Don’t Be Surprised

11 January, 202510 January, 2025Marissa

One of the big lessons we can learn from the Bible is that God wants us to be prepared. There are a lot of warnings in the Bible, and we’re told many things in advance so we won’t be surprised. There are also many examples we can look at, particularly things that happened to Jesus Christ, that give us hints about what we might go through.

Following Jesus in Everything

Writing about Jesus, the author of Hebrews said, “he was obligated in all things to be made like his brothers, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people” (Heb. 2:17, WEB). He became like us, and we’re supposed to become like Him. If Jesus did something, then we shouldn’t be surprised that we’re supposed to do that as well.

“If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you too ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example—you should do just as I have done for you. I tell you the solemn truth, the slave is not greater than his master, nor is the one who is sent as a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you understand these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”
John 13:14-17, NET

We’re supposed to follow Jesus’s example. We’re even supposed to become perfect just like God the Father is perfect (Matt. 5:43-48). We can also expect that many of the things Jesus experienced will be things we go through as well. He took part in flesh and blood like us, He was tempted just like us (though He never sinned), and He learned humility and obedience just like we have to (Heb. 2:14; 4:15; 5:8; Phil. 2:5-8). If something happened to Him, we shouldn’t be surprised that it happens to us.

“Remember what I told you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they obeyed my word, they will obey yours too.”
John 15:20, NET

We might marvel when we look at how the disciples handled persecution in the book of Acts. They even rejoiced “because they had been considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name” (Acts 5:41, NET). They’d seen Jesus persecuted and they knew that they shouldn’t expect to be treated better than their master. He put up with unjust persecution for following His father, and so they put up with unjust persecution for following Him. It’s part of following His example.

Image of foggy mountains overlaid with text from 2 Peter 3:1-2, NET version: "Dear friends, this is already the second letter I have written you, in which I am trying to stir up your pure mind by way of reminder: I want you to recall both the predictions foretold by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles." — Image by yamabon from Pixabay

Expecting Tough Times

We get to see how the disciples handled the truth of Jesus’s statement that, “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you” in the book of Acts. We also get to read about Peter’s take on this topic in his first epistle, where he applied Jesus’s words to the whole church body of believers (and expanded it to include other types of suffering as well).

Dear friends, do not be astonished that a trial by fire is occurring among you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice in the degree that you have shared in the sufferings of Christ, so that when his glory is revealed you may also rejoice and be glad.
1 Peter 4:12-13, NET

Often when something bad–or even just inconvenient–happens to us, our human reaction is to bemoan, “Why me?” Peter thinks we shouldn’t be surprised by tough things, even if it’s something that could be categorized as “a trial by fire.” It isn’t strange, it’s just part of life as followers of Jesus. Our Messiah suffered persecution, so why shouldn’t we? He was tempted and tried (see Matt. 4:1-11), so why wouldn’t we be? That doesn’t make it easy, but it is expected.

We sent Timothy, our brother and fellow worker for God in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen you and encourage you about your faith, so that no one would be shaken by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. For in fact when we were with you, we were telling you in advance that we would suffer affliction, and so it has happened, as you well know.So when I could bear it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter somehow tempted you and our toil had proven useless.
1 Thessalonians 3:1-5, NET

Like the people of Thessalonica, we’ve been given warnings that life will be hard sometimes. We read the Bible and listen to sermons, and we know that following God doesn’t exempt us from facing trials (though He does promise to work all things out for good in the end and give us a way to endure trials [Rom. 8:28; 1 Cor. 10:13]). That doesn’t always stick in our heads, though, when bad things happen. That’s one reason it’s so important to be connected with Messiah’s community–so people can check on and encourage you just like Paul did for the Thessalonians.

For this is the gospel message that you have heard from the beginning: that we should love one another,not like Cain who was of the evil one and brutally murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his deeds were evil, but his brother’s were righteous. Therefore do not be surprised, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.
1 John 3:11-13, NET

John spends a lot of this epistle talking about how God loves us and our duty to love Him and each other. He also points out that when we love in a Godly way, it’s a radical departure from how the world lives. We’re supposed to love our fellow Christians–everyone who is fathered by God, practices righteousness, and is growing toward perfection (1 John 3:1-16). In contrast, many people in the world hate those whose deeds are righteous (John 3:19-20;15:18-19). That shouldn’t surprise us–it’s been that way since Cain and Able.

