St. John Studies

Probably everyone occasionally wonders “Who am I?”   Maybe you question “Why am I here anyway?”

Well the answer is simple.

To glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

I am heavily into the book Desiring God by John Piper in my Sunday School teaching. Piper’s premise is that experiencing joy in our love of the Lord is our ultimate goal and we experience that joy through glorifying God. W. Hunter Bingham* expresses the same idea in his chapter on “The Prayer of a Grateful Soul.” We should be grateful that God has given us this purpose.

“God made you and me, gave us personality, gifts and His image with something in mind” [Hunter, 110]. Our existence is completely dependent on God sustaining us, which means we are alive because God wants us to be alive. We are valuable to Him; we are special.

At times, we may all feel “out of time” when the pace of life is outstripping us, technology is getting so complex that we have no idea what basic tech ideas are and cultural ideas are so foreign that we seem to be from another planet. We may think that our life right now is wrong; we are in the wrong place and living in the wrong time.

We should stop and realize that all this does not matter.

What matters is that we matter to God, or we would not be here right now. We are not “merely the chance result of a process which began between friendly protein molecules in some ancient, warm soupy sea. And you can forgive the well-intentioned suggestions of hymn writers that you are nothing but a worthless worm” [Hunter, 110].

Knowing that you are important is important. Thinking you are here for no reason makes you live a life as if it is for no reason.

When we give thanks to God, do we thank Him for allowing us to live in this world today? Do we give Him thanks for giving us an identity in Him?  Do we thank Him for giving us the purpose of glorifying Him?

We should.

We should take the words from Isaiah 43: 6-7 literally where God says to Israel: “Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth—everyone who is called by My name, whom I created for My glory, whom I formed and made.”

What does it mean to have our identity in God?

We exist to honor Him.

We exist to increase the fame of God.

We exist to make His name great.

We exist to extol the virtues of our Savior.

We exist to magnify the reputation of the Lord.

We exist to cause others to think positive thoughts about Him.

In John 17:4, Jesus said   “Father…I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you give Me to do.” The same idea is expressed by Paul in the lines “whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” [1 Corinthians 10:31].

If our reason for being on earth is to glorify God, then our whole life is intended to be a testament to God’s glory. As we live out our days, our love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness gentleness and self-control should speak volumes.   That is what God intended for us if we are accepting our identity in Christ.

Yes, it is perfectly appropriate to say “my identity rests in God.”

We are here to “glorify God and enjoy Him forever”.

We should be thankful for this identity and this life purpose.

The closing words of Hunter’s chapter say it best and they bear repeating: “Because of who you are, no one can do it better. And that is what God made you for.”

*from the book The God Who Hears

“Stop and smell the roses.”

That is one cliché most of us know. In most clichés there is a kernel of truth. That’s why they become popular expressions. We assume that stopping and smelling roses refers to taking the time to enjoy life but in the context of grateful prayer, it may also strongly relate to how we express our gratitude to God.

Thanking God is something we all should do but sometimes it seems we find time to do everything but thank Him. When I call for prayer concerns in my Sunday school class, the list of prayers for the sick is long but the list of praises is often short. When I read a book of prayers, the book is often filled with prayers about common problems; there are few prayers of thankfulness.   When I pray, I suspect I am like a lot of people; I ask God to help me tackle my problems.   I don’t give Him credit for all the problems He has already resolved.

Why is this?

Maybe it truly is the fact that we need to “stop and smell the roses”.  W. Bingham Hunter says that it could be the pace of life that keeps us from being grateful. Life is hectic and we just don’t take the time to reflect on our blessings. We are so busy that we don’t even take the time to examine how we spend our time.

First of all, gratefulness centers on the thoughtful evaluation of what is important to each of us.   How many of us stop long enough to appreciate what we have?   Instead, it is almost like someone else is controlling us as we put off expressing thankfulness because we are too busy pursuing complex agendas.   There is no time for appreciation because we are rapidly moving on to the next thing.

To pursue gratefulness, it takes a commitment of time.   Not only do we have to find time to think about what we appreciate, we have to find private time to pray to God about what He has given us.   Too many of us have the philosophy that “Christian busyness is next to Godliness” [Hunter, 115].   Prayer time is sacrificed for doing anything but prayer. I know it is an old complaint, but how many hours do we devote to watching television, playing computer games, or surfing the web?   Could that time be spent in prayer?   Of course it could, grateful prayer at that.

