Yes, I really come home to find things like this on our whiteboard! I’m grateful Dianne chooses to share things she hears or comes across with the family.
On Thursday morning I received one of those work emails that nobody likes to get. A project was not going as planned and would require significant thought and redirection.
So, as I got Paul up to get him ready for school my mind was not on him or on God, but was filled with thoughts and ideas along with a bit of a complaining spirit.
And God intervened.
As I walked Paul to the toilet he happily cried out, “trust in the Lord with all your heart!”
Why did he do that? I can only conclude the Holy Spirit told him to. There weren’t any other external factors to encourage him to do it – no music tapes, no conversation about God, certainly nothing I was doing in that moment.
It had the effect of both chastising me and encouraging me. Even the little spark of mumbling in my soul appeared very wicked in that instant. And at the same time, I knew that God would help me on every level – with the project, with killing my sin, even with trusting him.
I found Dianne and told her what Paul had done, to which she replied, “our little prophet.” Indeed!
And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:19-21
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And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
What it’s like to live in Romans 8:28
If you live inside this massive promise, your life is more solid and stable than Mount Everest. Nothing can blow you over when you are inside the walls of Romans 8:28. Outside Romans 8:28 all is confusion and anxiety and fear and uncertainty. Outside this promise of all-encompassing future grace there are straw houses of drugs and alcohol and numbing TV and dozens of futile diversions. There are slat walls and tin roofs of fragile investment strategies and fleeting insurance coverage and trivial retirement plans. There are cardboard fortifications of deadbolt locks and alarm systems and antiballistic missiles. Outside are a thousand substitutes for Romans 8:28.
Once you walk through the door of love into the massive, unshakable structure of Romans 8:28 everything changes. There come into your life stability and depth and freedom. You simply can’t be blown over any more. The confidence that a sovereign God governs for your good all the pain and all the pleasure that you will ever experience is an incomparable refuge and security and hope and power in your life. When God’s people really live by the future grace of Romans 8:28 – from measles to the mortuary – they are the freest and strongest and most generous people in the world. Their light shines and people give glory to their Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16).
John Piper, Future Grace, pp. 122-123.
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Paul had another of his spells on Monday, and in the process bruised his right heel. The next morning he taught me a lesson.
As he walked around the house before school, it was a pattern of grimace, smile, grimace, smile, grimace, smile, grimace, smile. When he found his special chair and got weight off his foot, he sang.
It was amazing to watch. I don’t think I’ve seen anything like it before.
He wasn’t trying to put on a brave face; he isn’t capable of doing that. What he’s feeling inside comes out on his face and through his voice. His foot really hurt, and he was really happy.
His example puts me to shame. I would have been strongly tempted to let the world know how miserable I was over a bruised heel. Or, self righteously, I might have ‘toughed it out’ but would have not been smiling and singing in the midst of it.
But my boy sang. He can’t even understand his pain, and he sang.
It brought to mind Paul and Silas who were beaten, shackled and placed in jail:
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. . . Acts 16:25
Paul’s disabilities encourage him to live in the moment. He doesn’t think a whole lot about the future or the past or about consequences.
And here are just a few of the God-honoring outcomes I’ve seen before because of his disabilities:
- He is never anxious about what he will eat or wear (Matthew 6:25)
- He is quick to forgive (Colossians 3:13)
- He expects good gifts from his father (Matthew 7:11)
- “As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything” (2 Corinthians 6:10)
Today I think he added:
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Philippians 4:4
And to think that people feel sorry for him!
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A helpful word from Randy Alcorn:
When suffering and evil come, they exert a force that either pushes us away from God or pulls us toward him. For those whose faith endures suffering, the devastation feels just as real. But knowing that others who suffer have learned to trust God helps them trust in him as they face their own disasters. Because their deepest hope is in the eternal life to come – instead of in health and abundance and secure relationships in this life – their hope remains firm even when life is at its hardest.
Randy Alcorn, If God is Good, Why Do We Hurt?, p. 71.
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Pastor Sam is one of the giants at Bethlehem. He doesn’t preach much, but his influence is everywhere – from his role as Executive Pastor to frequently leading the communion table to his endless work on multiple internal and external committees.
One of those committees is the Desiring God Board of Directors, where he shared this devotional several weeks ago:
Christ keeps us.
