You Can't Mess It Up

Here's some good news - You Can't Mess It Up (by Erik Raymond at the Gospel Coalition)

One of the odious scents of the Fall is our poor decision making. Let’s admit it: we do dumb things. We say, think and do things that we should not do. To make matter’s worse we get the lingering scent of our dumb decisions in our nostrils. This is called regret. Can you imagine a world without such a stench of failure?

Among the things that strike me as so compelling about the Bible is the fact that it does not shrink from this truth. From Genesis to Revelation people, often the “heroes” of the book are shown to be misfits who seem to do their very best to jack everything up. Think of the patriarchs. Abraham feared man and lied. Isaac did the same. Jacob was deceptive and manipulative. The sons of Jacob sold their brother into slavery after faking his death and breaking their father’s heart. David was an adulterer, lier, and complicit in murder. The disciples were cowards. Judas betrayed Jesus. We could go on and on. The bottom line: the is full of people doing dumb things.

But you know what is even more striking about this? God still works through and in spite of these people. In other words, people doing dumb things cannot derail God from doing great things!

We know about all of the examples listed above because they have something to do with the bringing about of God’s plan of redemption. God brings about his plan amid our messes. It’s like we burn down the house and yet God still makes the flower grow amid the ashes.

This is good news for those of us who have realized that we have the tendency to do or say something foolish. As I’ve heard Tim Keller say before, “You can’t muck up your life.” How liberating is this? This frees us from the paralyzing fear that we might do or say something that causes the entire plan to go up in smoke. We know that if we burn down the house then God will use it for good and the furtherance of his purposes. This frees us from the fear and liberates us to live with courageous, humble trust in God. We can’t shut down his sovereignty and neither can we fully understand his wisdom. We may not always know the ultimate answer to the “why” question, but we always know the truth of the “what” question. God will most certainly use our missteps to further his plan—this for our good and his glory.

Unknown Blessings

For all Your blessing,

Heavenly Father,
known to me,
and for all unknown,
accept my thanks.

May I not murmur at Your providence,
or dread the future.

Whatever happens,
help me to believe in Your unfailing care
and to know that in the Valley of the Shadow
You are by my side.

- F. B. Meyer

HT: Trevin Wax

A Matter of Timing

From Toby Mac Facebook Page

Holy Expectancy

"Coming events cast their shadows before them, and when God is about to bless his people his coming favour casts the shadow of prayer over the church. When he is about to favour an individual he casts the shadow of hopeful expectation over his soul. Our prayers, let men laugh at them as they will, and say there is no power in them, are the indicators of the movement of the wheels of Providence. Believing supplications are forecasts of the future, He who prayeth in faith is like the seer of old, he sees that which is to be: his holy expectancy, like a telescope, brings distant objects near to him."

             — Charles Spurgeon    "The Holy Spirit's Intercession"

HT: Of First Importance

Certainty

From Thinke

Large and In Charge

Guidance Confusion

From What We Get Wrong About Finding God's Will by Chandler Vannnoy at Relevant Magazine

God's will is not a mystery to be solved but a road to be traveled.

What is God’s will for your life?

This question tends to haunt us while we go through our college years. We struggle through it by choosing our major, deciding where we will spend our summer, figuring out where to go to grad school, and so many other decisions.

If you are like me, anxiety creeps up on you every time you think about your future plans.
But why do we get so anxious? For me, I start thinking about how I have one opportunity at every decision I make, and when I choose one path, I am saying no to another. But how do I know the path I choose is the right one?

The phrase we have all heard in answer to this question is we need to find God’s will for our life. And for the past 21 years, I thought I had to keep praying for God to open my eyes to the will he had laid out for me. That if I just kept searching long enough and hard enough, I would know exactly what I was supposed to do in the future.

But Kevin DeYoung blew up this idea for me while I was reading his book Just Do Something.

We Never Find God’s Will for Our Future

In the beginning of the book, DeYoung says, “We should stop thinking of God’s will like a corn maze, or a tight-rope, or a bull’s eye, or a choose-your-own-adventure novel.” This rocked my world. I always thought that if I made a wrong decision or took a wrong turn, I would be removed from God’s plan.

