A Shared Faith

“You may not believe me now, but I want you to hold on to my faith because I believe that Jesus can change your life.”

I came across this sentence recently, though now I’ve forgotten where I read it. There are times when it is hard to believe that God is working all things for good (Rom. 8:28), or that “The Lord is my strength and my shield” (Ps. 28:7) if He doesn’t seem to be on guard against the difficult times we each face. Sometimes we need those friends who can say, “You may not have the faith you think you need right now, but I’ll believe for the both of us.”

It reminds me of the paralytic in Mark 2 whose four friends carried him to Jesus and cut a hole in the roof just to make sure Jesus saw him. I wonder if that man was a confident in the results as his friends were? Was he saying, “Guys, why are you wasting your time with this expedition?” Jesus didn’t specifically refer to the man’s faith. Verse 5 says, “And when Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’” After this odd response, the man doesn’t suddenly jump up from his cot. He apparently lays there and listens to the lecture to those who doubt Jesus. It isn’t until Jesus commands him to pick up his bed and walk that he realized he was healed.

There are several times in Scripture when Jesus mentions someone’s “little faith” (Matt 6:30; 8:26; 14:31; 16:8; 17:20). Usually it’s a word to His disciples, encouraging them to believe He is who He says He is. A few people were commended for their faith; for example, the centurion whose servant was sick (Matt. 8:10), a Canaanite woman whose daughter was oppressed by demons (Matt. 15:28), and the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years (Matt. 9:22).

There is no one-size-fits-all standard of faith. Our confidence in God can ebb and flow over time and through changing circumstances. We all hope we are growing in faith, but there are hills and valleys throughout life. That’s why we need to be engaged with the church, vitally connected to the Body of Christ. We need those who will lift us up when we are weak, fearful, discouraged, or struggling. And in turn, we need to lift others up when we have the faith that they are lacking at a difficult time in life.

This week I had a random phone call from a stranger who read a couple verses of Scripture and encouraged me with the reminder that Jesus is coming again soon. I have no idea what prompted her to this particular ministry of encouragement and evangelism, though I’m glad there are people like that. But how much more powerful is an encouraging word when it comes from a friend who knows the road we’re on and offers to come alongside saying, “Lean on my faith for this season.”

May we all be those who share our faith, not just in terms of evangelism of unbelievers, but in encouraging fellow believers to keep holding on no matter how small their faith feels.

“Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing” (1 Thess. 5:11).

© 2023 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.

Fast Forward

Reading through the Simplified Harmony of the Gospels, I came across a couple verses that got me thinking. The first comes from John 17:24:

“Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, may be with Me where I am, to see My glory that You have given Me because You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”

Why did Jesus pray this? Like much of His “high priestly prayer” it states things that were already predetermined. In a way, the whole prayer is more of an encouraging word to the disciples than a petition to the Father. However, another verse just a little later in the timeline shifted my focus a bit:

“My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will” (Matt. 26:39).

It’s clear that Jesus would have preferred a less painful and difficult way to achieve salvation for mankind, but He submitted to the Father’s plan. If you take that perspective back to the verse in John, it sounds to me as though Jesus might have been praying, “Father, I wish we could just skip to the end where we all dwell together in eternal glory.” That is encouraging because it sounds like many of my own prayers.

Even if my interpretation is stretching it, we can still draw strength from the fact that Jesus knows our struggles and our desire to avoid pain. He can “sympathize with our weaknesses” (Heb. 4:15) and He “endured the cross” for us (Heb. 12:1). When life is overwhelming and we want to fast forward to the end, He understands and He walks with us through it all. I imagine it brings a smile to His face each time we pray “Lord, come quickly!”

It’s okay to wish for and pray for an end to pain, suffering, and difficult circumstances, though we know that God may not answer those prayers in the way we want. It’s also okay to long for that final Day when all things will be made perfect. In fact, I believe that the longer we live and grow in faith, and the more we experience of the brokenness of this world, the more we should long for the “new heavens and new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Pet. 3:13b).

Jesus spent a lot of time speaking of eternal things, and He encouraged His disciples by point ahead. “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:3). He never sugarcoated suffering (e.g. Matt. 5:3-12), but He urged us to remember that this is not “your best life now” but merely a prelude to real life in His kingdom. So we can continue to wish and pray for the soon-fulfillment of our hope in the presence of His eternal glory!

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him... The world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:15, 17).

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Here’s an episode of the Broken Vessels Podcast that touches on some of these ideas and more.

© 2023 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.

A Long Journey

In his book Angry with God: An Honest Journey Through Suffering and Betrayal, Brad Hambrick writes,

“We usually only think of sanctification in terms of purification from sin… But if we only think of sanctification in terms of purification, we begin to believe that every unpleasant emotion that emerges from suffering reveals an idol, some aspect of life taking on a God-sized role in our heart. This belief is inaccurate, creates false guilt, and causes God to come across we an uncaring cosmic Cop… What is the complementary aspect of sanctification that needs to be emphasized? If sanctification is the process of becoming more Christlike, the following question will point us to the answer. What verb does the Bible use to describe Jesus’ response to suffering? Consider what Hebrews 12:2 says of Jesus: ‘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’ (emphasis added). We become like Jesus when we endure suffering in a way that resists the shame that often accompanies it. We need a view of sanctification that allows us to both be purified from sin without a condemning sense of guilt and endure suffering without a stigmatizing sense of shame. That is what it is to be Christlike in a broken world where sin and suffering are both common experiences” (143-144).

This is a perspective I had not heard before, and one that is much needed in the church. We can get so fixated on sanctification as removal of sin that we look for, and often find, evidence of personal sin behind every difficulty in life. And then when people are suffering for unknown reasons or for reasons outside their control, they feel a need to hide it lest others think the worst of them.

