Holy Saturday Reflections

This morning I was reminded of a few reflections I have written over the last several years on Holy Saturday. I was going back through my journal and thought these two were helpful, and while similar, eahc focused on a bit different theme.  Hopefully you find them helpful!

From 2015: 

Today is Holy Saturday, a day of anticipation for the celebration of Jesus' resurrection.  However this morning I am meditating on the first celebration of this day, the day when it really happened.  Jesus died on Friday around 3pm (the ninth hour) and was buried later that day.  Here are the verses describing his burial from Matthew 27:57-61 NIV:

[57] "As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. [58] Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. [59] Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, [60] and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. [61] Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb."

Those are the last verses of chapter 27, and verse one of chapter 28 starts with the first hours following the sabbath.  We find the same thing in all four Gospels, no real mention of the day after Jesus death (Saturday or the Sabbath).  I have spent quite some time thinking about those days and years in Jesus' life where there is no Gospel commentary, and I think it is important for us to at least go there in our thoughts, for these days (and Holy Saturday especially) represent those days when God is silent.  

I find the silence of God quite unsettling, and I am sure the Apostles and disciples were greatly troubled that Sabbath.  All their ideas, thoughts, hopes and dreams about what the Lord was going to do appeared to have died when Jesus died on the cross.  They knew He was the Son of God, or at least the Apostles did, and yet He died.  They truly had not grasped what Jesus had been trying to tell them, that He had to suffer and die.  We are told over and over again in the Gospels that the disciples did not understand what Jesus meant when He was talking about his coming death.  I believe that is a indication of what they were dealing with that Saturday, as remembered by them when they wrote the Gospels.  I believe they were experiencing complete and utter despair, complete confusion, grief, fear, failure, and even betrayal.  If they gathered for the sabbath, which it appears they did for they were all together the following day, than it was likely a very quiet gathering, each caught up in their own thoughts and sorrow.  

I wonder if they went through the motions of celebrating the sabbath?  The Sabbath was a day of sacred assembly, considered holy to the Lord.  They were not to do any work, cook or even light a fire in their homes.  They were to be reminded that the Lord created the world in six days and on the seventh day rested.  They were to turn their eyes and hearts to God.  Instead, I can just imagine them gathered together and feeling like everything they believed was now in question.  Jesus had come proclaiming the arrival of the Kingdom of God, demonstrated  the reality of that Kingdom by healing the sick and diseased, raising dead people, cleansing lepers, healing the blind and deaf and casting out demons.  They had been convinced by all these signs that He was the Son of God, the Messiah, and their paradigm and thoughts of the time of the Messiah didn't have any room for Him dying and leaving them alone.  Yet He was dead.

It is amazing how much changed in just a few short days.  They had witnessed Jesus' triumphant arrival in Jerusalem, riding on a donkey, people shouting, "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!" (Luke 19:38).  Less than a week later, Jesus was dead, and they "were together, with doors locked for fear of the Jews." (John 20:19).  They were afraid that the same thing might happen to them as happened to Jesus.  One of their own had betrayed Jesus, Peter had denied Jesus, they had almost all abandoned Jesus when He was crucified.  It was not a happy or joyful group of people.  All of their hopes appeared dead, laying in the tomb.  All of the personal sacrifices they had made to follow Him were probably now running through their minds.  They were likely thinking that they hadn't signed up for this, and wondering how they could go back!  

I think at times we can just gloss over these events and days, because we know Easter is coming, we know that Jesus rose from the dead the very next morning.  It is great to read stories when you know the ending, not nearly as much fun to live through the midst of the story without the benefit of knowing how it will turn out.  I think if we are honest with ourselves, none of us ever wants to go through these types of times, and we don't like to be around people who are going through them, for they are painful to behold and experience.  We don't like pain, and yet we all deal with it.  It is so much easier to just ignore the pain in other peoples lives, than to wade in and be there with them in their pain.  Personally, we tend to try to escape our pain, either trying to deaden it, run away from it, or stuff it so far down in our hearts that is doesn't show up for months or sometimes years.   

