Traits of a Trustworthy God

Of the God you can look to for guidance it is said, “There is no searching of His understanding.” (Isaiah 40: 28) 

Man is wise, He is all-wise. Man proposes and He disposes.

Even if you have a four-wheel drive mind, it can get bogged down contemplating the wisdom of God. The thrill of it is, He is willing to share. He makes this offer: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given him.” (James 1:5)

Through Jeremiah the prophet, He appeals to us by leaving His phone number. It is Jeremiah 33:3. 

“Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”

Isaiah, having spoken summarily of God’s character, refers to our consternation.

Three sequences of our weakness and His strength and ability are noted.

“The youths shall faint and be weary…”  The chronological age referred to by this Hebrew expression would be between 14 and 20. It is intended to describe those in the freshest time of life. It is a time when life is full of joy, when energy abounds, and growth is occurring. 

It is a physical illustration of a spiritual principle. Even young, energetic, optimistic, and enthusiastic Christians grow faint and get weary at times.

It is no reflection on today’s youth. It has always been true of persons going through this stage of physical growth; there is no one more depleted than a tired teen. A Christian in the exuberant stage of spiritual growth, can become weary.

“The young men shall utterly fall…”

This term describes a stage of physical development when energy and endurance are combined with skill and discipline. These are persons in the prime of life.

Even Christians who are disciplined and highly motivated will “utterly fall” when dependent on their own ability.

What are we to do when we reach this stage?  Are we to sit passively in our listless state? Is it our moment to moan at our own pity party? No, it is a time to let God show up in response to your love and trust. 

I was asked, “Do you ever get discouraged and weary?” Sure I do, just like you. However, I don’t tell others when I am because that might discourage you and if you got discouraged, that would discourage me and I don’t need any more discouragement, so I simply wait on the Lord and let Him do what He promised to do.

For “those who wait on the Lord,” He “Shall renew their strength.” (Vs. 31)

Vengeance

“Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.  Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.” (Romans 12: 17 – 19)

Have you ever thought, “I am going to get even ….” Translated I am going to be as evil, as bad as ….” Meaning, I am going to take over God’s job for Him who said, “Vengeance is mine.”

God is in a much better position to handle the job than we. He understands better what happened,  deserves pay-back, and is better equipped to handle it than we.

God so desires that we not personally exact revenge that He put in both the Old and New Testaments: “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord.” (Romans 12:19,  Deuteronomy 32:35)

Reputedly a fellow was told by his physician, “Yes indeed, you do have rabies.” Upon hearing this, the patient immediately pulled out a pad and pencil and began to write. Thinking the man was making out his will, the doctor said, “Listen, this doesn’t mean you’re going to die. There is a cure for rabies.” “Oh, I know that,” the man said. “I’m just makin’ a list of all the people I’m gonna bite.” Many folks live by the rule, “don’t get mad, get even.” God tells us, “Vengeance is mine saith the Lord, I will repay.”

Two things will happen when you relinquish the job to Him.

One, it will be handled better than you could do. 

Second, you will be spared a heavy load, a real toxic burden.

There is an alternative to vengeance and it is forgiveness, which when applied depends in large part on the heart of the offended. Contrition, repentance, and confession make possible the latter. God knows the heart of the guilty one and which is applicable. 

The same is true of our relation with the Lord. Our sins are an offense to the Lord, yet He forgives us. Out of gratitude for Him forgiving us we should forgive others, as the Scripture says: “… be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4: 32)

Assign all assumed reasons for vengeance to the Lord. “For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.” (Isaiah 30:18, ESV)

Irritation

A little clipping that crossed my desk a long time ago expresses an often overlooked opportunity, “Life on earth would not be worth much if every source of irritation were removed. Yet most of us rebel against the things that irritate us, and cause us heavy loss that ought to be rich gain.

We are told that the oyster is wiser; that when an irritating object, like a bit of sand, gets under the ‘mantle’ of his shell, he simply covers it with the most precious part of his being and makes a pearl out of it. The irritation that it was causing is stopped by encrusting it with the pearly formation. A true pearl is therefore simply a VICTORY over irritation. Every irritation that gets into our lives today is an opportunity for a pearl culture. The more irritations that the devil flings at us, the more pearls are possible. We need only to welcome them and cover them completely with love, that most precious part of us, and the irritation will be smothered out as the pearl comes into being. What a store of pearls we may have, if we will!”

Most of us will probably admit we don’t have as many pearls as we have the potential for. However, if we adopt the philosophy of the pearl we can have more.

In the Yellowstone Park area of America grows an unusual evergreen, the lodgepole pine. Like other pines, its cones must stay on the tree for years. Even when it falls off, they usually do not open. They only open when exposed to extreme heat. Forest fires often destroy great expanses of this beautiful country. At the same time the heat opens the cones of the lodgepole pine. They are most often the first tree to grow back in a fire-ravaged area. The seed of new life was just waiting for the right conditions.

If you are overreacting in rage to minor frustrations, reevaluate your current situation and priorities. Everyone becomes fed up with something, but a spiritually healthy person deals with it.