Other Warnings

Image of a person standing at the edge of a pond looking at a tall mountain, overlaid with blog's title text and the words, "God gives us many insights into how the world works, what we can expect, and what we're looking forward to so that we can develop a deep, strong faith and trust in Him." — image by chriszwettler from Pixabay

I didn’t plan on this blog post to focus so much on persecution and trials, but when you start studying warnings that’s a main theme that pops out. I suspect it’s because God and the Biblical writers know that the hardships we encounter can keep us from enduring unless we develop a strong root system of faith (see Mark 4:1-20). There are other warnings, though, and cautions so that we’re not surprised.

“For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. Remember, I have told you ahead of time.”
Matthew 24:24-25, NET

God tells us a lot about the future. We don’t know when the end time events that He prophesied are going to happen (Acts 1:6-7), but Jesus gave us plenty of warnings about what those times will be like and how we’re supposed to guard ourselves as we get closer to the time of his return (Matt. 24-25, and many other prophecies). He told us these things before they happened so that we won’t be misled (Matt. 24:4-5), alarmed (Matt. 24:6), deceived (Matt. 24:24), unprepared (Matt. 24:42-44; 25:1-13), or shirking our duties (Matt. 24:45-51; 25:14-46).

God doesn’t tell us exactly what’s going to happen or when in our lives, but He doesn’t leave us in the dark about his overarching plan. We won’t know the specifics of trials we face before they happen, but He warns us they will happen and promises He’ll be there through them. He wants us to join His family, and sets us up for success.

“You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I am.I have told you now before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe.”
John 14:28-29

When we see God follow through on His promises, it strengthens our faith. He’s given us many insights into how the world works, what we can expect, and what we’re looking forward to so that we can develop a deep, strong faith and trust in Him. We can have confidence and peace, knowing that God has already assured us of His good plans and purposes related to us and the world. We can also trust Him through trials, knowing we’ve been warned of them in advance and having the perspective that God will use them to refine us and that He’ll be with us no matter what comes.

Featured image by Pexels from Pixabay

Song Recommendation: “Sparrows” by Jason Gray

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Praise When You Just Don’t Understand

13 May, 202311 May, 2023Marissa

It’s pretty easy to praise when something good happens. You realize that God protected you from an accident, or that He made things line up just right to get a better job. Or you just feel happy and blessed and that bubbles out in praise.

But what about when things don’t make sense and you’re studying and trying to find answers in the Bible but they don’t seem to be there? Or when something bad is happening and you know that there are commands to be joyful even in trials but you just don’t feel happy? Or when something happens to a friend and you don’t know the full story, but you’re upset along with them? Maybe praise is the farthest thing from your mind and instead you just feel confused, angry, or betrayed.

Or what about the times when you take an objective look at your life, everything seems to be going well, but you still feel anxious or depressed? Sometimes the things we’re struggling with are inside our heads, and from the outside it looks like everything’s going great. How do you praise God in those moments, when you’re not sure why you feel terrible and when you might even feel guilty for struggling because God has blessed you so richly?

When we feel confusion, hurt, anger, or anything else that makes it hard to praise God we often also feel distant from Him. God didn’t go anywhere, so it’s up to us to reach out to Him and ask Him to help us feel His presence again. I touched on this topic years ago when I wrote about a breakup and MercyMe’s song “Even If” and also in another study about Lamentations 3. But those were more about hope and trust, and today I want to talk about praise when things don’t make sense to us.

Image of a woman with her hand lifted in praise overlaid with text from 1 Cor. 13:8-10, 12, NET version: “Love never ends. But if there are prophecies, they will be set aside; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be set aside. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, but when what is perfect comes, the partial will be set aside. ... then I will know fully, just as I have been fully known.” — Image by Pearl from Lightstock

Remember

Right now, I’m not in a season of my life where I feel super confused about what God is doing. Rather, I’m in a place where I can look back at times where I was confused and realize, “Oh, that’s what was going on.” For years, I’d been going through cycles of praying to God for a husband, going to Him for comfort with a broken heart, and asking if I should give up that dream because it didn’t seem like He was going to work things out for me to get married. And now here I am, getting married in just a few weeks and buying a house and talking about having kids. God didn’t work this out on the timeline I was expecting, but He worked it out better even than I expected; I still catch myself marveling at how good this relationship is and how happy I am with him.