The point, in going here in our minds, is that Easter (and by Easter I mean the victory of the Lord over sin and death, and the opening of the way to the Father) really does occur, in our own lives as well as it did that first Easter.  No matter where we find ourselves, or what sorrow we are dealing with, Easter will occur. Jesus is alive and will show Himself strong.  He has vanquished the enemy and will destroy his works in our lives.  It is when  God is quiet that all Heaven is about ready to break loose.  God will not abandon us, forsake us, betray our trust or leave us.  He will come.  He will rescue us.  He will pour out His Holy Spirit.  He will break the chains that bind us.  He will walk right into the rooms where we are hiding with the doors locked.  He will breath on us.  He has a better plan than  we can ever imagine.  We have likely greatly underestimated His ability to do good in our lives. 

So let us be encouraged when God is silent, because He is coming, and He has something great planned.  Let us not give into despair, but rather put our hope in the one who has paid the ultimate price for our lives.  Let us be with our friends and family who are in pain and sorrow, whose hopes and dreams and lives appear destroyed and dead.  Let us console them with this truth - Easter is coming.  Let us wait for Easter morning together.

Amen!

From 2019:

This morning , I thought it would be interesting to meditate on the Sabbath day following Jesus’ death on the cross.  This is a day that we know nothing about, as it begins shortly after Jesus’ burial, with the Jewish Sabbath starting at Sunset, and proceeding to the following sunset.

In Matthew’s Gospel, we actually have some verses pertaining to this day, but nothing that talks about the followers of Jesus.  Matthew 27:62-66 describes the fact that the Chief Priests and Pharisees went to Pilate and asked him to have a guard stationed at the tomb, to make sure that Jesus’ followers didn’t steal His body to try and fake the resurrection. In Mark’s Gospel this day is found between the last verse of chapter 15 and the first verse of chapter 16, “When the Sabbath was over”.  In Luke, we are told specifically that His followers, especially the “women who had come with Jesus from Galilee” (Luke 23:55-56) had rested on the Sabbath day, in accordance with the commandment.  Luke then moves right to the beginning of the first day of the week, following the Sabbath, and again, other than the fact that they rested, we know nothing. Finally John’s Gospel, as well, is silent about this day.

So, why my meditation?  I personally think that the silence of God in certain situations reveals much to us about our own mind-set and beliefs.  It is in the silence of God that our faith and trust is tested.  In my life, there have been times of transition, times of change, times of difficulty and what I want more than anything in those times is a sense of purpose, direction and a ‘word from the Lord’.  The thing that I have found, is more often than not, God is quiet in these times.  I don’t believe it is some cruel streak in God, where He holds back the very thing I think I need more than anything.  Instead I have learned that His love and faithfulness are every bit as active in those quiet moments as any other times.

In retrospect, He has always been at work in the background, and that I was too unaware to realize it.  God is a perfect, and so is His timing.  What I want is advanced notice, what God wants is for me to trust in His faithfulness.  My tendency is to slide immediately into unbelief, He wants me to learn to have faith, and stand (Eph 6:13-16).  Thus, I have opportunity to grow.

When I think about the disciples and Apostles of Jesus, resting on the Sabbath following His death and burial, I imagine it was the darkest of days for them.  Just earlier in the previous week, Jesus had arrived in Jerusalem, being heralded as the coming King, riding along on the back of a donkey, and now he was dead and buried, and all of their ideas of their future at His side were shattered.  It is clear from the Gospel’s that despite Jesus repeatedly warning them of His impending death that they just didn’t get it.  They continued to believe that as the Messiah He was going to be seated on David’s former throne and restore Israel as God’s people, complete with their national pride, freedom and identity restored.

It is my belief that Instead of glory, they were experiencing the depths of despair.  They were likely gathered together, as would have been their custom on the Sabbath, and they were probably all just shell-shocked from the last 2 days.  I am sure there were tears, and sorrow, real grieving for the loss of the most important person in their lives.  They had committed somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 years of their life to Jesus, following Him everywhere, living together and always His was the direction they followed, and now there was only silence, dead silence.

I think that they might have been racking their brains, trying to remember what Jesus had told them concerning His death and rising from the dead. I think they probably bounced back in forth from wild hope in remembered words, to stunning silence and despair as they remembered his beaten and bloody body. I think they were probably all dealing with His death individually as we all do when a loved one passes.  I am sure everything they said or did reminded them of Him, and that would just revisit the pain of their loss.

