Expectactions Vs. Reality

Whenever medical surgery is performed, a period of recovery and rehabilitation follows.  Every time I have had surgery there were always unknowns because I never had the same procedure done twice.  I would imagine no surgical result is ever exactly the same - like no pregnancy or childbirth or child is the same!  I have had my wisdom teeth removed, my ACL replaced in a knee, and a mole removed from my back.  Each time there were unexpected complications, like when fragments of tooth started poking through my gums or the full strength of my back incision would not be achieved for a whole year - not to mention the itchiness!  It's been over a year and it still itches sometimes...but that sure beats cancer. (Just for the record I have never had cancer but the mole was removed as a precaution.)

A lot of people are pleased with the results of a surgery, even if the period of strengthening and physical therapy is long.  However, there are many who would have never chosen surgery if they had known what they were in for.  They focused on the good aspects of surgery and shrugged off the bad only the realise after the fact their expectations did not align with reality.  Contrary to what many think, surgery never returns the body as it was prior to injury.  It is no miracle cure:  it means scar tissue, complications, and restrictions.  I am very glad I had surgery on my torn ACL, but my knee is not the same as before my injury.  I spoke with a friend recently who had two full knee replacements and from the beginning one of them was never right.  I think all things considered he would have gone ahead with the surgery if he had to do it all over again, but his expectations were not met.  He could be bitter and sour over it, or gladly do the best he can.

When it comes to church ministry, it's good to remember Jesus Christ has joined different people together as one Body with Him as the head.  It's rare for our bodies to be completely healthy without creaks, pains, and needing special treatment, and the same rings true for the church.  There is always a hand which needs strengthening exercises or a joint which needs special attention and care.  Just like our bodies have needed root canals, surgery, physical therapy, rest, or a specially prescribed diet, every person in a spiritual sense needs continual divine treatment from Jesus Christ.  Put us all together and the spiritual "medical" history is, needless to say, quite extensive.  The only thing which keeps us from being roughly patched together like Frankenstein is our head Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit who indwells every believer.  We have a lot of scar tissue, aches and battle scars, and sometimes we rub each other raw.  But praise the LORD He holds us together and unites us in His redemptive love.

If you have an expectation of Christian perfection in the church, the fatal flaw in this fantasy is that I am part of the Body of Christ - and so are you.  The reality is the church is a divine establishment but has a prevalent human element which consistently falls short of perfection.  Being reminded that God is perfect and we are not magnifies the grace of God.  It's amazing He would choose us and delight to provide a place for us in His kingdom and this prompts us to give grace to others.  We do not fault the man recovering from knee surgery that he cannot immediately run but we can have this expectation of others.  No matter how long you have walked with Jesus there is much learning, growing, and strengthening we yet need to progress.  The reality of Jesus Christ is awesome and blows away the wildest expectation of the humble for He is gracious, generous, and good.

The Supremacy of Who God Is

"After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward."

Genesis 15:1

What God was for Abraham He will be for all those who place their faith in Him.  I love that when God made promises to Abram it was not about what He would do for him, but who He would be for him.  There is a tremendous difference between the two.  God did not just shield Abram from evil or enemies but was his shield; He did not grant Abram rewards which could be bought or measured with silver or gold but He was Abram's exceedingly great reward.  God does not change, and God remained a permanent and eternal shield and great reward even after his body was laid to rest.  Abraham's soul still enjoys the awesome characteristics of our God, for He is not the God of the dead but the living.

This morning I read the words of David in Psalm 43:3-4, "Oh, send out Your light and Your truth! Let them lead me; let them bring me to Your holy hill and to Your tabernacle. ⁴ Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy; and on the harp I will praise You, O God, my God."  See how David described His great God:  "God my exceeding joy."  God did many things which brought David joy like giving him victory over his enemies, establishing him as king, and providing peace on every side.  Yet David did not praise God because of the joy brought to him by God but because God was his exceeding joy.  God Himself exceeded all other passing joys that quickly fade, the earthly delights which are forgotten out of mind.

Jesus Christ revealed Himself as the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  He is the light of the world that leads us to perfect peace and unfailing love because He personifies these attributes perfectly.  Jesus gave His own life so we might have eternal life through faith in Him.  He is and will ever be our shield and exceedingly great reward not because of what He has done, but because of who He is and all He does.  All we need is found in our Saviour who is ever good and His mercy endures forever.  Let us praise our God who is our exceeding joy!

