Not My Job

Sometime during the night I was thinking about Matthew 14 (and parallels in the other Gospels) where Jesus has been teaching the people. At the end of the day the disciples suggest that Jesus should send the crowds away to find food. Jesus responds, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat” (Matt. 14:16). He knew perfectly well that they didn’t have enough food on hand to serve more than 5000 people. He already knew how He planned to provide the food for them. I was reminded of an interview where Dallas Jenkins said,

“God does impossible math... Your job is not to feed the 5000 but to give Him your loaves and fish… My job is not to worry about the impact or to worry about the multiplication, it’s just to make sure whatever loaves and fish I do provide are as good and healthy as they can be.”

Some of us are pretty good at worrying about the details. “How is this going to work?” “What if...?” My personality leads to me look for all the answers before anyone asks me the questions, because I don’t want to look ignorant or incompetent. (Yeah, I know, pride and shame are flip sides of the same coin.) I have to be reminded often “That’s not your job.” Not only is it impossible for any person to know all the answers or to have all the resources, God actually delights in showing up in our weakness.

He can multiply resources in ways we never even imagined. He has answers to questions we never thought of asking. He arranges circumstances for events we never expected. All He asks is that we keep showing up and giving Him what little we have to offer, in particular through the spiritual gifts He has given us.

“Having gifts that differ according to the grace give to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness” (Rom. 12:6-8).

We each do our small part and trust God for the outcome. Part of the challenge, at least for me, is in discerning where my part ends and God’s begins. I could research, study, and plan for eons and never feel like I’m done. There comes a time when we each have to say, “I’ve done what I know to do,” and let it go. If God wants something to happen, He can do it without me figuring out all the details. In fact, He will get more glory if I end up saying, “Oh, I never would have thought of that.”

Even the disciples didn’t get it. Shortly after the feeding of the 5000, they had the same question with a crowd of 4000. “Where are we to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd?” (Matt. 15:33). Human math just doesn’t quite add up when God is involved. At such times, I think it is okay (though hard) to say, “God, I can’t make sense of this, so I guess my job is to trust You now.”

In what is becoming one of my favorite scenes in the Gospels, a man brought his son to the disciples and asked them to cast out the evil spirit that was tormenting him. The disciples were failing miserably when Jesus showed up and proclaimed, “All things are possible for one who believes.” The father cried out, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:23-24). The disciples hadn’t yet figured out that they didn’t have the power to do anything apart from God. The job for the disciples, as for all of us, is to believe God can do and will do things we could never ask or imagine, because that’s His job.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths” (Prov. 3:5-6).

© 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.

Upside Down

“You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth You will bring me up again” (Psalm 71:20).

I have mixed feelings about this particular verse. It is a precious promise of what God can do and will do for His children. And yet that first phrase is a little scary. “You made me see troubles and calamities”? Does God cause suffering? A parallel might be the opening of the book of Job. Satan attacks Job, yet it is only by God’s permission. Or in Genesis 50:20, Joseph tells his brothers, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive as they are today.”

Scripture is clear that God is sovereign over all things, yet He clearly allows evil things to happen even to people who love Him dearly. And since our days were written “when as yet there was none of them” (Ps. 139:16), God planned from the beginning exactly how He was going to use sin and suffering for His own good purposes in our lives.

In my imagination, I picture God writing out the book of our lives and asking Satan, “OK, what would you like to happen to this person? … Ah ha, I’ll permit that and then flip it upside down so that they and their family members come to rely on Me!” No matter what Satan comes up with, God holds the winning card.

Although we don’t know who wrote Psalm 71, it could certainly be a reflection of David’s life. As a young man he was ignored or condemned by his brothers. He was chosen by God to become the king, but spent years on the run from King Saul. He lived in an era when war was an annual event, with some wins and some losses. He made some bad decisions that included getting Bathsheba pregnant and then conspiring to murder her husband. His own son plotted against him to steal the kingdom away. And yet in all this he kept turning to God in faith over and over again. David faced many troubles and calamities, but God was never far away.

Charles Spurgeon wrote about this psalm, “Here is faith’s inference from the infinite greatness of the Lord. He has been strong to smite; he will be also strong to save. He has shown me many heavy and severe trials, and he will also show me many and precious mercies.” Spurgeon wasn’t referring to merely theoretical trials. He had plenty of controversy to deal with in his ministry, as well as physical and emotional struggles. By faith he trusted that God’s good purposes would prevail.

I don’t know what God is planning to do through the things that hurt me or those I love. I may never know in this lifetime. I hope that my faith is growing stronger along the way, and that there are fewer valleys of doubt. I have not arrived on the mountaintop nor can I see it ahead. But I can say with certainty that I would not be where I am if it were not for God’s “many and precious mercies” reviving me and bearing me up along the way. I believe that we can hold onto Jesus’ promise to His disciples:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy… So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you” (John 16:20, 22).

© 2025 Dawn Rutan. Photo from one of my many hikes on the Rough Ridge trail near Blowing Rock, NC. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Not Mr. Fix-It

A friend recommended that I read the book When God Doesn’t Fix It, by Laura Story. Although I was very familiar with her song “Blessings” and others, I didn’t know anything about her background. I won’t go into details here because I’d rather recommend that you read her book. She is certainly qualified to respond to the question “What do you do when God doesn’t fix the overwhelming circumstances of life?” Sometimes living is a daily chore, and walking by faith is more like crawling in the dark. But God is there with us too. The following are just a few of the highlights I made in the book:

“[While] we’re focused on the unhealed sickness, hurt, and pain in our lives, God is focused on a bigger picture. Something else is broken, and it has eternal consequences if it doesn’t get fixed” (ch 3).