In one sense sin is the cause of all suffering, because all of creation was impacted by the sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. But not all suffering is directly linked to personal sin. Many of us live with broken bodies, broken hearts, and broken minds. For those who are suffering, it can be hard to know how to relate to others in the church when they all seem to be content with projecting the “Life is good” image. Chronic illness, whether physical or mental, carries an unspoken stigma simply because it has no end, and other people don’t know how to relate to that unchanging need.

I came across this quote from Hudson Taylor, and though he seems to be primarily addressing obedience, it also speaks to the mystery of suffering and the sovereignty of God:

“If God has called you to be really like Jesus in all your spirit, He will draw you into a life of crucifixion and humility, and put on you such demands of obedience that He will not allow you to follow other Christians; and in many ways He will seem to let other good people do things that He will not let you do… So make up your mind that God is an infinite Sovereign, and has a right to do as He pleases with His own, and He may not explain to you a thousand things which may puzzle your reason in His dealings with you.”

There is much that we do not know, cannot understand, and do not enjoy about the way God works in this world and in His people. Faith often means trusting that God will one day make all the darkness disappear in the light of that new day of eternity.

“Behold, I go forward, but He is not there, and backward, but I do not perceive Him; on the left hand when He is working, I do not behold Him; He turns to the right hand, but I do not see Him. But He knows the way that I take; when He has tried me, I shall come out as gold” (Job 23:8-10).

© 2023 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.

Worth It All

Last weekend I went hiking with some friends along the Tanawha Trail up to Beacon Heights in between two major thunderstorms. We hiked about three miles and my phone registered 49 flights of stairs. When I was telling someone about it later she commented that hard hikes are worth it if there’s a great view. I showed her one of the pictures below and she said, “Totally worth it!”

It didn’t occur to me till a couple days later that her comments had spiritual significance. There are a lot of times in this life that we’re on a narrow path, going through dark woods, clambering up and down rocks, wondering if the rain will hold off, not knowing how much further we have to go, and wondering if it’s going to be worth it in the end. But for Christians, we have the assurance from the Bible that it will indeed be worth it all. Here are a few of the Scriptures that I turn to frequently:

“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 Cor. 4:17-18).

“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:6-7).

“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you” (1 Pet. 5:10).

In the toils of a lifetime of seventy or eighty years, it can be hard to remember that this life is just a brief moment in light of eternity. Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field” (Matt. 13:44). That eternal kingdom will make every sacrifice, loss, and trial that we face in this life ultimately worthwhile. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, writing on Matthew 5:3, says,

“The kingdom of heaven will come to those who live thoroughly in renunciation and want for Jesus’ sake... They have their treasure well hidden, they have it at the cross. The kingdom of heaven is promised them in visible majesty, and it is already given them in the complete poverty of the cross” (Discipleship, ch. 6).

As we were enjoying the view at Beacon Heights, we talked about the fact that if we can enjoy beautiful views in this broken and marred world, just imagine what eternity will be like. When I think about places I would like to visit but probably won’t see in this life, I figure the new earth will still have similar continents but even better sights to enjoy. What better way to praise God than by enjoying the perfection of His new creation for eternity!

And if today’s enjoyments are small compared to what is to come, how much smaller are today’s sorrows? I admit that’s really hard for me to hold onto at times, especially when it feels like life is heavily weighted with loss, disappointment, anxiety, and discouragement. But even when there are no views to enjoy and the rocks on the trail seem too hard to climb over and the valleys too deep, there is a Shepherd and Guide who walks alongside us all the way. For now I’ll take any glimpses of heaven that I can find.

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me” (Ps. 23:4).

© 2023 Dawn Rutan text and photos. All Scripture are ESV. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

It All Adds Up

I keep a list of possible topics for my blog though I don’t often go back and use them. However, one caught my eye today— “Relationships are our greatest asset.” I think we can all agree that there are few blessings in life that are quite as valuable as our close relationships with friends and family. But from an accounting perspective, our greatest assets are also our greatest liabilities. Nothing hurts nearly as much as broken or wounded relationships. It’s also true that every relationship is unique. So when one relationship is hurt, although others can help to compensate for the loss, they never really replace the damaged one.

To toss in another accounting idea, we often forget about the return on investment for relationships. Close relationships require a significant investment of time and energy, especially at the beginning. Once that investment has been made then there is greater benefit experienced, and even small amounts of time with those we love are more valuable than longer periods with those we don’t yet know well. Oftentimes in the church it seems like we are unwilling to make the initial investment in relationships, so we never get the full benefit from our brothers and sisters in Christ that we could.

We also need to remember that all relationships require an ongoing investment of time. You can’t stop paying your insurance premiums and expect to keep the same level of benefit forever, and you can’t stop talking to your friends and expect the relationships to remain intact.

In a recent XPastor webinar, Warren Bird commented that “Trust is built in drops, but lost in buckets.” Although he was talking about organizational leadership, the same applies to individuals. We build trust in relationships slowly, but it can be lost very quickly by careless words, disagreements, and other challenges. When those buckets fall, it takes a new investment to rebuild what has been lost.

When it comes to relationships, I tend think of Job. It’s often been said that his friends did a good job before they started talking.

“Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this… they raised their voices and wept... and they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great” (2:11,13).

But once they started speculating on the reasons for his suffering, Job said,

“My relatives have failed me, my close friends have forgotten me… Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has touched me!” (19:14, 21).

Having been through a variety of pains in relationships lately, it’s tempting to just quit on people. It’s hard to keep expending effort on those who never seem to respond. (I suppose many of those who are parents feel the same way.) Current culture tends to favor looking out for yourself and giving up on difficult relationships. But for Christians, since we’re commanded to love even our enemies (Matt. 5:44), pulling away from our Christian brothers and sisters is usually not an option. The only exception given in Scripture is for those who claim to be Christians but are living in ongoing, unrepentant sin (1 Cor. 5:11). It is far too easy in our “pick-a-church” culture to walk away when things get hard rather than enduring with one another and working through the hard times together. We are called to a higher standard of loving others as God loved us (1 John 4:9-11). May we all make the effort to do so!

