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.

Broken

“Trust Him in all this brokenness. It is a gift” (Ann Voskamp, The Broken Way).

I’m tired of brokenness.
I’m tired of a broken world,
  culture,
    system.
I’m tired of broken people
  breaking people,
Broken by sin,
  sickness,
    death.
I’m tired of being broken.
I don’t want to be weak,
  needy,
    dependent.
I’m tired of the pangs of sorrow,
  shame,
    anger,
      pain.
I want to feel strong,
  capable,
    prepared.
But You love the broken,
  the weak,
    the needy,
      the anxious.
You bind up the broken,
  use the humble,
    save the sinful.
Unless the ground
  is broken
    it cannot accept the seed.
Unless the grain of wheat
  is broken
    it cannot multiply.
Unless the grains
  are broken
    there is no bread.
Unless the grapes
  are crushed
    there is no wine.
Unless the Lord
  was broken
    there is no Savior.
Unless His blood
  was spilled out
    there is no redemption.
Unless the proud,
  self-sufficient,
    sinful
      are broken
        there is no mercy.
Broken is the gift
  we didn’t ask for,
    didn’t want,
      desperately need.
Broken is where
  He meets us,
    calls us,
      saves us.
Broken is where
  we find Him,
    see Him,
      cling to Him.
In the Broken One
  is where we find life,
    breath,
      hope,
        peace.
In the Broken One
  is where we live,
    and move,
      and have our being.

“For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite” (Isaiah 57:15 ESV).



© 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.

God Is Enough

I just finished reading Ann Swindell’s new book Still Waiting, in which she draws encouragement from the story of the bleeding woman in Mark chapter 5. The woman suffered for twelve years through no fault of her own, but was healed when she took the risk to touch Jesus’ robe in the midst of a crowd. As I read Ann’s book, I was starting to think to myself, “That’s all fine when you’re facing a trial, but what if you’re dealing with a temptation instead?” (Though if you read it, you’ll know that Ann’s own story deals with both trial and temptation.)

Interestingly, there is a parallel Scripture that is not evident in many English translations. In Mark 5:34 Jesus tells the woman, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace…” In Luke 7:50 Jesus tells a sinful woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” The Greek word translated “made well” or “healed” is the same word used for “saved.” So whether our need is for physical or emotional healing or deliverance from sin, the answer to our needs is faith in God.

Ann writes:

“Jesus offers us resolution for our struggle. It may not be immediate and complete resolution in this moment, but it is full and complete resolution for our sin and separation from God… Soon the Great Physician will come, and he will reset every broken bone. He will heal every pain and restore every brokenness. He will renew our strength and wipe away every tear. He will fulfill all of our longings through his wonderful grace. He will make us whole” (198-200).

James chapter 1 mentions two things that require steadfastness—trials and temptations. If we remain steadfast in trials and temptations our faith is strengthened, otherwise we may fall away. And whether something is a trial or a temptation, our ability to persevere is highly dependent on remembering who God is and learning to rely on Him. James reminds us that trials and temptations are closely related because they come from the fallen state of this world, and only God can provide all that we need in the midst of this brokenness.

I ran across this quote from Hannah Whitall Smith as published in God Is Enough:

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9 

“The greatest lesson a soul has to learn is that God, and God alone, is enough for all its needs. This is the lesson that all God’s dealings with us are meant to teach, and this is the crowning discovery of our entire Christian life. God is enough. 

No soul can really be at rest until it has given up dependence on everything else and has been forced to depend on the Lord alone. As long as our expectation is from other things, nothing but disappointment awaits us.”

Whatever trial or temptation may be at hand today, God is enough. He gives only good gifts, even though they may not be exactly what we desire at the moment. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17 ESV). We can come to Him in faith that He knows everything and will do what is best.

“Any my God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:10).

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

Three Sheepish Questions

I had thought perhaps I would have nothing to post this week, but an impulsive decision to pick up a book from the church library changed that (and I came home with two books instead).

I was thinking about what it means for us to be sheep under God’s care, and wanted to revisit While Shepherds Watch Their Flocks, by Tim Laniak. In the first chapter he quotes Deuteronomy 8:2-3 (ESV):

“And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that He might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart... And He humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna... that He might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”

That led me to the question— What hunger is God allowing in my life right now in order to make me realize my need for what He alone can provide?

A similar thought came from the second book I picked up, Lord, I Just Want to Be Happy, by Leslie Vernick (p. 35):

“Whether we realize it or not, many of us are captive to the lie that something other than God will bring us happiness and fulfill our longings. When we put our hope in or expect something or someone other than him to fill us and make us happy, he will surely frustrate us. But he doesn’t do it to punish us. He does it to rescue us from our disordered attachments and delusions, and from ourselves. God promises to meet our needs—but what we feel we need, and what we truly need, may be very different.”

So I come to another variation of the question— What are the false expectations that I need to let go of in order to find God’s provision to be sufficient?

And in another book I’m rereading, John Ortberg lists in The Me I Want to Be several counterfeit “me’s” that we fall prey to, including the “me” I think I should be and the “me” others expect me to be. I’ve been reminded that many of the expectations I place on myself have nothing to do with God’s desires for me. I mistakenly think I should be a certain way or do certain things to fulfill what I think others are expecting of me, and heaven forbid that I should say No or admit that I can’t do everything.

Thus my third variation of the question is— What does God really expect of me and how do I live accordingly?

Those three questions are probably ones we should all consider at times. They can help us align our priorities with God’s, reduce some of our anxieties, and perhaps even lead to greater peace and joy. I don’t know how others might answer those questions. I thought of a few specific examples of things I’ve been dealing with lately:

1) The lie: I need to resolve this situation by myself in a way that doesn’t cost the company money.

The truth: I need to admit that I’m stressed and I don’t know what to do and remember that this is not ultimately my responsibility. The company, the money, and the problem are all in God’s hands. It may be more important for me to remember that I am not autonomous than it is for us to save a little money. It’s also more important for us to honor God with our actions than to pinch pennies.

2) The lie: I need to provide every detail of information on this subject in order to protect people.

The truth: I will do my best and provide what I know, but I will never have all the knowledge I think I need or the ability to make others heed it. There are people far more qualified to answer most questions, and I can only urge people to find the best resources available.

3) The lie: I need to be victorious over depression in order to be a good witness.

The truth: God doesn’t need me to be fixed, perfect, or even okay. He can use me for His purposes no matter what. Although I may not be a good example of endurance, I am learning to endure. And though my faith is often weak it is growing.

Some of the things I need to let go of in order to trust the provision of the Good Shepherd are my pride, perfectionism, and performance. God doesn’t need me to have all the answers, because He has them already. God doesn’t intend for me to be autonomous, but He gave me a place in the Body of Christ. In order to live under His shepherding I need to admit my weakness, ask for help, and accept the grace and mercy that is all around.

I don’t think this is the end of the subject for me. It’s something I need to keep wrestling with every day in order to become the me God has created me to be.

“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” –Psalm 139:23-24