Hunter states that thoughtful consideration of busyness is the key.   Why do we have to do so much?   Are we busy because we are letting our lights shine before other men or are we hustling through life to draw attention to ourselves or maybe we are just struggling to keep pace with our contemporaries? Keeping up with the Joneses applies not only to houses and cars; it can also apply to busy agendas.

And yes…

Sometimes we can’t even get to the roses because we are never around them.   If we never see them, how can we smell them?   What Hunter is talking about here is the fact that we don’t take the time to explore God’s natural beauty. He goes even further by saying, “gratitude eludes us because the ugliness of life around us makes it difficult to remember God’s gifts” [Hunter, 115].   We love our air conditioning, we love our television sets and we love our computers so we stay indoors and we don’t explore the beach, the mountains, or even that hiking trail right down the road. Many Christians don’t take the time to catch a fish or touch a flower.   “It is hard to find God in the concrete, steel and plastic in which modern man lives, moves and has his being” [Hunter, 115].

If we are lucky enough to get outside, pause and look around. See the flowers in the yard, watch the beautiful horse run through the field, enjoy that hawk flying through the sky and the sun going down in a blaze of red and bright purple.   What man creates can be fascinating but what God has made is truly miraculous.

We need a reminder that God is worthy of praise and thanksgiving.   Devoting time to thanking Him is important. Paying attention to the blessings that He has given us makes us aware of His working in our lives.   Looking for God’s work in our environment gets us out of ourselves; we can see His touch on the world and it is a beautiful touch if we would just look.

Our time on earth goes quickly, the structures of man do not last but God is forever.

Before our time is past, we need to open our eyes and see His work…

And thank Him…

Due to forced inactivity, I have found myself watching more television in the past four months than normal. When your doctor says you have to sit and heal, television is one option that an “invalid” has in order to pass time. As I have watched countless hours of tv, I have paid my share of attention to the mind manipulation that advertisers use to sell products. I have always been interested in persuasion. I found it challenging in my teaching career to instruct speakers about how they could persuade audiences.

Consumer persuasion via television is a different “animal”, relying mostly on the inadequacy of the viewing audience. W. Bingham Hunter* feels that this type of persuasion may be directly related to our lack of gratitude for what God has given us in our lives.

Media advertisers show us the flat abs that we can have if we just purchase the six hundred dollar piece of exercise equipment.   We look at our abs and they aren’t flat but the fitness model has a trim stomach.   We want flat abs so we pick up the phone and order the equipment.   The “supercool” movie star is seen driving the luxury car on water, no less.   He is so relaxed; he never makes a quick move.   Everything is in slow motion. Wow, we would like to have such control in our lives.   Maybe we need to investigate purchasing that automobile and we will be like him. Our lives are such a contrast to his.

We can go on and on but you get the point.   In our consumer-driven world, we are made to feel insecure.   We don’t have the best clothing, we don’t take the best vacations, and we lack personal beauty.   We compare ourselves to others and we are lacking.

The sad thing is, once we buy a life-changing product, nothing much changes.   A purchase is not going to change our lives.   There has to be something else out there that we need to have.

There is a constant feeling that we lack something.

Where can we find the gratitude we should have for what we already have?

We have lost it because we feel constantly dissatisfied. What we do have is never enough. Hunter even goes so far as to say that some may feel “God has not been doing as much for us as He should have.”   We look around at others who are not doing as much good as we are and they are getting blessed; why not me?

Couple this with consumer temptation and the relative ease we have to accumulate debt and we feel we can do what we want to feel better about ourselves.   Just call up the handy number or click on the website, enter the credit card number and wait for the packages to come to your door.   I don’t have to depend on God for my satisfaction. I can take care of myself.

Once the objects of our desire are purchased, the “look at me” temptation comes into play.   We feel pride in our new outfit, power in our new car and increased status in our new home.   We need the attention.   We work hard.   We are good Christians. We deserve the materialistic blessings.

Where is God in all of this?

Proverbs 3:6 and John 3:27 acknowledge God in the activity of life. When we hear the words “ in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight” and “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven,” we hear the true reason for our blessing and it has nothing to do with television ads and credit card plastic.