But what he is saying here is that we are free from the burden of trying to discover God’s will ahead of time. It is not a maze for us to perfectly navigate in order to reach our end goal, but instead, God desires for us to trust Him with all of the twists and turns.

Yes, God is sovereign over my life. Yes, He has specific plans for my future, but He does not expect me to find out the details of His plan before I get there. So this whole idea of finding God’s will for my life has been me searching for something God does not want to reveal. But why does He choose to withhold His plans from us?

An Unknown Future Leads to Faith in a Known God

If we knew every step and detail of our lives, there would be no reason for us to have faith in God. When times get tough, we realize we need someone greater than ourselves to direct where we are going. That’s why God doesn’t always want us to know the perfect road He has laid before us. It would be like someone spoiling the incredible plot twist of Fight Club or Inception. What makes the story great is the confusion and uncertainty, and then in the end, every puzzle piece comes together to create a beautiful picture.

Not only does God have an epic plot for your life, but He wants you to trust in Him. God has given us these tough decisions not to be stressed out but to make us realize we can’t do this on our own. He gives us more than we can handle, so we are forced to lean in on Him to find strength. Just as Provers 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” So instead of praying to find God’s will, let’s start praying to find faith in God’s guidance.

Small Problems, Big God

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? Who has measured the Spirit of the LORD, or what man shows him his counsel? Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust on the scales; behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust. Lebanon would not suffice for fuel, nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering. All the nations are as nothing before him, they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness. (Isaiah 40:12-17 ESV)

Freedom Within His Infallible Plan

From @DailyKeller

Does God Ever Say No?

Be careful how you answer that question: Here's J.I. Packer's thoughts:

“God’s yes is regularly a case of ‘your thinking about how I could best meet this need was right’; his no is a case of ‘not that, for this is better’ – and so is really a yes in disguise! – and his wait (which we infer from the fact that though we have asked for action, nothing yet has changed) is a case of ‘wait and see; I will deal with this need at the best time in the best way. Whether or not you will be able to discern my wisdom when I do act, that is what in fact I am going to do. Keep watching, and see what you can see” (Praying, pages 173-74).

“We have it on firm scriptural authority that the Father’s response to requests faithfully, humbly, hopefully, expectantly made by his own children, out of a pure heart and an honest desire for God’s glory, is never going to be a flat no. One way or another God’s response will be a positive response, though it may be ‘I am adjusting the terms of your prayer to give you something better than you asked for.’ Or it may be, ‘I know that this isn’t the moment in which answering your prayer would bring you and others most blessing, so I’m asking you to wait.’ Or it may be, ‘I am answering your prayer, but you don’t know the strategy I’m working on, and it doesn’t at the moment feel or look like an answer at all. Nonetheless, it is. Keep praying, keep trusting, and keep looking for what, down the road, I may be able in wisdom to let you see” (Page 177)

Hat Tip: Sam Storms 

Revelations in Disappointment

Phil Keaggy (one of my favorite musical artists of all time) had a song on his "Love Broke Through" album entitled "Disappointment....His Appointment." Disappointment, he said, can be God's appointment for good in our lives. What is God saying to us in our disappointment?

From Michael Kelly at Forward Progress - Five things the Gospel has to Say about Disappointment.

So what might the gospel have to say about disappointment? Here are a few suggestions:

1. Your worth is determined not by the outcome of this situation. It’s determined and set by the cross of Jesus Christ. So regardless of how this turns out, you are secure in Him.

2. Because you feel so disappointed right now, you can ask the Holy Spirit what that disappointment reveals about your heart. Perhaps you have placed this hope, this relationships, or this job in higher esteem than you ought. Repent, and return to your first love that still passionately loves you.

3. Praise God! Evidently, there is some pitfall in your future that you are not aware of. God, who is working for your good, sees and knows all things. Thank God that He is protecting you from yourself, for surely you would fall into some kind of sin or trouble had things worked out the way you thought they should. Thank God He’s wiser than you are.

4. You do not have to be ruled by your emotions in this moment. You can choose joy in Christ. But learning how to do that only happens during seasons of disappointment. You are free, in Christ, to be okay in Christ.

5. Jesus loves you. He really, really does.

Does God Care Whether Tim Tebow Wins?

