Telling God's Story

This is a slightly different post from usual. I mentioned in my last post that I’d picked up four random books from the library, never expecting them to share a theme. Here are three quotes that struck me as I read:

Mourning Into Dancing, by Walter Wangerin – “Talitha [his daughter], in order to end in love with your self, start with God. Love God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. Trust him completely. Obey him. And then, in perfect trust, know this: that whatever God makes is beautiful. Whatever God loves is lovely, just because he loves it. And whoever lives within his will is full of grace and favor. Daughter, perfect hands have fashioned you. And God loves you, Talitha, so much that he sent his Son to save you” (58-59).

Confessions of a Caffeinated Christian, by John Fischer – After sharing with a psychologist the story of his difficult birth and near death, the psychologist said, “‘John, do you know what that means? … That means that God wanted you to live! …Well, that’s a pretty big deal.’ So that was it all along. God wanted me alive and breathing. He wanted me. I am alive, not because of what I did, or was going to do, or how I got here. I am alive, period, and suddenly that alone became a pretty big deal” (6).

Bring Back the Joy, by Sheila Walsh –  “When you love God you love the things God loves. God loves you. It’s embarrassing and uncomfortable to be loved when we feel that we should be despised, but God is God… Saint Bernard of Clairvaux charts out four steps we take in the process of losing ourselves and finding ourselves in God…
Step 1. We love ourselves for our own sake.
Step 2. We love God for our own sake.
Step 3. We love God for his sake.
Step 4. We love ourselves for God’s sake” (90).

It’s evident from these quotes that I’m not the only one who needs to be reminded that my life matters because God has created me and loves me as His child. The fourth book I picked up indicates one thing we are to do with that knowledge:

To Be Told, by Dan Allender – “We are God’s story, which means we are expertly written. We are called to write our story with God in order to bring him more glory. We write our story best by giving our heart away to others whom we honor as more important than ourselves. What we give to others is a unique story, a theme that reveals God like no other story can… Since our stories reveal God, no story is ours alone… But our story does not need to be told to everyone, even the most intimate friends. We are to be guardians of our story, and it is to be given as a gift—not wantonly but carefully. It is a gift to be given only to the right person at the right time for the right reason” (209-210).

God has granted us life, and unique events have shaped us into the people we are today and who we will be tomorrow. Our stories are the one thing we can claim as our own. Possessions may be lost; jobs come to an end; people can steal our pride and security; relationships can end for numerous reasons including sin and death. But through it all we have the story of how God has used all our circumstances to shape us. We can hide our stories out of shame and fear, or we can share them at the right times to give God glory and to encourage others, as well as to receive encouragement from others.

“You have multiplied, O Lord my God, Your wondrous deeds and Your thoughts toward us; none can compare with You! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told.” –Psalm 40:5

He Knows My Name

Last week I went to the library and picked up a few Christian books that at first glance seemed to be unrelated. But as I’ve gotten into them I’ve found several similarities. Two of them, Mourning into Dancing, by Walter Wangerin, and To Be Told, by Dan Allender, talk particularly about the names we are given. Allender states:

“Today it is rare that parents first study a child in order to give the child a name that fits. Far more often we pick a family name, or we choose a name that sounds good and has a meaning that we like. The Hebrew process of naming was exactly the opposite. A name was chosen that reflected the unique calling and character of the child. It is for this reason that many Bible characters were renamed later in life... Each change in name points to a day when we will receive an entirely new name. The Bible tells us that those who seek God will one day be given a new name: ‘Everyone who is victorious will eat of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven. And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it.’ When I stand before God, I will be given a new name in a moment of tender, inconceivable intimacy” (29-30 quoting Revelation 2:17).

He also reminds us that we’re living in-between times. “We are between two names. We know our name; we don’t know what our new name will be... [E]very one of us human beings experiences the tension between who we are and who we will one day become.”