It has to do with the humble heart that the Christian should have.

Hunter says “The spirit of our age—especially much modern advertising—actively wars within our minds against the spirit of thankfulness” [114]. People become objects instead of unique creatures of God. Inner beauty takes second place to the glamour of outward beauty. God given skills and abilities are demeaned in favor of what can be purchased.

Psalms 100:3 should be at the forefront of a Christians mind: “Know that the LORD is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture.”   We must be aware of mind manipulation. Maybe it is good to be content with God’s gifts.

What He supplies is sufficient…

*Author of The God Who Hears

How many times have you stopped and given thanks to God for life circumstances that are pleasant, days that are productive and relationships which are strong. God is there and He is at work in our lives, bringing good things to pass, but we just don’t stop and praise Him.

We all know we should, but most of us don’t.

In W. Bingham Hunter’s chapter on prayer for the grateful soul, he pinpoints three reasons why we neglect to thank God. We will discuss one of those reasons today.

At the risk of revealing too much of my simple joy, I am going to use my current recovery from my broken pelvis to illustrate common reasons for lack of thankfulness.

The first reason certainly relates to how much I can do right now. The fact of the matter is I can’t do as much as I have done in the past. I am recovering from my accident and I am experiencing a lot of happiness about basic things in life that I once took for granted. After three months of sitting and walking with a walker, I am walking again. While I was struggling with basic mobility, I had to depend on my wife for so much.   A single example is she brought me coffee in the morning [she had done so much more]. I could not get up and make coffee myself. I could not sleep well at night since I led such an inactive life. I struggled to get in and out of bed, put on socks, and go to the bathroom.

Now after getting a positive report from my surgeon, I can do some of these basic things. Every morning when I walk to the kitchen and start the coffee pot, I want to shout hallelujah! I sit in bed in the morning sipping my own coffee and I pray fervent prayers of thankfulness to God for what He has allowed me to do. I pray thanks that my increased activity is leading to restful sleep at night.

I am writing about this in this post but truthfully, my enthusiasm is curbed around loved ones and friends.

Why?

Most people I have talked to about my rediscovered skills seem to share my joy but most people are where I was before my accident.   They do a lot in life and naturally, they take most of what they do for granted. That is exactly what I did before my fall. Life is fast-paced and there is very little time to slow down; most the time we are struggling just to stay caught up. We lose our awareness of the wonderful things that we are allowed to do, thanks to God our Father.

When you lose your basic abilities to live life and then you have lots of time to think about what you once had, that’s when you appreciate. That’s when you long to do what you once did; you miss the simple things of life.

Most people don’t want to hear about such mundane things like being able to put on your socks.  We want to hear about more exciting stuff like what’s going on in the news, plans for an upcoming purchase, or maybe plans for an upcoming trip.   The joy of putting on socks just can’t compete with what is going on in most people’s lives. Everyday activity is glossed over; most don’t want to hear the sock report or the number of times someone has successfully maneuvered to the bathroom.

As I am recovering, I have been honored to run with a new crowd of people since my accident. I spend time now with people who have suffered debilitating injuries.   I see them at the rehabilitation facility where I exercise. Most people have injuries which are worse than mine.   Many people I am around now are older than me and they struggle more than I ever did.   Do you think I am going to shout hallelujah; I did five hundred bicycle kicks in the therapy pool? I feel like it but I suppress my joy out of respect for those around me.   I teach Sunday School at my church and one of the members and a good friend is battling stage four colon cancer.   I have thoughts about her struggles all the time.   I don’t want to share my victories in recovery with someone who suffers so much, someone who is going through a much darker time than I did.

When we have moments when we need to thank God, those moments are good. God deserves our thanks. First Peter 5: 6-7, 9 says “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you….Your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”   Jesus is there for us with His grace in our time of need.

He is there for us 24/7. He is there in the “large things” of life…

And the small…

The Westminster Shorter Catechism is a document written between 1646 and 1647 by theologians in the Church of England.   It was designed to bring the Church of England and the Church of Scotland into greater conformity.

It reads simply: “Man’s chief aim is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.”

As I comment on the use of thankful prayers in the book The God Who Hears I would also like to comment on this famous document that gives Christian life a focus. The words give all of us a reason for living; obviously it is to glorify God.

