Not Just for Me

Last weekend I went on a beautiful road trip down to Georgia. The drive was a visual delight as most of the trees had turned shades of yellow and orange and red. Autumn is such a lovely time of the year.
One of the things I like to do on long drives is listen to sermons. My sweet sister prepared a couple of CDs for me of John Piper’s preaching on 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. Romans 8:28   

This verse has become very dear to me and continues to be so as I continue this journey with Jesus Christ. Sometimes this verse is what sustains me on painful days and dark nights. There was a point earlier this year when I began doubting this verse. In my limited wisdom and perspective, I could not see God working for my good in the midst of the situations and trials I found myself in. I couldn’t see Him at work and couldn’t imagine how He could bring beauty from the ashes that surrounded me. But God is gracious and faithful and patient even when His children waver in trusting in Him or His promises. He gently showed me that I had a choice: I could believe and claim this promise by faith or I could continue to doubt Him and forsake the only one in whom hope and life are found. Because God’s grace and mercy is limitless and because He sustains His children and nothing can separate us from Him, He gave me endurance and strength to believe this promise by faith, even if it was just a mustard seed of faith.

So I began believing this verse again and resting in the character of God through which the Lord grew my trust in His sovereignty and goodness and through which He comforted me through the sorrow and pain. But what Piper brought to my attention is that this verse gives not only comfort for the past, it is also provides hope for the future. Look at the context of this verse. The Apostle Paul is talking about persecution and suffering and sorrow and impending death, and, yet, he says that no one can be against us. How can this be? The truth is there are many things against us and there are many things that can harm us, but, ultimately, we are eternally united with Christ and our victory is secure. We can stand firm because He is our unshakable foundation. The worst thing that can happen to us is death, but even that ushers us into the presence of God where we will behold the face of Jesus Christ. So this verse gives hope for the future because we can confidently do what God calls us to do, no matter what the risk or danger may be, precisely because God is currently working in all things for our good and is working in whatever may happen for our good. And that’s a pretty awesome promise.

The Lord is also showing me, though, that the things in my life – whether struggles or joys – are not always for me. Now they will, of course, affect me because they are happening in my life, but sometimes God allows things into my life so that He can work in the lives of others. So even though He will still use the circumstance for my good, He may be working ultimately in and through the situation I am going through to ultimately affect someone else’s life for their good. My pastor stated this truth much better in this blog post, which I encourage you to read.

There are many examples of this in Scripture. I want to point out just a few of them. I will list them, not chronologically, but from the amount of the evidence of how these individuals could see God working through their circumstance. In other words, how clearly they saw that God was allowing hard things in their lives in order to save the lives of others.

First there is Joseph (Genesis 37-50). His is one of my all-time favorite stories in the Bible. I love the way that the Lord worked through His life and I love the way that Joseph never seemed to falter in his faith in God. Joseph was 17 and the favorite son of his father. He had 10 half-brothers who hated him for his favored status. They sinfully plotted to kill him, but wound up changing their minds and selling him into slavery instead. He became the servant to Pharaoh’s captain of the guard in Egypt. The Lord prospered him in his work and he found great favor with his master – that is, until his master’s wife falsely accused him of trying to rape her. This accusation sent him to prison. Again, the Lord prospered him in his work and he found great favor with the prison guard. He had a glimmer of hope of getting out when he correctly interpreted a dream one of the Pharaoh’s servants had, but he was soon forgotten. Finally, the Pharaoh himself had a dream and he was called upon to interpret it. When he did so, Pharaoh made him the number two ruler in the land. God had brought him from slavery to be the second most powerful man in Egypt. When his was reunited with his father and brothers, he did not use his power to enact vengeance. He did not hold what they did to him against them. Instead, he recognized that God had worked through those tragic circumstances to save others. Here is what Joseph said to his brothers:

And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Genesis 45:5-8

Another example is Esther (the Book of Esther). She was a young, beautiful Jewish girl. In fact, she was the most beautiful woman in the Persian Empire. The king had just got rid of his wife for disobeying him and was looking to replace her, so he held a sort-of beauty contest and chose Esther to be his new queen. As Piper points out, this isn’t a good thing. She was a Jewish woman who loved God and had a promising future, but now she has just become part of a pagan king’s harem. It is not like she was at home daydreaming about marrying the king. He was no prince charming. But the Lord was working through her situation to save many lives. She had been brought to the palace, to this point in history for “such a time as this” (Esther 4:14) and God used her to intercede for the Jewish people when one of the king’s men wanted to annihilate them.

Finally, there is Leah (Genesis 29-30 - Thank you, Melissa, for drawing her story to my attention!). Her story is harder because it is much more bleak and she never really sees the good that comes from her life, but God does use her. She was one of the wives of Jacob and desperately wanted his love, except he loved his other wife (her sister) Rachel more. When God blessed her with conceiving several sons, almost every time she would say, “Now my husband will love me,” but he didn’t. Even though she bore Jacob six sons, she did not draw his affection away from Rachel. And so was the story of her life. She never lived to see the good that God was working from her situation. In fact, the good that came from her life wasn’t realized until thousands of years later. You see she was the mother of Judah and through his line came the promised Messiah, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. So although she did not receive the favor she longed for from her husband, she did find favor with God. He saw her affliction; He saw how she was overlooked by her husband; and He chose to use one of her sons as the family line for His Son. He did this so that many people would be save.

David Platt put it like this: “What if God ordained suffering and persecution in our lives for the salvation of others?” And that is what we see in these examples. Joseph experienced much hardship. He was separated from his family of origin, betrayed, enslaved, falsely accused, imprisoned, and forgotten, and God ordained and used all of these things to position him as the second most powerful man in Egypt in order that his family, the people of Israel, might be saved. Esther was made the wife of a pagan king who was not Kosher or God-fearing so that God would use her to save the people of Israel. And Leah was trapped in a loveless marriage, deceitfully arranged by her father, which was ordained and used by God to bring about the family line from the people of Israel through which He would send His Son and save the world. God’s purposes are so much bigger than us and He chooses to include us in His kingdom story of redeeming the nations. Joseph, Esther, Leah – all used to save a people…and save the world because from this people the Messiah would come.

And all of this points ultimately to Jesus Christ, God’s very own son. He is called the man of sorrows. He was misunderstood. He was rejected by many. He was called demon-possessed and a drunkard. He was falsely accused and arrested. He was beaten beyond recognition and nailed to a a cross. He was spit upon and mocked. He was slaughtered. And this was all ordained and used by God so that many people would be saved. Because He did not stay dead. He rose from the grave three days later in power and glory. God ordained suffering and persecution and death in the life of His Son for the salvation of sinful people like you and me. This is extremely good news for us. The suffering of Christ was not for Him, it was for us. And sometimes our suffering is not for us as well.

The S Word

The Lord has taught me a lot of lessons lately that have been hard and, um, well, unpleasant.

Patience, perseverance, suffering, silence, trust, my sinfulness, being vulnerable with others, waiting…

Add another one to that list: submission. Yes, I said it. It is a word that strikes fear into the hearts of most women – especially liberal women. Now I don’t consider myself liberal by any means and I didn’t think I had a problem with submission - that is, until Jesus showed me I did. He has used my job, my family and, most recently, the organization I am applying to work overseas with to reveal the rebellion in my heart. Yeah, I don’t have a problem with submission when it comes to people who I’m on the same page with (professors, pastors/elders and most people in authority over me) or when we disagree but it doesn't affect me directly. I submit to their authority with joy. But the Lord has placed some people in my life that I struggle submitting to joyfully. It’s a painful reality. And what’s worse is that I am ultimately balking against the authority of God because He, in His wisdom and grace, places people in authority over me (Romans 13:1). Sigh. I've been doing a lot of repenting lately.