Like many kids, I went through a time when I didn’t like my given name and wished I could choose a different one. Mostly what I didn’t like were the derogatory names given to me by the school bullies. One classmate threatened to hurt me when she found out that we not only had the same initials but the same middle name—Christine. (Why she blamed me for that I’ll never know!) While waiting in the graduation line at college (arranged alphabetically), I was amused to learn that two of my friends standing beside me and I would have all had the same first name if we’d been boys.

These days I’m okay with the name I was given. It has family significance as well as spiritual meaning. But I do wonder what name God has for me. I’ve occasionally thought that God renames us multiple times throughout our lives depending on what we’re going through and how God reveals Himself to us. After all, God is known by multiple names throughout Scripture, so why shouldn’t we have multiple names? I can tell you some of the names He’s given me in the past: Grace, Beloved, Daughter, Faithful, Enduring.

The other day at the gas station I overheard a heated discussion between a couple men. One emphasized his point by using the other person’s name, but I got the feeling he would have rather called him “Idiot.” It reminded me of times when even a term of endearment such as “Honey” is spoken with such a tone as to convey a much different meaning. Those kinds of names don’t make you feel loved, appreciated, or special.

Jesus said, “The sheep hear His voice, and He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out” (John 10:3). There’s a frequently circulated email of quotes from kids about love. One says, “When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.” We know that our names are safe with God. He always speaks our names with love, even if we are in need of correction. He doesn’t use them in a derogatory manner. His voice breaks the power of the names the world heaps on us, along with the names we put on ourselves: failure, broken, mistake, unwanted, forgotten. He calls us by name when no one else knows who we are.

God spoke through Isaiah, “Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands” (49:16a). If I were ever to get a tattoo (which is not on my bucket list), it would be something that reminded me of who God is and who I am to him. More than anything else, that is a reminder I need to see every day. God doesn’t need the reminder, but He always has us in His sight and in His hand.

“The nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give. You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but shall be called My Delight Is in Her...” -Isaiah 62:2-4

Unresigned

The short book Be Still, by Cherie Hill, uses the terminology of “resignation” in talking about accepting God’s will. “The more resigned we are to God’s care, the less power our circumstances have over us. When we’re resigned to God’s care, we won’t be frightened by undesirable news, and we won’t be trying to constantly figure out the next step.” Although the ideas are good, the word “resigned” made me uncomfortable. John Ortberg wrote what I was thinking in The Me I Want to Be: “Resignation is a kind of halfway house between hope and despair. In resignation, I ratchet down my desire, trying to convince myself that what I wanted so badly isn’t a big deal.”

I don’t think God wants us to be resigned to His care, as if we have to settle for something that’s less than ideal. Paul wrote, “He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32 ESV). We have a heavenly Father who not only knows best, but provides exactly what we need. The problem is that our ideas of what’s best may conflict with God’s perfect knowledge, and then we may need to change our mindset. That may start with resignation, but it shouldn’t end there. As Ortberg pointed out, resignation implies a loss of hope, and I would include a loss of joy along with that.

Recently I’ve encountered several articles and Facebook posts by parents of children born with Down’s syndrome. Each one has made the point that they didn’t just resign themselves to having a special needs child, but they have taken great delight and joy in caring for a special person even though that meant a change in their dreams for the future. I’m sure there are parents who are living with resignation, but I can’t imagine what a joyless existence that would be.

[I’m not convinced that resignation letters should always bear that terminology either, though sometimes it may be appropriate to communicate “I’ve given up hope in this job and I’m moving on.”]

Trusting in God should never create a loss of hope. He is the only One who can give our lives eternal purpose even in the midst of troubling situations. He is the only One who knows every detail of our lives—from the number of days we’ll live to the very thoughts in our minds. And with that knowledge, He is the only One who has the power to use negative circumstances to create something good every time. He is the only One capable of fulfilling every promise He has made in Scripture, so we can hold onto those promises with faith and hope.

I don’t want to find myself thinking “Well, I guess I’ll trust God if I have to, but I wish there were some alternative.” I’m sure God isn’t impressed with that kind of faith either. It’s okay to be disappointed for a time, but we can’t live there. Paul admonished, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). It would be awfully hard to fulfill those commands if we’re only resigned to accepting what comes our way. It brings no glory to God to be a grudging recipient of something that He in His infinite wisdom has allowed to come about.

