Our theme for the church Labor Day Retreat was Isaiah
55:6-9:
“Seek the Lord while He may be
found; call upon Him while He is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the
unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that He may have
compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. ‘For My
thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,’ declares the
Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than
your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts’” (ESV).
As we discussed these verses and thought about some specific
ways we need to seek the Lord right now, a couple other Scriptures came to mind
for my own needs: “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed
in spirit” (Psalm 34:18) and “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James
4:8a). A quick Bible search also revealed six instances in the book of Hebrews
that illuminate the benefits of drawing near to God—mercy, grace, hope,
intercession, sanctification, assurance, and faith.
Then last night I was reading Psalm 69 and took special note
of verse 13: “But as for me, my prayer is to You, O Lord. At an acceptable
time, O God, in the abundance of Your steadfast love answer me in Your saving
faithfulness.” God alone knows the perfect time to answer any prayer, as well
as what the best answer should be. In addition, His answers will always be
tempered by His love, and His faithfulness assures that He will leave nothing
undone that should be done. Those are strong promises to cling to when the way
seems dark.
I’ll admit there are two questions that recur in my mind
quite often, “Why?” and “How long?” The psalmists asked the same thing, but
those are two questions that God never seems to answer, or at least not as
fully as I might like. In Cries
of the Heart, by Ravi Zacharias, there’s a chapter on “The Cry for a
Reason in Suffering” that talks about the life of Job. He draws out several
conclusions that are worth considering:
“First and foremost, we must
understand that suffering, death, disease, pain, and bereavement are all part
of life, whether we be righteous or unrighteous.
“Second, we see that the role of a
friend is very pivotal in seeing people through their times of anguish. Let us
never underestimate this point. God’s answer for burdened, hurting hearts may
well be the shoulders of a friend as we bear one another’s burdens and so
fulfill the law of Christ.
“Third, we know that most answers
of this nature require a process. The questions must become more selfless
before the answer becomes more personal…
“Fourth, we have learned, as Job
did, that the answer to suffering is more relational than it is propositional.
Those who know God personally and understand the cross are better able to find
help in the dark night of the soul than those who merely tackle their problems
philosophically…” (88-89).
That last point is probably more vital than most of us
realize. It’s easy to get sucked into theological debates when what is really
needed is an assurance that God is in control and that He cares. If God is God
then He doesn’t need to explain His actions, and we wouldn’t live long enough
to listen to the detailed explanation anyway. Though we may receive some
answers to our questions, we can’t make that a prerequisite for believing and
obeying God. Faith and trust grow as we experience relationship with God, not
when we have every answer explained in a contractual agreement.
The passage from Isaiah is a reminder that God’s thoughts
and ways are beyond what we can comprehend. The instruction is to seek Him and
call upon Him, not so we can fully understand what He is doing, but so we can
draw near and receive the assurance and hope we need for each day.
“Now to Him who is
able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the
power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout
all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” -Ephesians 3:20-21
