The Sovereignty of God in Pain & Suffering

These photos from The Boston Globe's "Big Picture" section broke my heart. It's times like these when it would be so easy to shun God. It's human nature to see these horrendous pictures and automatically question, "WHY, GOD, WHY?!" in essence demanding an answer from the Creator of the heavens and earth. I'm not trying to diminish the pain and suffering these individuals and their families are going through—they are absolutely suffering, in a greater way than I have ever experienced. But the question that arises is: "Is God sovereign or good?" thus making individuals choose between the two, as if they are mutually exclusive options.

I am certainly not the first to propose this, and I know I will not be the last, but the right question to ask is, "Can it be shown that God is both wholly good and absolutely sovereign?" I firmly believe with all my being that the answer is a resounding "YES!" But before I attempt to spew out everything I've been learning going through the Desiring God National Conference, 2005; James with my Bible study methods class; my discipleship counseling class; and the Old Testament with my Old Testament survey class, I need to (1) finish my homework [lol] and (2) think of a structured, concise, and compelling way to answer this question, both for my own heart and anyone else out there listening to my ramblings J

However, for those who absolutely cannot wait, a few great places to start searching would be:

• James 1:1-16
  
• Job 42:2
  
• Genesis 50:20
  
• Psalm 145:9, 17
  
• 1 Corinthians 10:13
  
• Romans 8 (especially vv. 18-25, 28-30, 31-39)
  
• Desiring God 2005 National Conference—a series of 8 messages about the sovereignty of God in suffering.
  
• "Four ways to measure the love of God in the scream of the damned"—sermon by John Piper during Resolved Conference 2008.
  
• Christ and Cancer—sermon by John Piper to his congregation.
  
• "Helpful things: Pastors who love their people"—a blog post by John Knight, a man who encountered unbelievable suffering, and was personally encouraged by Piper and the rest of the congregation. Knight includes in his post the letter of encouragement Piper wrote to him and his wife.
  
• And finally,
  
• "A Testimony to God's Goodness in Disability and Suffering"—a blog post linked to another blog post by an individual with spina bifida, someone who certainly knows firsthand of the suffering that disabilities bring.
  

 

My goal is to blog at least once short post per week on this subject… whether that goal is realized or attained is another matter entirely.

 

PS—if you haven't looked at the "Big Picture" link mentioned above, you really ought to. They will set you thinking!

Treasure

The Kingdom of the Heavens is buried Treasure; would you sell yourself to buy the One you've found?

Matthew 13:44—"The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field."

I love this verse, and talking about it in college group tonight brought it to the forefront of my mind again. It's a beautiful verse, but (because?) it's also incredibly convicting…

Do I treasure Christ as I should? As long as I'm immersing myself in the world, the answer is no. As long as my thoughts, actions, and desires are based on temporal things, the answer is no (1 John 2:15-17). As long as I'm running to a broken cistern instead of to fountains of Living Water, the answer is no (Jeremiah 2:12-13).

God, I want to treasure YOU above everything else, and IN everything else! I want to keep seeking eternal things, the things that are above, where Christ is seated… I want to continually dwell on—and have my heart breaking and rejoicing all at the same time—the sacrificial act of love that you did by sending Your perfect Son to die on the cross for my sins, to bear the punishment and wrath that should have been mine! Jesus, please grasp my heart and make YOU my TREASURE. I want to be the one who gives up everything, out of pure JOY, just to have You.

Thanks for listening as I preach to myself and struggle to put to death the sinful desires in my heart.

Some cool verses that also came up in conversation and such tonight—

• 2 Corinthians 6:10
  
• Colossians 3:1-3
  
• Habakkuk 3:17-19
  
• Genesis 4:6-7
  

I Am Too Easily Satisfied…

CS Lewis once wrote,

Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and immorality and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

Why is this quote so real, so poignant? Because it's true. Jeremiah 2:10-13 says the same thing… look especially hard at verse 13—

"For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the Fountain of Living Waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water."