Let’s not be resigned, but entrust ourselves to God’s care, to the One who enfolds us in His arms. He is the God of hope and peace.

“This God—His way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; He is a shield for all those who take refuge in Him.” -2 Samuel 22:31 & Psalm 18:30

Not Enough

This blog is sort of a meal in progress—I’ve been chewing on these thoughts for awhile now and I’m just beginning to digest and make sense of them. The question now is whether I can verbalize in a few paragraphs the thought processes of a few years.

Thomas Chalmers, often quoted by John Piper and others, referred to “the expulsive power of a new affection.” He explained that we can’t simply choose to turn away from sin without turning to something we perceive to be more fulfilling. “The best way of casting out an impure affection is to admit a pure one; and by the love of what is good, to expel the love of what is evil.” That’s an accurate and helpful thought, but a bit misleading if we think it happens overnight. Becoming a Christian or rededicating your life to Christ does not immediately expel every competing desire, no matter how much we might wish it to do so. I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve wondered about this—I love God and I seek to serve Him and obey Him. Scripture says “we are more than conquerors” (Romans 8:37), so why does this struggle still exist?

However, even in the midst of these questions, as I look back on the past few years I can see tangible progress that I never thought possible. I’ve tried to determine where the change occurred, and what I’ve found is a series of small decisions that have compounded over time:

• choosing to confide in my pastor and seek his counsel
• getting more serious about filling my mind with Scripture through reading and memorization
• joining small group Bible studies
• journaling my thoughts and prayers
• getting rid of some of the books, videos, and TV shows that consume my brain with destructive images
• trusting people with some of my secrets
• and even blogging about the things I’m learning along the way

None of those things were major changes in themselves, and none of them alone have the power to change my desires. None of them were a direct confrontation with sin either. But all of them, together with God’s grace and mercy, have served to expel some of those competing desires from my heart, even some that I didn’t feel any urgency to stop.

I ran across this quote by Shellie Rushing Tomlinson in Heart Wide Open:

“God reserves His intimacy for those unwilling to settle for anything less. If going to church is enough, if being around others who are passionate about Him is enough, if anything short of realizing His intimate presence for ourselves is enough, that’s all we’ll ever experience… Indeed, God placed this desire for more in us so that we might search for Him of our own volition. I’ve taken to calling it a blessed dissatisfaction. God knows that yielding our lives to Him brings us this life’s ultimate pleasure, but unlike me and my man, He’s not going to force anyone to go along with His plan… I didn’t realize that looking and listening for Him in His Word would create in me the sweetest of addictions to His friendship. I was simply ready to admit that what I had wasn’t enough. I was soon to discover that at the core of my ‘not having enough Jesus’ problem lay all my previous efforts to have ‘just enough’ Jesus” (19-21).

She puts her finger on the problem that many of us face. We want just enough Jesus to save us and make us feel good, but not so much that it interferes with our chosen lifestyles. We may want to stop a particular sin, but we don’t want to give up our freedom to choose what we watch or read or do in our free time. We don’t want to admit that the solution for slavery to sin is to become slaves of God (see Romans 6). We want some middle ground of freedom from sin while remaining masters of our own lives.

It would be easy to become judgmental about the choices that others are making, but I’ve been in the same place myself. In fact, being judgmental was one thing that kept me from changing for a long time. I subconsciously thought, “I’ve been to Bible college and seminary. I go to church every week. I work for a Christian organization. I’m doing the best I can, and I’m certainly better than those people.” But I’m sure that God allowed circumstances in my life to converge to make me realize that “just enough” wasn’t good enough. Not that I thought God would love me more if I changed, but that my desperation made me want to love Him more.

