Tag: hardship

How Long, O Lord? (Psalm 13)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
No Immediate Relief, by Melani Pyke

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
    How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I bear pain in my soul
    and have sorrow in my heart all day long?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

Consider and answer me, O Lord my God!
    Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,
and my enemy will say, “I have prevailed”;
    my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.

But I trusted in your steadfast love;
    my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord
    because he has dealt bountifully with me. (New Revised Standard Version)

Faith is more than the mind’s affirmation of theological beliefs. Faith is also visceral, an expression from deep in the gut about what is going on around us. For faith to be truly faith, it needs to hold the whole person, not merely the brain.

Today’s psalm is the reaction of a person of faith to God when the world as they knew it was crumbling and broken. This is a psalm of lament which moves and deepens the faith of the worshiper. When the world around us changes and all seems horribly awry, we understandably become disoriented – we lose our normal bearings and feel confused and lost.

One of the simplest observations we can make about this psalm, along with all psalms of lament, is that, whether the content is ethically pure or not, the words of the psalmist directed toward God reflect the pain and agony of people in the middle of world-shattering circumstances.

In such dire situations, there are no simplistic answers or easy diagnoses of problems. Complicated layers of grief exist, and mere cerebral responses will always fall short of adequately being in the present moment, sitting with emotions, and getting in touch with the gut.

I am leery of folks who quickly affirm trust in God when a terrible event has just occurred. Bypassing the gut and the heart cannot bring a whole person response to that event and will inevitably result in a cheap faith which cannot support the immensity of the situation.

Even worse, it leads to a bootstrap theology where people are expected to pull themselves up in a free-willpower way that is impossible to achieve. Sometimes failure of faith comes not because of a person’s weakness, but because the faith being espoused is not faith, at all.

Biblical faith expresses weakness, need, help, curiosity, and doubt with a healthy dose of emotional flavor and visceral reaction.

If we had just one psalm of lament as an example, that would be enough. Yet, in fact, we have dozens of them, with more sprinkled throughout the entirety of Holy Scripture. We even have a book of the Bible given completely to lamenting a loss, Lamentations, which is a deep reflection of the prophet Jeremiah’s grief.

So, let us now be honest with ourselves and each other. All of us, at one time or another, have given a cry of “How long, O Lord!”

There are times when our prayers seem unheard and unnoticed, as if they only bounce off the ceiling and fall flat. There are hard circumstances which continue to move along unabated with evil seeming to mock us. We long for divine intervention, we long for deliverance, we long for healing – and when it does not come our disappointment and frustration boils over into an unmitigated cry of wondering where God is in all the thick crud.

Whenever a person and/or a group of people are traumatized, not once but over-and-over again, how can we not cry aloud, “How long, O Lord!?”

When despair settles in the spirit, disappointment seeps in the soul, and depression becomes our daily bread, how can we not muster up the voice that yells, “How long, O Lord!?”

Wherever powerful people cause the lives of others to be downtrodden and despised, how can we not scream, “How long, O Lord!?”

When the covert actions of others demean and denigrate, leaving us with private pain which no one sees, how can we not bring forth the words, “How long, O Lord!?”

If you have never uttered this kind of wondering about God, then perhaps a profound disconnect with your own spirit exists. A full-orbed faith names the awful events and situations and sits with the feelings surrounding those events with God.

Psalm 13 is important because it gives us words when the bottom falls out of our lives and everything is upside-down.

This psalm helps us admit that life is not as well-ordered as a simple Sunday School faith may pretend. The psalm acknowledges that life is terribly messy, and the psalmist protests to heaven that this quagmire of injustice is plain unfair. What’s more, this psalm helps move the sufferer to a new place.

God is big enough to handle everything we throw at him — our pain, our anger, our questions, our doubts. Genuine biblical faith is comfortable challenging God. And God is there, listening, even if we cannot perceive it. Just because we might need to endure adversity does not mean there is something wrong with us, or God.

We likely will not get an answer to our “how long?” We will get something else: mercy. Mercy is compassion shown to another when it is within one’s power to punish. If we widen our horizon a bit, we will observe a God who cares:

“The Lord isn’t slow to keep his promise, as some think of slowness, but he is patient toward you, not wanting anyone to perish but all to change their hearts and lives.” (2 Peter 3:9, CEB)

The only thing better than the joy of personal salvation is the joy of many people’s deliverance and collective emancipation. Patience, perseverance, and endurance through hardship will require expressions of faith with words of affirmation along with words of agony. And the psalms help us with both.

Lord God Almighty, I pray for the forgotten and the unseen – the stranger, the outcast, the poor and homeless – may they be remembered and seen by you.