It’s interesting looking back on how hopeless and confused I felt sometimes, knowing now how God was going to work things out. I do believe God allows us free will, and I’m not sure how much of this He had planned exactly, but it sure seems like He was working things out for me and my husband to be together. I want to remember this the next time I wonder what God is doing and why He hasn’t fixed things yet.

Then I thought, “I will appeal to this:
    the years of the right hand of the Most High.”
I will remember Yah’s deeds;
    for I will remember your wonders of old.
I will also meditate on all your work,
    and consider your doings.
Psalm 77:10-12, WEB

Over and over in the Bible, we’re admonished to remember. “Remember all Yahweh’s commandments, and do them,” “remember all the way which Yahweh your God has led you,” and that “your God redeemed you” (Num. 15:39; Deut. 8:2, 15:15 WEB). “Remember the words of the Lord Jesus,” “remember the former days, in which, after you were enlightened,” and “remember the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets and the commandment of us” (Acts 20:35; Heb. 10:32; 2 Pet. 3:2 WEB). Our memory of God’s goodness and faithfulness thus far gives us the hope needed to trust and praise Him when we’re in a season where we don’t know why He’s working the way He is.

Image of four people sitting around a table studying the Bible, overlaid with text from Psalm 78:4-7, WEB version: “We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of Yahweh, his strength, and his wondrous deeds that he has done. ... that they might set their hope in God, and not forget God’s deeds, but keep his commandments” — Image by Ben White from Lightstock

We Don’t Know The Full Measure

I feel like a lot of times, we can trace our fears, anger, confusion, and frustrations back to not understanding what God is doing. Deep down, we might feel like it’d be a whole lot easier to trust Him if He’d just explain Himself clearly. But God didn’t design us to be all-knowing; I doubt our human minds could handle a fraction of the information we’d need to truly understand things. When we realize that, sometimes we can flip the feeling of frustration with not knowing everything over into awe of the God who does know everything.

But I will always hope,
    and will add to all of your praise.
My mouth will tell about your righteousness,
    and of your salvation all day,
    though I don’t know its full measure.
Psalm 71:14-15, WEB

Psalm 71 is a prayer for protection, asking God not to disappoint you when you run to Him for refuge. There are people in the psalmist’s life hinting that God has forsaken him, but he calls on God to prove them wrong. Verse 15 caught my eye (and gave me the idea for this study) because of the psalmist’s promise to speak of God’s righteousness and salvation even though they don’t fully understand it.

The topic of voicing truths about God when you don’t understand what He’s doing makes me think of Job. God described him as a righteous man at the beginning of the book, but Job still went through horrible trials and the people who should have comforted him instead wanted to diagnose his moral failings. Job and his friends all missed that there was something else going on in the background that they didn’t understand. In the end, Job didn’t get answers to the questions that he’d asked God. Instead, God showed up in person to tell him that he didn’t know the full measure of what was going on (see my post “The Central Question of Job: A Broader Perspective On Suffering“).

Much like Job, we might not always understand why tough things are happening. We might go back and forth trying to figure out possible reasons. Sometimes it might actually be because we did something wrong and we need a wake-up call to change (which is what Job’s friends thought was going on there). Sometimes we might be trying to force our own will on a situation where we need to let go and let God work it out in His timing. Sometimes bad things happen because we live in a fallen world that’s imperfect and is full of other imperfect people who hurt us, intentionally or accidently. And sometimes there might be something going on in the background that we’re ignorant of (which is what was actually happening in Job’s story). No matter what the root cause, it’s important to seek God during these times.

Your hands have made me and formed me.
    Give me understanding, that I may learn your commandments.
Those who fear you will see me and be glad,
    because I have put my hope in your word.
Yahweh, I know that your judgments are righteous,
    that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.
Please let your loving kindness be for my comfort,
    according to your word to your servant.
Psalm 119:73-76, WEB

We can echo this psalmist in praying for understanding so we can obey God’s commandments, hope in his word, and trust in his righteousness. But we also need to make peace with the fact that we won’t always understand everything. That can be challenging for those of us whose relationship with God is largely intellectual, but it’s a truth we need to acknowledge if we’re going to make it past our own egos and have a humble relationship with God.

