In Suffering

I am young.  I don't know much.

But I have learned.

God.  In His sovereignty.  Has purpose.

In suffering.

How have you suffered?

Hurting.  Broken.  Rejected.  Weak.  Anxious.  Humiliated.  Worried.  Mistreated.  Ridiculed.  Depressed. Insulted.  Ashamed.  Despised.  Questioned.  Downcast.  Sick.  Diseased.  Wrestling.  Discouraged. Sleepless. Slandered.  Exhausted.  Overcome.  Spent.  Done.

Suffering.  Each of them.

God.  Has purpose.

In suffering.

Walking through suffering with Christ & one another will draw us closer & make us stronger.  Closer & stronger than we ever dreamed.

Walking through suffering with Christ & one another will grow greater love within us.  Greater than we ever imagined.

God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.  Ephesians 3:20 (MSG)

Glory to God.

In suffering.

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.  But rejoice that you participate in the suffering of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.  1 Peter 4:12-13 (NIV)

Glory to God.

In suffering.

Before One Came To Be

Above is a photo of framed portrait that my loving linebacker three year old, John Mark, & I just talked about.  

John Mark, this picture is five years old now.  When we first moved to Nebraska.  Who is in this picture?

You & Mama.

Who is that little boy?

Seth.

And who is that toddler?

Mary Elizabeth.

And then I asked, expecting a Mama's tummy answer, And where were you?

Big blue eyes looked up as the sweetest voice replied.

In Mama's heart.

I held my precious son tight as the Spirit spoke Psalm 139:16 to me.

All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

God knows you.

God loves you.

Before you took a breathe.

Before you were conceived.

You were in His heart.

Fifty Weeks

Have you been discouraged?

Attacked or slandered by enemies?

Beaten by circumstance upon conspiring circumstance?

At the end of yourself?

Hope gone?

Faith fragile?

No more thinking.

No more crying.

No more praying.

Where only God's mercy could rescue you from the mess you & others had created?

Only God's grace could give you what you could never earn alone?

Only God's love could soften calloused, embittered hearts?

Read God's Word to you in Psalm 56.  Yesterday a friend quoted verse 13 in class of twenty people.  Yet he was speaking just to me.

Psalm 56

¹ Be merciful to me, O God, for men hotly pursue me;
     all day long they press their attack.
² My slanderers pursue me all day long;
     many are attacking me in their pride.

³ When I am afraid,
     I will trust in you.
⁴ In God, whose word I praise,
     in God I trust; I will not be afraid.
     What can mortal man do to me?

⁵ All day long they twist my words;
     they are always plotting to harm me.
⁶ They conspire, they lurk,
     they watch my steps,
     eager to take my life.

⁷ On no account let them escape;
     in your anger, O God, bring down the nations.
⁸ Record my lament;
     list my tears on your scroll --
     are they not in your record?

⁹ Then my enemies will turn back
     when I call for help.
     By this I will know that God is for me.
¹⁰ In God, whose word I praise,
     in the LORD, whose word I praise--
¹¹ in God I trust; I will not be afraid.
     What can man do to me?

¹² I am under vows to you, O God;
     I will present my thank offerings to you.
¹³ For you have delivered me from death
     and my feet from stumbling,
    that I may walk before God
     in the light of life. 

Fifty weeks ago I was at verse 1.  More than a year's previous trouble, some of my own creating & some created by others, had come to one afternoon meeting.  I saw no way out.  My reasons didn't matter.  My fight didn't matter.  I was done.

Yet. In God's sovereignty I needed no more reasons nor fight.  He had determined.  He had done what no person could.  In His grace.  For His purpose.

Fifty weeks later I am at verse 13.  Near a year's worth of healing, learning, growing, forgiving, depending, & loving came to that same afternoon meeting.  A completely different situation.  A lesson from my life.  To your life.  You can make it through.

God is sovereign.  He loves you.  He will deliver.

Trust in Him.

defined by

i do not

want to be defined

by

who i am

but who Christ is

by

what i have

but what God gives

by

what I do

but how The Spirit moves

Certain Conclusion

One of the great privileges & sacred trusts of being a pastor is being close to the brokenhearted.  Yes, a privilege, because Scripture says, "God is close to the brokenhearted."  Brokenhearted hurts.  That's one ugly compound word.  But your broken heart - in the hands of God - is good.

In the past two days I have heard two stories of God's amazing goodness to the brokenhearted in the face of enormous trials.  Two children given a new life through adoption.  One child growing where doctors thought no hope.

Three precious children.  One certain conclusion.  God can.

We will not always know why.  Or why not.  We will not always know when.  We will not always know how.

But we can know.  That as God chooses.  By His grace.  In His providence.  Through His power.  God can.

Press play below.  Rejoice in & be reminded of the certain conclusion.  God can.