“We ask God why, believing the answer will provide us with some kind of deep soul satisfaction. But too often, we don’t get the answer we want. I don’t think that means we should give up asking questions; we just need to understand their role in our brokenness. Questions can be a great help in mourning our loss, communicating our frustration, and expressing our feelings. We belong to an almighty, transcendent, yet approachable God who loves hearing our questions. Our questions are important to him, and the Scriptures are full of hurting people asking questions” (ch 10).

“The answer to why doesn’t help us heal. But knowing that God’s glory can be displayed, even in the brokenness of our lives, gives us hope despite our circumstances. I promise you will find more purpose and joy in your life if you set aside the why and begin to ask how. How does my story fit into God’s greater story of redemption? ...
How might God use your current trial to glorify himself?
How might God use your weakness, infirmity, or disability to display his power?
How might God use your hard circumstances to show you something about yourself?
How might God use your pain for a purpose? How might God make this mess into a message?
How might God use your current chaos to make you into a man or woman who walks by faith, not by sight?
How might God use your situation to show you that true peace is found only in him?” (ch 10).

“God is the hero of the broken story. That’s why he wants you to share your highs and lows too—it’s a part of his story, and it can be used to bring others closer to him” (ch 14).

“What if telling your story at church would not only be a blessing in disguise for you, but a lifeline to someone who needed to hear God’s hope and truth? What if sharing your trials through a blog post of a Facebook status encourages others who are going through their own trials? What if seeing how you’ve turned to God helps someone else know him?” (ch 17).

“Joy doesn’t come from our circumstances; it comes from our God. And since God is with us during our trials, it is possible to have joy even in our trials” (ch 19).

God may not fix things to our preferred standards, but His construction plans are much more detailed than our own and will one day be completed and perfect.

“For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with human hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Cor. 5:1).

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© 2025 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV. Cover photo courtesy of Amazon.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Getting in Shape

I was feeling inadequate, unable to live up to the expectations of others, wondering if God too might be expecting more than I feel willing or able to do. I found myself drawn to Psalm 139 and the reminders that “You knitted me together in my mother’s womb” (v. 13) and “My frame was not hidden from You, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth” (15). In between is the reassurance, “Wonderful are Your works!” (14). What God has made is well thought out and right for His purposes.

As I moved on to verse 16, I discovered something I hadn’t seen before. The ESV states, “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.” Other translations add some flavor: “all the days ordained for me were written in Your book” (NIV), “And in Your book they were all written, the days fashioned for me” (NKJV), or “even the days that were fashioned” (JPS). Do you see what I see? The days that were formed or fashioned for me were created with just as much careful deliberation by God as the way He formed me in the womb. Biblehub notes, “The Hebrew verb ‘yatsar’ primarily means to form or fashion, often used in the context of creating or shaping something with intention and purpose. It conveys the idea of a potter shaping clay, highlighting the skill and care involved in the creative process.” It’s the same word used in Isaiah 43:1, “But now thus says the Lord, He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel...”

God forms us for our day, and He forms our days for us. Therefore we can be assured that they fit us. Sure, there are added challenges of living in a world marred by sin, but God’s purposes still prevail. Job proclaimed, “I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2). David said, “I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills His purpose for me” (Ps. 57:2).

There can be a tendency, even within the church, to think that we’re all supposed to fit some stereotype of gifts, abilities, relationships, and appearance. But “If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?” (1 Cor. 12:17). We aren’t all expected to do the same things in the same way, because God uniquely fashioned each of us on purpose and for His purposes. My life doesn’t have to look like someone else’s, and my ministry within the Body of Christ doesn’t have to fit someone else’s mold. It just needs to be what God has designed for me.

“But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, ‘Why have you made me like this?’” (Rom. 9:20). Some vessels are more eye-catching than others, but all are necessary. Sometimes I wonder why God made me as He did, but Scripture reminds me that His purposes are always good and I can rest in the mold He has formed for my days.

“But now, O Lord, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are our potter; we are all the work of Your hand” (Isaiah 6748).

© 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.

Run Your Race

Steve Cuss hosts the “Being Human” podcast with Christianity Today, and he’s also recently published The Expectation Gap: The Tiny, Vast Space between Our Beliefs & Experience of God. It is thought-provoking reading. In chapter 7 he addresses some of our faulty assumptions about our progress in our faith. He writes:

“ASSUMPTION: We read these Bible stories multiple times and forget that many of these experiences happened only once to a particular person. We carry the pressure to live out that one story in our lives all the time. REALITY: Seeing these stories as points in time rather than for all time can help us relax into human-sized expectation…

“ASSUMPTION: One week we need to be like Peter. The next week we need to be like Mary. It all depends on what story we are reading that week. REALITY: Peter was pretty much always like Peter. Mary was very Maryesque. You are you, and I am me. We will get further in our faith if we accept our humanity than if we always strive to be someone or something we can never be… Over time, we end up stacking all of these people with all of their unique traits and examples into one fictional super-disciple that none of us will ever be and, frankly, none of them were either.”

You’ve probably experienced something like that. We hear a sermon about Mary and Martha and we think we need to spend all our time sitting at Jesus’s feet in devotion. Yet if we all did that we’d miss a lot of meals! We think we need to be like Peter when he preached fearlessly, yet there were also a number of times he stuck his foot in his mouth and once when he needed a life vest. Each of Jesus’s followers had their ups and downs, and we are no different.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in Discipleship:

“Scripture does not present us with a collection of Christian types to be imitated according to our own choice. Rather, in every passage it proclaims to us the one Jesus Christ. It is him alone whom I ought to hear. He is one and the same everywhere” (Reader’s edition, ch. 8).