I think this was one of the darkest days of all time, for the Light of the World had come, and was lost.  The long awaited Messiah had been revealed, and now He was dead.  Their hope for restoration and revival, God’s blessing and visitation was lying dead in a tomb.  We like to say “its Friday, but Sunday is coming” as a reminder that the joy of His resurrection is following close on the heels of the loss of His death, but the Apostles and disciples didn’t know this, didn’t understand it, and didn’t believe it.  The Gospels recount several times where Jesus told them exactly what was going to happen, and in every one of those times, the writers make a very specific note that His followers didn’t understand what He meant.  I believe this is indicative of the fact that they were all remembering that dark day, that day of shattered dreams and ideas.

So for us, what can we gain from meditating on this dark day?  I think for me the important thing is to look to God, to His word, to His character, to His promises regardless of the circumstances.  I believe that His desire for me is to learn to entrust myself to Him, taking His guidance and direction, and trusting that He has a bigger perspective that I am not seeing. 

I am learning to trust in Him, regardless of how difficult and confusing the circumstances are at present.  I am learning that He knows my circumstances, my weaknesses, my struggles, and He has made a way in spite of them all.  I am learning that He tries to prepare me,  although most of the time I don’t understand Him, or mis-interpret what He means.  He loves me, desires the best for me, and knows the exact time, the exact place and the exact reason for each and every encounter and experience.

Like His followers, I can choose to move forward, even as the Ladies did the next morning.  They weren’t expecting His miraculous resurrection, but they were taking the next logical steps which put them right in the Lord’s path, and into the glory of His resurrection.  Sometimes, all we need to do is to just get through the day, look to Him, and trust that tomorrow will be a better day, and one that we will encounter Him!

I know it is somewhat of a cliché, but there is truth in the saying, ‘Friday might be here, but Sunday is coming’!  God’s provision and purpose are true, and He is faithful!  Let us trust in Him, press through this dark day, and believe that we will encounter Him anew, and fresh!

Amen and Amen!  Come Lord Jesus!

Stop AND Check

This morning I felt led to read from 1 Chronicles 12.  Normally when I read something I haven't read in a while, I will read before and after the section to get better context as to what the Lord is doing in that section.  Sometimes the verses the Lord quickens to me, are in the surrounding verses, as is the case today.  The chapter 1 Chronicles 12 has to do with all the men that joined David in Hebron, once Saul took his own life.  While interesting, the verses that caught my eye were from chapter 13, as there was a bit of a narrative that developed as I read these verses, and the previous chapters.  Here are the verses - 1 Chronicles 13:1-7 NIV:

[1] "David conferred with each of his officers, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. [2] He then said to the whole assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you and if it is the will of the Lord our God, let us send word far and wide to the rest of our people throughout the territories of Israel, and also to the priests and Levites who are with them in their towns and pasturelands, to come and join us. [3] Let us bring the ark of our God back to us, for we did not inquire of it during the reign of Saul.” [4] The whole assembly agreed to do this, because it seemed right to all the people. 

[5] So David assembled all Israel, from the Shihor River in Egypt to Lebo Hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kiriath Jearim. [6] David and all Israel went to Baalah of Judah (Kiriath Jearim) to bring up from there the ark of God the Lord, who is enthroned between the cherubim---the ark that is called by the Name. 

[7] They moved the ark of God from Abinadab's house on a new cart, with Uzzah and Ahio guiding it."

In the preceding chapters, David had conquered Jerusalem and made it his city, and all of Israel had rallied to him to support him as their king.  Literally tens of thousands had joined him, and everything he attempted was successful, and the author noted, "And David became more and more powerful, because the Lord Almighty was with him" (1 Chronicles 11:9 NIV).  This statement in large part sets the stage for the verses quoted above.

Although the Lord almighty was with David and he had a heart to bring back the Ark of the Lord, something that had not been done by Saul, it was clear that he did not confer with the Lord!  Instead, in the verses quote above, rather than seeking the Lord he conferred with his officers and the peoples, asking if it seemed good to them to embark on the initiative to bring back the Ark.  

From the outside, and even internally, everything looked great!  He was leading a vast army that the Lord had drawn together, was successful in everything he did as the Lord almighty was truly with Him.  Because of His Love and honor for God, he wanted to bring the Ark of the Covenant back to Israel!  His heart was truly set on the things of God.  When questioned about bringing back the Ark, everyone agreed with him that this made great sense, and they followed his leadership!  David must have really thought that he was the right guy, at the right place, at the right time, and because of his successes, that God was clearly with him, which He was!   What a perfect and fulfilling time that must have been!