The catechism begs the question. Why do we need to glorify God? W. Bingham Hunter says the obvious answer is that “God is to be glorified simply because of the splendor and perfection of His own nature and character. He is personally worth it.”

Then he says that there are three other reasons.

First of all, we should glorify God because we exist. God did not have to make you or me but He did. Even though we all go through hard times, it is far better to exist than not to exist at all.   Hunter cites Scripture from Revelation 4:11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they were created and have their being.” To glorify God in this circumstance means we are thankful to be alive.

Secondly, we should glorify God because He made us in His image with individual personalities, unique abilities and the capacity to think and communicate.  We have all this but we also have a great deal more.   In Psalms it says “You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet.” Therefore God is seen in our lives, in nature, the sun and rain, the seasons, human nature and history [Hunter, 112]. The Apostle Paul gives a clear answer about how man is to glorify God in the words: “In Him you live, move and exist.”

Finally, Christians should glorify God because of the covenant relationship we have with Him. He not only made us and has given us so much, He also loves us. He sent his Son to redeem us from the penalty of our sins and by Jesus’ blood and the power of the Holy Spirit that resides in all of us, God has become our Father. Hunter uses capital letters to emphasize what we have become because of this covenantal relationship: “A CHOSEN RACE, A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION.”

Now one would think that the three previous reasons are reasons enough to glorify God but let’s return to the catechism that opened this post and let’s examine it closely. It says “man’s chief aim” is number one, to glorify God and number two, to enjoy Him forever. Grammatically if one has two of something it would be proper to says aims instead of aim. In the statement it implies that glorification and joy go hand in hand.   They are one and the same.

To extend this even more, what may be implied is that if you glorify God, you will also enjoy Him. Joy in this life is within our grasp if we could just learn to live a life that is devoted to God.   Again, the Apostle Paul says in First Corinthians 10:31 “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” From the most complex of human behavior to the most mundane, honor God in all that you do and you will be able to enjoy Him forever.

What more can a Christian want?

Indeed, we do have a lot to be thankful for.

I am not an expert on prayer. You can read about my background by clicking on “About St. John Studies”. However, the book that I write about is written by an author who purports to be an expert on prayer. I have enjoyed digging into the book and maybe a few people have gotten something from a comment or two that I have made. The book is dense in the description of what constitutes a good prayer life. It may be good to warn you today; my comments about the “prayer-obedience cycle” may be some of the most important I share from W. Bingham Hunter’s book, The God Who Hears.”

Over and over in my Christian life, I have heard the idea that we must learn to “pray in God’s will.” If we can learn to do that, we will have an effective prayer life.   Hunter says that learning to pray in God’s will is a cycle and it is based on a relationship the supplicant has with our Lord and Savior.

Basically, the ability to pray in God’s will is based on the extent that a person can obey God.

To begin, he says that every Christian has relationship cycles with other Christians and they are good. Growth can come from those relationships but not like the growth we can experience with a close relationship with God. Second, he states that praying in God’s will is not a “system.” We should never think of praying in God’s will as exchanging our obedience to God for His answers to our prayers: God is not our prayer answer vending machine.

The cycle that Hunter speaks of is manifest in those Christians who delight in the Lord which means they have His Word in their hearts; they meditate on His Word and they seek to follow His statutes. What happens when Christians delight in God? Slowly but surely, the desires of their hearts become more in tune with God’s desires. God’s Word overpowers their own concerns. They want to submit to God.

Finally, no one should think that prayer is a way to avoid work. God has given all of us talents and special abilities and God intends for us to use them.   People who pray righteous prayers don’t turn to God to avoid what they can do themselves. God can and will act if a situation is beyond the capability of an “obedient child” but don’t “expect Him to do in response to prayer what He has equipped them [His children] to do themselves” [Hunter, 104].

The “prayer-obedience” cycle stems from obedience. If you obey God, you will read His divinely inspired guidebook. If you read it, you will do what that Word says. If you truly obey God, you will use the talents He has bestowed on you, making your mark on the world in God’s name.

Hunter uses words from Luke 6:46 to close his thought on the important idea of prayer effectiveness: “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”

That is an excellent question.

What is your answer?

