Praise the Lord for the way He is with us. He is Emmanuel, God with us. We
spent the last weekend in Boston visiting Micah, Simeon, Ada and their parents.
It was both a treat and a blessing. We spent some time at the Boston Children's
museum with all three children. Micah, Simeon, and Ada frequent the place.
Sunday we attended the worship service with them. They meet at 4:45 PM on
Sunday afternoon. We all drove to the church together, and as we were getting
out of the van Ada (two year old) said, "Grandpa, that is my church". The
pastor, who is young, preached from Hosea 11and 12. The message was followed by
the Lord's supper. The congregation gathers for a fellowship dinner every
Sunday after the worship service. It was a great blessing. Alice and I were
the oldest people attending the worship.
We are all saddened by the
massive tragedy that has come upon the people of the Philippines. I have a
clergy colleague and his family that live and serve in Manilla. Praise the Lord
for so many who have stepped up to bring healing and blessing the people of the
Philippines. A US Naval ship is heading to the Philippines, coming
alongside the Philippine Government in assisting the rescue
mission.
We all have had our dreams
shattered at one time or another. We all have wondered where the Lord was when
life became too much to bear. In his book, "Shattered Dreams", Larry Crabb
wrote, "Satan's masterpiece is not the prostitute or the skid-row bum. It is
the self-sufficient person who has made life comfortable, who is adjusting well
to the world and truly likes living here, a person who dreams of no better place
to live, who longs only to be a little better--and a little better off--than he
already is."
If Satan's masterpiece is a
self-sufficient person, then God's masterpiece is a "God-dependent person."
When it comes to spiritual things, we are all bankrupt before the Father.
People who have true joy are God-dependant, not self-sufficient. They yearn
for a better relationship with Him through difficult times and find their joy in
that relationship, not in the fulfillment of their
personal dreams.
James 1:2-4: "Consider it
all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the
testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect
result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." The Word
does not say "if you encounter various trials," it says, "when!" No one is
immune from hardships. I read the story of Bog Sorge some time
ago.
When doctors removed the
ulcer next to Bob Sorge's vocal chord they permanently damaged his throat,
leaving him with a remnant of a voice that hurts if he tries to "whisper" more
than an hour a day. A terrible tragedy for anyone, but the suffering was
multiplied for Rev. Bob Sorge. How can a preacher preach without a voice? For
the years that followed, Sorge learned first hand about
suffering.
Sorge said, "A lot of
Christians will say, 'Don't ask why.' I am not in that camp. I am strong in
asking why. King David asked why. The psalmists asked why. The Bible is full
of people who had questions." Really, "Why?" is a statement of faith, not an
expression of doubt. It presupposes that God exists, and that He loves us and
is in control of our destiny.
"God is to be wrestled
with." Sorge continues. "He has unfolded purpose to me. He's transformed the way
I think, feel, everything about me. The crucible of suffering causes you to be
desperate for God and to press into Him."
Why Me? Because in trials,
God makes us desperate for Him, and we learn to press into Him and find "calm
delight" in His bosom.
In Christ the Wounded
Healer,
Brown
No comments:
Post a Comment