“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection... Live in harmony with one another... If possible so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all” (Rom. 12:9-10, 16, 18).

© 2023 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.

The Next Step

I subscribe to a blog by author and teacher Terry Powell. One of his recent emails asked the question, “For a person diagnosed with major depression (recurring episodes), what does ‘victorious Christian living’ look like?” I think that is a question worth considering. Every person’s experience is different, but here are a few observations from my lifelong experience of recurring depression:

• Faith doesn’t mean that all struggles cease, but growing faith does mean that I’m learning to depend on God more fully and more often. There is much that I know I could not do apart from God enabling me to keep going. And when my faith feels weak, I still know that it is God who promises to hold onto me and not vice versa.
• Christian joy and hope don’t mean the absence of sorrow and tears, but remembering that one day every tear will be wiped away. (See my earlier post on the Root and Fruit of Hope.) When I don’t feel like singing songs of praise, not only does Jesus, the Man of Sorrows, understand how I feel, but He’s also given me the Body of Christ to sing on my behalf.
• Enduring suffering doesn’t mean pretending it doesn’t exist or hiding it from others. But it also doesn’t mean sitting passively and watching life pass you by. It usually means doing the next thing whether you feel like it or not. Wash the dishes, trim the bushes, go to the office, go to church, get counseling, get some exercise, etc.

I don’t want to hold myself up as some kind of success story or model for everyone else. There are many times when I feel like I’m failing as a Christian and as a person. During one particularly rough season of life I missed a lot of days of work (back when working from home was not an option). My counselor at the time encouraged me to set some goals that would give me a sense of purpose and a destination. That’s when I decided to pursue martial arts and also to go back to seminary part time. Although those things are no longer part of my regimen, they gave me some new relationships and an outlet for my stresses. They also ingrained in me the habit of showing up even when I don’t feel like it.

I think sometimes in the church we confuse legalism and discipline. I read my Bible and write in my prayer journal daily and attend church each week, not because I think God expects me to do so, and not to secure my salvation. I do it because I know that it is for my own benefit and growth in Christ. Likewise, I don’t go to work just to pay the bills or because other people expect me to show up (though that’s all true), but because it is good for me to focus on something besides myself. And I don’t exercise because the doctor tells me to, but because I know I will feel better if I do.

There are still days when I don’t want to keep enduring and I pray “How long, O Lord?” Right now I can’t remember the last time I made it through a whole week without any tears. Although I often don’t feel like a “victorious Christian,” I know that victory is ultimately in God’s hand and that He uses weak and wounded people to accomplish His will in this world.

It struck me this week that Psalms 138 and 139 can go together:

“For though the Lord is high, He regards the lowly… The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me… If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me… In Your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them” (138:6, 8; 139:9-10, 16).

God’s path may often lead us through dark valleys, but He will fulfill His purposes because He is the One who walks with us and upholds us through it all. We just need to keep taking one step after another.

“Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; When I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me” (Micah 7:8).

“The steps of a man are established by the Lord… though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand” (Psalm 37:23-24).

© 2023 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV. Photo is from a recent hiking trip on the Viaduct Trail near Blowing Rock, NC. (I’m not sure who from our group took this particular photo.) The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Be Aware, Take Care

We’re nearing the end of Mental Health Awareness Month. One of the things I’ve read and heard from multiple sources is the idea that our culture has pathologized normal human experiences in many ways, and the church is not immune from such perceptions. We know we live in a fallen world with broken bodies. Yet instead of accepting that fact and finding ways to cope with our own brokenness and support others in their brokenness, we look for diagnoses and treatments that will take away anything that we think is less than ideal. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) has grown from 130 pages in its first edition to almost 1000 pages in the fifth edition. Normal experiences of grief, anxiety, or just being a little different from your peers are now seen as something that needs to be fixed.

I’m not saying that mental illness doesn’t exist. I know it does because I take medication for it every day. (I will say that the medication doesn’t remove the problem, it just makes it more bearable.) I also know that God uses all kinds of difficult experiences to draw people closer to Him. I’m regularly reminded that my weakness is meant to make me rely on His strength; my sorrow presses me to go to Him for comfort; my anxieties cause me to pray for His guidance and provision; and my quirky way of seeing things allows me to serve God in ways that others can’t.

A couple podcasts I’ve listened to recently have brought out good points. One said that the rise of “helicopter parents,” who try to protect their kids from any kind of adversity, has produced a generation of young people who don’t know how to cope with normal life. Another pointed out how Christians take verses like Philippians 4:6, “Do not be anxious about anything,” out of context and beat people over the head with it for their “sinful” lack of faith. Many Christians have adopted a type of health and wealth gospel that says if you just have enough faith you’ll never have any anxiety or sorrow, and you can go through life with a smile on your face at all times. That simply isn’t true, because that is not the world we live in.

Jesus Himself was “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Is. 53:3), and He sweat drops of blood in Gethsemane as He knew what was ahead for Him (Luke 22:44). I heard someone say that if we could have seen Jesus’ face as He told His disciples “Do not be anxious about tomorrow” (Matt. 6:34), we would know that this was not a harsh command to be obeyed, but a gentle, loving reminder that God is in control. I was reading one resource that was trying to make the point that depression is not always a result of sin, but they went on to heap guilt on those who “refuse to take the necessary steps to find healing in your life” (supposedly based on James 4:17). Such a statement is not in line with the gentle correction that comes from those who love God and love one another.