Balancing Humility and Knowledge

Image of a silhouetted person lifting their hands to pray with the blog's title text and the words "How do we keep on praising and trusting God when we don’t understand what He’s doing?" — Image by Brittney Borowski from Lightstock

When Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, one of the things he addressed in his first letter was a debate they were having regarding whether it was okay to eat meat that had been sacrificed in an idol’s temple, then sold in the market. The reminder he gives his readers for that topic is a good one to keep in mind for other situations as well.

With regard to food sacrificed to idols, we know that “we all have knowledge.” Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.If someone thinks he knows something, he does not yet know to the degree that he needs to know.
1 Corinthians 8:1-2, NET

Because God is working with us, we have a certain amount of knowledge. We can even say with accuracy that we know more than most people in the world, at least about the things of God (Ps. 119:99). We certainly shouldn’t devalue the knowledge we have or give up on deepening our knowledge of God (for example, Paul tells us to worship and sing praises with our understanding as well as our spirits/hearts [1 Cor. 14:15]). But we still only “know in part” (1 Cor. 13:9, 12, NET). We need to let the understanding God has blessed us with remind us to be humble before Him.

We need to strike a healthy balance between humility and knowledge. It shouldn’t really be all that difficult; the more we really know about and understand God the more our relationship with Him should inspire true humility in us. And this isn’t just something Paul talked about. Peter’s letters also remind us that humility is vital before God and that He grants deep knowledge to His people.

And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.And God will exalt you in due time, if you humble yourselves under his mighty handby casting all your cares on him because he cares for you.
1 Peter 5:5-7, bolt italics a quote from Prov 3:34

May grace and peace be lavished on you as you grow in the rich knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord! I can pray this because his divine power has bestowed on us everything necessary for life and godliness through the rich knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence.
2 Peter 1:2-3, NET

It can be frustrating to feel like things aren’t going the way you hoped or planned. It can be equally frustrating to feel like you don’t know what’s going on or aren’t sure what you should do next. It might even make us angry (if you’re struggling with anger or have in the past, I recommend checking out this thought provoking Truth Be Told podcast episode). Through whatever it is we’re struggling with or that we’re questioning, we need to remember the big picture.

God is in control. He is trustworthy now and in the future, just like He’s been trustworthy since the beginning of time. It’s okay for us not to know the “full measure;.” We don’t really need all the answers now. Let’s do our best to balance our knowledge (and our desire for knowledge) with humility to obey and trust God while also hoping in His promises and praising Him with all our hearts and minds.

Featured image by Shaun Menary from Lightstock

Song Recommendation: “Praise You In This Storm” by Casting Crowns

The Glorious Weights We Carry

31 December, 202231 December, 2022Marissa

There’s a C.S. Lewis sermon that I think about on a near-weekly basis. It’s called “The Weight of Glory.” He originally preached it on June 8, 1941 in the Church of St Mary the Virgin, Oxford. It was then published in Theology for the first time in November, 1941, and has been in print ever since. You can also read it for free online. Usually when I quote this sermon, I reference Lewis’s discussion of how we ought to view others, knowing that every human being has the potential to become fully part of God’s own family. Today, though, I want to start by looking at the message as a whole.

Lewis opens by speaking of the rewards offered a Christian and pointing out that wanting these rewards while living a godly life is not “mercenary.” He spins out Paul’s analogy of the law as our schoolteacher (from Galatians) in more modern terms. He also speaks of our eternal reward and the longing for God in each human heart as a Romantic idea that proves there is something wonderful and heavenly in our future (much like being hungry for food proves that food must exist in some form or another).