I’m reminded of the old song “Dare to Be a Daniel.” While it is true we all need courage to stand firm in our faith, we don’t need to be another Daniel or Noah or Moses. God already used them for His purposes in their own time. (Incidentally, when I was on the last hymnal committee for my denomination, I strongly suggested that Rahab should not be included in the list of possible names to use in that song, as she was in one hymnal.)

What we need is not another Billy Graham. We simply need each believer to faithfully follow our Lord’s leading in whatever path He sets before us: pastor, teacher, missionary, spouse, parent, manager, employee, author, artist, accountant, secretary, mechanic, or any other role you may have.

This subject recurs in my writing occasionally, and that’s probably because I’ve spent so much of my life trying to be someone I’m not. God has to remind me periodically that I am exactly who He made me to be, and He never expects me to be someone else. With that I will be content (at least until the next time I get distracted).

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [from Bible times till now], let us also lay aside every weight [and false assumptions], and sin which clings to closely, and let us [each] run with endurance the race that is set before us [not someone else’s race]” (Heb. 12:1).

© 2024 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.

Just Me

When you imagine the Apostle Paul, what sort of man do you see? A bold, fiery evangelist, unconcerned about what people think of him and unafraid of confronting sin? Certainly there are some examples of that in Scripture, such as when he opposed Peter for acting hypocritically (Gal. 2:11-14), and when Elymas the magician was deceiving the proconsul (Acts 13:6-12). However, there are other verses that paint a different picture:

“And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling” (1 Cor. 2:3).

“I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!” (2 Cor. 10:1).

“[Pray] also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak” (Eph. 6:19-20).

If those were the only descriptions you had of Paul, you might imagine him as a rather timid fellow, perhaps the way Timothy is often pictured. It can be easy to overlook a few verses when they don’t fit with our preconceived ideas. MacLaren’s Exposition of Acts 7 says this about Paul’s conversion experience:

“An overwhelming conviction flooded his soul that He whom he had taken to be an impostor, richly deserving the Cross that He endured, was living in glory, and was revealing Himself to Saul then and there. That truth crumbled his whole past into nothing; and he stood there trembling and astonished, like a man the ruins of whose house have fallen about his ears.”

No doubt Paul ended up questioning all that he thought was true, including how he needed to relate to these Christians he had despised. What he had previously considered as strengths were now his weaknesses (Phil 3:3-11).

Even those of us who have grown up in church may trust in the wrong things. We may rely on our natural abilities rather than God’s strength. Or we may assume that we are supposed to fit a particular stereotype if we are “good Christians” fulfilling God’s commands to evangelize and make disciples. If that were the case, God sure wasted a lot of creativity on humanity.

As some have said, we are uniquely created on purpose and for a purpose. There are a lot of people in the world and in church that I don’t understand, and I can’t imagine what it’s like to live their lives. They are probably just as baffled by me. We have different personalities, interests, abilities, and communication styles. God can use all of those things for His purposes if we submit them to His lordship. If we don’t, they are likely to trip us up and may cause us to glorify ourselves rather than God.

I’m probably more like Timothy than Paul, but mostly I’m just me, as God created me, redeemed me, and is sanctifying me. And that’s okay.

“If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness” (2 Cor. 11:30).

© 2024 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.

Amidst the Unknown

In his book Seasons of Sorrow, Tim Challies shares meditations on the death of his only son at the age of 20. He comments,

“God is working out his good will, not despite dark days, difficult trials, and broken hearts, but through them. Such circumstances are the raw material he uses to form and shape his good plans, his perfect purposes... The history of God’s work is this world is full of such ‘afterwards.’ Joseph had to be for many years a slave before he could be a ruler and declare to his brothers, ‘God sent me before you to preserve life’ and ‘you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.’ Moses’s mother had to set him afloat on the river and release him to be raised by a foreign princess before she knew her son would lead the great exodus.”

I would add a few details to that: Jacob lived for many years believing that his beloved son Joseph was dead, and only in his old age did he find out that Joseph was alive and well in Egypt. Moses’s mother is not mentioned in Scripture after her baby was weaned and adopted into the royal family. There is no evidence that she was even alive when Moses returned to lead the people out of Egypt. She likely died knowing only that her son had fled the palace.

There was also Job, afflicted in almost every conceivable way, and trying to figure out what God was up to in his life. It appears that God never did answer why it all happened, and only reminded Job that He was still sovereign. In addition, there were many generations of Israelites in the Promised Land awaiting the Messiah and wondering when God was going to fulfill His promises.

Jesus told His disciples, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand” (John 13:7). Eleven of them found out the truth a few days later and were emboldened to preach the gospel to a hostile world. But one died in his despair, not believing that he could ever be forgiven for betraying his Lord.

There is much in this life that we cannot know or understand now. Some of our questions may be answered in short order, and some may not be answered even in eternity. I truly believe that God is working all things together for good for His children, but many times I wish I knew exactly what good He is planning to bring about and what His schedule is. His good purposes will probably look somewhat different in each of us. I don’t know why Tim Challies lost his son at the beginning of a life of faithful ministry, but I am glad to read his thoughts as he has processed this with God at his side. I don’t know what good comes through having a parent with Alzheimer’s (though I’m learning). I don’t know why a teenager gets cancer or a young man rebels. As Challies notes, “Our lives are not our own. They never are. They never were. ‘In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind’” (Job 12:10).

