Several years ago during a very difficult time in my life a friend shared this story with me:
When French impressionist painter Auguste Renoir was confined to his home during the last decade of his life, Henri Matisse was nearly 28 years younger than him. The two great artists were dear friends and frequent companions. Matisse visited him daily. Renoir, almost paralyzed by arthritis, continued to paint in spite of his infirmities. One day as Matisse watched the elder painter work in his studio, fighting torturous pain with each brush stroke, he blurted out: “Auguste, why do you continue to paint when you are in such agony?”
Renoir said: “The pain passes but the beauty remains.”
Those words touched my heart in a profound way as I realized that my pain, in the hands of my God, was producing a beautiful brokenness. I have never viewed suffering in the same light since then.
“The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.” Psalm 34:18
“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart – these O God, you will not despise.” Psalm 51:17
If brokenness brings the nearness of God, why do we fight against it so much? This pain is not a master sent to rule over us, but our servant, sent to work in us that wonderful work of conforming us to Christ.
How insignificant our pain will be when we see it as the hand of the Potter, gently sculpting, meticulously crafting a vessel of honor fit for the Master’s use. Those scarred and broken places in my soul, they are covered with His fingerprints.
After the death of King Solomon as Rehoboam, his son, began to reign, Jeroboam rose up to oppose him and take the kingdom. Rehoboam was rightful heir to the throne of all Israel, so naturally he assembled an army to defend his throne and squelch this uprising.
But God sent a prophet to Rehoboam with these words, “Thus says the Lord, “You shall not go up nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel. Let every man return to his house, for this thing is from me.” How altogether amazing for God to send Rehoboam home without his kingdom. And equally amazing is Rehoboam’s response – “Therefore they obeyed the word of the Lord, and turned back, according to the word of the Lord.”
This seems so totally contrary to human nature. We all feel entitled to certain things. How much more would Rehoboam have felt entitled to this kingdom that was promised to the descendants of David? To refuse to even try to regain the kingdom seems an even greater appearance of weakness than to have tried and failed. Yet as soon as he knew this turn of events was from the Lord, he obeyed the Lord. I wonder how humiliating this event must have been for him.
Obedience is not always easy. Sometimes it’s downright painful. God will at times require you to turn loose of something you desperately want to keep, or to remain silent when everything within you is screaming to vindicate yourself, or let your “rights” get trampled in the dust leaving you to appear humiliated to those around you.
Are we willing to do the hard things that He requires? Can we die to our own desires when we are presented with a hard thing that is from the Lord? If we are not willing (and are not willing to be made willing) then we are really not His disciples. We are only fooling ourselves. A few moments of reflection on the awesome power and majesty of this God will convince us that we are the most pitiful of fools who do not obey Him. A few moments of reflection on Calvary will break our hearts for every time we have not obeyed Him. And one look into the face of Jesus will make us willing to give up everything we possess to obey Him.
Almighty God, I adore Your infinite patience, which has not cut me off in the midst of my follies; I magnify Your wonderful goodness, which has spared me thus long. Let me no longer abuse that precious treasure–time, which you have allotted me as a proper season to work out my own salvation, and secure that happiness which is great in itself, and infinite in its duration.
Let me bid adieu to all those vain amusements, those trifling entertainments and sinful diversions, which have robbed me of many valuable hours, and endangered the loss of my immortal soul. Let me no longer waste my time in ease and pleasure, in unprofitable studies, and more unprofitable conversation; but grant, that, by diligence and honesty in my calling, by constancy and fervor in my devotions, by moderation and temperance in my enjoyments, by justice and charity in all my words and actions, and by keeping a conscience void of offence to God and man–I may be able to give a good account in the day of judgment, and be accepted in and through the merits of Jesus Christ, my only mediator and advocate.
Amen.
It is a fact of life that trouble comes to all. To the rich and poor, the proud and humble, the young and old. No one is exempt.
“Yet man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward.” Job 5:7
With each new difficulty we are given the opportunity to choose our response to it. What will we do in the day of trouble? This is a question of great importance. I love this quote by Hannah Whitall Smith:
We may make out of each event in our lives either a Juggernaut car to crush us, or a chariot in which to ride to heights of victory. It all depends upon how we take them; whether we lie down under our trials and let them roll over and crush us, or whether we climb up into them as into a chariot, and make them carry us triumphantly onward and upward.
2 Corinthians 4:17 tells us that “our light affliction which is but for a moment is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”
Each difficulty presented, each sorrow to be endured, each gut-wrenching choice of obedience that must be made, they are invitations to glory. In each new challenge, an opportunity to die a little bit more to ourselves and to become more alive to who He is. Suddenly, our own comfort, even our own personal desires and happiness are no longer as important as they once seemed to be.
A dear friend, who has faced much difficulty in life, recently sent me this encouragement in an email:
“We can smile, and be at peace in our souls, and why not, because the worst it ever gets here is as bad as it can get, because to be absent from the body is to be present with Christ at whose right hand are pleasures evermore… The only thing that mars our joy is the voluntary sorrow and grief that we suffer because of the love for dear precious souls that we love as we see them in their lost condition; foolishly unwilling to surrender their miserable and futile lives to the Only One who can save them and give them purpose and hope. What else is there to sorrow over? Our lives are in His hands, and whatever temporary suffering, loss, or lacking is inconsequential compared to eternity.”
