider books like Neurodivergent Genius by Ralph Rickenbach.) And in the new creation there may be variations among people that we don’t expect to see, which is indicative of our limited understanding of Creation and of science in general.

But the Fall did have profound impacts on all areas of life—physical, mental, relational, and of course spiritual. When it comes to disability and suffering, we must rely on God’s sovereignty. We can turn to Romans 8:28-29, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers.” And in 1 Corinthians 1:27-29, “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.”

God can and will use all sorts of people and circumstances for His purposes; therefore, we can take heart when life seems harder than we think it ought to. Our limitations do not erase God’s image from us or prevent God from working in and through us. Accepting our limitations does not preclude a desire for something different or better. We can be content with who we are in this life and yet still long for the Day when all will be made truly perfect.

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us… For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Rom. 8: 18, 22-23).

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Here are a couple related articles to ponder:

https://www.andrewcorbett.net/articles/theology/was-the-original-creation-perfect/

https://crossexamined.org/was-gods-original-creation-perfect/

© 2025 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Higher Ground

Recently in an office meeting icebreaker, we were asked what our favorite old hymn is. I shared that since I was about 4 years old my favorite has been “Higher Ground,” but I wasn’t sure why. That was the song I always wanted my mom to request during hymn sings, though I was too shy to request it myself.

As I’ve thought about it since then, I have a few ideas why it appeals to me. One influence is that I’ve always liked heights. I’ve been told that I would climb up on the back of the couch before I could even walk much. I enjoyed riding on my dad’s shoulders when I was little. I’ve spent many hours in trees (though not so much in recent years), and now after I clean out my gutters I like to hang out on the roof for a while. I would far rather spend my vacation hiking in the mountains than anywhere else. A favorite memory from college was visiting the Alps on two occasions. So even before I had much understanding of faith and theology, I liked the idea of being lifted up to a higher plane.

These days I resonate with the thought of life’s journey going through hills and mountains, and I want to find myself maturing and gaining ground over time. “My heart has no desire to stay where doubts arise and fears dismay,” though I know that is a normal part of this life. There is great comfort in knowing that the trials of life will one day come to an end. There’s also great assurance in remembering that God is the One who leads us on through the whole way. As David wrote in Psalm 37:23-24, “The steps of a man are established by the Lord, and He delights in his way. When he falls, he will not be hurled down, because the Lord is the One who holds his hand” (NASB). And God will complete the work He has begun in us (Phil. 1:6).

Though I don’t know for sure, I suspect the author, Johnson Oatman, was inspired in part by Psalm 121:

“I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber… The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore” (vv. 1-3, 8).

We look up to the massive mountains and remember that the One who created them is not only more powerful, but He is intimately involved in our lives every day. Nothing escapes His notice or care.

I’m reminded also of the end of the Chronicles of Narnia where they enter the new Narnia and learn,

“‘The further up and the further in you go, the bigger everything gets. The inside is larger than the outside’… But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before” (The Last Battle, 180, 184).

One day we’ll get to enjoy that new reality in the presence of our Creator, Lord, and Savior. Until then we follow the path laid out for us by our Shepherd and Friend. I had to pause while writing this in order to watch the livestreamed funeral of a young woman who’d battled cancer for many years. Her life was a testimony of pressing on in faith, and through her funeral “faith has caught the joyful sound, the song of saints on higher ground.”

I want to scale the utmost height

and catch a gleam of glory bright;

but still I’ll pray till heav’n I’ve found,

“Lord, lead me on to higher ground.”

Lord, lift me up and let me stand

by faith on heaven’s table-land;

A higher plane than I have found—

Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

“Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13b-14).

© 2025 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

What Do You Long For?

I’ve been spending an extended time in Psalm 119 as I’m reading Charles Spurgeon’s Daily Treasury from the Psalms. It can be tempting to speed through the 176 verses to check off one more psalm, but there are things worth stopping to ponder along the way. Consider these few verses:

40- Behold, I long for Your precepts; in Your righteousness give me life!

81-82- My soul longs for Your salvation; I hope in Your word. My eyes long for Your promise; I ask, “When will You comfort me?”

123- My eyes long for Your salvation and for the fulfillment of Your righteous promise.

131- I open my mouth and pant, because I long for Your commandments.

174- I long for Your salvation, O Lord, and Your law is my delight.

The original Hebrew uses a few different words that are translated as “long for” in the ESV. Some other translations use “faint” or “fail” in verses 81-82. In any case, the idea is a strong desire and need. I suspect most of us don’t long for God’s commandments and precepts like this.

However, if we include all of the promises and truths of Scripture, I would hope that every Christian desires and relies on them. The Bible is our source of hope for every aspect of salvation, sanctification, and the glory that is to come, because in it we see how God works all things together for the fulfillment of His promises. Spurgeon notes:

“This is an intense longing that is not satisfied to express itself with the lips but speaks with the eyes. Eyes can speak eloquently; they sometimes say more than tongues… Especially are our eyes eloquent when they begin to fail with weariness and woe… and so heaven shall be taken by storm with the artillery of tears.”

While we endure through this life, there are many times for tears—conflict between factions, relational challenges, struggles with sin, unmet needs, illness, weakness, death. We may weep with the desire to see God bring swift resolution.

The older I get, the more I long for the final consummation of God’s plan of redemption. As we’ve been reminded recently, no one knows the day or hour of Christ’s return, but we look forward to the end of the craziness of this life and the beginning of a perfect eternity. For many people that Day will come unexpectedly and will be filled with great fear and anguish. But for many others around the globe it will bring great rejoicing, for our longings will finally be fulfilled when we see Christ.

“But in accordance with His promise we expectantly await new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.” (2 Pet. 3:13 Amp).

© 2025 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.