Life In Real Time

Fathering

1 Corinthians 1:9; 2:14 “God is faithful. . . . But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God.”

Observation: Paul was spiritual father to the Corinthians, having been first to preach the Gospel there on an earlier trip. Corinth was a remarkably wicked city, and the fledgling church was having a tough time wringing “the world” out of its midst. There were divisions among them as people identified primarily with Paul or Apollos or Cephas or Christ. Paul responded by reminding them that it is only by Christ’s Cross that power is granted sufficient for living the victorious Christian life. He went on to say that there was an irreconcilable gulf between the wisdom of the world and the wisdom imparted by the Spirit of God. He made clear that we can only live in one or the other: “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God. . . . But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised (1 Cor. 2:12, 14).

Application: Paul hammered away at what should have been obvious but was lost to their understanding since he had last been among them. He was deeply concerned for their spiritual condition, and called them to an essential reordering of their beliefs if they are to be Christ’s. 

Who among us cannot relate to Paul’s pleading for correction? Which of us does not have friends or family whom we desperately long to see secure in the kingdom, but who need a major course correction in their beliefs? I can learn much from Paul’s loving approach in the letter’s beginning. Despite all he knew of their divisions and bad theology, he affirmed them by looking ahead to how things will be and spoke as though they were. He identified them as having been sanctified in Christ (1 Cor. 1:2), covered by the grace of God (v. 4), and enriched by Him in speech and knowledge (v. 5). He reminded them that God had given them gifts (v. 7), and that God would confirm them blameless in the end (v. 8). 

Here, then, is my model. Paul understood and verbalized what Christ had accomplished before wading into the Corinthians’ alligator-filled swamp. They needed profound correction, but he began by painting a picture of what Christ had done before he began to teach how to walk it out. Gentle yet firm. Loving but direct. How have I grown under that model? How faithful am I to pass it on?

Prayer: Lord God, thank You for the example of Your Father-heart in Paul. You give me here a great example to follow as I seek to encourage and help others grow in the faith. Cause this lesson to sink deep into my spirit and take root, that I might model it for others.

The Key Difference

Job 30:20 “I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer me; I stand up, and You turn Your attention against me.”

Observation: There are two elements to Job’s lament in chapter 30. First is a comparison of his present devastation with his former life. In the previous chapter he recounted the honor he had among his fellows and how quick he had been to help the needy. Later, though, they taunted and abhorred him and stood aloof.  The second and more dominant element of Job 30 is his honest assessment of how utterly horrible his life is. There are  no more comparisons to his former life or to other men. Simply, he is hurting in every way imaginable. Worst of all, he cannot hear God’s voice no matter the depths of his anguished cries.

Application: As we think about Job, doesn’t at least part of our tragic view of him flow from the perceived uniqueness of his suffering? To have lost everything:  children, wealth, respect, health (everything, that is, except a bitter, critical wife!), his loss is greater than the mind can conceive. But perhaps we resist honestly considering familiar parallels. 

Do we not each have burned within our minds the images of others who live similarly to Job? The crushed earthquake survivor who will revive only to learn all has been lost, the child running naked from her village ahead of napalming—are these not representative of countless millions around the world who live similarly? (But in God there is no such thing as “countless” millions, is there? He does indeed count.) 

They must choose, as I must, how I will view God in the midst of life’s devastation. But always remember: there is One who lost even more. And the great tragedy is, He was the sinless one. In His loss, heaven itself was forfeited.  Perfect union with the Father was willingly surrendered. He was so brutalized that passersby could only wonder if that mass of blood and flesh had once been human. But in all of history’s suffering, this One was unique. The key difference is that He volunteered for His torment. Isaiah tells us that He turned His face toward His tormenters so they could rip more handsful of beard and flesh from His face (see Isa. 50:6). Job may wonder why. The earthquake survivor and the napalm victim may mourn for the rest of their days. I, too, may struggle to understand God’s purposes. But this One willingly laid down His life; He knew exactly what He was doing. He had a strategy, a plan. His suffering was for love. How willing am I to identify with Him in that?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You ask me to willingly take on Your attributes, which include loss of all that is dear, for the goal of a greater prize. Find me willing, O Lord. As best I know how, I lay down my rights, my pride, even life itself, to become more like You.

