Month: January 2021

(This is the text of a devotion I gave to some fellow Christian workers this week. I am sharing it here with only a few minor tweaks.)

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.                     

Romans 5: 3-4  NLT

It’s my privilege to help us think about a couple of verses I don’t  particularly like but which have become very special to me in recent years. They are about rejoicing in difficulties.

When I am hurting, I don’t want to be told to rejoice. And I am certainly not going to tell anybody else I care about who is in the midst of despair ‘to rejoice’. The apostle Paul, however, told us that we can rejoice in problems and trials. And this is the passage that we have been asked to meditate on today. So here we are. 

Suffering and Buddhism

Buddhism has a lot to say about suffering. In fact, in many ways, Buddhism is all about the ‘why’ of suffering and ‘how to’ for avoiding it.

About 2 1/2 millennia ago, the one recognised as the first Buddha was motivated to meditate after witnessing suffering. He was protected from the harsh realities of life for a while, but it was impossible to completely avoid encountering things like illness, poverty and injustice. One particularly lengthy period of meditation culminated in what Buddhists call ‘enlightenment’.

And that, we are told, is how Buddhism began. Buddhism is primarily about how to avoid suffering. Avoiding attachment helps temporarily. The great hope of Buddhism is to eventually escape samsara, the cycle of suffering.

Suffering today

We all witness and experience suffering. Perhaps it relates to frustrations and disappointments in ministry. Maybe it is due to financial pressure or illness or isolation. Certainly covid and the restrictions imposed in an effort to limit its spread have created enormous difficulties, isolation and deep sadness for many. For people living from pay check to pay check and especially for those without some form of social security, the economic impact of covid has caused tremendous suffering.

How can we make sense of suffering? The passage we are looking at today even tells us to rejoice (or glory) in suffering. Is that even possible?

Suffering and faith in Christ

The Bible directly addresses the ‘why’ of suffering too, as well as touching on the ‘how to’ of dealing with it. In what the Bible terms as ‘the kingdom of light’, we are called not to avoid suffering but to actually embrace it. Suffering won’t last for eternity, but right now, we don’t run from it.

Suffering is part of the curse of sin, according to the Bible. The cost of dealing with it is exorbitant. Jesus, the ‘light of the world’, set us a powerful example of accepting suffering. We are called to follow his example.

What’s more, because of our hope in Jesus, we can even rejoice when we run into problems and trials. 

Hope is the key

How is it possible to rejoice in suffering? As today’s verses state, it is all because of the hope that we have – a confident hope of God’s glory in which we have a part through Jesus.

According to these verses, suffering actually serves to strengthen that hope. As Paul puts it: “And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because …” (it strengthens our hope) (Romans 5:2b-3a NIV ).

As an aside, let me mention that in the translation of the text given to me for this devotion, we are told to ‘rejoice’ when we encounter difficulties. That is in the New Living Translation. In the New International Version, quoted in the paragraph above, we are told to ‘glory’ in our sufferings.

The word used in the original language – καυχώμεθα (kauchōmetha) – contains aspects of both, as well as an element of boasting. Personally, as I face trouble, I prefer to think about how I can ‘glory’ in it rather than to ‘rejoice’ in it. Nevertheless, I will stick to the translation that I was given. It’s not incorrect. It just illustrates the limits of translation.

However you translate it, we don’t rejoice or glory or boast in the specifics of the stressors in our lives. We rejoice and glory and boast in the hope that we have.

Paul put it like this:

Problems and trials –> endurance –> strength of character –> our confident hope of salvation is strengthened.

Based on Romans 2:3-4

A theme verse

Let me share with you a personal application of this passage from 2015. I did something very brave and perhaps somewhat stupid at the start of that year.

I asked people to pray this passage specifically for me during what I was expecting would be a rough few months. I was particularly taken by wording of Eugene Peterson from ‘The Message’ where he says that suffering helps us ‘develop passionate patience’.

