May the Lord bless thee and keep thee.
May the Lord make His face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee.
May the Lord lift up His countenance upon thee and give thee His peace.
Numbers 6:24-26
Category: Wisdom
Saturday Saying
You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.
–Ralph Waldo Emerson
Good Morning? Good Night!
Maybe you just woke and had that first cup-o’. That’s where I am. Sorry I overslept.
I think of 2010 recently fallen asleep. Although the new year spreads out like an endless path before us, both inviting and scary, I’m looking back to that bumbling old thing I just put to bed. How was it with you?
My 2010 memories are amazing, filled with whole-house-cleaning for a friend, funerals, trying to hear God, birthday parties, gardening, trying to hear God, workshops, canning, trying to hear God, estate sales, college kids home, trying to hear God, a wedding, glorious concerts, trying to hear God, possums and snakes in the chickens, teaching ladies’ Bible study, trying to hear God, husband filling an interim over an hour away, 15 people staying several nights together, trying to hear God, losing opportunities, and trying to hear God.
Lots of it hurt. Much of it was so confusing. I’m glad it’s over.
At the end of the day, when it all shuts down, when the party’s over, when there’s no more silliness, when it gets quiet—when you cannot hear anything else but your own heartbeat, the next thing you hear will be…what?
Your dreams. What will they be? Where will they take you?
God only knows.
An Anatomy of Pain – Conclusion
What then are we to make of suffering?
If we are The Called, in Christ Jesus, everything that happens to us is for some higher purpose, even when life DOES go our way. We can know for sure that the pain of suffering unfair treatment, like all other things, works for good. The Scriptures promise this.
- Suffering at the hands of an enemy gives us rare opportunities to extend forgiveness to people in Jesus’ name.
- It can draw His precious ones closer to Him, if that’s what we want, not like those who move farther away from Him when they face suffering.
- It can quiet us from our boasting, give us peace within our limitations, and explain mourning to us in a way we can understand.
- Suffering can make us open our Bibles with new earnestness, and oftener, too.
- It can teach us new heights of patience with those who watch us and try to help us.
- It can cause us to acknowledge God’s authority over us, and to accept His working in our lives as the highest good.
- Finally, suffering can cause us to rest in our trust in God, full of His Holy Spirit, and to see His hand in everything that happens around us.
I pray these blessings on you all. They are the whole reason He came, anyway. Right?
An Anatomy of Pain – The Real Enemy
- Chess pawn 0985.jpg (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Oh, if only forgiveness were the end of it!
But it’s just the beginning.
Suffering doesn’t stop just because we’ve been nice. Our real enemy (who is not a human enemy), knows how to move his pawns and which buttons to push. Sometimes forgiveness must become more like a motto than a choice. Once that choice is functioning, insight grows for us in amazing ways.
We notice patterns. Painful, uncanny coincidences just “pop up”. Ever wonder if it was just you, or if life actually takes a nosedive once a month? At the least timely time? Like clockwork? Mark your calendar; he’ll be back when you’re at your weakest. Why not? He’s the enemy!
For our family, he tries a trick or two every Thanksgiving. I think it’s because we actually celebrate the “thanks” part of it, unto the Lord. Our enemy hates that. So we’ve had four wrecks (none our fault), a baby dehydrating in a hospital, a surgically repaired broken arm, a best friend’s funeral, a small housefire, an emergency cleaning at our church’s parsonage, and a dead refrigerator on ten separate Thanksgivings. We know when to start praying.
But the thanksgiving part is the most essential. If we turn to God in our pain, weakness, and fear; if we cling to Him in trust; if we thank Him and praise Him in obedience to His Word; we come away from our temptations, trials, and tests on His side of the line between life and death. He waits to help and longs for us to choose life.
Oh, but there’s more. During times of great mental or emotional pain we still have our relationships. Precious ones still need us. Promises stand unfulfilled. We simply cannot cry all day because of a meeting tonight. We cannot go for a long drive because of the children. We cannot rent a cabin away from it all because Mom will need her cancer checkup. Or something.
Then there’s the Word. How impossible it is to pitch a good old-fashioned fit with the Word echoing in our brains! Blessed are ye . . .Who for the joy set before Him endured . . . ye have not yet endured to the shedding of your blood . . . Wives, also . . . We end at the ultimate word on suffering: My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? And we realize: He has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one . . .
Could there possible be more? Yep. We always have helpers. People bring us food we aren’t supposed to eat. People comfort us with ungodly words. People say they love us and we know they lie. It is a call for the patience of the saints. Be a saint. After all, you do have needs. They mean no harm.
Eventually God takes you out, raises you above, gives you a plateau. The plateau has a name: Union with God. You realize it is not about you, was never about you. You realize your co-suffering with Jesus, your helping to fill what was lacking in His suffering, your place in the plan of salvation for someone else. It is heavenly. You see yourself through His eyes, as a warrior for Him, someone He trusts to do part of His work. It’s like a medals ceremony after a big battle.