Obedience: “compliance with an order, request, or law or submission to another’s authority.”

We expect our children to be obedient and hope that our requests are helpful in guiding them through life.   Teachers have to have obedience in order to conduct a class in some reasonable, effective pedagogical manner.   As citizens, we are all expected to be obedient to the laws of the land so we can live together in some form of civilized order.

As Christians, God expects us to be obedient to His commands. After all, He is our sovereign Lord.

As a parent, I know what obedience from my child means to me and as a teacher [thirty-six years] I know that obedience from students is greatly appreciated [for the learning environment in the classroom].   Every day we hear of people who break the law; some get punished and some do not.   However, if you are a victim of a crime the whole experience is upsetting. The vast majority of us really wish people would follow the law.

We know what obedience means to us, but what does our obedience to God mean?

First of all, obedience demonstrates to God that we love Him. Most of us probably think that praise and worship is the best way to demonstrate love to God but in John 14 it says “If you love me, you will obey what I command….If anyone loves Me he will obey my teaching….He who does not love Me will not obey My teaching. These words are not My own; they belong to the Father who sent Me.”   For many of us, obeying God is avoiding the temptation to sin. John Piper, author of the book Desiring God, says about this demonstration of love, “The power of love for God overpowers the love for sin.” Obedience leads to a freedom that one experiences.   Sin can be a prison but obeying God can set you free from sin.

Secondly, obedience proves to the world that we are God’s children. We all observe others.  Observation of others is the most important way that a non-Christian can see the difference that a love for God can make. Matthew 5:16 says “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”   A Christian cliché that is so often used is very true.   “You are the only Bible that a non-Christian will ever see.”   Your behavior in life’s circumstances speaks volumes. If God is number one in your life, it will show.

Finally, obedience is a way that God has established to help us pray more effectively. If you look in the Bible, you will see the term abide used.   Abide is not a word we use every day, and you may wonder what it means. See it in the context of John 15:7: “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it shall be done for you.”   This is a “tit for tat” relationship based on human moral and ethical behavior. If we obey God’s commands and learn to please Him, we are more likely to know how to pray within God’s parameters. W. Bingham Hunter says it is much more complicated than trading obedience currency for our prayer wishes. God is not some “divine vending machine.” We can’t force God’s hand with our obedient actions but we can learn to be more clearly aligned with God’s expectations if we read His Word, follow His commands and pray accordingly”.

In this relationship, God and Jesus begin to manifest themselves in our Holy Spirit.   This is how we know God lives within us. Hunter goes on to say that Jesus discloses how this works in various places in the New Testament. The Spirit teaches us how to respond to life, reminds us of what Jesus has taught us. The spirit allows us to testify about God and it guides us “into all truth.”

We are conditioned by obedience this way: as we come to know God, we begin to see the Word through God’s eyes.

Just as good parents instill values into a child’s life and a good teacher can inspire values in a student, God can train all of us in the way we should go.

With God, obedience is worth it.

In my thinking, the life of a mature Christian is a good life…a life that I would love to lead.

The pathway to my maturity is based on my obedience.

*This post is based on W. Bingham Hunter, The God Who Hears.

I have never had a problem going to God in prayer and calling Him Father.

I was raised in my church and in my home to refer to Him that way and my earthly father was a truly admirable man, one who sacrificed for his family, a hard worker who loved his family the best he could.

Not everyone has had my experience.   All human fathers are not perfect. I know as a father that I am not.   I have made my share of mistakes in the raising of my son. Some sons and daughters have strong negative associations from the word father due to extremely negative relationships with their earthly fathers.   To pray to God the Father, they may have to find a way to forgive their earthly fathers. Their lives have been an effort to curry favor from a demanding earthly father or to avoid disobedience from an extremely punitive earthly father.

In short, these negative experiences get in the way of Christian obedience which according to John should not be burdensome because God’s children obey God as an act of love (John 1: 5:3).

Where did we get the idea of God as Father?

In the Old Testament, the rabbis of Judaism would not allow themselves to be that familiar with God. In fact, to refer to God as Abba or Father was seen as a sign of disrespect. Yet in Isaiah we read “O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand” [64:8]. In Malachi we read “Have we not one Father? Did not one God create us?” [2:10].