Even In the Depths

The world is filled with contrasts:  light and dark, hot and cold, health and sickness, fruitfulness and barrenness.  Almost every human experience or condition has an opposite.  We have experienced highs and lows, and when we are in the midst of one extreme the other is almost completely forgotten.  We have felt as free as a child leaving school for a long break, and we have felt like were weighed down with burdens far greater than anyone could bear.  I have found a relationship with God and the guidance of God's Word are critical to maintain a godly and good perspective.  And we need reminders - a lot of them.

David was a man whose spirit rose in joyful worship of God, yet he also experienced low moods and depression.  In his writings we see him saying to himself at times almost to snap himself out of a funk, "What am I thinking?  Trust in God and hope in Him!"  Today my day began reading of such a place in Psalm 42:6-8:  "O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar. ⁷ Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. ⁸ Yet the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life."

David confessed before God his soul was cast down like a sheep that had fallen and could not stand up without help.  He was intentional in remembering the LORD who had called him and brought him through many troubles.  It didn't matter if he was in a deep valley or on a mountaintop, for God is faithful.  In verse 8 David said poetically he was in the depths, and wave after wave knocked him over again and again.  When he was at his lowest point and imagined it impossible to go deeper, further down he went.  God created the oceans which cover the earth to be very deep - deeper than any human being can go alone.  Submersible vessels have been designed to transport people safely through the crushing depths, but without them men could not survive.

Have you ever considered when God created the world He could have made the oceans shallow?  But according to His design He made them very deep, dark, and virtually unfathomable.  Our God who created the heavens to be high also created the depths, and He remains a good God wherever we find ourselves.  Sometimes it takes a season in the depths (as Jonah literally experienced) for us to arrive with the confidence in God David experienced in verse 8:  "Yet the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life."  Even in the depths God remained good and was David's life.  God's love was evident to David day and night, and therefore David made his prayer unto His God.

What confidence we can have as God's children even in the depths, when it seems wave after wave is pulling us under, when we wonder in desperation, "Do you see what is going on, God?  Have you forgotten all about me?  Don't you know how much I am suffering?  Can't you do something?"  Even in the depths He is there, and in remembering our God and exalting His name there is great comfort found.  The one who cries out to God from the depths demonstrates faith the man at ease may only imagine he has.  How good it is for us in the heights and from the depths to praise our Saviour Jesus Christ and thank Him for the lovingkindness He has shown us.

The Middleman

Sometimes it is to the financial benefit of the buyer to remove the "middleman," one who increases the cost of goods due to their involvement.  For instance, when I planned to propose marriage to Laura I did not buy the solitaire from a shopping mall but from a gem cutter.  In doing so I avoided the markups which are common with jewelry sales and was able to buy a better ring than I could afford otherwise.  The middleman in this context can be an unnecessary man, and I believe this can be true in the arena of prayer.

Paul said this in Philippians 4:6:  "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God..."  This is a verse which divinely instructs and guides us, and it also convicts us when we have gone astray.  Being anxious is a normal human condition and common response to trouble, but anxiousness is not to mark a child of God.  Our prayers are also to be marked with thanksgiving as we make our requests to God.  There is nothing wrong it itself with asking for others to pray or to desire for others to intercede on our behalf.  But there is a problem when we are very good at making our requests known to men but neglect to actually bring them before God.  Prayer meetings have a tendency to be heavy on sharing with others what is happening and how we want God to intervene but light on making our requests known to God.

Concerning prayer Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 2:1-6:  "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, ² for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. ³ For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴ who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. ⁵ For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, ⁶ who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time..."  Why rely upon the help of middlemen when we already have one God and Mediator between God and men, the Man Jesus Christ?  When we speak to the Father Jesus is not only our Mediator but our Advocate, one who speaks kindly on our behalf (1 John 2:1).  The people to whom we share our troubles are only able to intercede on our behalf through the same Jesus Christ we trust.

I started thinking:  why do we have the inclination to hope in people rather than trust God?  Perhaps it is because we don't value the personal access God has given His children by His grace.  Perhaps we don't always believe God actually hears us.  Maybe we hope someone in our circle has a more "direct" line to the Almighty than we seem to.  But the reality is God commands us to bring our requests to God.  God has given us by His Spirit the ability to know we have made our requests to God because of the tangible result within us.  See the conditions in Philippians 4:6-7:  "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."  The peace of God accompanies the hearts and minds of all who let their requests be made known to God.

The ability to communicate a prayer request to people through email is a wonderful advancement, and it is a blessing to be able to intercede on behalf of others.  But let's not be content to pass off our responsibility to let our requests to God be made by middlemen when we have a Mediator who loves us.  God will always do His part, so let us do ours.