I can only speak for myself, but I am (ever so slowly) learning a few good things that come out of a lifetime of recurring depression. I am more conscious of my weakness and my need for God’s strength to keep carrying me through the valleys. I am more honest and more likely to reach out to others for help and encouragement. I am more faithful in praying for others I know who are struggling in various ways. In these small ways I am becoming more like Christ and, hopefully, contributing to the needs of His Body here on earth. I don’t know what the future holds, and I can’t even begin to fathom the “eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor. 4:17) that is to come. But from where I am today, would I erase depression from my life story if I could? No. God has used it to make me who I am now and who I will be in the future, and I trust that His plan is best even if I can’t fully understand it.

“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” (Heb. 11:13).

© 2024 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.

Waiting and Hoping

When I saw the latest episode title on one of the podcasts I follow, I knew I had to listen right away: Hope + Help for Waiting on God. Mark Vroegop’s new book, Waiting Isn’t a Waste, is one I’ll get as soon as it is released. I know I’m not good at waiting, and it’s something I’ve been wrestling with recently. A particular arena of uncertainty about the future had me anxiously awaiting a resolution. I searched for ways around the waiting without success. So some of Vroegop’s comments in the podcast hit home (and perhaps stepped on my toes a bit).

He notes that in Scripture the Hebrew word that is often translated as waiting is synonymous with hope. (Some time back I had noticed the same of the Spanish word esperar.*) Yet so often we wait without hope. Which brings me to the next point I noted in the podcast. When we are waiting, we need to refocus our attention away from thing that is causing the gap in our knowledge and think instead on what we know about God. Here are a few of the truths that I’ve been returning to in the past several days:

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose… to be conformed to the image of His Son…” (Rom. 8:28-29).

“I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and will execute justice for the needy. Surely the righteous shall give thanks to Your name; the upright shall dwell in Your presence” (Psalm 140:12-13).

“I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Heb. 13:5b).

When I’m consumed with anxiety, I start thinking “yeah, but...” I know God is at work, but His ways are not my ways. I know He hears my prayers, but He doesn’t always answer them the way I want or expect. I know He will work all things for good, but I don’t know how long it will take. As C.S. Lewis wrote, “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” (Letters, 29 April 1959).

Vroegop also touches on the subject of evaluating our expectations. I want to control my world and the people in it, and dashed expectations hurt. It’s hard to remember and accept that God is working things for good when I can’t understand how He’s doing it or what good may come of it. I’m only now seeing the good that has come out of some things that happened years ago.

As I was anxiously waiting, I tried to think about what was actually under my control, which was not much. I could pray boldly and persistently (and I did), and I invited others to pray with me (which I don’t often do). Aside from that, I simply tried to trust God’s promises and His character more fully, and endeavored to “rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thess. 5:16-17).

It turned out that my anxiety-producing lack of knowledge was settled earlier than I expected and in the way that I desired. In reality, the answer was already decided long before I even had reason for anxiety. It was only my own knowledge of the circumstances that needed to be brought up to speed, which required an appointment with the one person who could tell me. Even if that hadn’t been the case, God already knew the answer before I started praying. But in His divine providence, He allowed the testing of my faith in order to make me depend on Him more fully, as well as to remind me that I am connected to people in His Body who are more than willing to pray for me. I wouldn’t have paid attention to a podcast about waiting if I had not had to wait. And I wouldn’t have heard or heeded the reminder that what we know to be true of God is always where we need to focus our attention.

Bruce Martin wrote in Desperate for Hope, “The more we reflect on the greatness of God, the more our perspective on the situation changes. We’re reminded that God is with us and he’s always up to something. We just can’t see it yet” (73).

“But they who wait for [NIV “hope in”] the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).

*Quiero esperar con esperanza!

© 2024 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.

O Captain, My Captain

We live in a culture that has tried to flip reality on its head. We are told that we discover or create our own truth, that there is no objective truth or source outside our own perceptions. And then we’re told that we have to accept, and even honor, everyone else’s perception of truth. If there is no God, no Creator, then whatever evolutionary processes formed my brain and cause my neurons fire to guide my thought processes is just as valid as anyone else’s. And, we might argue, my thoughts are best because I know how I arrived at my conclusions, but I don’t know how you arrived at yours.

Ah, but if there is a God (as I’m convinced there is), the whole story is reversed. From the biblical narrative, God created the world on purpose and for a purpose—so that His creation might come to know and glorify Him (Rev. 15:4). Our bodies were created to reflect His image to the world (Gen. 1:27). Our minds were made to learn about Him and to communicate what we know to others (Acts 1:8). Our moral standards are to be defined by God, not by our own lesser thought processes (Is. 55:8). In fact, we often can’t trust our own thoughts and desires because they are corrupted by sin (Jer. 17:9).

The very first question, leading to the first sin, was “Did God actually say...?” (Gen. 3:1-4). From that moment, the guiding drive of mankind has been to become our own gods, determining our own version of good and evil, right and wrong. But we are deceived to think that we can truly say, “I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul” (W.E. Henley). Just because we choose our course does not mean we are headed to the right destination or even a viable destination.

Many in our world today, including some professing Christians, are ignoring the reality that truth comes from God, and that He alone has the right to define morality and to tell us how we are meant to live. He has done that through the written Scriptures and through the incarnation of Jesus Christ, who stated, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). If we choose to turn away from that Truth, or try to redefine it to mean something new, we place ourselves on the path that leads to eternal destruction. As the Apostle Paul wrote, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith” (2 Cor. 13:5a). The consequences are eternally significant.