The promises of Scripture may very roughly be reduced to five heads. It is promised, firstly, that we shall be with Christ; secondly, that we shall be like Him; thirdly, with an enormous wealth of imagery, that we shall have “glory”; fourthly, that we shall, in some sense, be fed or feasted or entertained; and, finally, that we shall have some sort of official position in the universe—ruling cities, judging angels, being pillars of God’s temple. The first question I ask about these promises is: “Why any of them except the first?”
C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory, p. 4

Even just one of God’s promises are overwhelmingly amazing, yet he offers us even more, including “glory.” Lewis links glory with “what may happen when the redeemed soul, beyond all hope and nearly beyond belief, learns at last that she has pleased Him whom she was created to please” (Lewis, p. 5). We might not describe ourselves as desiring glory, but that’s what we seek when we want “good report with God, acceptance by God, response, acknowledgment, and welcome into the heart of things” (Lewis, p. 6). Basically, glory is “being ‘noticed’ by God” or “known by God” (Lewis, p. 6; 1 Cor. 8:3). Plus, of course, there’s the other sense of glory as well–“glory as brightness, splendour, luminosity” (Lewis, p. 7). Then, we get to the part of this sermon that I think about and quote most frequently:

It may be possible for each to think too much of his own potential glory hereafter; it is hardly possible for him to think too often or too deeply about that of his neighbour. The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbour’s glory should be laid daily on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken. It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations.
C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory, p. 8

It’s this idea of weightiness that I want to focus in on today. When we think of glory, I suspect we think of God Himself being glorious. We might think of shining like lights in the world now, and shining even more when we’re spirit beings in God’s family. But I don’t think we often think of glory as a “load, weight, or burden” that is “heavy” to carry.

Image of light shining on a Bible overlaid with text from 2 Corinthians 4:16-17, WEB version: “Therefore we don’t faint, but though our outward person is decaying, yet our inward person is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is for the moment, works for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory” — Image by Lamppost Collective

Weight of Glory

For our momentary, light suffering is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison
2 Corinthians 4:17, NET

Lewis doesn’t reference 2 Corinthians 4:17 directly in his sermon, but it’s alluded to throughout and explicitly referenced in the title. The Greek word for “weight” is baros. It means “weight in reference to its pressure, burden, load” (G922 Zodhiates). You could also translate it “heaviness, burden, trouble” (Thayer). It’s the same word Jesus uses in His parable of the workers in the vineyard where the first workers complain, “These last have spent one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat!”’” (Matt. 20:12, WEB). It’s something that’s heavy, often burdensome, and it’s carried like a load.

This burdensome heaviness is contrasted with “light suffering.” Here, light is elaphros and it means “light in weight, quick, agile” (G1645 Thayer). It means something that’s “not heavy, easy to bear” (Zodhiates). It’s such an interesting word picture. Paul describes our suffering as light and easy to carry, and eternal glory as something heavy and burdensome. Why not the other way around? Suffering seems like a heavy thing to drag around and glory like something shining and light and wonderful. What’s going on here?

There aren’t a whole lot of other verses using baros that we can look at for more information on how it’s used in the Bible. One stands out, though. Paul uses this word in Galatians when he says, “Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2, NET). That one seems fairly straightforward–we all have metaphorical burdens we carry, so we should help each other out with that–but thinking of “glory” as being included in our burdens adds an interesting additional layer to this verse. It brings us back to Lewis’s point about taking the burden of our neighbors’ glory seriously (and I’m sure he knew about the connection between these two verses since he could read Greek).

And what about “light suffering”? The only other time this word translated “light” appears in scripture is when Jesus says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:29-30, WEB). The word for “burden” here isn’t baros but phortion; a word that’s also related to freight loads, but is metaphorically connected to “rites” and “obligations” (G5413 Thayer). The burdens that Jesus asks us to carry (including, though not limited to, suffering in this life) are not unreasonably heavy. He’s yoked to us, carrying the burdens alongside us.

Worthy and Weighty

Now we come to the verses that started me off on today’s whole study. I was sitting in church listening to a sermon and I don’t remember if the speaker read the definition for a Greek word used in these verses or if I looked it up myself, but I was intrigued by the idea of “worthily” and “weighty” being connected.

I, therefore, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live worthily of the calling with which you have been called
Ephesians 4:1, NET

so that you may live worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects—bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God,
Colossians 1:10, NET

Worthily is from the adverb form of axios, which (not surprisingly) means “worthily, suitably, properly” (G516 Zodhiates). But if you start looking at the related words like the adjective axios, you learn that it has to do with weight. The root is ago (G71), which means “to weigh.” Axios describes something that has inherent, weighty value (G514 Zodhiates; Thayer). It may mean something of equal value like items in a market balancing a scale. It can also mean “worthy or deserving” and “suitable, congruent, corresponding to” (G514 Zodhiates).

