Tag Archives: faithfulness

No Shallow Christianity

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As I was studying for Sunday’s message on Hosea, I came across the following from James Montgomery Boice’s commentary on the Minor Prophets.  This doesn’t really tie in anywhere with my sermon, but I found it particularly meaningful, so I thought I’d pass it on.

We live in an age where everything good is interpreted in terms of happiness and success.  So when we think of spiritual blessing we thing of it in terms of these things.  To be led of God and blessed by God means that we will be “happy” and “successful.”  In fact, if a Christian does not appear to be happy or successful, there are scores of people who will be ready (like Job’s counselors) to work with him or her to see what is wrong.  This is shallow thinking and shallow Christianity, for God does not always lead his people into ways that we would naturally regard as happy or as filled with success.  Was Jesus happy?  He was undoubtedly filled with joy and all the other fruits of the Spirit.  but he was also called “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.”  Was Jesus successful?  Not by our standards, nor by any standards that might have been applied to him by anyone living in that time.  Let us put down as a great principle: God sometimes leads his children to do things that afterwards involved them in great distress.  But because God does not think as we think or act as we act, it is often in these situations that he accomplishes his greatest victories and brings the greatest blessing to his name.

If God has allowed tragedy to slip into your life, this does not necessarily mean that you were out of his will when you married that husband or wife, took that job, or made that commitment.  He may be giving you a chance to show the love and character of Christ in your situation.

Again, you may be able to learn something of God’s love for you through the difficulty.  For what is the story of Hosea if not the story of ourselves as members of that body which is the bride of Christ?  We are Gomer, and God is Hosea.  He married us when we were unclean.  He knew that we could prove unfaithful again and again.  He knew that we would forsake him.  Still he loved us and purchased us to himself through Christ’s atonement.  If Hosea’s story cannot be real (because “God would not ask a man to marry an unfaithful woman”), then neither is the story of salvation real, because that is precisely what Christ has done for us.  He has purchased us for himself to be a bride “without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless” (Eph 5:27), and he has done this even though he knew in advance that we would often prove faithless.

Boice, James Montgomery. The Minor Prophets: Volume 1, Hosea – Jonah (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1983) pg 16-17.

Dealing with Adversity

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“we rejoice in our sufferings…”
Romans 5:3 (ESV)

“Into each life a little rain must fall, some days must be dark and dreary” (Longfellow).  I think we can all understand and agree with Longfellow.  Each of us has known those dark and dreary days; some of us may be facing them even now.  Adversity, persecution, trial and hardship – these are experiences common to everyone, in one way or another.  How we respond, however, defines our character.

Jesus warned his followers that “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20 ESV).  Facing adversity for your faith, being persecuted for your beliefs, dealing with hardship because of your decision to live in righteousness and peace; all of this is to be expected for those who follow Jesus.  If you are truly living for Christ, you will face persecution.

There are those who, when faced with adversity, react poorly.  In anger they may lash out at those who stand in their way, or in defeat they may resign and run from their problems.  “Fight or Flight” are the two recognized biological responses of all animals facing acute stress. 

There is a third response; it is not biological, it is spiritual.  Romans 5:3-5 tells us to rejoice in our sufferings, “knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

This third way, the way of rejoicing in the midst of suffering, is a work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  It is not natural to us.  But when God is with us, we will face difficulty with:

  • Faithfulness – Consider Job.  He lost everything, his farm, his house, his family – only his wife was left, and she told him to just curse God and die.  Job’s response, however, was one of absolute faithfulness, “the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21 ESV).  The overarching message of Revelation is that in the midst of the calamity, persecution, and general mayhem of the last days, God is still on His throne, and He has a plan of salvation for His people.  In spite of your trials, because of your trials, trust in the Lord.
  • Humility – Every time we face hardship, or we are persecuted by others, it is important for us to humble ourselves before the Lord.  Sometimes the adversity we face may be God’s way of disciplining us, weaning us from sin, teaching us to lean solely on Him.  Ask yourself, “How have I been wrong?  How have I contributed to this problem?  Am I guilty of doing to others the thing that is causing me suffering?”  You may be completely justified, you may be suffering unfairly, but each us of may learn, through humility and a teachable spirit, how to grow and mature through the struggles we face.
  • Grace – How much better would the world be if we treated one another, especially in times of great crisis and stress, with the same grace that God has given to us?  Jesus said in Matthew 10, “Freely you have received, freely give.”  In Jesus we have received the free gift of grace, the salvation from our sins, as God overlooked our sins and transgression to bring us forgiveness.  As He has forgiven and welcomed us, so we are to forgive and welcome one another.  Grace under fire offers forgiveness and seeks forgiveness.
  • Love  – One of the greatest questions we can ask in the midst of our suffering is, “How can I, even in the midst of adversity and trial, show the love of God to those around me?”  In the course of our struggles we come to know how God’s love has been poured into our hearts, until we come to the point of overflowing, so that God’s love spills out into the lives of others.  As we respond to adversity with love, we can encourage and equip those around us to do the same.

Friends, suffering is not easy, nor is it enjoyable; but neither is it without purpose.  Whatever you may be facing today, may God’s Spirit equip you to face the day with Faithfulness, Humility, Grace, and Love, and may your trials bring you closer to the Lord.

SDG