“Please pray that God will ‘develop passionate patience’ in me,” I wrote to praying people. It was a shocker of a year. In 2015, I played a part in dealing with major conflict. Then there was a cancer diagnosis, surgery and further treatment. I had an international move, which also entailed losing or changing roles and moving far from good friends. Friends here moved too. I appreciated those prayers for ‘passionate patience’ but by the end of the year, I was saying, “ENOUGH!”

Did I rejoice in the difficulties? Um … not exactly … but I was way more calm than I would have been without what Paul calls here ‘the confident hope of salvation’. 

Let me share two more examples … Biblical examples this time … of how godly people dealt with problems and trials. The first is Paul, who wrote this passage, and the second is Abraham, whom Paul wrote about in the chapter immediately preceding these verses. 

Paul

“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials…,” wrote Paul. He had real credibility when he wrote these words because he knew what it meant to suffer.

You are familiar, I am sure, with Paul’s boasts about his weaknesses in 2 Corinthians 11 and 12. He boasted about working so hard that he was frequently absolutely exhausted. Then there was the hunger and thirst he endured, let alone imprisonment, flogging, stoning, three shipwrecks, and being in danger from people he perceived as threats as well as those he had thought were friends. And then, of course, he had that ‘thorn in the flesh’, a messenger of Satan sent by God to keep him humble … whatever that was.

Mind you, his suffering had a point … it was part of his co-operation with God in his kingdom work. It seems easier to rejoice in suffering when the suffering has purpose. 

Abraham

What about when there seems to be no purpose to our suffering? What about when our suffering is actually more about inactivity – waiting, waiting, waiting and waiting some more? Abraham knew what that was like. He waited, sometimes impatiently, but he waited for that promised son. Paul described it like this:

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations…. Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead – since he was about a hundred years old – and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

Romans 4:18a, 19-21 NIV

This story of Abraham’s hope and patience in the waiting is not just a piece of history. It has direct relevance for us. Paul went on to explain how.

This is why it was credited to him as righteousness. The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness – for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.”

Romans 4:22-24 NIV

That passage leads directly into the ‘therefore’ which begins Romans 5, and comes immediately prior to the verses that we have been asked to meditate on today. “Therefore … we have been justified … we have peace with God … we have access into the grace of God … and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings….”.

It’s all about hope.

Sarah

Imagine Abraham … waiting and wondering … wondering and waiting. As a woman, however, I identify more closely with Sarah.

Imagine Sarah’s crushing disappointment month after month until her monthly cycles dried up and, it would seem, her hopes of motherhood too. Imagine the shame and stigma she endured in those times of barrenness.

Through it all, we read that Abraham “did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” (Romans 4:21). I wonder how Sarah managed, though.

Abraham is held up as the model of hope. Sarah, perhaps, was a little more pragmatic. She sent her servant, Hagar, to do what she thought needed to be done to try and move things along. She was also keen to hold in her arms the one whose birth would fulfil her husband’s hopes. Abraham, who clearly wasn’t perfect, went along with Sarah’s plan.

Let’s stick with Abraham’s example of waiting as something to be imitated. In fact, let’s interpret Sarah’s efforts of trying to do God’s work for him as an example of what not to do while we put up with the suffering of waiting. 

Hope in God’s glory

The hope of Abraham and of Paul is the same hope that enables us to rejoice in our sufferings. It is not the hope of finally being rid of our sufferings. It is not even the hope that we will find purpose in our sufferings. It is the hope that God will do what he has promised.

That promise does not centre on us, but it centres on God’s glory. Paul puts it like this:

And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.

Romans 5:2b NIV

God’s kingdom is coming and is, in a sense, already here. His glory is our great and certain hope. We have the privilege of participation in God’s work. We are given some special pictures of God’s glory in the book of Revelation, including this one, illustrating a Biblical sense of ‘enlightenment’:

I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendour into it.