Into this awesome season something changed, it appears that David started thinking that God was with him, rather than the fact that He was following God's lead. It seems that he saw the Lord's blessing as a vote of confidence and backing from the Lord, as if the Lord's favor gave him carte blanche to do whatever he wanted, and God would bless it.  I have unfortunately seen this type of thinking get many Church leaders into trouble, and if they stay in that mindset long enough, falling into sin that destroys their ministries! 

The story continues on following these verses where a man loses his life and in front of all of Israel (verse 5 above), David's mistake is made evident.  David, apparently realizes his folly and spends the next few months inquiring of the Lord and scriptures to make things right.  The Lord is merciful, but Uzzah did lose his life, and David was humiliated in front of all of Israel. 

This was a painful lesson and David appeared to struggle with this type of thinking throughout his life, and in that way I certainly resemble him. I am constantly just plugging along, enjoying the Lord's blessing and favor, and just figuring that the Lord loves me and will bless me.  I am surprised when something doesn't go well, and when I bring it to prayer the Lord will say something like, "Well that didn't go well, would you like to know what you should have done?"  I often forget in my daily walk, to bring things to the Lord, to seek His will and purpose and plan!  I have a free will, as do  we all, and I often exercise that freedom poorly.  sometimes the things I am doing seem right and wise, and even God oriented, but if I am not inquiring of the Lord, I am setting myself up for trouble.  

God, in His mercy, gave David another chance and this time he got it right, and the Ark of the Covenant was brought to Jerusalem! David lost 3+ months of enjoying God's presence because of the mistake he made as the leader of Israel.  David learned from his mistake and in 1 Chron 14, we see David going to  war with the Philistines and each time inquiring of the Lord, and winning great victories.

My encouragement today is to make sure that I am actually asking the Lord His opinion on my thoughts and plans.  He does have a plan and is willing to share it with me, I just need to ask!  I am encouraged that God, in His great mercy and compassion knows my ways and is always there to provide guidance and correction, and encouragement to move forward in Him!  I am encouraged to stop and check with the Lord, even when it seems like a good idea, when others agree, and when my desire is to honor God!  He always has a perspective and often times a much better plan, and I just need to learn to seek Him and trust Him. I need to remember that I am serving Him, not the other way around!

Amen and Amen!

New Treasure

I am thinking of continuing my study of the "new" things announced by Jesus, or found in the New Testament.  I am continuing on Matthew's Gospel, and the next mention of something new is "new treasures".  The verses below provide context for Jesus' comment n the last verse, which provides my focus this morning - Matthew 13:44-52 NIV:

[44] “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

[45] “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. [46] When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

[47] “Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. [48] When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. [49] This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous [50] and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

[51] “Have you understood all these things?” Jesus asked.
“Yes,” they replied.

[52] He said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”

That last line really makes me stop, "new treasures" has such a mysterious and enticing sound to it (maybe its just me!)!  Jesus is clearly laying the groundwork for new revelation, new understanding and expanding the description of the Kingdom of Heaven. This is His most mentioned topic, and yet something we rarely hear from the pulpit.  I think it is critical that we understand His teaching on the Kingdom, for that was a key theme to the good news He was proclaiming. 

Interestingly, Jesus is speaking here of those that are learned in Law, the original Greek "grammateus" would be translated scribes, who normally would be grouped with the Pharisees, and yet here Jesus is speaking of them becoming disciples "matheteutheis".  The Greek help defines this as "helping someone to progressively learn the Word of God to become a matured, growing disciple (literally, "a learner," a true Christ-follower)".  I love that He is laying out an invitation to the learned to become students again, this time of Him and the Kingdom of Heaven.   We sometimes think that Jesus was at war with the Pharisees and such, but He loved them and came to save them just as much as any sinner.

The application here, for us, is to recognize two things.  First, being a disciple requires learning new things, a new discipline.  This is a progressive work, one that takes dedication and application.  We are following Jesus, and we must learn and apply His teachings that we might represent Him to the world.  If we aren't applying ourselves to study, one could argue we aren't embracing discipleship.  Secondly, there is treasure in the Old Testament, and we must not exclusively read from the New Testament. There is much to be learned and understood about the Father in Old Testament, and we must be willing to bring out the treasure from those books.

