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“The man declares, I am weary, O God. . .” – repost

Posted in commentary, Scripture on August 9, 2012| 1 Comment »

I’m taking a break from blogging.  This first appeared May 2010.

At Desiring God every morning we pause to have devotions.  We have been going through Proverbs verse by verse for the past several months.

Yesterday morning, we started in Proverbs 30, and these verses jumped out at me:

The words of Agur son of Jakeh. The oracle.

The man declares, I am weary, O God;
I am weary, O God, and worn out.
Surely I am too stupid to be a man.
I have not the understanding of a man.
I have not learned wisdom,
nor have I knowledge of the Holy One.

I understand weariness.  I expect that you do as well.  And I understand feeling ‘too stupid to be a man.’

Why are those of us dealing disability weary so often?  Because it doesn’t stop.

And God in his infinite mercy included verse five in Proverbs 30:

Every word of God proves true;
he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

EVERY word!  The omnipotent creator of the universe says he will be our shield – if we take refuge in him.  Not if we perform perfectly.  Not if we muster up enough strength on our own to do the next hard thing.  But if we take refuge in him who knows how weak and weary and stupid and unwise we are.  What a comfort!

Then, later in the day I read a Facebook entry from Justin Reimer, creator and executive director of The Elisha Foundation.  This is an organization worth paying attention to.

He had a good word for me in his most recent newsletter:

One word does well to summarize the day in and day out of families of people with special needs – RELENTLESS. Think about that word, what does it speak to?

Webster’s dictionary defines it as: showing or promising no abatement of severity, intensity, strength, or pace.

The effects of disability do not let up. They are daily, they are hourly, they are there offering challenges by the minute at times. There is no end in sight, there is no cure, there is no healing in the broader sense. But what sweet balm of ultimate healing they will meet if their eyes are turned to Christ. When they know about receiving “resurrection bodies” on that Day, the Ultimate healing!

Read this from the heart of a father:

“Though at times our path in life with our special blessing of a child seems relentless, we see there is hope in God alone. Relentless, never letting up…not a momentary inconvenience but a life of need each day with our child deeply dependent on us. We understand this now as a unique blessing and an opportunity to make much of Christ in our every day whether in caring for our child or in a simple cup of coffee with a friend.”

And the heart of our Father is found in I John 3:1&2

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.”

A good word, Justin!

So, weary friends, let us all take refuge in God as beloved children.  And he will provide the strength for all that we need to do today.

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Are you so burdened you don’t have the strength to live?

Posted in Scripture on July 31, 2012| 1 Comment »

For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia.

For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.

Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death.

But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.

(2 Corinthians 1:8-9 ESV)

A friend who has struggle through much pulled out his smartphone while we were having lunch yesterday and read those two verses.  And those two verses were enough to provide comfort to me.

Use God’s word to encourage somebody today.  If you don’t have a smartphone, an old fashioned Bible will do just fine.  Or even from memory!

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Help me, Lord, ‘for your name’s sake.’

Posted in commentary, Scripture, Sermons on July 26, 2012| 6 Comments »

The little phrase ‘for your name’s sake’ showed up in my Bible reading recently and I was so comforted by it that I went looking for other places where that phrase is used.  Here are three:

For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me. . . (Psalm 31:3 ESV)

“Though our iniquities testify against us, act, O LORD, for your name’s sake; for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against you.” (Jeremiah 14:7 ESV)

“And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I deal with you for my name’s sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD.” (Ezekiel 20:44 ESV)

Why am I comforted? Because it isn’t about my performance!  God is acting out of a commitment to his own name, and we can ask him to act based on that commitment to himself.

I need that perspective.  God is for me because of Jesus Christ.  God is for my son with multiple disabilities because:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:1-3 ESV)

Paul doesn’t have to perform to have value to God – he is valuable to God because he was made by God, and God will act on his behalf for the sake of God’s name.

A long time ago Pastor John did a sermon on 1 Samuel 12:22 (For the Lord will not cast away his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. RSV) where he offered this:

What is the basis of the fearlessness of God’s people according to this verse? First of all it is the promise that he will not cast them away. In spite of their sin in wanting a king, the verse says, “The Lord will not cast away his people.”

But that is not the deepest foundation of hope and fearlessness in this verse. Why will God not cast away his people? The deepest reason given is in the phrase, “For his great name’s sake.” The rock bottom foundation of our forgiveness and our fearlessness and our joy is the commitment that God has to his own great name. First, he is committed to act for his own name’s sake. And then, for that reason, he is committed to act for his people.