Revelation 21:22-24 NIV

Mutual encouragement

The hope of the glory of God is sure and a reason to rejoice with all our energy in music and dance as well as other ways. But in a mysterious way, Paul explains, we can also rejoice in our sufferings. Pushing through problems and trials serves to strengthen our hope. Let’s encourage one another, even in our sufferings, and especially in our sufferings, to persevere.

It still feels too much of a strain to say to hurting people, ’Rejoice’ … but rejoice we can. We most likely will not enjoy the experiences, but our joy – our rejoicing – comes because of our hope. Our hope is in the glory of God.

Think of Paul … think of Abraham … think of God’s people around you who persevere in suffering. Be encouraged by the hope that drives the perseverance and joy of the people of God.

May God be glorified as we endure with hope.

A prayer

Lord Jesus, we come to you, the one who endured incredible suffering so that we could be reconciled to our Creator and Sustainer. Please will you strengthen each of us in our difficulties and grow us through your indwelling Spirit. Please will you help us not only to endure but even to rejoice when we run into problems and trials. We know in our minds that persevering in trouble develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. It’s harder to experience that in our hearts though. Please strengthen us in our difficulties. We commit ourselves to you afresh as people of hope. In Jesus’ name we pray, and for your glory. Amen. 

There is no space in or around the sink. A stainless steel bowl, to the right of the sink, is full of stuff which is soaking. Not everything fits in the bowl. To the left of the sink, on the drainer, are more things, washed yesterday but not yet put away. I take a deep breath and start. One thing at a time.

Until I notice the outdoor sun-blocking blind just outside the kitchen window. Today is the first time this summer that I have used it and the back of the blind is covered in cobwebs. I consider going out to brush them off, but it is too hot out there.

Which reminds me that the cat is outside. Is she too hot? I brave the heat and find her sprawled in the shade. She meows at me contentedly. But then I notice the tomato plants nearby. I had planned to buy some bird netting today to protect the new fruit … but it is too hot to venture to the shops just now. I look at the dry soil. Should I water them in the heat of the day? Probably not. Should I pour my used coffee grounds (currently in an unwashed coffee pot) with water on them tonight though? I go back in and look up ‘coffee grounds’ and ‘tomato plants’ on the internet.

Back to the kitchen and to the remainder of the dishes….. Not only is the outside blind covered in cobwebs but the inside window sill is pretty dirty too. I take down the pot plants and miniature birds, one at a time. I wipe them over and, in the case of the indoor plants, water them. At which point, I realise that it has been a long time since I fertilised the African violet. Now where is that fertiliser?

Trying to impose order in my little home, let alone life, feels never-ending. Chinese has a great phrase for it – 没完没了 – without finish and without completion.

Order in life

Order is finally somewhat restored inside my kitchen, at least. I put the kettle on and sit down to ask the Lord what he would have me write about today. Putting in time on a regular blog is another part of the order I want in my life.

Whether it is God nudging me or just where I’m at right now, I decide to write about ‘order’. So – here we are – sitting inside with a journal and a now cool cat whom I forced inside against her will. It was 36 degrees out there and she is an old fat cat. I think it is too hot for her out there, even if she disagrees.

I love my little home. But just sometimes, I think I would like to join a modern Protestant nunnery … something like the Anglican order behind the popular books and television show, ‘Call the Midwife.’ I am attracted by the orderly lifestyle of such an institution. Their emphasis on order is why they call such religious orders ‘orders’.

I don’t believe that God has called me to a religious order, however. I’m quietly confident that right here, right now, is where I should be. That is another story. Suffice to say that it is up to me to impose order on my life rather than submit myself to someone else’s idea of order.

Hence this blog post.

God’s order and creativity

God reveals himself (in part) through all he has made and sustains. In creation, I find ample evidence of his orderliness and creativity.

Day and night – summer and winter – oxygen in and carbon dioxide out for people and animals, but the reverse for plants – birth, maturation and even ageing and death in its time – all around us, we see order. When order is disrupted, we sense dis-ease (lack of ease) … dis-ease in our world (floods, fires, avalanches, wars etc) and, of course, dis-ease in our bodies (viruses, aches and pains, premature death etc).

