Perspective

O afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in antimony, and lay your foundations with sapphires. -- Isaiah 54:11

When we are in the midst of any trial or difficulty – shoot, life in general, the old daily grind, it’s sometimes hard to imagine that it will ever change or get better.  Whether it is the sleep-deprived parents of a newborn, a victim of abuse and oppression, a soldier in a war zone, someone struggling with disease and ill-health, a person in severe financial straits, or any other prolonged difficulty, we may begin to think that our trial will never end.  We will be miserable and beaten-down, sick and grieving until we die. 

The bad news is that sometimes our trials do end only when we pass from this life.  The good news is there is no such thing as a dead Christian because, as Jesus said, everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die (John 11:26).  Yes, I know I’ve gone to church with some, too, but you notice He qualifies it by saying they have to be alive to begin with. 

I have no real reason to complain about my life – not that that’s ever stopped me.  I’m sometimes overworked and tired, and I’m getting old.  I don’t get to spend as much time with the grandkids as I would like.  I don’t get to ride my motorcycle as much as I would like.  I don’t get to fish as much as I would like.  Things don’t always turn out the way I would like.  This country elected Barack Obama twice.  There were 112 episodes of “Eight is Enough” and 13 episodes of “Firefly”.  As Jubal Early might say, Does that seem right to you?

It’s all pretty minor stuff against infinity and eternity.  The compensation God promises is really all out of proportion to the transit sufferings of even a lifespan of a hundred years.  You could argue that I’m not really qualified to make that statement.  I’ve never been in much physical pain for more than a few hours, but I have been afflicted, “storm-tossed and not comforted”, and I would say that most of us have been or will be.  Perhaps the reason I have not been tried to the extreme that others have is because I could not stand up under more pressure and strain.  If someone else has endured more, they are better able to endure it.  This, too, is a promise of which I must remind myself often:  No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it (1 Corinthians 10:13).  

Run On

Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. -- Hebrews 12:3

As we have said before, it ought to be that when we do the right thing, take the right path, repent, or resolve then things ought to go well for us.  People ought to see that we are doing good or trying to do better and give us support and encouragement, or, at least, not attack us.  It doesn't always happen that way.  There are the Barnabas people out there -- the sons of encouragement who will help us and root for us, and thank God for them.  But a lot of people will be negative and hostile.

We have to expect that.  If we are walking the strait and narrow road, we have to stay on it regardless of opposition and discouragement.  Somebody is going to misunderstand.  Another will be offended.  Others may try to "help" us by telling us that if we were on the right road, it would not be so rough, better take the detour.  No.  

Do you know why they call it the Indianapolis 500?  The guy who is ahead after the first lap may not even be on the track for the 500th lap.  The 24 hours of Le Mans is a lot different than the 24 minutes of Lamar.  Do you know that no one ever won a marathon by being the first runner to complete 26 miles?  You have to run another 385 yards to the finish.

Personally, this is a problem I have.  I want to quit because I'm tired.  I don't seem to be accomplishing much.  I did my part back in '88 or '98 or '08, and I want to call it "good".  But I can't.  I have to keep going.  That's the bad news.

The good news is that tomorrow may not be as tough as today.  Some days you can win just by showing up.  Sometimes the victory is to keep moving. 

The Lord does not expect us to go on without rest and relief and refreshment.  He has rewards for us along the way.  For people like me who have a tendency toward depression, it is important to remember that every day is not the same.  I feel that way sometimes when I get stressed and sleep-deprived -- that it will never change, that the nightmare will never end. 

It does.  My Father has been good to me in so many ways, so many times.  I do get a break now and then before I break.  It could happen today.  Carry on.

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.  (1 Corinthians 10:13) 

Bummer of a Birthmark -- Samson, Part 3

And Samson said to them, “If this is what you do, I swear I will be avenged on you, and after that I will quit.”  And he struck them hip and thigh with a great blow, and he went down and stayed in the cleft of the rock of Etam. – Judges 15:7-8

These days the United States has to fight what are called “asymmetrical” wars.  It is somewhat confusing to call them wars at all.  These are not defined battles over land masses by uniformed combatants.  Identifying the enemy and the objective is often difficult.  The distinction between combatants and non-combatants is unclear.   The same is true with us when it comes to spiritual warfare, and Samson’s troubles with the Philistines typify our own.

Samson did not clearly understand that he was in a war.  From his perspective, he was just going about life, wanting to get married and raise a family with a little Philistine hottie.  After his disrupted wedding feast, the girl’s father had given her in marriage to another man thinking that Samson had decided she no longer pleased him.  When Samson returned for her and found out the situation had changed, he avenged himself upon the Philistines by setting fire to their grain fields and olive groves.

This was strictly a personal feud, Samson thought.  He was not striking a blow for the liberation of his nation.  He was just mad about losing his wife.  He did not consider the larger implications of his actions.  He did not see himself as leading a rebellion or harassing the enemy of his people.  His goal was vengeance, an evening of the score.  The Philistines, however, took it differently.  Upon learning that Samson – still considered the son-in-law of his former bride’s father – had perpetrated the destruction of their property, the Philistines exacted their revenge.  They put the woman and her family to death by fire.  This act led Samson to swear he would have his revenge. 

It might seem foolish to us for Samson to think that his actions would not provoke further retaliation to the point of his saying, … and after that I will quit.  At the very beginning our struggle was initiated:  I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel (Genesis 3:15).  Like Samson, we may think we can walk away from trouble, but that is not how it works.  In the world you will have tribulation, Jesus promised us. 

The promise of peace and joy is for the heart, independent of circumstances.  No one who in any way goes about the Lord’s business should expect anything other than constant harassment and attacks from the enemy.  

Bummer of a birthmark, Hal.  Being born from above means that we are targeted -- that we have, like poor Hal, a bullseye painted on us.  As long as Samson left his hair uncut, he was empowered by God, but it was also a red flag waved at the enemy, an open taunt to the adversary. 

I don’t remember signing up for this.  For some reason, they didn’t spend a whole lot of time on this subject in Sunday School.  Perhaps I was absent or dozing that day.  I have offered my resignation several times, but it has, apparently, been rejected.  And when your position is surrounded by a vindictive force hell-bent on your destruction and humiliation, desertion isn’t much of an option lest one end up eyeless in Gaza, as Huxley said.  The positive alternative is to cling to God’s promise that the trial will not be beyond our ability to endure.  (Seriously, I am not that tough.)  There is, though, no retreat, no holding the fort, no truce. 

I think my confusion might come from the truth that Christ has been victorious over all the power of the enemy.  Through the Holy Spirit, I am able to participate in that victory.  In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe there is a scene after Aslan’s death and resurrection where He goes into the “trophy room” of the witch’s fortress and quickens all the creatures turned to stone.  They do not go on a picnic.  Instead they rush into the battle.  We are given life and power to fight.  To be partakers of Christ’s victory means to follow Him into battle.  As Rick noted in a comment a couple of days ago, the crucifixion of Christ is eternal, as is His resurrection, as is His victory.

When we receive the new and eternal life – the only kind God has to give us – we are released from bondage and enter in as combatants to that eternal struggle.  As Christ overcame, so we must overcome through Him and in Him.