Check out this well-written and theologically astute article by Owen Strachan in The Atlantic on the question of the week: Does God Care Whether Tim Tebow Wins on Saturday?

Tim Tebow succeeds on the football field because of elves.

You can't see them on television. They're tiny. But when the game gets tight and the Denver Broncos need a fourth-quarter miracle, the elves come out and do his bidding. Forming a dense pack, they push 350-pound lineman aside, knock defensive backs off their stride, and give speed to Demayrius Thomas after he catches a pass.

That's why he wins.

What? You don't buy that? It's a lie, you're right. You know Tebow doesn't accomplish what he does because of elves. But when you hear about his faith, and the connection that some make between his devout Christianity and the success he enjoys on the football field, you might think it's about as likely that Tebow succeeds because of God's direct and benevolent intervention as it is that he wins games because of a roaming band of miniature wood elves.

Both sound ridiculous. God doesn't care about football games, right? If he exists at all, isn't he up there making sure that the planets spin in their proper orbits and, I don't know, that there's enough rainwater falling on Argentinean forests? Doesn't he have better things to do than to propel a certain football team to victories?

How often do you find an article in a secular publication that discusses everything from the Doctrine of Providence, the Theology of John Calvin and Martin Luther, Biblical teaching on suffering, and the interpretation of Ephesians 1:11 and Hebrews 11, all in the context of a sporting event?  And, I might mention, with a quote from Tim Keller thrown in for good measure.

This is a very good article! Read it all at the link above.

We Made It!

Despite Harold Camping we made it to the end of 2011. Despite the Mayan calendar, we'll probably make it through 2012 also.  But whatever happens in the new year, I know that Jesus Christ will be large and in charge!

May all my readers have a blessed and prosperous new year.

God Knows Where Waldo Is

God knows where Waldo is - and where you are also!

O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up... Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!  If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.   -  Psalm 139 ESV

Hat Tip for picture: 22 Words:

St. Patrick's Breasplate for 2011

It's time once again for my annual post of the prayer attributed to St. Patrick of Ireland, commonly known as "St. Patrick's Breastplate."

There are various versions and translations of the prayer know as St. Patrick's Breastplate, contained in the ancient Book of Armagh, from the early ninth century AD. Isn't this a much better heritage from the good Saint than getting drunk on green beer?  Here's a good translation for prayer today.

I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of the Invocation of the Trinity:
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.

I bind to myself today
The virtue of the Incarnation of Christ with His Baptism,
The virtue of His crucifixion with His burial,
The virtue of His Resurrection with His Ascension,
The virtue of His coming on the Judgement Day.
......
I bind to myself today
God's Power to guide me,
God's Might to uphold me,
God's Wisdom to teach me,
God's Eye to watch over me,
God's Ear to hear me,
God's Word to give me speech,
God's Hand to guide me,
God's Way to lie before me,
God's Shield to shelter me,
God's Host to secure me,
Against the snares of demons,
Against the seductions of vices,
Against the lusts of nature,
Against everyone who meditates injury to me,
Whether far or near,
Whether few or with many.

Responding to the Disaster in Japan

The news from Japan over the past four days has been so overwhelming in its intensity and horror that it is difficult for me to know how to react and pray. I am sure that is true for many others. Adrian Warnock, a fellow blogger from Great Britain, has published a characteristically helpful post on 10 Ways a Christian should respond to the earthquake in Japan:

As Japan braces itself for a possible further serious earthquake, and deals with the consequences of such massive devastation caused by the last one, not to mention the risk of a major nuclear incident, how should Christians respond? Please understand that none of this is intended to claim that we have all the answers to such a disaster. In fact, like Job’s friends’ initial response, often the best thing we can do is say absolutely nothing, and share people’s pain. 

I write this article with many unanswered questions. But, unlike those who allow suffering to drive them away from God, I am convinced that only God makes sense of suffering. For if the Japanese who died really were just the random fruit of evolution, why should it matter to us if they died? But if each of them are made in the image of their creator, and lovingly crafted together in their mother’s womb, our inherent feeling that suffering is NOT welcome in this world makes perfect sense. God loves every human being, they are precious to him.

 Adrian goes on to list the following ten points.