One podcast from Russell Moore and Curtis Chang urges us to use our feelings of anxiety as a pointer to what things we fear losing in the future, so we can learn to give those to God. Sometimes we allow anxiety about the future or regret and sorrow about the past to keep us from living well in the present. Sometimes we need help through medication and counseling to be able to better handle the things God allows to come into our lives. Those can be part of God’s common means of grace in this broken world.

If those in the church were more willing to talk about their struggles with anxiety, depression, feeling out of place, and yes, even sin, perhaps we’d all become better at encouraging and supporting those who need a listening ear or a hug. We were never meant to go through this life alone, nor to stoically pretend that everything is sunshine and flowers all the time. (There’s also poison ivy, which I’m also taking medication for!)

May we be the hands and arms and eyes and ears of Christ for those in need.

“For everything there is a season... a time to weep, and a time to laugh, and time to mourn, and a time to dance... a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose... a time to keep silence, and a time to speak...” (Eccl. 3:1-8).

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© 2023 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.

Walking with God through Pain and Suffering

Perhaps the best book I’ve read so far this year is Walking with God through Pain and Suffering, by Tim Keller. He starts with a few chapters on the “problem of evil” and how that shapes or is shaped by our understanding of God (theodicy). But then he moves into more practical application for those who are suffering. Following are a few quotes that stood out to me:

80- [One] of the main teachings of the Bible is that almost no one grows into greatness or finds God without suffering, without pain coming into our lives like smelling salts to wake us up to all sorts of facts about life and our own hearts to which we were blind. For reasons past our finding out, even Christ did not bring salvation and grace to us apart from infinite suffering on the cross. As he loved us enough to face the suffering with patience and courage, so we must learn to trust in him enough to do the same. And as his weakness and suffering, thus faced, led to resurrection power, so can ours.

121-122- If God actually provided an explanation of all the reasons why he allows things to happen as they do, it would be too much for our finite brains. Think of little children and their relationship to their parents... though they aren’t capable of knowing their parents’ reasons, they are capable of knowing their parents’ love and therefore are capable of trusting them and living securely. That is what they really need. Now, the difference between God and human beings is infinitely greater than the difference between a thirty-year-old parent and a three-year-old child. So we should not expect to be able to grasp all God’s purposes, but through the cross and gospel of Jesus Christ, we can know his love. And that is what we need most.

262- It is perhaps most striking of all to realize that if God had given Joseph the things he was likely asking for in prayer, it would have been terrible for him. And we must realize that it was likely God essentially said no relentlessly, over and over, to nearly all Joseph’s specific requests for a period of about twenty years... In the dungeon, Joseph turns to God for help in interpreting the dream. Despite all the years of unanswered prayer, Joseph was still trusting God. The point is this—God was hearing and responding to Joseph’s prayers for deliverance, rescue, and salvation, but not in the ways or forms or times Joseph asked for it.

264- We must never assume that we know enough to mistrust God’s ways or be bitter against what he has allowed. We must also never think we have really ruined our lives, or have ruined God’s good purposes for us... The pain and misery that resulted in their lives from his action were very great. Yet God used it redemptively. You cannot destroy his good purposes for us. He is too great, and will weave even great sins into a fabric that makes us into something useful and valuable. Ultimately, we must trust God’s love.

287-288- And in the end, God said Job triumphed. How wonderful that our God sees the grief and anger and questioning, and is still willing to say “you triumphed” —not because it was all fine, not because Job’s heart and motives were always right, but because Job’s doggedness in seeking the face and presence of God meant that the suffering did not drive him away from God but toward him. And that made all the difference.

312- When things go wrong, one of the ways you lose your peace is that you think maybe you are being punished. But look at the cross! All the punishment fell on Jesus. Another thing you may think is that maybe God doesn’t care. But look at the cross! The Bible gives you a God that says, “I have lost a child too; not involuntarily— voluntarily, on the cross, for your sake. So that I could bring you into my family.”

In short, I found the book to be an encouraging reminder to trust God more fully (I’m still a work in progress), because He is the only One who can work all things together for our ultimate good and His glory.

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).

© 2023 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV. Image courtesy of Amazon.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Take Up Your Cross

The world tells us “Be who you are! Do what makes you happy!” But Jesus taught something much different:

“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” (Matt. 16:24-25).

Each one of us has a cross to bear. Your cross is that area of life where you want to just throw in the towel. It could be difficult relationships with parents or children, or unwanted singleness; it may be the physical suffering of a chronic or terminal illness, or multiple miscarriages; perhaps it is gender dysphoria, same-sex attraction, or other enduring temptation. Each person’s cross is a little different, but each is a heavy load. To follow Jesus requires us to carry that load while living in obedience to His Word. If we choose comfort and pleasure over taking up our crosses, we are in danger of condemnation. “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36). Some have chosen to reinterpret or ignore portions of Scripture in order to avoid the burden of their crosses. We are meant to be people who—

• forgive those who hurt us 
• trust Him in the midst of loss and sorrow 
• believe that He has made us who we are and is with us in our struggles 
• turn to Him instead of self-medicating with whatever pleasures we can find

We can tend to forget that Jesus knows what suffering is. Easter is sometimes the only week we focus on all that Jesus went through in His death. He didn’t go to the cross eagerly. He wanted to avoid it if He could, but ultimately, He trusted the Father’s plan to bring perfect good out of the greatest evil.

“Then He said to them, ‘My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with Me.’ And going a little farther He fell on His face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will’” (Matt. 26:38-39).

Even when the decision was made, Jesus didn’t breeze through the torture and crucifixion with a smile on His face.

“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46).