Merciful God, I pray for those who struggle with mental illness, anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation – may there be resources to help, enough staff employed, and finances given, toward mental health services. May there be basic human kindness available for the hurting.

Compassionate God, I pray for those who wrestle with sorrow – may they know your comfort within the dark thoughts which currently seem to triumph.

Attentive Lord, I pray for the crestfallen and the ones considered fallen by those around them – may they receive your restoration and reconciling grace. Protect them from judgment and shield them with your mercy.

Lord of all creation, I trust in your steadfast love and rely upon your infinite grace. May our tears turn to songs of joy, to the glory of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Persevere (Revelation 2:8-11)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Smyrna. This is the message from the one who is the First and the Last, who was dead but is now alive:

“I know about your suffering and your poverty—but you are rich! I know the blasphemy of those opposing you. They say they are Jews, but they are not, because their synagogue belongs to Satan. Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer. The devil will throw some of you into prison to test you. You will suffer for ten days. But if you remain faithful even when facing death, I will give you the crown of life.

“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. Whoever is victorious will not be harmed by the second death. (New Living Translation)

It’s one thing to get a letter from someone prominent or famous. It’s quite another thing to receive a letter from Jesus. The unique thing about chapters two and three of Revelation, is that Jesus himself addresses seven distinct churches. 

Today’s New Testament lesson is directed to the church at Smyrna, which was a large and beautiful port city in the ancient world. Jesus was letting the believers in Smyrna know they were about to experience severe persecution. 

However, they need not be fearful, and can remain faithful, because their Lord knows all about suffering. The church’s perseverance under such trouble would result in the crown of life, given to them by Jesus himself. This was surely an encouragement to the believers as they underwent difficulty.

The congregation at Smyrna was facing imprisonment for their faith; and, for some, even death. The heart of the message by Jesus is to remain faithful, to persevere through the trouble. 

The agora of ancient Smyrna, in Izmir, Turkey

There will always be cowards and those with weak faith who will fold when the going gets tough. Yet, persecution and hardship have a way of purging the individual soul and the collective church of its dross. Suffering is inevitable and usually out of our jurisdiction; but how we handle the adversity when it comes is completely under our own control.

Few of us will ever likely face a hardship that could result in martyrdom. Knowing there are brothers and sisters in the faith throughout the world who do face hardship for their devotion and beliefs, puts our own troubles in a different light.

The daily irritations and trials that God puts in our way to refine us and shape our faith certainly seem small compared to imprisonment and martyrdom. Yet, no matter who we are and where we are located on this earth, whether facing uncommon hardship or banal difficulty, the afflictions of both body and soul come to us as opportunities to lean into faith, and to love Jesus to the end.

The Lord is not looking for perfect people, just faithful followers willing to endure suffering with the truth that Christ stands with us. 

Whatever our current circumstances may be, and wherever we find ourselves, Jesus offers us his perspective on it. Christ knows precisely what is going on and understands the spiritual resources you and I possess for each adverse situation we encounter.

In fact, few of us really discern the largess of internal resources within us, because of Christ’s redemptive work and the Spirit’s abiding presence – not to mention the very personhood God graciously gave us in the womb before we were even born. Even though it seems that, at times, we lack strength, wisdom, and courage for what is ahead – Jesus has supreme confidence in us to maintain faith, and to endure through our afflictions.

Life is not a sprint; life is a marathon. And to finish the race we need to be in good spiritual health.

Perseverance of the saints happens as we run step after step with boldness, despite fear of an unknown future around the bend. This requires the equipment of risk, vulnerability, accountability, and steadfast love, which is both received and given.

Perhaps most of all, it requires keeping our heads up and running toward the promise of reward at the finish. The crown of life is an image of both congratulation and celebration of a race well-run and the enjoyment of unending communion with our Lord, for whom we have endured so much.

When all is said and done, at the end of the age, we will look back in hindsight and see that it was really Jesus who, all along, was fortifying us to keep standing and keep going. Christ is so vested in us that he continually ensures our ultimate victory through a constant presence of help and encouragement. The heritage of both Reformation and Holy Scripture testify to this truth:

“All our progress and perseverance are from God.” John Calvin

“I’m sure about this: the one who started a good work in you will stay with you to complete the job by the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6, CEB)

Grant, O God, that we may never lose the way through our self-will, and so end up in the far countries of the soul; that we may never abandon the struggle, but that we may endure to the end, and so be saved; that we may never drop out of the race, but that we may ever press forward to the goal of our high calling; that we may never choose cheap and passing things, and let go the precious things that last forever; that we may never take the easy way, and so leave the right way; that we may never forget that sweat is the price of all things, and that without the cross, there cannot be the crown.