Remembering Former Things

Job 29:2 “Oh that I were as in months gone by.”

Observation: Job 29 is a walk with Job back in time to the days before his afflictions began. He recalled what it was like to have been in the prime of life knowing that God’s friendship spilled over and blessed every part of his life. He recalled the joy of being surrounded by children and the honor paid him by young and old alike as he walked through the public square. He had championed the cause of the needy and opposed evil at every turn. He could recall a time when the roots of his life stretched to an endless supply of fresh water, and he remembered having the sense that it would never end, that life would always be as it had been. But then he said, “Oh that I were as in months gone by.” There is no trace of anger or blame over his current condition. Rather, we are simply given to understand that he longingly recalled what life was like, and no doubt wished he could be in that place once again.

Application: Where it seems that Job departs from me is that in honestly recalling what he loved about his former life, there is not a hint of sin in his words.  There was nothing wrong in Mrs. Lincoln’s wish that they had skipped the play that evening. There was no sin in the Astors’ preference that they had booked another vessel as the Titanic sank beneath them. 

My sin is in not finding contentment in God regardless of my circumstances. Like Job, I may well have known a time when relationships were fresher and more promise-filled. There was indeed likely a season when bodies were firmer and health more sure. There is no wrong in remembering those days with a grateful heart. But as time passes and once-promising futures don’t quite become fulfilled, what enters my heart then? Do I continue to trust in God in the midst of a rotten marriage? Am I still gladly His when death tears my heart asunder? Do I see Him as the God who provides when I have been unfairly terminated late in a career or when being chased by lawyers? Is He only my God in the good times, only the Author of life when I am at ease? How dissonant that would seem to most of the body of Christ in the hovels and shantytowns of the world. 

Prayer: O Lord, cause me today to go deep into You, to get my eyes off outward circumstances. I want to value only what You value, to esteem what You esteem, and that has nothing to do with the outward things of life. I choose today to die to all this, that You might raise me in newness of life.

Submerged Into Him

Mark 15:5 “Pilate was amazed.”

Observation: Jesus found Himself in the belly of legal and religious systems run amok. Religious leaders clamored for His crucifixion while Pilate, the political leader, knew what a premium Rome put on keeping the peace at all costs. So what we have here was a merging of political and religious streams, both unrighteous, into a river of agreement on one thing: Jesus must die. Inexorable movement toward that decision, motivated and fed by their own insecurities, lead political and religious leaders to attempt to extinguish the purest source of love that had ever lived. Pilate seemed to have had some clarity about what was happening, but in his own weakness and fear, he willingly participated. He knew that envy motivated the chief priests (Mark 15:10). He knew Jesus had committed no crime worthy of death (verse 14), and he seemed to have some sense of what was at stake when he insisted that the dying Jesus be identified as “King of the Jews” (John 19:21--22).

Application: The Word says, “Pilate was amazed.” He had questioned Jesus as to the claim of His kingship, and Jesus had agreed with him (see verse 2). But after that, despite Pilate’s best effort to persuade Jesus to mount a defense against the growing demands for His death, Jesus remained silent. Pilate had never encountered a man like Jesus. Accustomed as he was to making life and death decisions over countless prisoners, he surely expected to hear pleas for mercy or protestations of innocence. But this prisoner, whom Pilate knew to be innocent, did not protest. He remained silent. There would be no pleading from the Lamb of God; in silence, He would become our scapegoat. Pilate could not know that Jesus looked beyond the cross, beyond the grave. In his ignorance, Pilate was amazed.

Jesus is silent before me, too. When I want to rail again life’s unfairness, my debates with Him are maddeningly one-sided. I do all the talking, staging defenses for my position, trying to justify past or planned behavior. But despite my best efforts, He will not be drawn into such conversation; the kingdom of God is not won by effective debating points. He simply waits.  Arms open, He waits. He waits for me to go through my own death experience, to lay down my rights, to finally extinguish “self.” He waits for me to become so submerged into Him that we become indistinguishable. To decrease, so He might increase. Like Pilate, I am amazed.

Prayer: Lord, I am struck once again as to how completely finished is the work You came to do. Nothing remains except for me to yield.