Let’s not forget that Jesus also endured suffering during His life up to that point. Though we don’t know much about His childhood, He faced the same temptations and struggles that every child does (Luke 2:41-52). As He began His ministry, He endured specific temptation by the devil (Luke 4:1-13). During His years of ministry He put up with constant questioning and schemes from the Pharisees and Sadducees, doubts from those who heard His teaching, and eventually betrayal and abandonment by His own disciples. He went through all this so He could fully identify with us.

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:15-16).

So when Jesus calls us to take up our own crosses and follow Him, it is not an abstract concept or a command from one who has never been there. And because He bore His cross, we are enabled to do the same.

“Therefore… 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” (Heb. 12:1-2).

© 2022 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Running Thoughts

This weekend I went to a middle school track meet to see a young friend run. It’s the first track meet that I’ve been to in more than twenty years. During the first couple races I found myself getting emotional, not from nostalgia, but because of the group experience of cheering on those on our team. There’s something strengthening for runners and spectators alike to know that you’re not out there alone and others want to encourage you to do your best. (Perhaps that’s one reason I always did better at track than cross country, where spectators are few and far between.)

That idea was mentioned more than once in our church gatherings Sunday morning—we need each other. I think sometimes we take our church family for granted. We assume that people know we love them. We assume they will call us if they need something. Or we assume that others are busy with their own concerns and we should keep our problems to ourselves. But we need each other far more than we know. Hebrews 12:1 reminds us,

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and since which clings to closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”

I think nearly every sermon I’ve heard on this verse has referred solely to the “Hall of Faith” in chapter 11 as that cloud of witnesses. But I’m increasingly convinced that it includes every Christian—and perhaps especially the ones sitting in the next pew on Sunday morning. We need cheerleaders in all the races of life, not just the stories of those who have already finished the race. Biographies may bring a bit of encouragement, but they can only go so far in spurring us to keep running when there are more hurdles than we’re prepared for.

During the track meet, the Piedmont coach was frequently heard yelling, “Don’t quit! Don’t give up! Keep going!” And he didn’t limit his cheers to his own team, but shared his energy with all the kids. Sometimes church members can get tunnel vision and think that our church’s “team” is the only one that matters, forgetting that every Christian is on the same team. We are all running for the same finish line, and we can all cheer one another on regardless of our differences of opinion on secondary issues.

For various reasons (some of which I don’t understand) I’ve needed some cheerleaders lately. It helps to be reminded that others see me, care for me, and pray for me. They may not take away any of the hurdles, but they can put a little more spring in the next step and a little more oxygen in the next breath. And I know I’m not the only one who’s feeling the strain of life in a busy and fallen world. We could all use a regular pep talk to help us keep running and “holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain” (Phil. 2:16).

May we all be those who are heard yelling to one another, “Don’t quit! Don’t give up! Keep going! You can make it!”

“For it is You who light my lamp; the Lord my God lightens my darkness. For by You I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall” (Psalm 18:28-29).

© 2022 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Faithful Endurance

 The Apostle Paul made an interesting comment in his second letter to Timothy:

“You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me” (2 Tim. 3:10-11 ESV).

What events was he referring to in these three cities?

Antioch- “But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him…[They] stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district” (Acts 13:45, 50).

Iconium- “When an attempt was made… to mistreat them and to stone them, they learned of it and fled” (Acts 14:5-6).

Lystra- “But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead” (Acts 14:19).

Being stoned and thought dead is extreme persecution, and yet Paul’s reflection is that “from them all the Lord rescued me.” It wasn’t just that Paul survived those events, but that he knew his life was always in God’s hand. “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). As he wrote to the Romans, “I am sure that neither death nor life… will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38-39).

We in the western church often have a rather one-dimensional understanding of rescue. Many church prayer meetings focus almost exclusively on God’s deliverance from any kind of suffering, rather than through suffering. We assume that God will receive more glory by healing and delivering us than He would by enabling us to be faithful witnesses in sickness, persecution, and death. Paul wrote to the Corinthians:

“But as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger” (2 Cor. 6:4-5).

He says that his reputation as God’s representative is illustrated by enduring hardship, not by being protected from it. Many of our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world have a much more robust theology of suffering because they endure it every day. We’ve been pampered by our culture for a while, but that is not going to last. More Christians are going to suffer in one way or another, and we need to endure as faithful witnesses through whatever trials God allows to come our way.

Lord, keep us faithful to You as You have been faithful to us in and through every circumstance.

“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” (2 Cor. 4:8-10).

© 2020 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

The Uninvited Companion

Often I will download Kindle books when they are available for free, and sometimes I discover a hidden jewel. Such is the case with The Uninvited Companion: God’s Shaping Us in His Love through Life’s Adversities by Scott E. Shaum. (However, it is no longer free.) I haven’t finished reading it yet, but here are a few quotes from the first half:

“God created the human soul to require suffering in order to mature. He has also designed the redemptive process to necessitate suffering” (8).

“If you carefully listen to my story, you will hear assertions that God took me into seasons of deep pain to bring about unfathomable transformation that otherwise (humanly speaking) would never have taken place… Honestly, the journey has really stunk at times. Yet I like the fruit it has produced in me through the required endurance of this journey” (36).

In Romans 5:2-5 and James 1:2-3, Paul and James “can say they rejoice in suffering because they have come to learn a significant spiritual truth: something profound is going on in us as we endure through hardship. What we find is that they are not rejoicing in the pain but in what our glorious God does in us through pain” (45).

“God’s glory, who he is—namely, a God of love—comes into clearer focus as we grow in our communion with him in the midst of life’s hardships. Experiencing God’s love is the fruit of a matured character, which is the fruit of perseverance, which is the fruit of suffering. Thus, Paul rejoices in suffering because he ultimately wants to know the Father’s love for him in increasing ways” (46).

“Faith is a trait that will be tested. Your faith will be tried—you can count on it. The trying of our faith is as certain as the goodness of our God” (53).