When we turn to the New Testament context, many Christians feel we are justified in calling God Father due to the wording of the Lord’s Prayer. When asked how to approach the Lord in prayer, Jesus said to simply use “Father.” He gave his disciples a special way to address God that had previously been His alone.

According to W. Bingham Hunter* this implies a new relationship with God, a new relationship that was different from the Old Testament relationship. First of all, God is capable of mercy, compassion and love for his children [us]. He has a personal interest in His children and a “consistent concern for their good.” God has a willingness to provide for the needs of His children and an ability to share mature knowledge, judgement and wisdom in the guidance and caring of His children.

From our point of view as God’s children, we should love, honor and respect our Father. We should know we depend on our Father. We should trust our Father’s judgement, His integrity and His abilities. In addition, we should be ready to obey our Father’s desires and will and if we cannot, we should accept our Father’s right to discipline us for our own good.

Unlike earthly parents, God is a perfect parent. He acts only for our good. He does not want to discourage us; He acts to encourage us. Unlike earthly parents, He does not use us to meet His own needs. When discipline comes, it is given to us in love, for our own good and never out of frustration and anger.

If we can just find a way to think of ourselves as God’s children, our obedience becomes a signal to Him and others that we love Him.   This is perfectly in accord with the role we have on earth. In Matthew 5:16, we find we are to “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Our obedience may cause others to offer their praise and thanksgiving.

Obedience opens up an avenue for prayer. God will not answer prayer that will encourage a disobedient lifestyle. A Christian who feels more obedient is more likely to be open to prayer communication with God. Over time, obedience can also train us to pray according to His will. The more we study the Word of God and the more we pray to God, the more we can begin to understand God’s motives. Of course, we can never see things from God’s perspective, but we can begin to understand which principles of behavior are aligned with God’s teachings.

As I stated earlier, some people have major hurdles to overcome to think of God as Father, but there are real benefits.   In order to have a strong prayer connection with our Heavenly Father, it may be worth it to reconcile with an earthly father.   If reconciliation is not possible, can you find it in your heart to forgive your earthly father his shortcomings?

To have a Heavenly Father to talk to can make a world of difference to you.

It has made a world of difference to me.

*author of The God Who Hears

The role that God plays in tragedy is discussed so often because we have so much tragedy to deal with in our lives.   Every day the Christian and non-Christian alike have tragic circumstances to deal with but since the book we are working through is about prayer, the bottom line is how do we pray when tragedy strikes?

First of all, let’s stop trying to be God and come up with some reason for tragedy.   Too often Christians put on stoic faces and say that horrible events require us to be strong, have faith and all we have to do is wait until God takes bad events and turns them into good.

I like what W. Bingham Hunter says: “What we must stop doing is trying…to figure things out, and admit that we are creatures who cry. There is no victory in putting on the façade that we can smile when it hurts. This is deception and non-Christians can see through this behavior and label our behavior hypocrisy.”

David, in Psalms 31: 7-10, is a role model of a Godly man who is suffering and praying to God: “I will be glad and rejoice in Your love, for You saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul. You have not given me into the hands of the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place. Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and body with grief. My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak.”

Recently I was asked about the accident I had with the ladder and the resultant surgery I have had on my broken pelvis. A man asked why it happened and shared the idea with me that either God pushed me off the ladder for a reason or the devil pushed me off the ladder for a reason.

I see no value in this speculation.

It happened.

As a Christian, there have been many times when my faith was tested in this life episode. A long night in the trauma ward, awaiting surgery alone in a room with a large wall clock [not able to sleep], coming out of surgery unable to get out of bed and do anything.   Was I fearful? Was I praying? Why did the fear not go away? I wanted it to but God did not take it away.   I had fear. I am human.

Recently I traveled to see my surgeon and I was praying he would say my bones were knit back together. Was I scared he would say there is a problem?   You bet I was.   My faith was just not strong enough even though I had people praying for me and I was sending up fervent prayer from the doctor’s office. I am human. Hunter cites this prayer by Joseph Bayly and it is so real: “ I cry tears to you Lord, tears because I cannot speak. Words are lost among my fears, pains, sorrows, losses, hurts but tears you understand. My wordless prayer you hear. Lord wipe away my tears, all tears not in distant day but now here.”