Irritations are annoying, unpleasant experiences absent from danger, such as a mosquito buzzing around, or even a gnat. Life is a sand trap filled with various daily irritations like: TYPING IN ALL CAPS before you realize it, trying to spread frozen butter on warm bread, new upgrades of familiar operating systems, watching the clerk at the post office count paperclips while the line grows longer, and a dentist who hums in your defenseless face. The list goes on.

Remember we’re all in the waiting business. How we wait on God makes all the difference. Waiting on the Lord and not running before Him is often difficult, but always advantageous. His flight doesn’t always take off on our time.

Therefore “…glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.” (Romans 5: 3, 4)

Make this, and every day a “pearly day”.

Blessed Are the Merciful

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” Matthew 5:7

The Greek words that Jesus used for “merciful” and “mercy” in this beatitude come from the root words “eleemon” and “eleos.” Both words have the idea of “a person who is emotionally moved by another’s suffering and in some way shares in that person’s suffering.” That is what the Lord does for us.

Aristotle said of the merciful, “They are emotionally moved by what they see and hear and in some sense suffer.” 

Mercy is more than a feeling of kindness and a desire to care for someone. Mercy demands more than feelings. Mercy is action that helps the helpless. Mercy is compassion in action. 

Before you get tired of thinking of having to show mercy so often pause and reflect on the many times you have been shown mercy.

Mercy has not always been considered a virtue. Nero was typical of such people. He believed that mercy was an emotion resulting in action that men and women should not display. 

Polybius said, “Mercy is the morbid condition of souls that feel an excess of misery.”

A noteworthy Roman philosopher called mercy “the disease of the soul.” 

By way of contrast Jesus said, “Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy.” (Matthew 5:7)

The immediacy of God’s mercy is expressed well in this poem by Katharine Tynan that depicts a person having been thrown from a horse who pleaded for mercy: “Was mercy sought and mercy found. Yea, in the twinkling of an eye, He cried; and Thou hast heard his cry. Betwixt the saddle and the ground Was mercy sought and mercy found.”

In regular language, “mercy” means being caring and compassionate toward people who are in a state of need. That’s a position we are all in relative to the Lord, all the time. 

We are, quite literally, at His mercy. Fortunately, the Lord is caring and compassionate to a degree we cannot fathom. He is the source of all caring and all compassion, and of love itself. So His mercy toward us never lessens, never abates, never ends; His whole purpose is to bring each of us, individually, to heaven. 

The zenith of mercy is found at the cross. There it is love on steroids. There  it is evident God saw our need and mercifully acted to meet it.

God’s mercy is reflected in the cross of Christ.. It is a direct reflection of His love for us. Mercy is an extension of and expression of love, “an act of kindness, compassion, or favor.” Mercy is a characteristic of the One True God.

Look for opportunities to show mercy today and every day. Remember, 

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”

Letter to the American Church

Have you ever had an idea for a book you would like to write only to find out someone has stolen your idea and written it. Eric Metaxas, author of the voluminous autobiography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian, just stole mine. It is entitled “Letter to the American Church.” I am glad he did because he has done a much better job than I could ever have done. The thesis is he sees happening in the churches of America today what was going on in the churches of Germany just before Hitler took control.

Basically the thesis is the church failed to address what was going on in society until the time came when the state prohibited them from speaking out. Bonhoeffer spoke out, was sent to Auschwitz where he ultimately died days before the Allies liberated the camp.

Another German who dared to speak out was the Lutheran minister, Martin Niemoller.      In the 1920s and early 1930s, he sympathized with many Nazi ideas and supported radically right-wing political movements. But after Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, Niemöller became an outspoken critic of Hitler’s interference in the Protestant Church. For doing so he spent the last eight years of Nazi rule, from 1937 to 1945, in Nazi prisons and concentration camps. Niemöller is perhaps best remembered for his postwar statement.

“First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me.”

I do not have an all encompassing knowledge of the churches of metropolitan Atlanta and America, but I do have a fair familiarity with the churches in our area. To my knowledge there are only two pulpits that dare use an application of gospel truths to address civic and social issues of our time.

Metaxas raises some interesting questions, such as: “Silence in the face of  evil is itself evil. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act. God will not hold us guiltless.”

“Can it really be God’s will that His children be silent at a time like this? Decrying the cowardice that masquerades as godly meekness, Eric Metaxas summons the Church to battle.”

Metaxas refutes the pernicious lie that fighting evil politicizes Christianity. As Bonhoeffer and other heroes of the faith insisted, the Church has an irreplaceable role in the culture of a nation. 

Doubtless ministers in Germany thought what ultimately happened could not happen in their happy homeland. After all, they remained free of pressure brought by the state as long as they did not speak against the developing philosophy of Nazism.

In America today there are philosophies and governmental policies contrary to our Constitution and the tenants of the churches. The question is will reaction be bold enough to prevent them from prevailing and muting churches and all who oppose them.

What stance is your church taking against such ascendancy and ultimate control? This is a five alarm book.