Within the orderliness of creation, we also see evidence of God’s creativity. Colours – bird calls – animal designs – natural beauty – his hand is evident in it all. As God’s image bearers, we are also creative. We make beautiful things within various structures – music – art – gardens – architecture – cuisine – fashion – literature and more.

Yet sometimes order breaks down and we end up with danger, ugliness and mess. Just think, for example, about houses that have not been built safely, food that has not been hygienically handled, bodies that have been abused by unhealthy lifestyles, ‘music’ that is performed by people uninterested in scales or arpeggios, or even a kitchen sink overflowing with dirty dishes.

And at times, of course, for no reason other than that we live in a broken world, we suffer disease, both physical and dis-ease as in a lack of peace……

A challenge

I said earlier that there are aspects of life in a religious order that appeal to me. But a religious order is not where I sense God would have me right now.

Here in my own little unit in the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne, I have the unique privilege of (mostly) managing my own time. I am generously supported by kind people who believe in the value of what I am and do. Yet in order to do and be all that I sense God has called me to do and be, I need order in my daily life. As do we all.

Simply ‘being’ – being a woman of God in a world which needs him – is a role I relish. I am talking here of ‘being’ our Lord’s representative as I interact with people from various backgrounds, some of whom barely even know that there is a Creator God. These days, such interactions mostly come through language lessons, whether as a teacher or a student. The Bible talks about us being light, being salt and being the fragrance of life (or the stench of death) … but even just ‘being’ takes intentionality. It takes time and energy, planning and turning up to simply ‘be’ as I spend time with other people. To maximise ‘being’ with others, I need order in my life.

Having time to learn and to think about things that matter, things that can impact what we do as well as how and why we do them, is also something I appreciate. I am thinking here about a couple of different roles I enjoy in academia and various networks. But those flashes of insights only come as a result of hours of reading, writing, listening, discussing, praying and good-old-fashioned thinking. Again, order is necessary.

One of my hobbies, of course, is writing, and that includes this blog post. This format has a particular order to it. It calls for small sections with various headings to break up the text into bite-sized chunks. I’d love to learn to write poetry, but the ideal order of rhythm and rhyme is beyond me. Without order in my week, the blog posts wouldn’t get written. Yet one person who is particularly impacted by me sitting down regularly, putting pen to paper then fingers to the keyboard, is myself. If anyone else benefits, that is a bonus. And so I continue to write. And I continue to order my days so that I have time to write.

Herein lies the challenge. How do I create enough order in my life to facilitate these interesting and meaningful activities and identities? Let alone keep on top of domesticity?

A caveat

By the way, I hope you don’t think that I am writing about the importance of order because I struggle to be productive in life. That’s not the case. I will admit, however, to struggling to balance a variety of interesting responsibilities with boring but necessary household and administrative tasks.

Also, just in case you wondered, I am held somewhat accountable for how I use my work hours. I’m not a totally free agent. I won’t bore you with the details, but there are a few lines of accountability in place.

Imitating the God of order in community

As image bearers of God, the Creator and Sustainer of all that is, we are called to impose order on our environments. We bring order to our homes, workplaces and communities even as we express our creativity. In fact, it is hard, if not impossible to be creative without some sense of order.

But sometimes I get overwhelmed. It is important for me to remember that I am not actually the Unlimited Great God of Order. My abilities and perspective are limited. I am just one part of the community that is God’s people. God is big. I am small.

I would love to have a gorgeous garden, pristine cupboards, incredible output in terms of writing, hours regularly spent with individuals in various roles, healthy gastronomic delights emerging from my kitchen every day and generally contribute well to the various communities to which I belong. But I can’t do it all.

What I can do is to recognise the tension between my desires … many of which are God-given … and my limited resources. I love my flexible lifestyle but recognise that the freedom to do a lot doesn’t equate to the capacity to do everything.