God will act FOR us, for his own name’s sake, offering forgiveness, fearlessness AND joy!  I hope you can feel how great this is – God will ACT FOR YOU not because of you (you know how weak you are, really), but because of HIM!

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Now therefore, O kings, be wise

Posted in Scripture on July 22, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Related to yesterday’s post, another piece of good news for those who find their hope in God in light of all the bad things happening in the world:

Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?

The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying,

“Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”

He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.

Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying,

“As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.”

I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me,

“You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth.

Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled.

Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

(Psalm 2 ESV)

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Who we really are, and who God really is!

Posted in Scripture on July 18, 2012| Leave a Comment »

These verses from Ephesians 2:1-10 landed on me with fresh power yesterday.

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved-and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

I was really that dead! And God is really that powerful and good to give life to a dead man.

And those he calls, of every ability and disability, were created for good works! No exceptions.

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Does Paul really mean ‘blinded’ in 2 Corinthians 4:4 (repeat)

Posted in commentary, Scripture on July 12, 2012| Leave a Comment »

While we’re on vacation I’ve pulled a few miscellaneous posts from the archives.  This was first posted in November 2009:

Disability references are found everywhere in the Bible – more than 350 verses in 40 of the 66 books contain some reference to disability, disease or skin condition.  It is suggested at times that certain references to disability are metaphors for something else.  For example, Paul writes this to the Corinthians:

In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Corinthians 4:4)

“Blinded the minds” is obviously pointing to something other than a lack of physical sight.  Yet we should be stunned at how devastating this type of blindness is!  Paul is not just playing with words to get people’s attention, he is talking about a literal blindness far more devastating than not being able to see in this physical world.

Pastor John writes about how stunning this type of  blindness really is:

We are talking about glory—radiance, effulgence, brightness. Glory is the outshining of whatever is glorious. The glory of God is the beautiful brightness of God. There is no greater brightness. Nothing in the universe, nor in the imagination of any man or angel, is brighter than the brightness of God. This makes the blindness of 2 Corinthians 4:4 shocking in its effect. Calvin says it with the kind of amazement it deserves: “They do not see the midday sun.” That is how plain the glory of God is in the gospel. When God declares the omnipotent word of creation and “[shines] in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ,” the curtains are pulled back in the window of our Alpine chalet, and the morning sun, reflected off the Alps of Christ, fills the room with glory. From God Is the Gospel, p. 74

To have the type of blindness Paul refers to in 2 Corinthians 4:4 is infinitely worse than having natural eyes that don’t work.  But if you see the glory of Christ, you have been given the best kind of sight of all – regardless of whether your eyes work or not.  And if you have perfect sight, but don’t understand Jesus in this way, then seek him more than you have sought anything ever in your life.  Your eternity is at stake.

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Please, stop repeating that statistic!

Posted in News, Scripture on July 7, 2012| 14 Comments »

I picked up one of my favorite publications done by a great ministry and started reading a story about churches responding to suffering people.  It was a nicely crafted piece about a church caring for a woman with a disabled child by herself – and I braced myself for what I knew was coming.  And there it was: “The divorce rate for special-needs families is over eighty percent.”

It isn’t true.  We have to stop repeating that horrible statistic!

Daniel Vance has done a great deal more research on this than I have, and he found studies that show divorce is slightly higher for certain disabilities: from 3.6% to 5.97% higher.  For families experiencing Down syndrome the overall divorce rate is actually lower than average.  As he points out, divorce rates appear to be higher, but that’s a long way from 75% to 85%.

Disability is hard on marriages; we already know that.  At least as great a problem as divorce are fathers who stay in marriages but check out from the daily care and leadership of children and wives.  Let’s not add to the burden by saying marriages will almost certainly fail when a child with a disability is born into it. Abortionists use statistics like that to encourage the killing of unborn babies.

And even if it were a true statistic in general, it does not have to be true for any specific family that leans into the promises of God for provision and help and peace. God himself has spoken about what he can do:

“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27 ESV)

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Not sure what to say? Use God’s word!

Posted in Scripture on July 6, 2012| 1 Comment »

After our Desiring God event last Friday evening, a woman who has experienced much suffering in her own life asked for prayer for a friend who is experiencing a terrible degenerative disease.  Her friend had some struggles familiar to me: how could God do this to a Christian?  She later emailed me asking for things she could say to her friend.

Those feel like really dangerous moments. I’m no counselor. I know several good Christian men who are counselors, and I’m not them!  And while we’ve experienced suffering of various kinds in our family, including a life-threatening disease, that doesn’t mean our experiences are the same.  What to do?