“God does not expect us to be competent to handle all of life’s challenges on our own. No, we need a Savior, and we need him again and again. Every breathing moment of my existence, I need to be saved. Every turning toward God is an expression of faith” (55).

“God does not always resolve hurts in our lives, but he always promises his presence for good purposes” (57).

Shaum highlights an important truth. Our natural tendency, even within the church, is to do everything we can to avoid or remove painful circumstances. Whether we espouse a prosperity gospel or not, we tend to associate God’s blessing with ease and comfort. But what if His intent is to mature us and strengthen our faith through testing and trials? Would we rather be comfortable or faithful? Can we pray as Shaum did, “Allow this to continue for as long as you want, to do whatever you want in my life” (38)? I’ve prayed that before, though I’ve also prayed at times, “Lord, I don’t think I can take any more of this.”

Ironically, I’m also reading a fiction book that made a similar connection. In The Pilgrim of Hate by Ellis Peters, Brother Cadfael notes, “He has gone far along a difficult road who has come to the point of seeing that deprivation, pain and disability are of no consequence at all, beside the inward conviction of grace, and the secret peace of the soul. An acceptance which can only be made for a man’s own self, never for any other” (52).

While there are many books that wrestle with the “problem of pain” and question why God allows bad things to happen to good people, there are few that I’ve found like Shaum’s that so clearly illustrate the good purposes God accomplishes in our lives through pain and difficulty. We can fight against the trials of life and try to escape them, or we can embrace them as part of God’s design to draw us to depend on Him and to conform us to the image of His Son.

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4 ESV).

© 2019 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Weary and Burdened

I read this last night in The Sacred Romance by Brent Curtis and John Eldredge, and it spoke to where I feel myself to be right now.

“‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest,’ says Jesus. Most of us think of spiritual progress as requiring us to do more, even as our heart cries out to us to lay our burdens down. We renew our efforts at Bible study, Scripture memory, and Christian service, fearing that we will be discovered in our weakness and need… So many of our contemporary churches operate on this same system of guilt. When our people are crying out for communion and rest, we ask them to teach another Sunday school class. When they falter under the load, we admonish them with Scripture on serving others. One wonders what would happen if all activity motivated by this type of guilt were to cease for six months. Much of organized Christianity would collapse even as the Pharisees saw happen to their own religious system” (168-170).

There’s a lot of truth to that. I wonder if many of us (individually and collectively) are simply trying to do too much? We see the struggles of our churches and ministries and we feel a vague sense of guilt about not being able to do all that we believe God has called us to do—from the “little” things like staffing the nursery to the bigger picture of evangelism, discipleship, etc. If it’s true that in many churches 10% of the people do 90% of the work, those 10% can easily burn themselves out trying to keep things going.

If Jesus has promised rest to those who come to Him, why does rest feel like a foreign concept? Why is exhaustion so close at hand? Why does guilt seem to be such a big motivator? Somehow I think we’ve imagined that the Apostle Paul’s description of his ministry is supposed to be ours as well: “by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger” (2 Corinthians 6:4-5; see also 11:25-29). I don’t know how Paul did it, but I don’t have the physical, mental, or emotional stamina to do even a fraction of what he did.

Today I read this in an article from John Piper:

“These illnesses may come, and we still win. The sickness may come, senility may come, and we still win. It is possible for the unhealthy to win the fight against unbelief because the fight is against lost hope, lost faith, not against lost health… The fight is a fight of faith. It’s not a fight to get out of bed; it’s a fight to rest in God. It’s not a fight to keep all the powers of youth, but to trust in the power of God. The race is run against doubt in God’s goodness and love for us. It’s a fight to stay satisfied in God despite the broken hips and lost sight and failed memory and inexplicable fatigue… The finishing line is crossed in the end not by a burst of human energy, but by collapsing into the arms of God. And by all means, let those of us who have any energy left remember that we are called upon to, as Paul says, ‘encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all’ (1 Thessalonians 5:14).”

So for all of us who feel weary and burdened by ministry and by life, I offer the encouragement that Jesus offered, “Come to Me and rest.” He didn’t say, “Come on, you can do five more tasks today, share the Gospel with one person every day, attend three more church events this week, and be the perfect parent, pastor, and teacher!” Jesus understands weariness. After all, He was the one who fell asleep in a boat in the midst of a storm.

It’s okay that “even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted” (Isaiah 40:30), because “The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary” (40:28). When we collapse into bed tonight, God is still in control. May we find rest in His embrace.

“My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth… He who keeps you will not slumber… The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore” (Psalm 121:2, 3, 8 ESV).

© 2018 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com.

In the Storm

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior” (Isaiah 43:1b-3 ESV).

I have to admit though that there are times when the difficulties of life seem overwhelming and all-consuming. I realize anew that God didn’t say we don’t have to go through the rivers or the fires, but that He will be with us in the midst of them. God revealed His presence in the fiery furnace with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Daniel 3). Jesus was in the boat with the disciples when they thought they were going to die from the storm (Mark 4:35-41). After calming the wind and waves, His question to them was, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” (v. 40). He could have kept them out of the storm entirely, but instead used it to reveal His power. Later on God sent an angel to the Apostle Paul to assure him that he and the crew would survive the storm that would destroy the ship in which they sailed (Acts 27:23-24).

It would be nice if we could see God or receive an angelic messenger when the storms of life arise. Unfortunately, God doesn’t generally work that way. Trials can strengthen our faith if we cling to what we know from Scripture to be true: God is present, He cares, and He will work all things for our ultimate good and His glory.

I wonder what lessons He has in mind for our present trials (whatever they may be)?