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Matt. 7:13-14).

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PS: Dietrich Bonhoeffer lived in Nazi Germany, where it was the leadership of the government that was trying to redefine truth, reality, humanity, right and wrong. We’ve democratized the process to make everyone an autonomous god. His Ethics book has some helpful observations, if you can wade through it. Here are a couple pertinent quotes I discovered:

“God is love (1 John 4:16). For the sake of clarity, this sentence must first be read with the emphasis on the word God, even though we have become accustomed to emphasize the word ‘love.’ God is love: that is, love is not a human behavior, sentiment, or deed, but it is God who is love. What love is can be known only by one who knows God; the reverse is not true... Thus nobody knows what love is except through God’s self-revelation” (248, Reader’s Edition).

“It is not Christ who has to justify himself before the world by acknowledging the values of justice, truth, and freedom. Instead, it is these values that find themselves in need of justification, and their justification is Jesus Christ alone. It is not a ‘Christian culture’ that still has to make the name of Jesus Christ acceptable to the world; instead, the crucified Christ has become the refuge, justification, protection, and claim for these higher values and their defenders who have been made to suffer” (257).

© 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.

Where's This Going?

I’ve been reading lately in Genesis and Exodus, and the thought crossed my mind—once the famine was over, why didn’t Jacob’s family return to the land that had been promised to him (Gen. 28:15)? The primary answer may be that once Jacob died his sons didn’t feel any tie to the land, so they decided to stay in Egypt where the living seemed good. But the greater reason wasn’t revealed for a few centuries. God told Moses to proclaim to Pharaoh, “For this purpose I have raised you up, to show you My power, so that My name may be proclaimed in all the earth” (Ex. 9:16).

In a seminar he taught on Genesis 39, Russell Moore brought out an idea from an unnamed Catholic philosopher, that what happened to Joseph is part of the broader story—if Joseph’s robe hadn’t torn when Potiphar’s wife grabbed him, he wouldn’t have landed in prison where he interpreted dreams that led him to become Pharaoh’s aid, so that he could save his family during the famine, so that the exodus showed God’s power and brought Israel into the Promised Land, where the town of Bethlehem was settled, where Jesus was born, so that He could go to the cross, die, and be resurrected, so that we might have eternal life. “All of the Gospel then was dependent on how well one tailor sewed a robe.”

Of course, there are a lot of other details before, during, and after that list of events that all contribute to where we each are today as members of God’s family and His Church on earth. And probably all along the way people have wondered what God is doing and why things are happening as they are. We often can’t see how our individual stories connect with God’s overarching story of creation, fall, redemption, and restoration. This may be increasingly true the longer we wait for the Second Coming. Even when the Church was launched almost 2000 years ago, they thought the end was very near. Now we may wonder what the delay is and what purpose our lives serve to keep the story moving toward its ultimate consummation.

We need to revisit the narrative of Scripture frequently to remind us that God’s plan is far bigger than our own brief lives. Eugene Peterson wrote,

“This history is important, for without it we are at the mercy of whims. Memory is a databank we use to evaluate our position and make decisions. With a biblical memory we have two thousand years of experience… If we are going to live adequately and maturely as the people of God, we need more data to work from than our own experience can give us… If we never learn how to do this—extend the boundaries of our lives beyond the dates enclosed by our birth and death and acquire an understanding of God’s way as something larger and more complete than the anecdotes of our private diaries—we will forever be missing the point… For Christian faith cannot be comprehended by examining an Instamatic flash picture… it is a full revelation of a vast creation and a grandly consummated redemption” (A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, 160-164).

The things we do and experience today or tomorrow may seem purposeless and irrelevant in the grand scheme of life. Perhaps one way to look at it (and one I need to employ more often) is to ask, “How might this small task benefit God’s work in my church, my friends, my family, my own life, etc.?” As the old proverb goes, what consequences might ensue for want of a nail? What nail can you contribute today to serve God’s purpose in moving this battle on to its final conclusion?

“[God] saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of His own purpose and grace, which He gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began” (2 Tim. 1:9).

© 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.

In the Book

Last week in Sunday school we were talking about differing views of predestination (Arminianism vs. Reformed). There is certainly benefit to studying Scripture to try to figure out what it is saying about salvation. Sometimes though, I think we forget that God is not bound by space and time. This analogy isn’t perfect, but I picture God as the author of a grand book. He has chosen the characters and established their lives and their destinies. Each page, from beginning to end, is unchangeable. But for the characters, each choice they make is a normal outworking of their personality, desires, and priorities. Each choice matters because it leads to the next page of the story. This analogy is supported by Scriptures such as these:

“[God] chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him” (Eph. 1:4).

“In Your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them” (Psalm 139:16b).

There are a couple unique features of God’s book. One is that He wrote Himself into the story in the form of Jesus Christ— “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14a). Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection were required to make the story come to the proper conclusion. That points to the second unique feature—at the end of the story the book isn’t just stuck on a shelf somewhere. Instead, God will transform His chosen people from two-dimensional characters into fully living members of His eternal family. (Everyone else will not be “lifted” off the page into new life.)