Though we probably wouldn’t say this aloud, we can get sucked into believing that grace means we can do whatever we want. We can also be deceived to think that salvation by grace alone means we don’t have to work to grow in our faith. In the theological battle against works righteousness, “obedience” has become a dirty word that pastors are afraid to use. As a result, people remain enslaved to sins when God would love to set them free. We settle for the status quo instead of seeking the One who has the power to expel all our old affections. God’s life-changing power is rarely revealed with volcanic force, but rather with the pervasive tenacity of a seedling nurtured by ordinary means of grace.

I certainly don’t feel like I have arrived, and I’m sure there are areas where I need to change that I haven’t even noticed yet. God isn’t done yet. In the words of the old hymn (public domain):

“I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew
He moved my heart to seek Him, seeking me;
It was not I that found, O Savior true;
No, I was found by Thee.”

“For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who for their sake died and was raised.” -2 Corinthians 5:13-14

Fear Not

I’ve read some things recently that talked about fear as a sin, and I’ve been wrestling with that thought. It seems to me that most of the scriptural admonitions to “fear not” are more a word of encouragement than a commandment. Some fears are good. We are told to fear God in honor and reverence. Fear of imminent danger moves us to take necessary action. Certainly there are some fears that are sinful. Fear of people and protecting our reputation is pride. Obsessive worry about the future reveals a lack of faith in God. It’s misleading to talk about the “sin of fear” without defining exactly what is meant, and the authors who have done so have created some unnecessary fear in people wondering if they’ve been unintentionally sinning.

Even though Jesus instructed us in Matthew 6 not to be anxious because God provides, when He spoke directly to Martha about her anxious preparations in Luke 10:41 there is no indication that He spoke harshly or that she needed to repent of sin. He certainly could have used stronger language of rebuke if He thought it necessary. In my imagination He uses a very loving and perhaps even playful tone. “Martha, forget the hors d’oeuvres and come join the party!”

For me the question of whether fear is sin or not comes down to how it motivates me to act. If it gives me a goal to work toward and the impetus to change, it’s probably a good thing. If it leads me to pray and seek God’s will more, that’s good too. But if it paralyzes me and keeps me from loving God and loving others wholeheartedly, I’ve got a problem. And if I’m obsessed with anxiety about things I have no control over, I can’t focus on doing all that God has called me to do. Then I really need to repent and cast my cares upon God and learn to trust Him with the results.

One book I read recently, which I won’t even name, commented that when we pray about something we should only pray it once and then trust God, because repeatedly asking the same thing will reveal a lack of faith. (The author later contradicted himself.) God knows our level of faith better than we do. He also knows our thoughts and desires better than we do. So if something is concerning us, we might as well talk to Him about it! We don’t have to nag Him to answer our prayers, but we need not feel ashamed to bring up a matter more than once. Can you imagine a marriage in which the spouses only talked about new issues and never repeated themselves?

The book of Isaiah contains a large number of “fear not” verses, and many are worth memorizing. Here are just a few:

• “Say to those who have an anxious heart, ‘Be strong, fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you” (Isaiah 35:4 ESV).
• “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” (41:10).
• “For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, ‘Fear not, I am the one who helps you” (41:13).
• “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” (43:1b-2).
• “Fear not, nor be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? And you are my witnesses! Is there a God besides Me? There is no Rock; I know not any” (44:8).
• “Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is His name; and the Holy One of Israel if your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth He is called” (54:4-5).

So if fear and anxiety are a problem for you, look to the Scriptures and find encouragement there, since “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). The admonition to “fear not” is not intended to bring condemnation or shame, but is a reminder of the God who is in control and who loves us more than we can imagine!

“So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’” –Hebrews 13:6

What If?

Some time ago when I was reading through the Old Testament I noticed something new. Chapter 11 of 2 Samuel tells the story of David and Bathsheba, and it lists Bathsheba’s husband as Uriah the Hittite. However, if we go back to Exodus 34:11-12 God’s command to the Israelites was repeated: “Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in your midst” (ESV).

In the rest of Exodus and on through Joshua and Judges, we see how the inhabitants did indeed become a snare to the Israelites and caused one problem after another. But by the time of the kings there were Hittites among David’s armies, and men of several nationalities were listed among David’s mighty men in 2 Samuel 23, including Uriah. He was one of the outstanding men supporting David, and yet David chose to sacrifice him to cover up his own sin with Bathsheba.