So even though I may not agree with the methods or logic of some of the God-given authorities in my life, I am to submit to them. That is the example you see in Scripture and it is commanded in Scripture (Titus 3:1; 1 Peter 2:13). Now this isn’t to say you submit even when the person in charge tells you to do something that defies God’s Word – the Scripture is clear that we always obey God rather than man (Acts 5:29) – but it is to say that when it is not an issue of denying Christ or His Word, but rather a matter of preference or personality, then submission is the command from the Lord…even when the authority is wrong or mistreats you (1 Peter 2:18-25). Check out this example from Genesis 16. Sarai did not have children, even though God had promised her and her husband Abram that He would give them children. She waited and she waited, but still no children. So she took matters into her own hands. She had her servant girl, Hagar, sleep with Abram in order to have children by her. But when Hagar became pregnant, the two women despised each other, and Sarah began mistreating her. Eventually Hagar ran away. She could run from Sarai, but not from God.

The angel of the LORD found [Hagar] by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” The angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” Genesis 16:7-9

This doesn’t mean that Sarai was justified in her actions, but it does mean that we are supposed to submit even when those over us misunderstand us or treat us harshly. Because God is sovereign, He can work through even the harshest authority. God promised to make Hagar’s son into a great nation and part of that plan included her living with Sarai and Abram for a time. The Lord is very purposeful in arranging every detail of our lives. Who can tell what plans the Lord might have for us and the authorities He has over us?

Now submission is a hard thing for us (and it’s not just women – submission is hard for all people). We like to be in control. We like to call the shots. And basically it comes down to the fact that we are – here are two more S-words – selfish sinners. We believe we have to right to be understood. We believe we have to right to be treated fairly. We believe we have the right to peace and happiness. We believe we have the right to do what we think is right. So anyone that infringes on that right is wrong and our natural response is to rebel (and this can be in actions, words, attitude and/or thoughts). We live in a culture that demands rights: abortion rights, women’s rights, gay-marriage rights, education rights, etc. That’s why these are such hot issues because when the government or an organization or a religious body tries to place parameters on these so-called rights, they are seen as imposing on peoples’ inherent “rights.”

What the Lord is showing me is that I have no rights. The only "right" I have, the only thing I deserve is to be separated from God and eternally punished, which is what we all deserve (Romans 3:23). When you look at it that way, we are all actually doing far better than we deserve. But God is a gracious and just and merciful God and instead of giving us what we deserve, He sent His perfect Son, Jesus Christ, to take our punishment and restore us to Him, so that those who believe in Jesus might be saved (Romans 5:8; Acts 16:31). In that great exchange, we believers still don't have any rights in the way we think of rights as Americans. We have been bought with the precious and priceless blood of Christ and we are His (1 Corinthians 6:20, 7:23; 1 Peter 1:18-21). We give up all our perceived "rights" when we come to Him. Our will is to do His. Plus, He rewards us with a set of different "rights" that are far better than we could have imagined (Rev. 22:14).

Another truth is that there is freedom in submission. When we honor the authorities God has placed over us (whether that be in government or in the work place or at church or in a family), there is actually peace and joy and stability. We, as people, are sheep that need guidance in every area of our lives. Jesus is our ultimate Shepherd, but He has placed people under Him to shepherd His people. This is because we are, in all reality, helpless and pitiful and are incapable of calling the shots for very long in our own lives. So, yeah, those over us may not be perfect, but neither are we. There may be some that may be hard to submit to, but we sometimes aren’t that easy to lead. The difficulties we face in submission are another reminder that we’re not Home yet. We’re still awaiting the perfect King, the perfect Husband, the perfect Teacher, the perfect Leader, Jesus Christ, who will lead us into everlasting peace and righteousness (Philippians 3:20; Revelation 7:17).