1. We should not be surprised
2. We should be humbled before the awesome power of "Nature."
3. We should not assume the end is at hand
   
4. We should not assume the end is not at hand
5. We should not specifically blame the Japanese.
6. We should not blame God, but we should pray.
7. We should understand that suffering is in the world due to sin in a general sense.
8. We must not assume the devil "won" this time.
9. We should look forward to the day when there will be no more pain.
10. We should share the glorious gospel of Jesus that brings us hope and work to relieve suffering.

 Please go to the link to read his entire piece.  May God have mercy on the people of Japan, and may his mercy extend to us all.

Facing Plan B

Just started reading Plan B: What Do You Do When God Doesn't Show Up The Way You Thought He Would, by Pete Wilson, lead pastor of Cross Point Church in Nashville, TN.  Some Quotes:

"Your dreams may not be happening, and things aren't turning out the way you expected, but that doesn't mean your life is spinning out of control.  It just means you're not in control."   Page 22

"The greatest of all illusions is the illusion of control."   Page 31

"I've noticed that those of us who have trusted our heavenly Father with our eternities often have a tough time trusting him with our tomorrow."  Page 61

"...When you respond in your current circumstances as if you were confident that God is there, you will see God in the circumstances... Because the simple truth is that God is there.  God is always there.  The problems come when we allow our circumstances to distort our perspective and we miss God."   Page 68

What Exactly Is The “Good”?

On of the most popular Bible promises is found in Romans 8:28 - "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."  Most Christians love to quote this verse, especially when things are going bad for ourselves or for our friends.  We cling to the idea that if we just hold on through our current problem, God has promised to make it good.

The question comes up, however, as to what exactly the word "good" means in this context.  I like (and agree with) what Mark Altrogge recently said at The Blazing Center:

"So what is the “good” that God is working in us? Ultimately, God causes all things to work together to:

• Conform us to the image of Christ
• Bring us into closer fellowship with himself
• Sanctify us
• Make us patient
• Make us compassionate toward others
• Teach us to trust him
• Prove and purify our faith
• Deliver us from temptation and sin
• Wean us from the world
• Make us long for heaven
• Produce endurance in us
• Drive us to the Word and prayer
• Humble us
• Teach us contentment in Christ
• And ultimately to glorify us"

Notice that the "good" does not necessarily include our personal comfort, security or pleasure. Nor does it often include His bringing our personal situations back to the ways we want them to be. After all, the promise is grounded in His purposes, not ours.

Guess what - Christian spirituality is not easy, is not going to become easy, and shouldn't be portrayed as easy.  Holiness is hard!

But Jesus is worth it.

Under the Knife, Feeling the Hammer

 A poem for those under the knife of the Divine Surgeon:

When God wants to drill a man
And thrill a man
And skill a man,
When God wants to mold a man
To play the noblest part;
When He yearns with all His heart
To create so great and bold a man
That all the world shall be amazed,
Watch His methods, watch His ways!
How He ruthlessly perfects
Whom He royally elects!
How he hammers him and hurts him,
And with mighty blows converts him
Into trial shapes of clay which
Only God understands;
While his tortured heart is crying
And he lifts beseeching hands!
How He bends but never breaks
When his good He undertakes;
How He uses whom He chooses
And with every purpose fuses him;
By every act induces him
To try His splendour out-
God knows what He’s about!”

-Author Unknown

Hat Tip: The Blazing Center » God Knows What He’s About

No Accidents

"You can look at providence through the lens of human autonomy and our idolatrous notions of freedom and see a mean God moving tsunamis and kings like chess pieces in some kind of perverse divine playtime.

Or you can look at providence through the lens of Scripture and see a loving God counting the hairs on our heads and directing the sparrows in the sky so that we might live life unafraid. “What else can we wish for ourselves,” Calvin wrote, ” if not even one hair can fall from our head without his will?”

There are no accidents in your life. Every economic downturn, every phone call in the middle of the night, every oncology report has been sent to us from the God who sees all things, plans all things, and loves us more than we know.

Whether it means the end of suffering or the extension of suffering, God in his providence is for us and not against us."

- Kevin DeYoung, The Good News We Almost Forgot: Rediscovering the Gospel in a 16th Century Catechism

BTW, I recommend Kevin DeYoung's books, and his blog.

Hat Tip: Trevin Wax: Kingdom People