Finding God's Seat

Job 23:3 “O that I knew where I might find Him, that I might come to His seat!”

Observation: In this reading, Job declared his great longing for God. The security, comfort, and health he had once known had been stripped away, and the counsel of his friends, while well motivated, had issued from their impoverished reservoirs of the knowledge of God. So Job cried, “O that I knew where I might find Him, that I might come to His seat.” See how honest Job was in his cry, and how well he expressed the longing of every honest heart in the midst of trials? Later, in verse 16, he acknowledged that his suffering is in God’s will: “It is God who has made my heart faint, and the Almighty who has dismayed me.” Still, the deepest desire of Job’s heart was to again find himself in God’s presence.

Application: Imagine the disciple John, reclining at dinner one evening with his body pressed close in front of Jesus, his head resting on Jesus’s breast, secure in a position of intimate touch that would be unusual between men today. That’s where Job wants to be. Isn’t it interesting that Job’s heart longs to be with the very One whom he knows has made his heart faint and who has dismayed him? 

Where else am I to go? What other source of true comfort and pure love is there?  The nearest example I can think of is the laboring woman who, between hard contractions, glances sharply at her husband and exclaims, “You did this to me!”  But later, she gladly surrenders to his loving embrace with their newborn between them. Job longed to be nestled once again in the warm cocoon of God’s loving embrace. He stubbornly clung to the only thing he was certain of as he said in verse 10, “When He has tried me, I will come forth as gold.” Yes, Job. You did understand. 

O that I would have such clear vision of God’s purposes behind the testings that come to me today. But even with the benefit of New Testament writings that clarify the purpose of suffering, I can easily lose sight of His reasons for the difficult processes He takes me through. Let Job be my example, even as he foreshadowed the still more profound sufferings of Christ. For it is through Christ’s suffering and my identification with Him in His death, burial, and resurrection that the cry of Job’s heart, and mine, is fulfilled. “O that . . . I might find Him, that I might come to His seat.”

Prayer: Dear Lord, You do have a plan for my life, don’t you? It unfolds without surprise to You; You are never caught off guard by what we experience. How great must be Your love for me, as You wait for my race to be completed. Thank You, Lord, for loving me as You do, through every painful circumstance of life.

Blathering

Mark 9:7 “This is My beloved Son, listen to Him!”

Observation: Peter, James, and John had gone with Jesus to a high mountain where Jesus was transfigured into a heavenly being whose garments radiated such whiteness as to be otherworldly. Elijah and Moses then appeared for a private conversation with Jesus which was apparently going fine until Peter began foolishly blathering about building three dwellings to shelter them. His inane remarks, borne of the awe-filled sight of Jesus chatting with Moses and Elijah, completely unhinged his tongue. Fortunately, God intervened by speaking out of a cloud, “This is My beloved Son; listen to Him!”

Application: Can you imagine some of the stupid things Peter might have said had God not intervened? Jesus and the disciples were making their way to Caesarea Philippi. Wherever they had gone, massive crowds had followed, with Jesus performing the miraculous at every turn. A number of times He had taken the Twelve aside to deepen their understanding of what they were seeing and hearing. He taught at every turn, but still they continued largely in ignorance of the profound drama unfolding around them. Finally, God thundered from heaven, “Pay attention! This is My Son! Listen to Him.”

I can see myself reflected in both sides of this story. How often as a father have I done my level best to convey truth to my children even as I know they aren’t “getting it”? Either figuratively or physically, I grab their shoulders, tell them to look into my eyes and say, “Listen to me! I’m talking to You! This is important!” But I can also relate to Peter, James, and John, who find it so much easier to focus on outward things rather than to hear and see at a deeper level. “We only have  two fish, and this huge crowd is hungry” (see Mark 6:38). “No Lord, don’t wash my feet!”  (see John 13:6). “Can I have the seat next to You in heaven?” (see Mark 10:37). “When can a man remarry?” (see Matt. 19:9--10). On and on it goes, with understanding attuned to the physical, not the spiritual. But He says, “Listen! Pay attention! Hear Me at a deeper level. Don’t be satisfied with your current, shallow understanding!”