So keep us and strengthen us by your grace that no disobedience and no weakness and no failure may stop us from entering into the blessedness which awaits those who are faithful in all the changes and chances of life, down even to the gates of death; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

William Barclay, Prayers for the Christian Year

Tussling with Trouble (Matthew 10:24-39)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

“The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!

“So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

“Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.

“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn

“‘a man against his father,
    a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
    a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’

“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it. (New International Version)

We can expect opposition and trouble from the world

Those who follow the words and ways of Jesus will experience hardship at the hands of others, because Christ’s values are often different than how the world’s systems typically operate. 

Being called the Devil (Beelzebul) isn’t exactly a term of endearment. There were those so upset with Jesus that they equated him with Satan. So, since Christ got this kind of verbal treatment, how much more will we be the brunt of false accusations, slander, and gossip? 

We are not above our Lord – we will be treated as he was. We cannot expect that we are above getting into trouble. Believers are promised deliverance from sin, death, and hell – and not from the meanness and ignorance of people in this present life.

Because of this reality, we need to be savvy to our situation of trouble and practice common sense, as well as have a mental disposition that thinks the best of people, and does not immediately judge and condemn others.

All of this requires us to avoid the two extremes of either simple assimilation into the culture, or rejection of the culture as evil. Both the blending into culture, and the separating from it, each share the same preferred outcome of trying to avoid opposition and trouble. 

Instead, there is a third way of being faithful to following the way of Jesus: Interact with and engage the culture as salt and light. (Matthew 5:13-16)

Assimilation causes us to lose our saltiness; and isolation hides our light. So, let’s find wise ways to understand truth and apply it in the concrete situations of life in this world. 

For example, we can discuss life issues about our jobs and school from a Christian perspective, so that we might speak into others’ lives, instead of just standing against something and complaining about it: How might we show both grace and truth in a particular situation? Are there ways we can give support without condoning something we oppose, and how?

We can expect that we are going to disrupt and upset our families and experience opposition from them

14th century fresco of Christ with a sword, in the Sacred Monastery of the Ascension of Christ Church, Kosovo

Unfortunately, opposition does not just come from the world, but within the very families and communities we love and rub shoulders with every day. Most persecution, hardship, and trouble for believers in Jesus come from family and those closet to us. 

Although I grew up in a church-going family, we never really discussed faith or Christianity. When I became serious about walking with Jesus, I faced a lack of support. I was often the brunt of teasing and verbal jabbing. My commitment to Christ had butted up against the family value of never rocking the boat. 

There was once a woman who experienced new life in Christ. When God grabbed ahold of her life, she had been on track to becoming the next Barbara Walters. But her newfound values of embracing the Beatitudes of Jesus rubbed the television broadcast world too much. 

So, she went into radio. Instead of looking toward a lucrative life on screen, she settled for less money and no fame behind the microphone of a Christian radio station. Her family didn’t understand this. And marrying a preacher didn’t help the situation any for her. To this day she still faces hardship and resentment for making decisions that did not get her the American dream.

Jesus said that anyone who wants to take the path of least resistance by not rocking the family boat with Christian love is not worthy of him. Anyone who does not take up their cross and follow Jesus in the way of trouble is not worthy of following him. 

We must die to self – which often means dying to avoidance of conflict – and become alive to the wonder of God’s mercy and love in the world.

We don’t need to be afraid of getting into trouble

Why? Because…

  1. Fear has to do with the unknown. So since we know opposition and trouble is expected, we will not live in dread of what might happen. The early Christians actually rejoiced in their suffering because they considered it a privilege to be walking in the way of Jesus. (Acts 5:27-42)
  2. You will receive special help. In times of persecution, we have a Helper, the Holy Spirit, given to us for such times as these. (John 3:34; 16:1-15)
  3. God isn’t surprised by your hardship. The Lord will eventually deal with all that is wrong in this world.
  4. The wrath of God is to be more feared than the wrath of people.
  5. God is watching over all the details of my life. If God cares for all the small details, how much more will the Lord take care of the big issues in my life?

Conclusion

It is a privilege to follow Jesus into trouble. This is what is called “upside-down” theology: 

  • In giving my life away to Jesus, I find it. 
  • In getting into trouble, I find peace. 
  • In serving and taking up our cross, there is happiness, not depression. 

Sometimes, things in the kingdom of God seem upside-down; and that is as it should be. Facing trouble is really not the worst thing to be experienced – being separated from God is. 

We are to expect opposition from the world, and from family. Yet, we need not be afraid, because tussling with trouble is part of what it means to follow Jesus – it is the way of the cross.