God drew me to his word and I put this together in an email:

  1. She has already passed from death to life: Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. (John 5:24 ESV)
  2. Suffering is common for the Christian: Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. (1 Peter 4:12-13 ESV)
  3. Jesus is greater than the suffering and troubles we will experience: “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 ESV)
  4. We are intimately known by God. We have not been abandoned when (not if) we walk through troubles in this life: But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.” (Isaiah 43:2 ESV)
  5. Jesus suffered greatly; we are called to look to him! But he didn’t just tough it out; he was guided by joy: Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV)
  6. These things have purpose in her life, your life, your husband’s life, my life – God knows what he is doing: For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11 ESV)
  7. Nothing can separate us from God:  For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39 ESV)
  8. God wants us to be happy – in him rather than anything else: You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:11 ESV)
  9. We can be free, but only in Jesus. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:1-2 ESV)
  10. All suffering has a glorious purpose. Paul, who suffered greatly with physical afflictions and hardships, saw his suffering in light of eternity: So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18 ESV)
  11. He also pointed to it in Romans: For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. (Romans 8:18 ESV)
  12. Paul pleaded to have his suffering (thorn in the flesh) removed. God had a greater thing in mind for Paul – more of God! But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10 ESV)

Then I prayed that God would use it to help.

I have no idea how the above list was received; I’m not even sure why I included those particular verses.  But I know that I was happy to send it, and far more confident that it might have some long-term usefulness than anything else I had to offer.

Sometimes the experiences that God has given us are useful in making much of him and connecting in positive ways with other suffering people.

God’s word, even when it is rejected, is always useful.  As one who used to reject it until God crushed my rebellion, I can say with assurance that this is true:

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”
(Isaiah 55:10-11 ESV)

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“Fear not, for I am with you.” God

Posted in Scripture, Sermons on July 1, 2012| 2 Comments »

Fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
(Isaiah 41:10 ESV)

Pastor John helpfully unpacked this verse in his 1993 sermon, Fear Not, I Am with You, I Am Your God.  I would add one thing to his list below of things that can raise up fear in us: parenting a child with a disability with all the associated cultural baggage, uncertainty about the future, and unusual relational, physical, and emotional expense. Yes, we are called to be free from even that fear:

When God calls you to be free from fear as you do evangelism, as you take a test, as you face an interview, as you take a stand against an unjust business practice, as you confront someone with sin in their life, when you leave a secure position and take a risk in a new venture, when you face an operation or a treatment, when you lose a spouse or a friend—when God calls you to be free from fear (to overcome this natural emotion and have peace), he does not leave the command hanging in the air. He puts pillars under it. Five of them. That’s the nature of all biblical commands. They come with divine support.

  1. Fear not . . . God is with you;
  2. Fear not . . . God is your God;
  3. Fear not . . . God will strengthen you;
  4. Fear not . . . God will help you;
  5. Fear not . . . God will uphold you.

I do not live a fear-free life; it is a battle.  God is greater.  God’s word is an effective weapon in that battle.  His promises are more firm than my (or your) perceptions.

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July 1st is a great time to start!

Posted in Scripture on June 30, 2012| 3 Comments »

I haven’t done this in a while, but the middle of the year really is a good time to start reading the Bible!

I wrote the following last year, and it still applies:

There are things we know are good for us, but it can be hard to persevere (or even to start).

Reading through the Bible is one of those things – it really is helpful!

It can also be exciting.  God continues to reveal things I hadn’t seen or understood before, even in passages I’ve read many times.

No, there aren’t fireworks of new insight every day, and some days I approach it with a less-than-expectant attitude.  Frequently, God reminds me on those days that he is the source of joy, he is the provider of faith, and he will never leave us.  Sins get revealed and dealt with, and I experience the freedom that Jesus promises.

I pray you’ll find the same.

So this is one of my regular encouragements to do yourself some good and read through the entire Bible.

I can recommend the One-Year Tract Bible Reading Plan provided for free by Crossway.  They also offer several other plans.

Who cares that you’re starting on August 1 rather than January 1!  Next July 31, you’ll have read all of God’s inspired word!

And if you started earlier in the year and just fell too far behind to catch up – so what!  Start again.

If the first plan you choose just doesn’t seem to work, choose another.  By the start of 2012 you’ll already have momentum to keep going.

I’ve been using a different plan this year.  This one has a single reading in the Old Testament and a single reading in the New Testament every day.  I didn’t like it at first, but began to see the benefits of this organization after a while.

So, join me – let us encourage each other to persevere for the sake of our own joy in reading and enjoying God’s word together for the remainder of this year!

 

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