So often I turn to the bland pleasures of the world to satisfy my weak desires, rather than going to the one true source of all joy, God Himself. So often I drink dirty, filthy mud water, when all I have to do is turn my back on my own work and drink from the purest, coolest, most delicious source of water there is—the Fountain of LIVING Waters (see also John 4:13-14, and notice how Jesus uses this as a claim of His equality with God).

When I read this quote from Spectacular Sins, it just reaffirmed what my college pastor has been saying over and over again… I'm not QUITE sure, but I think God is trying to tell me something here! (sarcasm…)

This [Colossians 1:14-20] is worth memorizing. If your heart ever wavers and grows cold, come here. Memorize this litany of glories, and ask God to give you affections that correspond to the measure of this greatness—infinite in beauty, immeasurable. If any person or any power or any wisdom or any love awakens any admiration or any amazement or any joy, let it be the greatest person and the greatest power and the greatest wisdom and the greatest love that exists—Jesus Christ.

Why would I turn to ANYTHING except Jesus Christ for joy or satisfaction, when HE is the ultimate beauty to behold, when walking in His will is the ultimate adventure, and knowing Him intimately is the ultimate experience?

The Heavens Are Telling of the Glory of God

… And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands." –Psalm 19:1, NASB

The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, for He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. –Psalm 24:1-2

And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. –Matthew 6:28-29

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through Him and for Him. –Colossians 1:15-16

Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: "I am the LORD, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by Myself," –Isaiah 44:24

It is He who made the earth by His power, who established the world by His wisdom, and by His understanding stretched out the heavens. –Jeremiah 10:12

O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have You made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures. –Psalm 104:24

"To sit long in one posture, pouring over a book, or driving a quill, is in itself a taxing of nature; but add to this a badly ventilated chamber, a body which has long been without muscular exercise, and a heart burdened with many cares, and we have all the elements for preparing a seething cauldron of despair, especially in the dim months of fog ... Nature outside his window is calling him to health and beckoning him to joy. He who forgets the humming of the bees among the heather, the cooing of the wood-pigeons in the forest, the song of the birds in the woods, the rippling of rills among the rushes, and the sighing of the wind among the pines, needs not wonder if his heart forgets to sing and his soul grows heavy."—Charles Spurgeon's thoughts on enjoying the beauty of nature for the glory of God. (To see how thinking this way can help a believer, listen or read John Piper's sermon on the life of David Brainerd.)

"In this life, we catch glimpses of hell and we catch glimpses of heaven… This world is the closest the unbeliever will have to heaven; and this world is the closest the follower of Jesus Christ will ever have to hell." –Randy Alcorn's sermon on Revelation 21 from Resolved 2008 (session 2).

I really have nothing more to say—the beauty of the earth screams out to me the presence of a divine, loving, and personal Creator, and what better way to let my heart sing out of pure joy than to fill my soul with Scripture about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit's hand in creation?

What Spiritual Warfare Looks Like

Well, this is one example at least.

A few moments ago I came across this blog post John Piper had written many years ago; providentially, my college pastor just read us this quote from Piper's devotional book Pierced by the Word not more than a few weeks ago. The blog is about combating sexual sins of the mind before they come to any sort of fruition—but it is really applicable to any and all sins—with the image of Jesus on the cross. It is not for the faint of heart (which explains why I come nearer and nearer to tears the more intensely I read it), but I know if I can bring myself to practice this, to practice taking EVERY thought captive to the subjection of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 10:4-6), the joy that I will have knowing that the Holy Spirit has sustained me through yet another trial, and the joy knowing that God has granted me the power through the Holy Spirit to be victorious, will be literally everlasting, and truly sweet. As Paul says, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not WORTHY to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us!" (Romans 8:18, NASB)

Music Is Vital to Your Soul.