Great is Thy Faithfulness

    “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

The Lord has overwhelmed me this week with His grace and faithfulness in such a way that I’m not sure that I’ll recover from it…nor do I want to. He has reminded me that He has heard my every prayer even when heaven was silent and no answer seemed to be coming. But He was working in ways I could not see to bring about the answers in His own way and in His own timing.

First, there is my friend from India. I haven't seen her for about a year and a half, but I haven’t stopped praying for her salvation (though I have been tempted to stop). The Lord has saw fit to bring her back into my life. She “happened” to call my sister two weeks ago and, while they were talking, she got my number, which she apparently had lost. I then found out that she “happens” to live less than a mile from me (we have both moved since the last time we saw each other). We hung out this weekend over coffee, and the Lord graciously gave me the opportunity and the boldness to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with her. She told me that she didn’t know what god she was praying to, but knew that there was a higher power/energy directing her life. The Lord brought Acts 17 to my mind and He empowered me to share with her how God created her and brought her to where she is now in life so that she would seek Him and find her way to Him because He is not far from her (Acts 17:27).

Second, there is my cousin. I started praying for his salvation over 10 years ago. My home church of Meadow Heights challenged the congregation to pray for someone daily at a certain time each day for a certain length of time. The Lord laid him on my heart, and have been praying for him almost daily ever since. His picture is in my Bible as a constant reminder to ask God to save him. His name is written under the carpet of Meadow Heights in faith that God would save him and bring him to that church. The Lord has given me numerous opportunities to talk to him about Christ at family get-togethers, and when he stopped coming to those, the Lord gave me the idea to send him a birthday card every year in which the Lord will lead me to some word of Scripture to share with him. During this past year, I started praying that the Lord will bring someone into his life to share Christ with him more regularly. The Lord did just that. My dad's and cousin’s paths began crossing almost every week and my dad would talk about Christ with him. Then, last Sunday, my cousin surrendered his life to the Lord. I have been praying and hoping and longing for this for such a long time that I almost feel as if my life's work is complete. The Lord, indeed, is mighty to save (Isaiah 63:1).

Finally, there is a young woman I met on a short-term trip to Central Asia. My church, Rolling Fields, sends a team to Central Asia every October. My sister and I went last October. This year’s team just got back yesterday. They asked me if I remember meeting a certain young woman from last year. I told them I did, and they told me that she has placed her faith in Christ. The Lord is so faithful to hear and answer our every request. I have been praying for her since I met her and asking the Lord to bring her from the darkness of Islam into the light of Christ. Most of the time, you never see the fruit of short-term trips, but the Lord graciously allowed us to see a glimpse of His sovereign grace through the testimony of this young woman.

I am so encouraged by the Lord’s faithfulness to answer these prayers. It is tempting sometimes to stop praying for people or things when there is no perceived answer. And, quite honestly, praying can seem so insignificant compared to other methods of ministry. BUT it’s not. Prayer is God’s ordained means to spread the fragrance of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world. We are to pray for laborers (Luke 10:2) and for wisdom (James 1:5) and for boldness (Ephesians 6:19) and for opportunities to share the gospel (Colossians 4:3) and for the salvation of those around us (Romans 10:1). Basically, we are to pray for God’s will to be done on earth (Matthew 6:10)! The Lord has used the above answers to prayer to increase my faith, to encourage me to come boldly before Him with my requests, and to persevere in prayer for the people and things I have been praying for for such a long time.

And [Jesus] told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. Luke 18:1

These things are not to point to me at all. They are evidences of God's grace. I know I am/was not the only one investing or praying, but the Lord did allow me to be a small part of what He is/was doing in each of their lives (mainly through prayer). Plus, no matter what I do or say, I cannot save anyone. Only God can do that. “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord” (Zechariah 4:6; cf. John 3:3-8). This is all the Lord’s work. He ordains the times and places of where we dwell and He determines our steps to fulfill His purposes (Acts 17:26; Proverbs 16:9). Our job is obedience.

What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building.1 Corinthians 3:5-9