There are wonderful days when all things that concern us are as we had always hoped they would be. And then there are days when tears are abundant and pain and loneliness reside as constant companions. But in just a few moments this vapor that is our life, with all its difficulties, temptations and sorrows, will be over. We will step over the threshold into our eternal dwelling where sorrow can never touch us again….ever.
A few moments of sorrow, even should they stretch into years or decades, cannot compare to the heavenly comforts that await us and the joy of gazing upon the face of Jesus.
Even if my worst fears on this earth are realized, they only serve as an instrument to draw me nearer to Jesus. Not only has death lost its sting, so has life.
“Therefore I sent him the more eagerly, that when you see him again you may rejoice, and I may be less sorrowful.” Philippians 2:28
As I read through Philippians 2:25-30, at first glance there didn’t seem to be much to discover in this passage. But as I reread it a few times, a familiar theme in Philippians began to surface – connectedness.
Epaphroditus has been sent by the Philippians to minister to Paul. Their love for him is so great that they send one of their own to bring aid and comfort to him during his imprisonment. Yet, while he is gone, Epaphroditus becomes sick, almost dying. The Philippians hear this news and they are so sorrowful, so concerned for their brother. And Epaphroditus himself is longing for his brothers and sisters at Philippi because he knows they are worried about him. Paul cannot bear to leave the Philippians sorrowing any longer and sends Epaphroditus back to them.
These people really love each other. Their lives are bound up together, their hearts joined to one another because of the love of Christ.
My heart aches sometimes because I do not consistently see this kind of love and connectedness in the Church today. And I don’t see it in myself either. There are reasons…..our culture is different, our society is more fast paced, etc…..
Reasons, but not excuses.
Jesus commanded us to love one another. And we have not obeyed. We may say that we love each other, but where’s the fruit? We are not involved in one another’s lives. We do not mourn with those who mourn. We do not rejoice to ‘spend and be spent’ for other believers. We disobey Jesus in this and justify it with our excuses.
One faithful, one prodigal. Let us consider their words.
Luke 15:18-19 (The Prodigal) “I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”
Luke 15:29-30 (The Elder Brother) “So he answered and said to his father, “Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’”
The story is a familiar one. Many of us have lived it. I did. I came to my senses one day in the pig pen of life and called on the name of Jesus. I remember the feeling of utter unworthiness as I considered the mercy of God that had been shown to me. I remember being the prodigal.
But time passes and we learn religion. Then we become the elder brother. We feel entitled to certain things from God, certain comforts, certain benefits. And if He does not give them we become angry and resentful. Our attitude screams at God “You owe me something and I will have it!”
Yet the prodigal says to the Father “I owe You everything.”
Those of us who have turned into the elder brother despise the prodigal because of the Father’s kindness to him. We consider ourselves more deserving, more worthy. We have worked hard, we have been faithful yet we feel unrecognized and unrewarded. Serving Him becomes a burden and we begin to resent Him. We consider the Father uncaring, distant and unloving. We despise His kindness to the prodigal and we hate the prodigal because we have forgotten that we were this prodigal.
“Therefore say to the children of Israel: I am the Lord; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.” Exodus 6:6
I have heard it said that the Old Testament contains many types and shadows of Christ and the New Covenant. I always rejoice to come across an Old Testament passage that foretells the New Covenant. This verse tells us 3 things that the Lord will do for His people:
I will bring you our from under the burden of the Egyptians
I will rescue you from their bondage
I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments
As I read the verse above, it was thrilling to see in it a picture of salvation.
The burden that He brings us out from under is the weight of guilt upon our conscience. Even those who never think of God, if they are honest, have moments late at night when all is silent when they feel the weight of guilt upon their souls. The guilt of their sins. There is a “knowing” that God has put into man through his conscience. What great efforts men will go to in order to silence this conscience, until it becomes a faint whisper. Yet Jesus offers to lift this burden of guilt from us.
The bondage He rescues us from is our bondage to sin, self and the world. Everyone has a different variety of bondage, but all are equally wicked and opposed to God. Our hardened hearts will tell us that we are not so bad as ___________ (insert name of wicked person here). And thus we justify ourselves and feel satisfied to remain selfish, sinful and sensual. Yet Jesus offers a life free from the pursuit of these things. A life that is focused on an infinitely more glorious pursuit.
The redemption that He provides is forgiveness and righteousness through Jesus Christ. Oh may the Lord deliver us from thinking that we are good enough. Never, never, never, no matter how nice, benevolent and selfless I am, can I ever earn heaven based on my own merit. There does not exist enough human goodness in the entire universe to allow even one of us admittance into heaven. But praise God, He has made provision for this as well. Jesus Christ, the perfect One, died for my sin, thus providing forgiveness. And now I live in the righteousness of His perfect life.
The God who delivered Israel out of Egypt is still a God of deliverance. And it is a mighty deliverance!!
He is my Delight 