• Patiently enduring (Col. 1:11)
• Placing our hope in Him (Rom. 5:3-4)
• Relying on His strength in our weakness (2 Cor. 12:9)
• Unceasing prayer (1 Thess. 5:16-18; Luke 18:1-8)
• Being sanctified (1 Thess. 5:23-24; Heb. 12:7)
• Boasting for God (2 Thess. 1:4-5)
• Comforting others in affliction (2 Cor. 1:3-4)

These and other Scriptural reminders should shape the way we pray for ourselves and others. I shared with someone recently that it is a little scary to pray, “Lord, do whatever it takes to save this person’s soul,” because we don’t really want to see anyone suffer. It’s far easier to pray, “Deliver this person from this difficulty,” but that may not be God’s plan. The question is, do we trust God to do exactly what is needed and nothing more or less? If He has the power to use every circumstance for His own good purposes, I want to trust Him to do that even if it hurts. That’s easier said than done.

It would be helpful if we could see the future results of the storm we’re in, but some trials may never make sense in this lifetime. One day we will realize the “eternal weight of glory” that is the result of our endurance (2 Cor. 4:16-18). Meanwhile we wait, trust, and hope.

“Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” (Psalm 27:14).

© 2018 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com.

In the Desert

Recently I’ve been watching my DVDs of Star Trek: The Next Generation. In one episode, Data meets Spock and comments on the fact that Spock has spent his life trying to suppress his human side and the emotions that go with that, while Data has been trying to become more human and wishes to experience emotions. I’d have to say I would usually agree with Spock on this one. In my experience, emotions most often represent a loss of control and are usually undesirable. That’s one of the reasons that I find depression hard to cope with. I don’t like feeling out of control, like I could start crying at all kinds of inconvenient times.

I just came across these comments in A Praying Life, by Paul E. Miller (57-58):

“In fact, God wanted me depressed about myself and encouraged about his Son. The gospel uses my weakness as the door to God’s grace. That is how grace works... John Landsburg [Landsberg], a sixteenth-century Catholic monk, summarized this well in his classic A Letter from Jesus Christ....

‘...In fact I don’t want you to rely on your own strength and abilities and plans, but to distrust them and to distrust yourself; and to trust me and no one and nothing else. As long as you rely entirely on yourself, you are bound to come to grief. You still have a most important lesson to learn: your own strength will no more help you to stand upright than propping yourself on a broken reed. You must not despair of me. You may hope and trust in me absolutely. My mercy is infinite.’”

It is an uncomfortable truth that God doesn’t want us to be stronger, but weaker. He doesn’t need us strong enough to do His work, but weak enough to let Him do His work for us and through us. I heard a radio spot on Judges 6 where Gideon is told, “Go in the strength you have,” not in the strength he didn’t have. In the next chapter, God intentionally weakened the army down to 300 men so that He alone would get the credit. In 2 Corinthians 11:30 and 12:9-10, Paul boasts in his own weaknesses because they display God’s strength.

Our culture values the strong, independent, assertive, and self-controlled. God values the poor, meek, thirsty, and sorrowful who know they need His strength (Matthew 5:3-12). The strong don’t really need God. The weak know they can’t live without Him.

Even though I’ve contended with depression most of my life, I hate when it flairs up and leaves me feeling weak and vulnerable. My pride kicks in and says, “You aren’t supposed to feel this way. You should be able to hold it together. You can’t let others know you still have this struggle.” This is an arid place to dwell.

Miller draws on the many stories of the desert in Scripture:

“The hardest part of being in the desert is that there is no way out. You don’t know when it will end. There is no relief in sight... The still, dry air of the desert brings the sense of helplessness that is so crucial to the spirit of prayer. You come face-to-face with your inability to live, to have joy, to do anything of lasting worth... The desert becomes a window to the heart of God. He finally gets your attention because he’s the only game in town... The best gift of the desert is God’s presence” (184-185).

Life can often feel like a desert—empty, lonely, fruitless. But God takes pleasure in making the desert bloom, bringing life to lifelessness. That is a reason for hope and perseverance.

“The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing” (Isaiah 35:1-2 ESV).

© 2018 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com.

A Look at Suffering

This week I encountered two lists of God’s purposes in suffering. There is some duplication between the two, but together they are a good reminder that suffering is never wasted in the life of a believer.

Is God Really in Control? - Jerry Bridges

Adversity helps us to grow:

1. Pruning—loosening our grip on desires and expectations, even good ones, so that we can embrace God’s will- John 15:2
2. Holiness—exposing our rebelliousness and wrong desires- Galatians 5:22-23
3. Dependence—relying on God instead of ourselves- John 15:5
4. Perseverance—pursuing a goal despite obstacles- Hebrews 10:36, 12:1
5. Service—being God’s means to comfort and encourage others- 2 Corinthians 1:4
6. Fellowship of suffering—uniting our hearts with other believers’ intimacy with Christ—sharing in His sufferings- Revelation 1:9
7. Relationship with God—bowing before His sovereignty and trusting His wisdom- Job 42:5

Suffering in the Believer’s Life (sermon) - Alistair Begg

God uses suffering in order:

1. To develop perseverance- James 1:3
2. To bring us to maturity- James 1:4
3. To assure us of our sonship- Hebrews 12:5-6, Romans 8:37
4. To prove the genuine nature of our faith- [1 Peter 1:6-7], Genesis 22:2, 16
5. To develop in us humility- 2 Corinthians 12:7
6. To keep us on track- Psalm 119:67-71, Proverbs 3:1-2
7. To deepen our insight into the heart of God- Hosea 1-3
8. To enable us to help others in their trials- [2 Corinthians 1:-7], 2 Kings 5:3
9. To reveal what we really love- Deuteronomy 13:3
10. To display His glory- Genesis 50:20

May we not try to escape suffering just because it is uncomfortable, but may we look to see how God is using it for our good and His glory.

© 2017 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com.