Finally, the new treasure relates to the revelation of the Kingdom of Heaven.  We would be well served to really study the Kingdom, as described by Jesus, for He is imparting critical understanding to those that will listen and learn.  In the preceding verses, Jesus was speaking about the Kingdom of Heaven, and clearly that is the context of his final statements.  Summarizing His first two descriptions, the Kingdom of Heaven is of greater worth than everything we possess.  When Jesus went through the land, He pronounced the Good News of Kingdom of Heaven being present or at hand, and then demonstrated this reality by healing and working signs and wonders.  This is our call too, so we must understand the Kingdom, learn the ways of the Kingdom, so we can demonstrate this new reality to those in the world.  This is clearly part of the "new treasure".

I was just thinking, that part of the surprise of Jesus' ministry, was that ordinary people, normal humans, could have access to the treasures from the storerooms of heaven, to the very power that flowed from the throne of God (see Ezk 47:1-12).  I am reminded of Jesus' commissioning the disciples found in Matthew 10:1,7-8 NIV:

[1] Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.

[7] "As you go, proclaim this message: 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.' [8] Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give."

This is our call, and our invitation.  We have access to the new treasures, that we might proclaim and demonstrate this Kingdom of Heaven!

Amen and Amen!

New "Wine & Wineskins"

Recently I was thinking about how Jesus brought forth New revelation during His ministry, and I started looking at the times "new" was used in the New Testament, and I thought that would be a good reflection and study theme.  Today is the first focused time on this theme, and I will look to the first mention of "new" in the NT found in Matthew 9:14-17 NIV:

[14]"Then John's disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?” 

[15] Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast. 

[16] “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. [17] Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

The "new wine" statement is included in the three synoptic Gospels, also found at Mark 2:21-22 and Luke 5:36-39.  This was clearly an important idea, and my understanding has been that Jesus is essentially laying the ground-work or foundational principals of the New Covenant here.  His ministry was constantly confounding to the teachers and experts of the Law, and the church was definitely going to require a different understanding and way of life if it was to prosper.  

In the Luke version, Jesus speaks of how the people prefer the old wine (See Luke 5:39), and this seems to me to clearly reference the Jewish preference for the Law.  In fact, one of the first real conflicts in the newly birthed church had to do with how much of the Old Covenant Law was supposed to be carried over into this New Covenant.  They had a council in Jerusalem, see Acts 15, and issued a statement recorded in Acts 15:23-28 that essentially limited the carryover to sexual immorality, food sacrificed to idols, blood, and the meat of strangled animals.  The Law and its extras comprised some 600+ items by this point, and we can see how few were actually passed to the New Covenant believers.  Later, Paul showed the latter couple really weren't hard and fast either.

However, after this time there arose the circumcision party, a group of New Covenant believers that started pulling back into the NEW, some expectations from the old.  They were essentially saying they were "better" Christians because they were circumcised.  They were so influential that Peter even became ensnared in this way of thinking. While this is a great example of the "Gospel-plus" ideology, it also represents an old wine skin.  Paul correctly saw this as an affront to the Gospel of Grace, and strongly fought against this type of thinking, ultimately winning the struggle. In my opinion, this is the first of many times the "New Wine" was in danger of being ruined.  

Thinking through the impact of the requirement for circumcision, this would have severely limited the expansion of the Gospel to mostly the Jews.  Even worse it would have destroyed the foundation of the Gospel of Grace and turned it into a Gospel of works, which is clearly not the Gospel Jesus proclaimed, bled, died and rose from the dead to proclaim.  This would just be a reworking of the Old Covenant of the Law.  

In our humanness and weakness, it seems we prefer a Gospel of works over a Gospel of grace.  We like to keep score, we like to judge others, we like lists, and the Gospel of Grace sounds too good to be true!  Put another way, we tend to prefer a covenant of rules over a covenant of relationship. Jesus came proclaiming a new Kingdom reality and a New Covenant, and its key cornerstone was relationship with Him, The Father and Holy Spirit.  The Jews wanted a military leader, a new king with good laws, (or one that fulfilled the Old Covenant Laws), and Jesus came proclaiming a heavenly Kingdom that was primarily established and grown in the hearts of His followers.  There was no geographical boundaries to this Kingdom, nor rite of citizenship, save belief and faith.  His Kingdom was open to all, regardless of race, gender, nationality, or situation.  This was clearly a "New Wineskin" and it caused people to have to think differently. 