Like I said, the analogy isn’t perfect since it doesn’t address things such as prayer and worship being real interaction with God. However, I think most would agree that eternal life is going to have new dimensions we can’t currently imagine: How did Jesus appear to the disciples when they were hidden behind locked doors? Will we be able to just transport ourselves anywhere we want to go? How will we recognize and relate to the fellow believers we’ve known during this life? What good work will God have for each of us to do on the new earth? “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known” (1 Cor. 13:12).

With the author and book analogy, I have no qualms about saying that God chose me before I existed and apart from anything I could do to earn salvation. At the same time He enabled me to choose Him. He has used all the circumstances of my life—both good and bad—to make me who He wants me to be. Whether I understand all the details or not, I can trust that He will fulfill His perfect plan, and I can give Him the glory for all of it.

“The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels” (Rev. 3:5).

 

© 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 Needs of the One

There are two scenes from Star Trek that have come to mind frequently in recent weeks. At the end of “The Wrath of Khan,” when Spock is about to die because of his efforts to save the ship, comes the following dialogue:

Spock: Don't grieve, Admiral. It is logical. The needs of the many outweigh... 
Kirk: ...the needs of the few.
Spock: Or the one. I have been and always shall be your friend.

Then at the end of “The Search for Spock” is this interaction:

Spock: My father says that you have been my friend. You came back for me.
Kirk: You would have done the same for me.
Spock: Why would you do this?
Kirk: Because the needs of the one... outweigh the needs of the many.

If I’m honest, I often think that the first scene reflects God’s attitude toward mankind— “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one.” When difficulties arise in life, it’s tempting to think that God has bigger concerns than the wellbeing of one person, that He’s weighed us in a balance and the “best result for the most people” will always outweigh the few who are hurt in the process. I suppose that reflects Western business principles.

It’s complicated by the fact that God is focused on eternal priorities—salvation and sanctification—when we are often craving temporary comforts. It is also difficult to understand when God doesn’t reveal all His plans ahead of time and He rarely answers the question “Why?” However, Scripture tells us:

“Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Luke 12:6-7).

“Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, You know it altogether. You hem me in behind and before, and lay Your hand upon me… 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” (Psalm 139:4-5, 16).

“When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:17-18).

Somehow, in God’s economy, His care for individuals is intricately woven into His care for His Church as a whole, along with His care for humanity in general. One way that gets worked out is that God uses suffering to strengthen and purify each of us. James wrote,

“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 nothing” (James 1:2-4).

Peter put it this way,

“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).

I suspect that if given a choice, most of us would prefer satisfaction over sanctification, comfort over completion, ephemeral peace over eternal perfection. Paul Tripp wrote in Suffering: Gospel Hope When Life Doesn’t Make Sense,

“Here is suffering’s paradox: the very thing we would do anything to avoid, the very things that confront our understanding of who we are, and the very things that cause us the most pain become the very things that usher into our lives the blessings of the help, hope, peace, and rest that we all long to experience” (162).

“So your suffering isn’t purposeless, impersonal pain that robs you of what’s good. It’s a tool picked up by a Savior of wisdom, love, and grace to produce wonderful things in and through you that you could never produce on your own” (185).

We need a change of perspective (and I’m preaching to myself here!). We need constant reminders that God is good, that He cares, and that He is in control. May God give us the faith to endure and to trust that His good purposes will prevail even when we can’t begin to fathom what He is doing here and now.

“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… [Nothing] in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:28-29, 39).

***

The end of today’s prayer from Valley of Vision is relevant to this subject:

Give me unwavering faith
  that supplications are never in vain,
  that if I seem not to obtain my petitions
    I shall have larger, richer answers,
    surpassing all that I ask or think.
Unsought, thou hast given me
  the greatest gift, the person of thy Son,
  and in him thou wilt give me all I need.

***

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

Chance or Chosen?

I was listening to a podcast that happened to include two Jews and a Christian. The Christian made the comment, “I’m a Christian because they got to me first. If I’d been born in some other culture, who knows what I would be.” Perhaps he was just trying to be avoid being antagonistic. But while there is a small grain of truth in what he said—we are each born into a specific time and place and are influenced by our culture—it seemed like he was Christian in name only. If he truly believed that Jesus is the only way to God and eternal life, I don’t think he would so quickly write off his faith as a cultural coincidence. If we believe that God chose us “before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4), then our faith is not simply a cultural artifact. Unfortunately, his perspective is all too common. We who have grown up in a relatively Christianized country may be inclined to adopt a cultural Christianity that has very little relation to faith in God and obedience to His will as revealed in the Bible.

Not long after hearing that podcast I was reading my Bible and found myself in Ezekiel 3, where the prophet is told by God:

“If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul” (18-19).

In other words, “If you know the truth and don’t warn people, you will suffer for their condemnation.” While we might wish to apply that just to prophets or pastors, every believer has an obligation to share the good news of faith in Jesus Christ with those we love (Matt. 28:18-20). Failure to do so won’t make us lose our salvation, but it will certainly bring us grief when friends die without knowing Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Those who do know Jesus in this way will not glibly say, “The Christians got to me first.”

The author of Hebrews wrote, “Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it” (2:1). Jesus said that some who hear the truth will immediately reject it, others may initially seem to respond but later fall away, some let the truth get choked out by the stresses of life, but a few go on to bear great fruit (Luke 8:4-15). Then Jesus goes on to say that those who have received the light of truth will not hide that light from others (16). “Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away” (18).

There are those who call themselves Christians who have no clue what it means to live by faith in Christ alone or to desire to follow Him as Lord. What faith they think they have will be taken away, because it is a faith in themselves or in their cultural upbringing, not in God. The Apostle Paul wrote,

“For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them… So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Romans 1:19-21).