I also recognise that I am part of a community of God’s people and have a role to play there. A role. Perhaps even several roles. But definitely not every role.

The point is ….

Here comes the point of this week’s blog post. It seems so obvious that I hesitate to share it. It’s nothing new, but putting it into words will help me. So … drum roll please……

As the Creator’s image bearer, I have a responsibility to impose order on my environment. That is a necessary part of creativity.

That includes accepting the limitations of my humanity. I have been given flexibility and ability to do some things well … but not everything.

This doesn’t mean that everything in my life is ordered to the nth degree, including banishing webs from the kitchen blind. It also doesn’t meant that I need a routine similar to that imposed by a Mother-Superior-equivalent.

I need to maintain basic order in life in order to be productive. And I need to recognise that committing time and energy to maintaining order is as much a part of my God-ordained work as are the more interesting and enjoyable parts of it.

Disorder versus peace

I would like to finish with a nice ‘proof text’ from the Bible. However, it would be remiss of me not to mention that the context of this verse is not actually about imposing order on our physical environments. It is about maintaining order in corporate worship. The principle is similar, though. It is only when there is order that we can we fully live out our God-given roles as part of a community of God’s people. In this community, each of us have different roles. None of us are called to do or be everything.

And so, as I go into a new week, full of all sorts of interesting activities as well as a few boring ones, I remind myself of this truth:

… God is not a God of disorder but of peace….

1 Corinthians 14:33 NIV

Where there is order, there is peace. Disorder leaders to dis-ease.

Order is important. Now to put these fancy words into action….

How do you feel as we look ahead to all that 2021 may (or may not) hold?

Although I am usually an optimist, there is one thing that fills my heart with dread this year.

It’s the dentist.

Many people are focused on the virus and its repercussions, on political tensions around the globe, on trade wars, on the refugee crisis, on health worries … BIG things. I don’t deny that these are concerning matters. My thoughts, however, are elsewhere.

Just before Christmas, I visited my dentist because of ongoing issues with a tooth … or the gum … or something. The verdict was that a root canal from seven years back has failed. The dentist has referred me to an endodontist.

What IS an endodontist? Are endodontists so specialised that they spell ‘dentist’ with an ‘o’? ‘Endo’ means ‘within’, I understand. I have since learnt that endodontists deal with ‘dental pulp’. That sounds gross. Worm-like. And expensive.

“Can’t you just pull the tooth out?” I pleaded with the no-frills-dentist. I hate dental work generally, but even more frightening are the bills.

“We would rather exhaust all other possibilities first,” the dentist explained as I lay there with dental sunglasses under a bright light, my mouth finally and blessedly relieved of all the dental paraphernalia. “Let the endodontist have a look under a microscope. If he can’t do anything, he’ll send you back here to have the tooth pulled. But if he can do a root canal repair, that would be best. Even if it only gives you another two years of life with your own tooth, that would be worth it.”

That would be worth it?

PANIC

A promise

Sufferers of dental disease in the Middle East in the seventh century BC either coped with it or had their teeth pulled without modern anaesthetics.

The people of Isaiah’s day had bigger problems than dodgy teeth, though. Many of them found themselves in exile in Babylon, far from their promised land. They considered themselves abandoned, forgotten by their God. (See, for example, Isaiah 40:27.)

And yet, despite their distress, look at what God told his people through the prophet Isaiah.

So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:10 NIV

Don’t fear … but why not? (Part 1)

When we think about WHO made this promise, fear fizzles away, despite the dire circumstances.

This God is the Judge of all the earth (Isaiah 41:1). The judge of all the earth was THEIR God. The authorities in Babylon were not the ultimate judges.

What’s more, in his sovereignty, God uses earthly rulers to do his bidding. Isaiah 41:2 contains a promise referring to the Persian king, Cyrus, whose army would one day conquer their oppressor, Babylon. God is sovereign, even using those do not recognise him to fulfil his purposes. “So – do not fear,” he said, “for I am with you.”