Prayer: O Lord, Your word says that deep calls to deep (Ps. 42:7). I want to hear and understand what You say to me moment by moment. Stir the deepest places of my being to be attuned to Your voice, Lord. Give me ears that understand, and a heart to pursue You. Thank You, Lord.

The Ultimate Scorecard

Job 21:7 “Why do the wicked still live, continue on, also become very powerful?”

Observation: Job was responding to the angry arguments of his friend Zophar.  Zophar had made the claim that a wicked man’s prosperity is brief: “The triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the godless momentary” (Job 20:5). “He does not retain anything he desires” (20:20). “The increase of his house will depart; his possessions will flow away in the day of His anger” (20:28).  Job argues the opposite: that the wicked often prosper. “Why do the wicked still live, continue on, also become very powerful? Their descendents are established with them in their sight, . . . Their houses are safe from fear, and the rod of God is not on them” (21:7-9).

Application: There is transitory truth in what each of these men was saying.  Ultimate truth reveals both men to be shortsighted, focused on outward appearances while ignoring eternal realities. They argued over irrelevancies, trying to make their respective cases based on examples discerned through their natural senses. 

Such shortsightedness is not uncommon even today. I consider men and women in positions of great affluence and influence and aspire to be in their shoes, all the while smugly assuring myself that, if given the chance, I would use such privilege better than they. Or, I may view down-and-outers as having missed God’s best and think to myself that my “better” life would never lead to such needy circumstances. But the ultimate scorecard is His, and in its writing He will not consult the latest Forbes’s ranking of billionaires; He cares not a bit for blueblood titles. Being recorded in the Lamb’s Book is not guaranteed for Nobel winners nor denied because of the abject poverty in which most of the world lives.

Only one question matters: “What have you done with My Son?” It is my personal answer to this query that creates my destiny. While Job and Zophar argue irrelevancies, God simply asks, “What have you done with My Son?”

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I confess I have been guilty of looking at outward circumstances and from that, judging the heart. How wrong that is! Forgive me, Lord. I’m thankful that You look upon men’s hearts, including mine, to lead me into eternal reward. Keep me near You today.

On Being Interruptible

Mark 3:2 “And they were watching Him to see if He would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him.”

Observation: Mark here related a time when Christ entered the synagogue and healed a man with a withered hand. To this, the leaders responded by leaving the service so they could conspire to kill Jesus.

Application: What motivated these leaders? Why in heaven’s name should their response be to want to kill one so good? And what of the people? The passage is silent as to the specific response of the congregation who witnessed the miracle, but we see immediately afterward that people flocked from all the surrounding region to be close to Jesus. 

Surely from this we can infer that the response at the 11:00 service had been approving. Had they burst forth in applause or filled the room with raucous shouts of praise? Had they leapt from their pews and rushed forward to stroke the once-withered hand, weeping over strong, supple flesh that reflected the goodness of God? Surely the decorum of the service was interrupted by the astonished joy of the people. Their hearts hungered for more as they recognized true life manifest in their presence. 

God had invaded His house, and in His compassion He had healed. Sadly, though, the response of the leaders was determination to reassert their own control, even if doing so meant killing Jesus. This leads me to consider how we might react if such a thing were to occur in our midst today. How would leadership respond? Tragically, I must admit that too many of our services are so tightly choreographed that a man with a withered hand would rarely be noticed, and would never, ever, be brought to the front for prayer.

Even more personally, how does this apply to me? Am I not the temple of the Holy Spirit? Am I someone to whom a man with a withered hand would appeal?  Is there within me enough of Christ that people with profound needs are attracted to me in the expectation that healing might flow into their places of pain? If I am indeed the peculiar people God declares me to be, shouldn’t the decorum of my life be interruptible, so ordered by Him that an outflow of His love and power be manifest at all times? If that isn’t happening, can I honestly be said to be a Christ-follower?

Prayer: Lord God, I confess how easily I conform to the daily, regular rhythms of life to such an extent that You cannot invade, let alone overflow to others.  Forgive me. Interrupt me, Lord. Interrupt my work. Interrupt all the places of my life where dull routine substitutes for life, where words supplant deeds, where tradition stifles Your presence. Let me not be satisfied until I can see Your face moment by moment and consistently reflect You to others.