Although we can’t save ourselves by our works, we can choose to reject God’s offer of salvation and live in denial of His authority over our lives. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:8-10). Part of the good work that God has prepared for us is to bear witness to Him and to give a reason for the hope that we have (1 Pet. 3:15), not just attributing it to an accident of nature or nurture.

Let us give credit where credit is due and not neglect to give credit to the God who chose us.

“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 those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified” (Rom. 8:29-30).

© 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.

The Long View

There is a tendency in modern Christianity to cherry-pick verses and plaster them on shirts, mugs, and memes without examining the context. One favorite is Jeremiah 29:11:

“For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

Yes, that’s an encouraging word of God’s sovereignty and foreknowledge, but it wasn’t given to individual looking at his or her immediate future. The context is Israel’s captivity in Babylon. The first part of the chapter says,

“Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives… multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile… For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you My promise” (see vv. 4-10).

This was no promise of “just hold on a little while and you’ll get out of trouble.” This was a directive to wait a lifetime and the next generation would see national deliverance. It’s not unlike the forty years in the wilderness before Israel could enter the Promised Land following the exodus from Egypt.

We go astray when we read Scripture solely through the eyes of our Western individualized culture. Much of the Bible was written to the nation of Israel, not to individuals. That’s not to say that individual application is always wrong. There can be a lot of overlap. But it is clearly wrong to interpret verses like Jeremiah 29:11 as a promise of individual success and prosperity. Many Christians have leaned toward facets of a prosperity gospel without even realizing it. For example, youth may be led to believe that if they hold to certain Christian standards they will be guaranteed a better job, better marriage, and better life—almost equating Christianity with the American dream.

What then can we glean from Jeremiah 29? God is sovereign and omniscient, and His perspective is always long term. He is working out His divine plan over many generations in many thousands of years. He will fulfill His purposes for individuals, nations, and all of history, but that purpose does not necessarily include comfort and success for each person in their lifetime. We have to hold onto God’s perspective—the eternal reality—when we face suffering and difficulties. Our future and our hope are grounded in the truth that this life is not all there is. We can then endure as long as necessary because this life is just a drop in the bucket compared to eternal joy in His kingdom.

“You make known to me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11).

© 2021 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.

Purpose-Full

I know I’m not the only one who has days when getting out of bed feels like wasted effort. Some days just feel pointless. That is even more true in the middle of a pandemic, when so many normal activities are postponed or cancelled completely. On days like that, it helps to remember God’s purposes.

Why do I exist?

“Because you are precious in My eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life… everyone who is called by My name, whom I created for My glory, whom I formed and made” (Isaiah 43:4, 7).

What’s my purpose?

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10).

What if I mess up?

“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me” (1 Cor. 15:10).

“The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me” (Psalm 138:8a).

What if I don’t have the ability or energy to do anything?

“I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills His purpose for me” (Psalm 57:2).

“He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it” (1 Thess. 5:24).

What about people who may be hindering me?

“But for this purpose I have raised you [Pharaoh] up, to show you my power, so that My name may be proclaimed in all the earth” (Ex. 9:16).

“My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all My purpose” (Isaiah 46:10b).

God’s purposes will prevail, regardless of how exhausted, inept, or unprepared we may be at any point in time. He will work in and through our weakness to glorify Himself. “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Cor. 12:9b).

In those times when discouragement and doubt make it hard to get out of bed, and it seems like we’re just going in circles and accomplishing nothing, we can say with Job— “I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2). We may not know even a fraction of what God is doing in the world, but we can trust that He is doing something and that we have a part to play by His grace and mercy in choosing us and using us. That ought to get us moving.

“And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6).

© 2021 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.

Detour Ahead

As I was listening to the Hope + Help podcast on the “Age of Self” this week, I was thinking back over my life and the various things that have brought me to where I am today. It occurred to me that if I had been the author of my story, it would have been a straightforward progression from A to Z. For example, knowing what I know now, it seems more logical that I should have majored in accounting in college. But if I’d majored in accounting I would have had to attend a different school and connected with different people and may not have ended up in this job, and so on.

Choosing a college? Not the one you'd assumed for most of high school.
   Majoring in biology? Not leading to the career you intended.
      Grad school major? Sorry, program cancelled.
         Job opening? Not in the state you want.
            Change of departments? Not for long.

And those were just the career related changes. There were plenty more twists relationally, emotionally, and spiritually.

God had His owns reasons for taking me down a winding path to get me here. At the time, each turn in the path felt like a little death to self. (Maybe that’s why they’re called dead ends.) The plans I had for myself had to be surrendered and changed to fit God’s plans. Each one was a wound to my pride in thinking I had everything figured out and under control. And each was a test of whether I was going to trust God’s designs or cling to my own ideas.

Many of us probably memorized Proverbs 3:5-6 (ESV): “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.” We get this mental picture of the road that goes straight ahead without any detours, but that’s rarely how it works out, because God’s ways are not our ways. (My pastor had a great illustration of a path that looks straight until you unfold the paper and see a different line.) We may think we know God’s will, but along comes a dead end and we wonder where God intends for us to go next. Does He know what He’s doing? Does He know that this changes everything in our plans? Of course He does, but we need to grow in faith and humility in order to get where He’s taking us.

The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 1:8-9 “For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” Although Paul was talking about major challenges he’d faced, the same is true of minor course corrections too. Anything that brings death to self is an opportunity to find our true life in Christ. It’s actually a good thing even though it is painful at the time. God specializes in raising the dead to new life.