So, count the cost. Give your life away. In doing so, you will certainly not lose your reward from God.

Spiritual Support (Ezekiel 29:3-7)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

Speak and say, The Lord God proclaims:

I’m against you, Pharaoh, Egypt’s king,
    great crocodile lurking
    in the Nile’s canals,
        who says, “The Nile is all mine;
        I made it for myself!”
I will set hooks in your jaws;
    I will make the fish from the Nile’s canals cling to your scales.
I will drag you out of the Nile’s canals,
    and also all the fish from the Nile’s canals
    clinging to your scales.
        I will fling you out into the desert,
        and also all the fish from the Nile’s canals.
You will fall on the open ground,
    and won’t be gathered or retrieved.

I’ve given you to the beasts of the earth
        and the birds in the sky for food.
Everyone living in Egypt will know that I am the Lord.

Because they were a flimsy crutch for the house of Israel—when they took you in hand, you would splinter and make their shoulders sore; when they leaned on you, you would break, bringing them to their knees. (Common English Bible)

“Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing yet had been done.”

C.S. Lewis

From where, and to whom, do we look to for support?

The Pharaoh of Egypt could open his mouth as wide as a crocodile, but he had no real strength – only talk and no bite – and talk is cheap, especially in the face of a sovereign God.

The Lord had little tolerance for Pharaoh’s bombast, so God decided to don the divine crocodile hunter hat and pull the old creature out of the Nile River.

The reeds that grow along the Nile in Egypt look something like bamboo. They appear as if they might make a decent staff or crutch, but the reeds are not good for that, and if used so, would shatter and put some significant splinters into your hand.

God was warning the Israelites against sizing up Egypt as a significant means of support, and then putting weight on them for help. The leadership of Jerusalem was trusting in Pharaoh and his Egyptian troops to rescue them from the Babylonian army.

But, as we know from history, the Babylonians soundly defeated the Egyptian soldiers. Pharaoh was no support, at all, and became a shattered crutch to Judah, just as God had warned.

We need to be careful about choosing our sources of support. There are a lot of unreliable means of help out there, that people turn to in life.

When going through tough times, we may believe that popularity and power, or alcohol and drugs, or wealth and position will help support us and get us through the hard situation. Yet, they all prove too weak and inadequate in the end.

God is able to carry a person through a crisis, so that we do not just survive it, but grow and thrive through it. We must continually be vigilant and wise to resist the temptation toward the shiny things in life which may draw us to depend upon unreliable things and people. We need God working through God’s people to help support us in a time of need.

Our help is in the name of the Lord,
    who made heaven and earth. (Psalm 124:8, NRSV)

One of the great Christian theologians of the twentieth century, the Protestant Swiss professor Karl Barth, believed that we are not fully human and fully supporting one another apart from:

  • mutual seeing and being seen
  • reciprocal speaking and listening
  • granting one another mutual assistance
  • doing everything with gratitude and gratefulness

Barth used the German term Mitmenschlichkeit (co-humanity) to communicate that we are human and supported with a trusted other person alongside us. In other words, human flourishing requires mutual giving and receiving. Only in relation to each other, including those in need, do we thrive as people.

Christianity is a dependence upon God and an inter-dependence on one another; it’s not an isolated independent venture. Adversity, hardship, and difficulty can become a symbiotic relationship between the care-seeker and the caregiver, within the foundation of Trinitarian love, expressed with grace and hope given by Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit.

So, when we talk about spiritual support of another, it includes the following alliterated points:

  • Struggle. Enter another’s spiritual and emotional wrestling along with them, without succumbing to the impetus to change or fix, but to empathize, affirm, and validate emotions and experiences.
  • Share. Seek to be emotionally available and aware – to be present in another’s pain and wonderment, understanding that a person cannot go any deeper with me than I have gone with myself.
  • Story. Listen to the story that a person weaves about their own situation, background, family, support, religious milieu, as well as their personal spiritual and emotional world.
  • Salvation. Allow and give permission to the person to name and resolve their own struggle; because I am neither the Savior nor in the saving business, as if deliverance and freedom depended upon me.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.”

Jesus to his disciples (John 14:1, NRSV)

Trust of another must be given carefully and wisely, not flippantly or thoughtlessly. And becoming a trusting person involves not only a willingness to do so, but also the presence to listen, the place to care, and the passion and commitment to do what is helpful, not hurtful.

Blessed God of support and strength, you have given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand has supported me. Your divine help has gotten me through, and given me a wide place for my steps under me, so that my fee do not slip.

Gracious God, you have given me an example through the Lord Jesus that we must support the weak, remembering his words, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” May it be so, in the strength given by the Holy Spirit, to your glory and honor. Amen.