Hello, Darkness

I’m a little late for Mental Illness Awareness Week (the first week of October), but thought I should go ahead and post this anyway. Every year I dread the coming of autumn because for many years it has meant an increase in depression symptoms starting around Labor Day. Sometimes that includes unexpected “crying attacks,” or as I’ve also referred to them, the depressive equivalent of panic attacks. After that happened one time recently, I shared with a friend that this is frustratingly familiar territory.

Today I was reading an article in the November issue of Guideposts. The author heard from someone who experienced panic attacks: “I used to fight those panic attacks. Now I just try to see them as a familiar part of me. When I feel one coming on, I say, ‘Hello, old friend,’ and I talk to it. All the power fizzes out of it.” Although I haven’t tried that particular tactic with depression, that’s the kind of accepting attitude I am trying to cultivate. I can’t change whatever is going on in my body, and medications don’t help during these months, so my only option is to accept and endure with as much grace as possible.

I was reminded of Simon & Garfunkel’s words in The Sound of Silence, “Hello, darkness, my old friend, I’ve come to talk with you again.” But the reason I feel compelled to write this comes later in the song, “‘Fools,’ said I, ‘You do not know silence like a cancer grows. Hear my words that I might teach you. Take my arms that I might reach you.’” Chronic or recurring depression is one of those private battles that are often endured silently. It feels like it takes too much effort to make people understand, and we don’t have the energy to maintain relationships during these times. We feel like we’re carrying cement blocks on our backs and we can’t get rid of them. Many of us continue to work only because we have bills to pay, but we’d rather crawl in a hole and sleep until spring.

We don’t need sermons on joy or lectures on positive thinking. We need reminders that we are loved in the midst of the battle, and that God is present in the darkness even though we can’t see Him. Endurance is possible, but we can’t do it alone. We need support, which may range anywhere from an encouraging word and prayer to medication and hospitalization, depending on the person. I tried for a long time to get through on my own strength, but I learned several years ago that I need to let other people inside so they can fight the battle for me and with me.

John Piper wrote the following in Desiring God, and it’s also included as the devotion for October 29 in Solid Joys:

“All experiences of suffering in the path of Christian obedience, whether from persecution or sickness or accident, have this in common: They all threaten our faith in the goodness of God, and tempt us to leave the path of obedience. 

“Therefore, every triumph of faith, and all perseverance in obedience, are testimonies to the goodness of God and the preciousness of Christ — whether the enemy is sickness, Satan, sin, or sabotage. Therefore, all suffering, of every kind, that we endure in the path of our Christian calling is a suffering ‘with Christ’ and ‘for Christ.’”

So for those of you who share this present darkness, don’t give up and don’t go silent. Let others in so they can be praying for you and supporting you as best they can. And for those who are our friends, take seriously the call to pray for us, bear our burdens, and love us as brothers and sisters in Christ. We thank you.

© 2017 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com.

Enduring with Joy

I’ve been reading Be Still My Soul: Embracing God’s Purpose & Provision in Suffering, edited by Nancy Guthrie, which is a collection of 25 readings by various authors. The following are several quotes that I’ve noted and clung to in recent weeks.

“God permits what he hates to accomplish what he loves.” –Joni Eareckson Tada (35)

“You are one person living at one place, at one point in time and even if God chose to explain to you how all the pieces of his giant puzzle are fitting together in a manner consistent with his own righteous and holy and gracious nature, so that he may faithfully fulfill his promises in your life and work everything that happens to you for your good, you couldn’t understand it. But you can believe that God understands it. And you can believe that God is loving enough, and powerful enough, and wise enough, and gracious enough, and faithful enough to you to do what he says when he promises to work everything for your good.” –Wilson Benton, Jr. (59)

“It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until he has hurt him deeply.” –A.W. Tozer (89)

“Sanctified tribulations work the proof of our faith, and this is more precious than that of gold, which perisheth, though it be tried by fire… [Your] own faith in God is proved when you can cling to him under temptation… I find it especially sweet to learn the great strength of the Lord in my own weakness.” –Charles Spurgeon (104-105)

“It was as if the Savior was saying, ‘I can demonstrate my power better by not eliminating your problem. It is better for you, Paul, and for my glory in your life, that I show my strength by keeping you going though the thorn remains.’ …The weaker we feel, the harder we lean. And the harder we lean, the stronger we grow spiritually, even while our bodies waste away. To live with your ‘thorn’ uncomplainingly, sweet, patient, and free in heart to love and help others, even though every day you feel weak, is true sanctification. It is true healing for the spirit. It is a supreme victory of grace. The healing of your sinful person thus goes forward even though the healing of your mortal body does not. And the healing of persons is the name of the game so far as God is concerned.” –J.I. Packer (139-140)

“‘Blessed [happy] is the people whose God is the Lord’—that is, who count enjoying God as their happiness—when they lose everything, they can still be happy because they have not lost God. Our afflictions reveal our state of mind; when we see outward crosses as the greatest evil, God is not our main happiness. In the greatest lack of earthly things there is happiness, and comfort enough in God’s covenant.” –Thomas Manton (143)

“As we sang [Since Jesus Came Into My Heart], I wondered how everyone in the chapel was processing that statement in light of real life experience when sea billows of joy do not roll over the soul. Here’s how I fit it in my own experience: Yes, since knowing Jesus, joy has rolled over me like the waves of the sea, but not always. There are times when the tide goes out. God is still God; joy is still joy; but I am baking in the seaweed on the beach waiting for the tide to come in… God’s purpose in our weakness is to glorify the grace and power of his Son… not by getting rid of all our weaknesses; but by giving strength to endure and even rejoice in tribulation. ” –John Piper (145, 151)

And one final reminder that my pastor shared with me:

May you be “strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light” (Colossians 2:11-12 ESV).

© 2017 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com.