Now, I read this and the first thing I thought of was the phrase “weight of glory,” though I now know Paul uses a different word for the “eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison” (2 Cor. 4:17, NET). Even so, both have to do with the idea of weight as something to carry (just like the English words weight, burden, and heavy are all related). It’s not too much of a stretch to connect the idea of “the weight of glory” to living a worthy or “weighty” life.

Sufferings and Glory

Image of light shining on a Bible with the blog's title text and the words "Understanding the weight of glory has a profound impact on how we live our lives now. The worth of the glory God offers us far outweighs the inconvenience of suffering, which is light in comparison." — Image by Lamppost Collective

There’s something deeply valuable about the glory that God offers us. It’s weighty. It has meaning. It’s worth far outweighs the inconvenience of suffering, which is light in comparison. Understanding the weight of glory has a profound impact on how we live our lives now.

So then, brothers and sisters, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh (for if you live according to the flesh, you will die), but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery leading again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself bears witness to our spirit that we are God’s children. And if children, then heirs (namely, heirs of God and also fellow heirs with Christ)—if indeed we suffer with him so we may also be glorified with him. For I consider that our present sufferings cannot even be compared to the coming glory that will be revealed to us.
Romans 8:12-18, NET

Over and over in the New Testament, suffering is linked with glory. Jesus said He had to suffer before entering His glory (Luke 24:26). The writer of Hebrews goes so far as to say Jesus was “crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death” (Heb. 2:9, NET, emphasis added). Peter also talks about the connection between Christ’s suffering and His glory, then links it to our suffering and glory as well (1 Peter 1:8-11; 4:12-13; 5:1-3, 10).

Dear friends, do not be astonished that a trial by fire is occurring among you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice in the degree that you have shared in the sufferings of Christ, so that when his glory is revealed you may also rejoice and be glad. …

And, after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory in Christ will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
1 Peter 4:12-13; 5:10 NET

It makes more sense, now, why glory is a weighty burden and our sufferings so light we may hardly notice carrying them. I’m sure we’ve all met someone who is always smiling, positive, and talking about how good Jesus is to them while they’re going through things that you’d expect would drive someone to despair, or at least dampen their spirits. One of the people who comes to mind for me is Tamie Haupricht, a woman who became my friend while we were dancing together at a Messianic congregation. She asked me to work with her as an editor when she published her story two years ago, and you can click here to get a copy of Always Smiling: A Journey From Abuse To A Life of Faith and Joy (I don’t make anything from sharing this book; I just started writing this paragraph and then felt I should share her story with you).

The more we learn about the gifts God shares with us, the more we ought to feel the weightiness of carrying His name, nature, and future plans for us. Incredibly, these gifts include and are not limited to glory so momentous that it outweighs sufferings by so much that they can seem light in comparison. We’re offered glory along with Jesus; a share in the glory He received after suffering in our place. And, as Lewis reminds us, we’re not the only ones offered this. “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” and as a result “whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life” (1 Tim. 1:15; John 3:16). Everyone we meet has the same glorious potential that God is giving us. I wonder how much it would change my life if I really, truly remembered this. I’m carrying the weight of the glory God offers me. God loves every person I interact with or even hear about enough to die for them and He’d be overjoyed if none of them perished (1 Tim. 3:4; 2 Peter 3:9). Those truths should impact my every choice and interaction.

Featured image by Lamppost Collective

Song Recommendation: “Glorious” by Ted Pearce

The Central Question of Job: A Broader Perspective On Suffering

9 May, 20208 May, 2020Marissa

Suffering, and questions about why God allows it, are the main thing Job and his friends talk about through the majority of the Bible book that bears Job’s name. We often say that it is a book about suffering. Since reading Philip Yancey’s book The Bible Jesus Read, however, I’ve realized Job’s story is actually about a whole lot more than suffering.

Yancey says that if you’d asked him what Job was about, he would have once said, “It’s the Bible’s most comprehensive look at the problem of pain and suffering” (p. 46). But then he took a closer look. Job asks all the questions we want God to answer about suffering, but then the book points us to a completely different way of looking at the problem.