John 16:1 I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away.
John 17:11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.
Jude 1:24-25 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
Christ keeps his own, but how? How does Christ keep us? One answer is: by being beautiful to us. By allowing us to behold him, to see his surpassing beauty and superior value, other competing idols drop dead. They don’t compete well. Who wants a soggy rat-chewed hot dog bun found in the dumpster with yesterday’s ketchup and mustard on it, when he is offered a fresh, steamy hot meal at the buffet?
2 Corinthians 3:10 Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it.
Philippians 3:8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
Ephesian 3:19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Living an easier life, free of the suffering and complications and difficulties and expense related to disability, frequently feels like a very competitive idol to Jesus. But that’s only when I take my eyes off him.
Thank you, Sam, for this good word from the Word on the extraordinary beauty and majesty of Jesus.
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Yes, I know, the new year is still more than a month away. But I’d like to encourage you to give yourself some momentum before the new year begins.
God has helped me throughout this year through a plan to read through the Bible in a year. There have been some amazing days when God let me see something new from his word that I had never seen before, frequently drawing together two or more of the four readings for the day.
And I would encourage you start now. I had every desire to start this journey on January 1 this past year – because that’s when we’re ‘supposed’ to get into better habits! I think I actually started about January 10 or 15, feeling both sheepish and guilty that I had not followed through on my good intentions. Two weeks into the year and I was ready to give up on this plan!
I didn’t bother to try to catch up; I just started on that day.
It hasn’t been perfect – I have gotten behind several times during the year. But it has been very good for my study and my soul.
So why not start now? By January 1 you’ll already start seeing the benefits, you’ll have developed a new habit, and if the plan you’ve been using just hasn’t seemed to fit your needs, you can start a different one.
I’ve used the free One Year Tract Bible Reading Plan this year with the English Standard Version of the Bible. This website also renders beautifully on mobile devices like the iPhone, so I have it with me almost anywhere I go. Dianne listens to the daily reading, also freely available at that website.
There are other one year plans available here.
I would highly recommend a good study bible to go with it, like the ESV Study Bible available from Crossway. It is a worthwhile investment in your own life, and a great present for somebody else.
Do you have a suggestion for a reading plan that’s been helpful?
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Psalm 69:29-36
29 But I am afflicted and in pain;
let your salvation, O God, set me on high!
30 I will praise the name of God with a song;
I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
31 This will please the Lord more than an ox
or a bull with horns and hoofs.
32 When the humble see it they will be glad;
you who seek God, let your hearts revive.
33 For the Lord hears the needy
and does not despise his own people who are prisoners.
34 Let heaven and earth praise him,
the seas and everything that moves in them.
35 For God will save Zion
and build up the cities of Judah,
and people shall dwell there and possess it;
36 the offspring of his servants shall inherit it,
and those who love his name shall dwell in it.
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2 Corinthians 4:7-18
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So death is at work in us, but life in you.
13 Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, 14 knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. 15 For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.
16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 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.
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All conference audio and video for The Works of God: God’s Good Design in Disability are now available at Desiring God!
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How did you celebrate International Day of Persons with Disabilities?
December 5, 2010 by John Knight
If you’ve never heard of that day, you missed it. I did, too.
It has been around for a while. The United Nations declared in 1981 that it would be celebrated on December 3 every year.
The purpose:
President Obama included this in his presidential declaration for the day:
America stands in solidarity with the growing number of nations around the world that have committed themselves to ending unequal treatment of persons with disabilities. On International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we acknowledge the contributions of women and men with disabilities around the world, and we recognize our charge to ensure that all individuals can enjoy full inclusion and participation in our societies.
I’m struck by two things:
And I believe the greatest acts of celebration have nothing to do with these declarations by the UN or the White House. This Sunday morning, Lord willing, I will take my entire family to church where I will observe children and adults with disabilities being welcomed, worshipping, and sitting under preaching that honors God.
I’ll take these quiet acts of inclusion 52 times a year over a one-day celebration or a multitude of governmental declarations.
Of course it is imperfectly done at Bethlehem; I know there are some who do not feel included or welcomed. We need God’s continued help and provision to change that and to serve all who come. We need his wisdom. Please continue to pray for us.
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