Paul also wrote, “[Put] off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires… put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22, 24). Our plans are usually for our career and family, but God’s plans are for our sanctification and growth in Christlikeness. We are more useful for His kingdom work when we come to the end of ourselves (again and again) and learn to rely on His strength and wisdom and guidance.

“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” (2 Corinthians 4:16-17).

© 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.

Unlikely Candidates

“My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory” (James 2:1 ESV).

Reading Warren Wiersbe’s commentary on James, one section stopped me in my tracks:

“[Jesus] saw the potential in the lives of sinners. In Simon, He saw a rock. In Matthew, the publican, He saw a faithful disciple who would one day write one of the four gospels. The disciples were amazed to see Jesus talking with the sinful woman at the well of Sychar, but Jesus saw in her an instrument for reaping a great harvest” (ch. 5).

I started wondering what He sees in some of the people we may tend to ignore or write off. That little boy who is so disruptive in Sunday school may one day be a pastor. That girl who doesn’t want to leave her mommy’s side may become a missionary in Africa. That young man who can’t seem to stay on the right side of the law may end up ministering to ex-cons.

Thinking about the people in my own church and denomination, there are a lot of people now in leadership positions who may once have been thought “irredeemable.” And if we’re being honest, all of us are unlikely candidates for belonging to the Body of Christ. We’re all sinners (not just in the past). We’re all broken and wounded by our own actions and the actions of others. Not one of us was saved because we’re such a great catch. God was never impressed by our credentials. But by grace He chose us and made us worthy and useful for His kingdom.

“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,” (news flash—that’s all of us!) “even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God” (1 Corinthians 1:27-29).

We didn’t get here by our own abilities or ingenuity, and we can’t even guarantee we’ll be here another day. (How many of Israel’s kings fell because their pride got the best of them?) We are dependent on God for life, breath, strength, and the very ministry He has given each of us. “So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth” (1 Cor. 1:7). That reality should make us grateful and humble servants.

As I look back at my own life, I would never have planned the route that brought me to where I am today, and I’m sure many other people would say the same. I give thanks for all the twists and turns, hills and valleys, bumps and bruises that God has used to put me right here right now. And I trust He’ll do the same in the future to get me wherever He can best put me to use for His glory.

“For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God” (2 Corinthians 4:15).

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© 2019 Dawn Rutan. Image © Dawn Rutan. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

A Firm Foundation

A recent book, God’s Grace in Your Suffering, by David Powlison, is based on the hymn "How Firm a Foundation." This is a solidly biblical hymn from 1787 that is probably neglected in many churches, or may be sung with little thought given to the words. Much of the text comes directly from Isaiah 41:10 and 43:1-2. As I read through the book and meditated on the hymn, I have been particularly drawn to the third verse:

When through the deep waters I call you to go,
the rivers of sorrow shall not overflow;
for I will be with you, your troubles to bless,
and sanctify to you your deepest distress.

Powlison commented on this verse:

“God himself calls you into the deep waters. God sets a limit on your sorrows. God is with you, actively bringing good from your troubles. In the context of distressing events, God changes you… In other words, your significant sufferings don’t happen by accident. There’s no random chance. No purposeless misery. No bad luck. Not even (and understand this the right way) a tragedy. Tragedy means ruin, destruction, downfall, an unhappy ending with no redemption. Your life story may contain a great deal of misery and heartache along the way. But in the end, in Christ, your life story will prove to be a comedy in the original sense of the word, a story with a happy ending… Life, joy, and love get last say. High sovereignty is going somewhere… He is working so you know him, so you trust him, so you love him” (62-63).

We rarely can see God’s purposes while we’re in the midst of suffering. It is in hindsight that we start to see the good that God has brought out of difficult experiences. I’ve only recently begun to see some of the ways that God has used trouble from past decades not only to sanctify me but to open doors for me to encourage the struggling and to edify and exhort the church to protect the innocent and care for the wounded. Though the experiences in themselves were not holy, God has sanctified them for His good purposes. That doesn’t mean the struggles are any less difficult or painful, but I can learn to endure them with the hope that there is a purpose in them that will one day be revealed. The Apostle Paul’s words in Romans 8:18-39 and 2 Corinthians 1:3-11 point us to this purposeful hope in suffering:

“For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now… And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose… to be conformed to the image of His Son” (Rom. 8:22, 28, 29b ESV).

“If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we share” (2 Cor. 1:6).

In the midst of writing this post this week I listened to a podcast from The Allender Center that reminded me that when we are struggling with the difficulties and events of life it doesn’t really benefit us to keep it to ourselves or try to power through as if nothing is wrong. We need others in the Body of Christ to support and encourage us, and likewise, we need to do the same for them.

Powlison concluded his book with this thought:

“Finally, you are prepared to pose—and to mean—an almost unimaginable question: ‘Why not me? Why not this? Why not now?’ If in some way, your faith might serve as a three-watt night light in a very dark world, why not me? If your suffering shows forth the Savior of the world, why not me? If you have the privilege of filling up the sufferings of Christ? If he sanctifies to you your deepest distress? If you fear no evil? If he bears you in his arms? If your weakness demonstrates the power of God to save us from all that is wrong? If your honest struggle shows other strugglers how to land on their feet? If your life becomes a source of hope for others? Why not me? … If all that God promises only comes true, then why not me?” (116-117).

“A bruised reed He will not break, and a faintly burning wick He will not quench; He will faithfully bring forth justice… I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness” (Isaiah 42:3, 6-7).

© 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.