I am so grateful for Paul, and his ability to layout the thought and logic, if you will, of this New Covenant, this Gospel of Grace.  He understood it and was able to present it and defend it in such an effective way that we still  can understand it and live our lives embracing this Gospel and living as part of this Heavenly Kingdom.  Paul, clearly helped by the Holy Spirit, provided an understanding of this "New Wineskin" and "New Wine" that flowed within it.  He defended both and provided the clear teaching and understanding required for generations to continue to follow this way of life.  Interestingly, before being names Christians, the followers of this new faith were called "The Way".  This was understood to be a "new way of life".  

My encouragement today is to spend some time reflecting on how this new way of life, this "new wine" and "new wineskin" are applicable to my life.  I am encouraged to spend some time thinking about why we do what we do in church.  I am encouraged to look at my own thinking regarding my faith, to understand where I am allowing old ways of thinking to influence new reality and new revelation.  I am encouraged to look at my own approach to my life as a Christian to see where I might be following a gospel of rules, rather than embracing relationship with the Lord!  Oh Lord, help me!

Amen!

Don't Get In "The Bless Me Boat"

Recently I have been thinking about the Lord, and our difficult times in life.  I think this is actually a very important topic for us to think about and understand so that we do not become offended with the Lord when things don't work out the way we think they should.

Somehow in our modern western Christian thinking, we have developed this idea that Christianity is some sort of "bless me" club, where the Lord's great concern is our happiness, and His favor and blessing in material areas is His primary way of showing His love and affection for us.  This type of thinking can cause us to question God's love when things are not going swimmingly, when we hit a rough patch, or when we encounter difficult times.

The modern "Prosperity Gospel" is a great example of this type of thinking and teaching.  Simply put, this is the teaching that good things happen to people God Loves (the righteous), and bad things happen to sinners.  Without going into much more about this, it is safe to say that Jesus, Paul, Peter and 9 of the 10 other apostles would be considered sinners if one really held hard and fast to this thinking, for clearly bad things happened to them all.

In his defense of his apostleship, Paul writes the following in 2 Corinthians 11:23-29 NIV:

[23] "Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. [24] Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. [25] Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, [26] I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. [27] I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. [28] Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. [29] Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?"

Clearly Paul missed the "bless me boat" and in his mind these difficulties were some of his qualifiers for his call and fulfillment of his life as a follower of Christ.  Paul didn't need fur coats, expensive jewelry, fine clothes, big mansions, or a big salary to showcase his "blessed" relationship with the Lord, instead He bore on his body the marks of Christ (Gal 6:17). 

It was not accidental that Jesus grew up in a poorer household, hidden from the lime-light, nor that He spent much of His time ministering in the "backwoods" of Israel.  There is something inherently tied to His ministry and the character of God.  In our humanness, we envision an all-powerful God, who owns all the silver and all the gold (Hagg 2:8), and the cattle on a thousand hills (Ps 50:10-12) as a loving Father who wants to dote on his sons and daughters, and give them good things, and we aren't wrong!  The issue is that we think that difficult times and struggles are from God as well, and a sign He doesn't love us anymore!  We think that God changes His mind and thinking about us based on our behavior!

Thank God, He is nothing like us!  I am so grateful that God is unchanging (Heb. 6:17) and has a perspective of me that is outside of time!  Paul writes that God has loved me (and you) since before the creation of the world (Eph 1:4-5).  If we wonder whether God loves us now, think back to the time you felt his love the strongest, and that is just a shadow of how much He loves you right now.  One of the unchanging parts of His character is His love for each of us. God's perspective allows Him to see the totality of our life, not jus the here and now, and from that perspective He loves us!  In other words, He sees every thing good we have ever done, everything bad, and everything in-between, and still chooses to love us more than we can ever imagine!  In our humanness this just doesn't make sense, and so we listen to teachers and thinking that invents God in our own image, ugh!