Calling It Right

Job 19:21-22 “Pity me, pity me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has struck me.  Why do you persecute me as God does?”

Observation: Job’s friends had repeatedly sought to convince him that his painful circumstances were due to some failure or sin on Job’s part. Seeing Job down, they have “piled on” with relish, looking for every possible shortcoming in their beleaguered friend. But Job called them to account for their fair-weather friendship and for their ignorance of the ways of God. “Pity me, pity me, O my friends, for the hand of God has struck me. Why do you persecute me as God does?” In this, Job rightly assessed both the Source of his suffering and the error of his friends. He correctly identified God as the author of his pain, and in labeling his friends’ behavior as persecution he called it about right.

Application: Like me, Job struggled with the “whys” of God, but he was under no illusion that God is the “who.” And notice this: Job never questioned God’s right to do with him as He wished regardless of the depths of Job’s ensuing pain. But the really baffling behavior, both to Job and to me, was that of his friends. Where did they get license to continue badgering him with false accusations when their friend was so miserable? What darkness in their own hearts could lead them to assume the worst about Job? Why would supposed friends kick a man who was already down? 

More to the point, have I behaved thus, assuming the worst, accepting rumor as fact, and adjusting relationships accordingly? When my friend needed mercy and grace rather than analysis, have I been quick to extend them? To realize the utter loneliness of Job is overwhelming; his abandonment was now complete. Yet see how hope arose in a heart set on loving God: just three verses later his words fairly soar off the page as he declared, “As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives!” What a powerful expression of faith and confidence in the living God! Job contemplated the coming salvation of God and was stunned by the thought. The entire struggle will be worth it to see Him face to face, to experience the fulness of His embrace. Job’s eyes, like Paul’s, remained fixed upon the prize. His every fiber strained toward the upward call of Christ, into that place of perfect peace (see Phil. 3:14).

Prayer: Lord Jesus, keep my eyes fixed upon the goal. Keep my mind and heart focused beyond the hard things in my path today. You are worth it! Your approving gaze motivates me, Lord; it stirs me to keep running the race You have called me to.

Fleshly Navigation

Acts 27:13 “When a moderate south wind came up, supposing that they had attained their purpose, they weighed anchor and began sailing.”

Observation: Paul was prisoner on a ship sailing for Rome under difficult circumstances. Never one to ignore an audience, Paul, though in chains, gave warning to the experienced seamen that great danger lay ahead if they pressed on. Naturally, the men chose to ignore Paul’s advice and to trust instead in their years of sailing acumen. Within ten verses, they had encountered such dire circumstances that all hope of surviving was abandoned, all because they chose to follow a moderate south wind rather than the warning from God. 

Application: The crew supposed they had gained their purpose. Such a small phrase, yet one laden with truth as a commentary on how I all too often govern my life. The ship was at risk because they chose to trust their accumulated years of experience to get them to safe harbor. They acted in presumption. 

Isn’t this a perfect picture of men exalting themselves above God? They had clear warning against proceeding, but they trusted in their own prowess for deliverance, and it ended in near catastrophe. Perhaps they arrogantly considered the source of the warnings—a man in chains heading for trial in Rome—and decided he could not possibly have important information to share.  In any event, a modest south wind came up, so off they went.

How foolish, yet how like me. I ignore clear but inconvenient warnings, thinking my abilities will carry me safely through. As a consequence, I look for a moderate south wind and leap to catch its advantage. But I proceed at my own peril. I feverishly crunch the numbers to set the course of business, asking God to bless my efforts. I rely upon generational experience to raise children, ignoring hard teachings of Scripture. In deciding that I know better than God what is best, I learn gradually to ignore and ultimately to extinguish the quietly pleading voice of God that would lead into all wisdom. But God doesn’t abandon me; He merely requires a course correction. He says, as Paul would tell the people, not to be afraid. Yes, the ship is going to founder, but God will preserve you. He will rescue you if you will obey His voice and turn from the course chosen by fleshly navigation (see Acts 27:22--25).

Prayer: Father God, there is nothing within me that merits Your favor, yet You have granted it nonetheless. You stand at the ready, eager for me finally to follow You rather than my own inclinations.Thank You, Lord, that You are wringing earthly desires out of me and gradually teaching me to hear and obey Your voice.