God also claims in this chapter to be the First and Last, the Uncreated One (Isaiah 41:4). No wonder he was sovereign and had the right to judge.

Those exiled Israelites with downcast eyes could raise their heads and stand tall when they remembered whose they were. God has a bird’s eye view of history, the future and those Jews’ place in the great span of time and space. This very same God instructed them, “… do not be dismayed for I am your God.”

Exile was not going to finish anytime soon. No, those original recipients of the promise would actually die in exile. Their descendants would return to their own land one day, but not them. Yet even in this distressing state, they did not need to fear. In fact, they were commanded not to fear nor be dismayed.

Don’t fear … but why not? (Part 2)

Keeping in mind the nature of God, Isaiah then continued with more reasons about why these exiles should not fear. In just one verse – Isaiah 41:10 – God gave not one, not two, not three, not four but five reasons for confidence.

1. “I am with you,” said the LORD.
2. “I am your God,” he reminded them. They may have slipped away from devotion to God, but he had not forgotten them.
3. “I will strengthen you,” he said, reminding me of another promise spoken just a chapter earlier to the same people: “… But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength…” (Isaiah 40:31a).
4. “I will help you,” God added.
5. “I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Their oppressors could force them into exile, but God’s righteous right hand was undergirding them, nonetheless.

God’s people in 2021

We live in a messy world, and it seems to be getting messier by the day just now.

God hasn’t changed over the centuries, however. Although we are not in the sandals of the original recipients of that precious promise of Isaiah 41:10, we are God’s people if we follow Jesus. God has redeemed us through his own Son. He has indwelt us with his Spirit. The New Testament is packed with explanations of how it is that non-Jews like me have been incorporated into the ‘people of God’.

Consider this. The First and the Last, the Uncreated One, the Judge of all the earth remains sovereign. The craziness of our current era has not caught him by surprise. He even uses power-hungry rulers to fulfil his own purposes. (I’m honestly not pointing at any particular high profile leader here – there are actually quite a few I have in mind.) THIS God is our God. And he is with us.

God does not promise to rescue us from our troubles right here and right now, though ultimately he will. The hope of being plucked out of our difficulties is not a reason to not be afraid. (Sorry about the double negative there.)

God is with us. This is why we need not fear. In fact, we are commanded not to fear. The apostle to the Gentiles (to people like me) put it like this:

The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:5b-7 NIV

Eagles

This whole section of Isaiah is filled with precious promises. There are two that caught my eye.

The first is that promise of strength which I mentioned earlier. Actually, it was ‘my verse’ for 2020. I have blogged about that before.

… But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength, They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 40:31 NIV

I like to think of eagles soaring high and unimpeded by the troubles beneath them. However, as I look at this promise in context, I see that Isaiah was not talking about leaving trouble behind and so gaining strength. In fact, the context is more like life in a pressure cooker.

In the thick of trouble, we who hope in the LORD will renew our strength. We will rise up on wings like eagles … even if we feel more like galahs.

Jesus said something along the same lines as Isaiah to his followers:

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

John 16:33 NIV

That applies to us too.

Worms

The second promise that amuses and encourages me both is this:

Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob, O little Israel,
for I myself will help you,” declares the LORD,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

Isaiah 41:14 NIV

This promise encourages me because, though I may feel small … and am small … God is with me and He himself helps me.

This promise amuses me because worms don’t have teeth! I have been quietly panicking about upcoming dental work and the bills for the last two weeks. Then God points me to a verse about worms … toothless pulpy creatures. And just look at what God said to his people next:

See, I will make you into a threshing sledge,
new and sharp, with many teeth.

Isaiah 41:15a

As I embark on 2021, I look ahead with hesitation to God only knows how many hours with a dentist / endodontist and at what cost. God does not promise to pluck us out of difficulties right here and now, but he does promise to be with us in them.

When I remember that he is with me, I need not be afraid. I just need to put my hope in the LORD.

Mind you, it’s easier said than done. Yet the fact remains: He IS with us. So … do not fear, caffeinated worm.