A pastor of mine once said, "Music is vital to your soul," and went on to state that what you listen to will most certainly and undoubtedly impact how you think, feel, and act. So I guess if you kept on thinking about it, it would naturally follow that Christian music, especially if you're a Christian, is the best thing for your soul.

However, I've also heard the argument that Christian music doesn't really have anything to do with real life situations… I mean, what happens when you're just feeling down, or when something serious and life changing is really upsetting you; who is actually going to pop in a praise cd at that moment in time? Wouldn't it feel better to make a playlist of a bunch of songs written by lonely, tortured souls… they can relate so much better, right?

I think I've found the answer in the same sermon my pastor was preaching on; his main text for that Sunday morning was Psalm 42. His very fitting title, or thesis, for that sermon was "The Theology of Sorrow for the Glory of God"… I say that it is very fitting because once you read Psalm 42, it becomes apparent very quickly that this psalmist is in a deeply sorrowful, depressive state. He is being oppressed by not only his situation, but also by his enemies who stand by and mock him—his situation is so bad that it looks and feels as if God has abandoned this man, and he is fighting for hope. What does this have to do with music? Look at Psalm 42:4— "These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival" [emphasis added]. So in the psalmist's deepest bout of depression, he turns not to the world for comfort, but to his memory of praising God through music… and not just any music! Look closely… he talks about how he would "lead them in procession to the house of God"… He's talking about going to church and singing songs of worship! That absolutely blows my mind. He doesn't turn to the emptiness of the world, or even superficial "churchy" things like socialship (a fake form of fellowship); he holds dearest the worship of our Savior and King in the time of severe trial.

So this is my challenge to myself, and to you who have read this: Self, next time you are downcast, don't turn to the world for comfort when you personally know the source of all joy! Instead, turn to God's Word… preach to yourself through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Preach to yourself through Psalm 42. And Self, whatever you do, don't forget the cross!

Related links and info:

• For a sermon filled with the same Truth and Biblical principles on sorrow and, by extension, on music, download C. J. Mahaney's sermon on Psalm 42 for free at the Sovereign Grace Ministries website.
  
• Looking around for some good Christian music? Not just for something superficial that has a good sound, but for something that you like the sound of AND is filled with sound Biblical doctrine that makes you want to draw closer to God? Try Chasing Cadence's album Awake O' Sleeper (available on iTunes), or Enfield's album "O For That Day". Also, check out the Sovereign Grace Ministries website for good worship music (and lots of other great resources, lots of them free!)… right now, they have a free song called "Praise the Lord" available for download.
  

"Praise the Lord" Lyrics:

Praise the Lord, Oh praise His name
From the heights of heav'n He reigns
Seated in the highest place
Surrounded by unending praise

Praise Him for His mighty deeds
Awesome in His majesty
Praise Him now with trumpet sound
Lift your voice and dance around

Everything that has breath, praise the Lord
Everything that's in us, praise Him
Everything that has breath, praise the Lord

Praise the Lord with instruments
Praise Him for His excellence
Look at what He's done for us
Bore our sins upon the cross

Praise the Lord with all you are
Mind and soul and will and heart
From His hand comes everything
He alone is God and King

P.S.—Are you up for another challenge? Try to find out which Psalm(s) this song is from! Check out the links on the left hand column of the blog for some useful tools you can use in Scripture search and study… Tell me if you find it ;-)

Light of the World

In Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus says, "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."

When I saw this picture, it instantly reminded me of this passage. I love how brilliantly the light stands out, how sharp the contrast is between light and dark. I think it's a beautiful analogy of what our lives as Christians should be like… And it makes me wonder: Is my life this different, this radical, compared to the rest of a dark, lost, and dying world?

Another amazing quality about light is that it has the ability to penetrate into the darkest recesses of a room (or heart!). A single match can light up an entire room, transforming what was once utter darkness into light. Of course, a light makes more of a difference when it is bigger, brighter, and more concentrated. Which makes me wonder what kind of a light I am…

Just food for thought :-)