Then you rest. Only then. Although He has held you tenderly by the hand through the whole nightmare, He now holds you IN His hand and you know you are, finally, safe.
An Anatomy of Pain – What in the World IS Forgiveness??
What Is Forgiveness? – The Word often depicts forgiveness as one of the most important teachings. But WHAT is it? Well, let’s start with what it is not.
Forgiveness is NOT:
- Saying, “Oh, it’s okay.” You can only say this if no one did you wrong, if you wouldn’t mind if they did it again. It is not okay with God for someone to do wrong. Don’t say it’s okay. That is not the truth. It is denial.
- Forgetting. You will remember, even after you forgive. We have brains that make decisions based on remembering. Our memories help us be safe. We do not have delete buttons. You are not God; don’t think you have to forget. That opens the door for excuses.
- Trusting. You do not have to trust an untrustworthy person, to prove you have forgiven him. The Bible often warns against trusting the untrustworthy. We must earn trust; no one can demand it. That is foolishness.
Now. Forgiveness IS:
- Saying, “I forgive you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Your feelings may be screaming and you may have to pray hard to say these words and to make them true. It’s okay. That is what the throne of grace is for—to get grace to help us in time of need.
- Refusing to remember the sin against the sinner. It is a contract. Yes, something bad happened, but it is forgiven. The debt is paid. If you wrote off a bad debt as a wedding gift to a young debtor, would you then hope for payment or send a bill? No. It is forgiven.
Actually, it is a lot like giving it to God. The word “forgive” means to give far. How far is far enough? The hands of God—leave it in His hands. That will do quite nicely. - Praying for the one who has hurt you. This is not optional. We are to love our enemies and do good to those who misuse us. It’s okay to do good from a distance, though. A card or phone call may be all you can manage. A secret pen pal note distances you even more, especially if you disguise your writing and mail from another town. Think hard—you can figure a safe way to bless the dangerous ones in your life.
We have to do this, Sisters. We must forgive, or we’re not forgiven, and who doesn’t need forgiving? We have to do this for our children’s sakes, too. When they see our ways with our enemies, when they see how we respond to our hurts, they will believe us more, about God.
And when God steps in and plants the forgiveness in your heart without any help from you, you’ll believe Him more, too.
An Anatomy of Pain – Remember, the World Hurts, Like a Sledge Hammer
Why it Hurts – Sticks and stones . . . you know names can hurt worse. A bruise from a stone heals in a week or two, but the pain from name calling can last as long as your memory. It can last as long as we let it.
We can let it hurt for ages.
Do we want it to hurt? Maybe there’s something inside us that does. Do we feel proud if we can get that lower lip to quiver one more time?
I mean, people, IT HURTS!
Right? People notice? They pet us some more? They feel sorry for us?
Maybe not.
It’s just the world – People! Them! It’s not my fault, remember! No, it’s just the world. We forget something: “In this world ye shall have tribulation.” It’s a promise from God, but not one of those promises we name and claim, is it?
Jesus told us. He warned us. We should know it. It’s part of being alive. Tribulation, from the Latin root meaning sledge-hammer. How appropriate. The alternative is leaving this old world behind. Being alive in this world includes getting hammered. Being alive in this world also includes being part of it. We are such sloppy communicators and such confused listeners, no one can help being part of the trouble.
God also told us, “The heart of man is desperately wicked. Who can know it?” I think that is part of the pain, too. We think we know so-and-so would never say that. We find out each person is capable of hammering on us. We think, finally, this relationship is secure.
Nope. Never.
As long as there are people, and that includes you and me, there will be hammerin’. People will hammer. They will hurt and not apologize. They will apologize and not sound sincere, not even know what they ought to have apologized for. It’s just the heart of man, including the women.
Sometimes, oh, I dunno, it seems, especially the women.
People don’t know what to apologize for because they have no idea they did anything. They truly have no idea what they are doing half the time, no idea what they’ve done. They say, “WHAT?!” and they mean it. What have I done? What is it THIS time? What?! They don’t know what they’re doing.
But we don’t remember something. The beloved voice that said, “In this world ye shall have tribulation,” also said, “Be of good cheer for I have overcome the world.” He did not mean He could lick any enemy of ours in a moment, although He could do that. No, He meant He has overcome the whole mess, you and me included. The whole world—He could lick it all in a moment, and He will.
The God who said, “The heart of man is desperately wicked,” also said that He knows our hearts. Oops. Scary business, that. On top of that, He told us to rejoice and look up when it got really bad, because He would be close on the heels of the Very Worst Day. When That Day comes, we’d better be ready.
We’d better be cheered up!
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