Our Hope and Help

The word of God never ceases to amaze as He opens our eyes to His wonders.  It is almost like putting on glasses with a new prescription that allow our faulty eyes to see clearer than they have in a long while.  We often don't realise how blurry our vision is until God breaks through with revealing insights.

As long as I can remember, one of the primary complaints and criticisms I have heard of Christians by unbelievers or people out of church fellowship is hypocrisy among believers.  Many times this accusation is based upon an offended person's view of what a Christian ought to say or do and them not measuring up to this immaculate standard.  Sometimes these observations can be well founded, where a person makes a claim and then violates it without shame.  There is a degree of hypocrisy found in everyone, and a maxim that rings true about hypocrisy is it takes one to know one.  We notice hypocrisy and it bothers us because we too, at some level, do the same thing (Romans 2:1).

Elihu in the book of Job presented a depiction of a hypocrite which has nothing to do with common ways people claim Christians (or others) demonstrate hypocrisy:  it is to know the LORD God is sovereign and not go to Him for help in time of need.  In Job 36, Elihu laid out ways God disciplines, teaches and helps God-fearing people like Job by binding them in cords of affliction.  He then said in Job 36:11-13:  "If they obey and serve Him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures. ¹² But if they do not obey, they shall perish by the sword, and they shall die without knowledge. ¹³ But the hypocrites in heart store up wrath; they do not cry for help when He binds them."  To say you trust God to save your soul yet do not cry for help when He binds, that is a mark of hypocrisy we do well to repent of.

It is one thing to speak or act hypocritically, yet to be a hypocrite in heart is a devastating condition only God can deliver and save us from.  If we find in trials and troubles we depart from the LORD, feeling He is pushing us away, our hearts are not righteous before Him.  God allows painful circumstances to draw us near to Himself, to open our eyes to our need for help only He can supply.  When situations are out of our control and help is needed, Christians ought to turn to the almighty God Who has saved us by grace and use our lips to praise Jesus Christ who is our hope.

May our lives proclaim the goodness of God in all seasons of life as it is written in Psalm 31:21-24:  "Blessed be the LORD, for He has shown me His marvelous kindness in a strong city! ²² For I said in my haste, "I am cut off from before Your eyes"; nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications when I cried out to You. ²³ Oh, love the LORD, all you His saints! For the LORD preserves the faithful, and fully repays the proud person. ²⁴ Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the LORD."  The God who is our hope is also our help.

The LORD God Our Maker

"Know that the LORD, He is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. ⁴ Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name."

Psalm 100:3-4

As human beings created in the image of God, through faith in Jesus Christ we can know our Maker.  Having a maker is very significant, for one who invents or creates something knows the purpose and reason for it.  The design we see in the symmetry and function of a leaf suggests strongly it has be designed, and it only can fulfill its purpose because it was the product of a designer.  When it comes to inventions of men, going to the maker provides an opportunity to hear why the invention was made, what is broken and how to fix it.

The world is filled with "self-made" men and women who live as if they do not have a Maker and do not seek God the source of abundant life.  We go about trying to improve or enhance our lives by enriching them with experiences, achievements, goals, acquiring new and better things, increasing our holdings or net worth, and seek the best the world can offer.  We can foolishly assume we decide what is best for us and what the pursuits of our life ought to be.  Because God is our Maker He is the One who has already determined the purpose of our existence fulfilled in knowledge of Him.  The psalmist describes the chosen people of Israel--which can be extended to God's children by adoption through faith in Him--as God's people and the sheep of His pasture.

God created sheep to bleat, grow wool and have a strong herding instinct.  As sheep of God's pasture He has made us to sing praises to God, to enter God's kingdom with thanksgiving, be spiritually fruitful by the Holy Spirit, and bless the LORD as we gather together in His name as one flock.  Through the Good Shepherd Jesus God has brought many sheep together from countless folds that we may be one with each other even as Jesus is one with the Father (John 17:20-21).  It is God, our Maker and heavenly Father who has given us the ability to enter His gates to praise Him, to think and consider His awesomeness so we might thank Him continually, to speak so we might bless His holy name.

How tragic it would be to use the access we have to the throne room of grace more as a "fire escape" on the back alley of a building only to be used in emergencies rather than the main thoroughfare we frequent into God's presence in prayer!  Our minds can be filled with proud, selfish and envious thoughts  and our mouths more apt to complain, criticise or slander than to think to bless the LORD at all times.  We learn to bless the LORD at all times when we begin to recognise the LORD is God who made us, not we ourselves.  It is strange we could ever forget this, yet the scripture exhorts us to remember God is our Maker.  The knowledge of our gracious God moves us to thank Him and thus fulfill our divine purpose with joy.

The Spirit Without Measure

Before Elijah was taken up into heaven, he did a miracle in the sight of Elisha and the sons of the prophets:  he rolled his mantle or cloak and struck the waters of the Jordan river which parted, and they passed over on dry ground.  2 Kings 2:9-10 reads, "And so it was, when they had crossed over, that Elijah said to Elisha, "Ask! What may I do for you, before I am taken away from you?" Elisha said, "Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me." ¹⁰ So he said, You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so."  Elisha saw Elijah ascend to heaven in a whirlwind, and tore his clothes.  2 Kings 2:13-14 then says, "He also took up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan. ¹⁴ Then he took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, and said, "Where is the LORD God of Elijah?" And when he also had struck the water, it was divided this way and that; and Elisha crossed over."  There was no power in the cloak in itself, but in fact God parted the waters for Elisha as He had for Elijah confirmed the Spirit of God rested upon him as prophet.