The Stage Is Set

The book of Job begins by setting the stage for a dramatic story. We’re introduced to Job, a man who “was blameless and upright, and turned away from evil” (Job 1:1, quotes from WEB translation unless otherwise noted). He had ten children and exceedingly great wealth, as we’d expect such a good man to have in light of God’s promises to bless those who follow Him. And then something happened.

Unbeknownst to Job, he becomes the central figure in a wager between Yahweh (God’s proper name, see Ex. 3:14-15) and Satan (which means adversary). The “god of this world,” who actively opposes all Yahweh’s plans, comes before Yahweh and issues a challenge in response to a question.

Yahweh said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant, Job? For there is no one like him in the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one who fears God, and turns away from evil.”

Then Satan answered Yahweh, and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing? Haven’t you made a hedge around him, and around his house, and around all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But stretch out your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will renounce you to your face.” (Job 1:8-11)

God holds up Job as an example of a faithful person. Satan challenges that Job only follows God because he gets something out of it. This begins what Yancey calls “a cosmic drama in heaven — the contest over Job’s faith” (p. 49). Satan has attacked God’s character, alleging that He basically bribes people to follow Him. God gives Job the opportunity to prove otherwise (p. 52). Read more →

Lessons From Job: How to Interact with Hurting People

7 September, 20196 May, 2020Marissa

“They don’t need to say anything. Just be there.”

Those words, or a variation, come up again and again when I talk with people about what they need when they’re hurting. You’ll also find this advice in books, articles, and interviews talking about how to interact with grieving people. Don’t try to compare your pain to theirs, or explain it away, or slap verbal band aids on the wound. Just be there for them.

Whenever we think about suffering in the Bible, Job is one of the first stories that comes to mind. This man lost seven sons and three daughters all in one day, along with all his wealth. Shortly after that, Satan struck him “with painful sores from the soul of his foot to his head” (Job 1:13-22; 2:7-8, all quotes from WEB). Family, wealth, and health all gone in a moment. Job was about as low as you can humanly get. And so his three best friends came to comfort him and to teach us important lessons about how to interact with hurting people.

Comfort, Sympathy, and Silence

Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that had come on him, they each came from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite; and they made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and to comfort him. When they lifted up their eyes from a distance, and didn’t recognize him, they raised their voices, and wept; and they each tore his robe, and sprinkled dust on their heads toward the sky. So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great. (Job 2:11-13)

Things started out well. 1) they cared about Job enough to keep track of what was going on with him and know he needed support. 2) they came to him for the purpose of comfort and sympathy. 3) they shared in his grief, weeping with him. 4) they didn’t talk; they just sat with him and waited to see what he’d need. Read more →

We Rejoice In Hope

17 August, 201916 August, 2019Marissa

Last week, we talked about learning to rejoice always because we know our God holds us (and everything else) in His hands. Shifting our focus to Him gives us the perspective we need to have true, lasting joy. It also gives us something else.

I quoted a definition of joy in last week’s post (titled “The Joy of the Lord”) that stated it is “acquired by the anticipation, acquisition or even the expectation of something great or wonderful.” We could further simplify this definition by saying joy is a result of hope.

Hope in the Bible isn’t just a vague sense of wanting something with no guarantee it will happen, the way we often use it today when we say things like “I hope I win the lottery” or “I hope this new superhero movie is good.” Rather, it’s about an expectation that you can count on being fulfilled. It’s intimately connected to salvation (Rom. 8:24; 1 Thes. 5:8), provides comfort in sorrow (1 Thes. 4:13), and is used as a title for God (Jer. 17:13; Rom. 15:13). And it’s essential to joy.

Hope, Suffering, and Joy

Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; through whom we also have our access by faith into this grace in which we stand. We rejoice in hope of the glory of God. (Rom. 5:1-2, WEB)

“We rejoice in hope,” partly because, as Paul says later in this letter “we were saved in hope” (Rom. 8:24). Our hope and rejoicing are connected with faith and grace, as well as the glory of God. Though we don’t yet see the end result of our salvation, we hope for it and we have joy in that expectation. But that’s not all we rejoice in. Read more →