I believe God understands the truth we speak when we say in prayer that we are shaken. I also believe God can identify with hurting people. Hunter cites the popular book by Philip Yancey who poses the question in his title “Where is God When it Hurts?”   Hunter has the answer: “on the cross, taking to Himself, in Christ the pain, agony and terror of all the suffering in the whole universe.” Second Corinthians 5:19 “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.” He is not sitting above the earth, arranging things for His creatures, shoving us around a chess board like pawns. He is with us, by our side as we cry our tears of fear and suffering.

Instead of worrying about praying to a God who lets people hurt, we need to pray to a God who died for people who hurt.

I have been involved with a study of Revelation, a book of the Bible that is pretty challenging to understand.   I am trying to understand it but it is doubtful that a layperson such as myself will be able to have a solid grasp of the book’s meaning. But one thing I am understanding is that God will eventually wipe all our tears away. God wins in the end. There will be no more death, or mourning or crying or pain. When Jesus returns He will make everything new.

He cares for you and he cares for me.

He cares so much that He will help us through our time of tragedy. He is there with us. He understands.

That’s why we call Him Savior.

Every day we hear of the tragedies.

The teen who is killed in a car wreck.

The small child who suffers from some mysterious illness.

The fire that wipes out a family home and all of the family’s possessions.

Suffering.

Why does it happen?

As a Christian we don’t understand and yet we see it every day. Our human nature wants an explanation and God won’t furnish one. All He gives us is silence…and we are left to guess what is going on.

Some Christians respond by losing their faith. They can’t believe in a God who would allow such suffering. When it is your teen, your child or your home, the grief can be so all-consuming that the personal loss is too much to bear. The bottom line for them is this: how can a loving God allow this to happen?

The silence of God shatters faith.

Other Christians take another tack.   They say things like “God can take horrible situations and make good happen from those situations.”   On one level that sounds excellent. Maybe support for this explanation is based on Romans 8:28 “in all things God works for the good of those who love Him.” But on another level, the horrors that can happen in our world should not be attributed to a God who allows suffering just so He can do good. W. Bingham Hunter* states “no parent would choose to let his child be cruelly murdered so that these ‘good things’ would result. Friends who have faced tragic losses are not usually comforted by well-meaning friends who tell them ‘someday you will understand God’s reasons.’”

I have written on this before. There was a time when there was no evil in this world, no tragedy. That time was in the Garden of Eden when God created man in His own image but He gave man the ability to make decisions about good and evil. Instead of creating humans as automatons, God wanted to give men and women choices and they chose evil on their own.   Man introduced evil into this world, so we had better think long and hard before we imply that God is a part of that.

With the advent of man, came the ability to love but also the ability to hurt others.   Man has the ability to glorify God but also the ability to sin.   Man’s freedom makes possible agony, tyranny and oppression [Hunter, 86].

“God does not make evil into good. Evil remains evil no matter how much God may eventually be pleased to reveal” [Hunter, 87].

We just can’t stand not knowing what God is up to.   What happens to us is that we try to play God with our explanations.   We can’t stand not being able to explain tragedy, pain and suffering.   When evil people in the world seem to thrive, we are dumbfounded. It seems too unbelievable but some evil people do seem to thrive. Job is totally confused in 27: 7-8, 11-15 when he says “Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?”

Jesus was divine and He knew why He had to go to the cross.   That did not make His impending suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane any easier. In Luke, He was in anguish and sweating profusely. In Hebrews, it is reported that He cried. He asked for the help of friends who failed Him in His time of agony [Mark, 14:32]. In Luke, He needed help from an angel to continue [Luke, 22:43].

If Jesus was not accepting of the evil that man was about to do to Him, why do we as Christians feel we have to accept evil with a happy face and say things like “God can use horrible things and do good.”

I have learned that it is ok to just say “I don’t know.”   I have learned that it is better to accept the pain of suffering and just suffer.

It is ok to be human.

It is ok to realize the limitations in our knowledge.

It is not our job to be God and know why everything happens.

Instead of our questioning God’s motives and pondering His role in suffering, it may be much better to think about our holiness and justice, our choices that we have made in life.

We should question ourselves, not God.

When we do that, we will get a sense of why suffering may be occurring. We introduced evil into the world; maybe we need to own it.

*Author of The God Who Hears