Going back to the theme of difficult times, what has me thinking about this is the fact that my honey has been sick for close to two solid months with the nastiest cold, sinus and bronchial infection I have ever seen.  She is taking antibiotics (just finished her third course), doing everything she can think of to get better, and praying constantly for healing, and yet she is sick.  If we had a prosperity gospel mindset, we could only conclude that she has some major sin in her life, and God is angry with her.  Why else wouldn't He be healing her?  

We read the Gospel accounts of Jesus healing everyone that was sick, everyone that came to Him, and we believe He is the healer and this is what He does!  We aren't wrong!  He is the Healer!  He loves to heal, He came to defeat the works of the enemy and sickness is one of those.  He established His kingdom, proclaimed it and demonstrated it, and one of the characteristics of His Kingdom is that healing is available.  As Jesus said to His apostles,  "As you go, proclaim this message: 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.( Matthew 10:7-8 NIV).  

So, how do we understand God's love, His character and willingness to heal, His Kingdom demonstration of healing, His blessing and provision, and at the same time long-term sickness, difficult times, seasons of unemployment or financial difficulty?  This really is one of the oldest questions out there.  The book of Job, considered the earliest of the books of the Bible, is all about these questions.

First, I certainly don't have all the answers, or even many answers!  In fact I probably have more questions than answers.  I do, however, have a relationship with the Lord, and in that relational context I am able to lay hold of some basic truths that are helpful.  We have walked through difficult seasons of cancer and illness, financial struggles, being laid-off, experienced the death of loved ones, and yet have experienced intimate relationship with the Lord through it all.  Even though at times we didn't feel loved, He loved us.  In the same way that in the midst of tiresome and strenuous times at work, when I can barely see the light, or even spare a moment to think about anything else, and certainly am not feeling any emotional love from my honey, I know she loves me.  In the same way, God's love for us is not related to our emotions, or our feelings!  His love transcends all of that!  

I have been in different Christian services where the Lord is healing people all over the place, and at the same time, others are not being healed!  We struggle to explain this, and so we make up theological explanations.  I have often thought of all the other sick people laying by the pool of Bethesda waiting for god to heal them through the waters, and Jesus walks through their midst and just heals the one guy.  Do we believe that God didn't love all the rest of the people in that room?  Or how do we deal with the fact that there were towns and villages that Jesus didn't visit during His ministry, where sick people weren't healed?  What about the guy that is later healed by Peter and John (See Acts 3:1-10) who was put outside the temple every day, is it possible Jesus walked right by him?  Or the blind man Bartimaeus that Jesus just walked by as he was sitting by the road begging?  (That one turned into a healing, but only after the unrelenting calling out of the blind man - see Mark 10:46-52). There are too many examples to list, but it is clear that our simple human explanations fall far short of understanding and explaining the mysteries of God!

God in His manifest wisdom, chooses to take the path of the lowly, seemingly hidden from the world, revealing Himself to those that seek Him out, doing things in ways we would never do, confounding the wise, seemingly foolishly blessing those that don't even recognize Him (See Matt 5:43-48), hiding His kingdom in the hearts of men and women, loving us beyond knowledge, and yet allowing us to choose however we want.  We can reject Him and He still loves us and chooses to bless us!  God, in His perfect revelation of His nature, in Jesus, shows us His character, and suffers and dies for us!  There are countless saints and followers of Christ who have suffered persecution, even death because of their relationship with Christ. Paul writes of the mystery in his letter to the Philippians 3:7-11 NIV:

[7] "But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. [8] What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ [9] and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ---the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. [10] I want to know Christ---yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, [11] and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead."

There is a great mystery that Paul touches in verse 10, the participation in the sufferings of Christ.  I certainly don't understand it, nor the treasure that is found there, but Paul certainly had grasped something that most of us want to run from.  There is something in the heart of God that highly values the sufferings and difficulties of His beloved ones!  His most visible example is found in Christ Jesus, but our Church is full of other examples as well.  

This morning, I am just encouraged to continue to believe in the Love God has for me and my sweetheart, in the midst of anything and everything we might experience.  I am convinced that there is so much more to relationship with Him, than the provision I am blessed with daily.  

My prayer for us all is that we might know the surpassing love of God, as a solid rock of relationship upon which we can stand!   My prayer is that we do not become offended by god when He doesn't do what we want Him to do!  My prayer is that we would discover the treasures that are present in our sufferings and difficulties as we continue to praise God and worship Him in the very midst of our difficulty.

Amen and Amen