Hope in God's Sovereignty

I recently came across this definition of despair from the Catholic Encyclopedia:

“Despair, ethically regarded, is the voluntary and complete abandonment of all hope of saving one’s soul and of having the means required for that end. It is not a passive state of mind: on the contrary it involves a positive act of the will by which a person deliberately gives over any expectation of ever reaching eternal life” (http://www.catholic.org/encyclopedia/view.php?id=3797).

While that may be true in a few cases, I don’t believe it applies to most people who would characterize their current life as “despairing.” Even David and Paul spoke of despair in ways that had nothing to do with the loss of the soul (Psalm 69:20; 2 Corinthians 1:8 and 4:8).

I’ve also seen despair described as the determined doubt or denial of God’s character and ability. I think that definition misses the boat for most folks as well. I can only speak from my own experience, but my times of despair are mostly doubts that anything will improve and doubts of my own ability to endure. I have no doubt that God is in control and that He cares how I feel and what I experience. I don’t know how much free will God actually attributes to us, but it’s the choices that I control that scare me, not the part that God controls.

That actually leads me to a greater appreciation of God’s sovereignty. If He is ultimately in control, then I can trust that He will preserve and sustain me through whatever trials He allows in my life. If He knows my thoughts and has numbered my days as Psalm 139 says, then He knows the limits of my endurance and He can either remove the trials in time or He can further strengthen me by His grace.

“Love the Lord, all you His saints! The Lord preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride. Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord!” (Psalm 31:23-24 ESV).

“As for You, O Lord, You will not restrain Your mercy from me; Your steadfast love and Your faithfulness will ever preserve me!” (Psalm 40:11).

“Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved” (Psalm 55:22).

Minister, author, and hymn writer John Newton wrote the following in his published letters:

“Your sister is much upon my mind. Her illness grieves me: were it in my power I would quickly remove it: the Lord can, and I hope will, when it has answered the end for which he sent it… I wish you may be enabled to leave her, and yourself, and all your concerns, in his hands. He has a sovereign right to do with us as he pleases; and if we consider what we are, surely we shall confess we have no reason to complain: and to those who seek him, his sovereignty is exercised in a way of grace. All shall work together for good; everything is needful that he sends; nothing can be needful that he withholds” (166).  

It seems to me that it is possible to have hope in the midst of despair, or perhaps it’s a matter of semantics. Desperation in this life leads to greater hope in the life to come, as well as greater faith in the One who holds all things together.

“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” –Jude 24-25

Desperate for God

I recently read this quote from Augustine in regards to his struggle with sin:

“How sweet all at once it was for me to be rid of those fruitless joys which I had once feared to lose…! You drove them from me, you who are the true, the sovereign joy. You drove them from me and took their place, you who are sweeter than all pleasure, though not to flesh and blood, you who outshine all light, yet are hidden deeper than any secret in our hearts, you who surpass all honor, though not in the eyes of men who see all honor in themselves. …O Lord my God, my Light, my Wealth, and my Salvation” (Confessions, Book IX, 1).

John Piper comments, “This is Augustine’s understanding of grace. Grace is God’s giving us sovereign joy in God that triumphs over joy in sin. In other words, God works deep in the human heart to transform the springs of joy so that we love God more than sex or anything else” (The Legacy of Sovereign Joy, 57).

It seems that Augustine had an encounter with God that drove the power of temptation from him (although he also took great pains to avoid temptation in later life by establishing a monastery). That made me wonder why some people experience rapid freedom from temptation and others don’t. The thought came to me—though God could easily change or remove our temptations and difficulties, He is far more interested in cultivating a deep desire for Himself and for the holiness that He confers and enables within us. An awareness of our sinfulness and weakness certainly should reveal how desperately we need God and His mercy and grace to change us from the inside out.

As I observe the American church in general, I don’t see a lot of people who are desperate for God. I see people who are content with their sin and comfortable with superficial spirituality. There are some who are eager to learn and to wrestle with applying Scripture and living out their faith, but we appear to be in the minority. If all the nominal Christians got serious about knowing God intimately, we would need a lot more pastors, discipleship groups, Christian counselors, Sunday school classes, prayer meetings, and churches. But as I wrote recently, God has to be the one to nudge us toward “holy discontent” (to borrow Bill Hybels term). So long as we are content with the direction our lives are going, there is no motivation to seek change.

Just taking a quick survey of the New Testament, there are many references to struggling, fighting, resisting, fleeing, and being burdened. I don’t think Paul and the author of Hebrews would have much understanding of or compassion for lackadaisical Christians.

• 1 Peter 4:1-2- “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” (ESV).
• Hebrews 12:3-4- “Consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against Himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.”
• 1 Timothy 6:11-12- “But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”
• 2 Timothy 2:22- “So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.”
• 2 Corinthians 4:8- “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.”

Some of the harshest words to Christians in Scripture are recorded in Revelation to the churches in Sardis and Laodicea:

•          3:1-2- “I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.”
•          3:15-16- “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.”

May we not be content to tolerate sin, but may God make us discontented with the world so that we become desperate for Him!