All that made me wonder—what if the Israelites had obeyed God in destroying the nations inhabiting the Promised Land? Although the initial conquest would have taken more time and effort, later conflicts could have been avoided. And if Uriah the Hittite had not been in Israel, would David have been tempted to sin with Bathsheba or whoever his next door neighbor was? What would have happened to the lineage of Christ?

We could speculate for eternity with “what ifs,” but we have to remember that God is both sovereign and omniscient. He knows the end from the beginning, and even the disobedience of the Israelites played into His perfect plan for the birth, death, and resurrection of His Son and the salvation of His chosen people. God has a perfect track record for using the consequences of sin to bring about His own purposes. We tend to think of redemption primarily in terms of the salvation of souls, but Scripture talks repeatedly about redeemed lives. God didn’t just purchase our souls, but our entire lives—the good, the bad, and the ugly. “All we like sheep have gone astray” (Isaiah 53:6), and yet God not only saves us but redeems our mistakes to turn them into something beautiful and productive. He uses each event to shape us into the image of Christ so we can better reflect Him to those around us.

In Isaiah 61, part of which is later quoted by Jesus at the beginning of His ministry, God promises “to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor” (Isaiah 61:3 NIV). Despite all the times Israel disobeyed God, still God turned the ashes of their brokenness into something beautiful that He could use, and it was all for the display of His glory. He continues to do the same thing through us today. When we confess our sin we discover the beauty of God’s mercy and love. When others sin against us we see the wonder of reconciliation. When we suffer loss we know the sufficiency of God’s provision.

It’s hard to wrap our minds around the fact that God allows sin and difficulty in our lives because it will ultimately bring glory to Him. I’m sure as a young man David wasn’t thrilled with having to run from King Saul, and later he would have done anything to undo his sin against Bathsheba and Uriah, but just think how many of the psalms would not be in the Bible if everything in his life had gone smoothly. As it is, his testimony of God’s faithfulness is a valuable reminder to the rest of us. Scripture is full of examples of God’s glorious works on behalf of wounded and sinful people. May we be encouraged to know that God is in control and He works all things together for our good and His glory.

“He has made everything beautiful in its time” –Ecclesiastes 3:11a

All Hail the Power

Every time we sing All Hail the Power of Jesus Name I have to look carefully at the words of the second verse to make sure I sing it correctly. The lyrics say “Hail Him who saves you by His grace,” but I tend think they should be “Hail Him who saved you by His grace.” Both ways are correct theologically. Salvation is both a past event and an ongoing action. We were saved and all our sins forgiven by Jesus’ death on the cross two millennia ago, and yet that salvation has to be applied daily as we continue to sin.

The Apostle John used both tenses in 1 John. “I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for His name’s sake” (2:12 ESV), which many translations render “have been forgiven.” And in 1:9 he wrote, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Other verses also speak of salvation as something that will be completed at the Second Coming: “For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed” (Romans 13:11b); “[You] who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:5).

Jesus said “It is finished” (John 19:30). He completed the transaction of paying for our sins, and we will reap the benefits from now through eternity. “For by a single offering, He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14).

The fact that our salvation is completed means that we need not fear. If we are among those who have been called by God, we cannot lose what He has given us. “And those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified. … [Nothing] will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:30, 39). We belong to Him and He will never let us go.

The fact that our salvation is currently being worked out means that sin doesn’t have to separate us from our Father. We don’t have to jump through any hoops or do any penance to earn His forgiveness—all we have to do is confess. We are freed from the power and consequences of sin. “Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by Him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:38-29).

The fact that our salvation will be completed at our resurrection means we can live and die with hope and confidence. “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:56-57). We have freedom to live without fear; to love, serve, and forgive others well; and to proclaim Christ boldly.

“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” -1 Corinthians 15:58

Photo by Dawn Rutan at Dulin’s Grove Church 2015.