When people perceive someone to be gifted and anointed by God who is nearing the end of their lives, some desire this "power" or "authority" for themselves so they too could have sway with God.  Perhaps because of the unique situation with Elijah and Elisha they hope to receive spiritual power by succession, to inherit a portion or a double portion of believer they admire and desire to emulate.  David Ravenhill wrote in the preface to Revival God's Way concerning Leonard Ravenhill, the famed revival preacher, "Prior to his death in 1994 he told me he had received a number of requests from seminary students who wanted to come and see him for the sole purpose of having him lay his hands upon them in order to receive his "mantle."  With his typical dry British humor, but at the same time deadly serious, he said, 'Everyone wants to have my mantle but nobody wants my sackcloth and ashes.'"  His retort shows great insight into the hearts of men who look to men they admire rather than seeking Christ themselves in prayer.  They would have been better served to look to Christ who gives the Holy Spirit without measure than to be the next Leonard Ravenhill, for there cannot be another.

I am convinced if there is a mantle of spiritual power and authority today it is only Jesus Who has it, and He will not share His glory with anyone!  Oh, that we would look to Jesus Christ with such devotion, admiration and desire as we can the saints God has used as His vessels to show forth His glory!  Church history is littered with pedestals erected for "giants of faith" who were exceedingly small in their own eyes because they knew the almighty, glorious God they served.  Blessed is the man who is born again and filled with the Holy Spirit, the one who is given the privilege of access to God's throne room of grace.  We follow the LORD Jesus Christ upon Whom our eyes are firmly fixed, for He is the Head of the church and we have been made one with Him and one another by grace.  Under the new covenant revealed by Jesus Christ the concept of a mantle passing from one person to the next is an archaic notion when we know Jesus who has called, saved, gifted, and made us fruitful by the Gospel.

Seek the LORD of hosts, not His power; praise the Giver instead of exalting a spiritual gift.  Know that God rules over all and He is worthy.  I am grateful for the testimony of godly men and women who serve our LORD Jesus Christ, yet let us not desire their mantles when we have a Saviour clothed in glory who draws us to Himself.  John 3:34 says, "For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure."  Why settle for a double portion when overflowing Living Water, the fullness of the Holy Spirit is provided by Christ Himself?

Better than Compensation

After I injured my knee playing baseball years ago, I was amazed how the body unconsciously adjusts to avoid further pain by compensating.  Without thinking I favoured my other leg and learned how to avoid uncomfortable positions.  By the time I was diagnosed with a torn ACL and and had surgery to replace the ligament, I suffered a significant amount of muscle wastage on the affected quadriceps.  What was once my dominant leg had become less used and weaker due to over-compensation for the injury.   Because the leg hurt I didn't use it as I should even after the surgery, and it took a long time with intentional effort to be restored.  It is natural for us to avoid pain when we can, yet doing so can prevent us from seeking help.

The example of the results of over-compensation to avoid pain are not only seen in the physical bodies of people.  A hidden wound in our hearts and minds can lead us to withdraw from social interactions or to over-compensate with gregarious carelessness.  The person who senses a lack in one area of their lives is spurned on to great achievement or acquiring much in another area.  Like a pendulum in a clock swings from one side to the other, inner hurts pushes people to pursue pleasure to mask or cover them.  Many under the conviction of sin or in the depths of grief have sought to numb the pain with drugs or alcohol.  In many cases there is a real risk of spiraling into ruin unless the source of the hurt is exposed before the LORD for healing and restoration.

Compensation means to give equal value to, and my favouring one leg over the other in walking was  revealed by shrinking muscles to be unequal.  It means I could not risk running, jumping or quick movements to stand or turn.  My knee injury affected the entire way I walked and moved.  Sometimes we might imagine a mental, emotional, or spiritual wound can be contained in one aspect of our lives or way of thinking, but this is untrue.  A broken leg or palpitating heart affects the whole body, and the lives of believers are connected as members of the Body of Christ, the church.  The effects of over-compensation are not always as easy to see in our lives as when I injured my leg, yet the reality is we must bring our hurts, pain and grief to Jesus for Him to heal and restore.

Praise the LORD He is able to identify the source of our troubles and do a restorative, healing work by His grace.  So many of our troubles come from sin and self, our pride that refuses to surrender before God in faith and obedience.  My knee injury was self-inflicted as I was simply running, and there was no one to blame for the ligament that gave way.  It wasn't because I was being malicious or self-destructive:  I was just rounding first base!  It may be satisfying on some level to blame others, our circumstances or growing old for the injuries we have picked up over the years, but this insight gives us no power to be healed or progress in joy, thanksgiving and gratitude for God's goodness and faithfulness to us.  To those who are hurting, to those with hidden pains, conviction of sin or shame, come to the LORD Jesus who loves, heals and gives rest for our souls.

When we have been wronged we may demand compensation by the guilty party, but God's mercy and grace trumps any compensation provided by man.  A financial windfall will not soothe our wounds, nor will an apology right wrongs.  Only God is righteous, just and His grace is sufficient for us.  His divine goodness according to the riches of His grace is our only hope to move forward.  Getting what you are owed or seeing justice done is not as satisfying as God's grace freely given and received by faith in Jesus.  I choose being compassed by God's grace and mercy than compensation any day.