Tag: hardship

A (Needed) Perspective on the Christian Life (Acts 27:39-44)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
Paul’s Shipwreck, by Ludolf Backhuysen (1630–1708)

When daylight came, they did not recognize the land, but they saw a bay with a sandy beach, where they decided to run the ship aground if they could. Cutting loose the anchors, they left them in the sea and at the same time untied the ropes that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and made for the beach. But the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground. The bow stuck fast and would not move, and the stern was broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf.

The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping. But the centurion wanted to spare Paul’s life and kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. The rest were to get there on planks or on other pieces of the ship. In this way everyone reached land safely. (New International Version)

Saul was an up and rising star among the Jewish Pharisees. He was committed to his religion to the point of approving the death of the first Christian martyr, Stephen. Saul saw followers of Jesus as an aberration to Judaism, and did whatever he could to stamp out the sect.

During one of his travels to do just that, he was confronted by a vision of Christ himself, who said to Saul, “Why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4-5) For days Saul was blind, mimicking his spiritual blindness. Both his physical and spiritual eyesight were restored when he came to faith in Christ and began following the words and ways of Jesus. His name changed from Saul to Paul the Apostle.

Paul’s conversion was a complete transformation of life. Yet, this in no way meant that the rest of his life was all rainbows and butterflies. Just the opposite. Saul the Persecutor ended up becoming Paul the Persecuted One.

With the same drive and desire that he once had to do away with Christians altogether, so now the Apostle Paul put all that energy into proclaiming the good news of grace and forgiveness in Jesus Christ his Savior and Lord. And, as one might expect, this put Paul in the crosshairs of his former partners, the Jewish Pharisaical leadership. They now despised Paul.

The Jewish religious authorities hated Paul so much that they made sure to stir up trouble for him everywhere he went, even when it was way out in the Gentile sticks of Galatia and the Gentile strongholds of Greece. And that is essentially why Paul landed in prison. He was portrayed as a rebel and a troublemaker, an enemy of the social order (even though Paul himself was actually a citizen of Rome).

As a Roman citizen, Paul invoked his right to appeal to Caesar. And so, he was put on a Roman prison ship, bound from Palestine to Italy. And that is where we pick up today’s New Testament lesson.

Paul had been through an awful lot of adversity, hardship, and persecution. His faith had become so robust that a terrible storm and a shipwreck could not at all wreck his commitment to Christ. In fact, it only strengthened it.

It’s not always easy to see, but Paul’s words to the Roman Christians are true, even for us today:

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

The Apostle Paul (Romans 8:28, NLT)

This is an understanding of God, a deep theological perspective, which is informed by years of walking with Jesus in the crucible of suffering and difficulty. It discerns the Lord as caring and loving, even when it appears on the surface that God is mean and capricious.

Many Christians today tend to believe that the redemption which Christ secured is a mere life insurance policy for heaven. And, if it has anything to do with the here-and-now, it means we ought to have all our desires met for earthly peace and abundance. If that were true, both Jesus and Paul were miserable failures as godly people.

God, however, cares about our salvation, our wholeness and integrity as people on this earth. Yes, we have eternal life, yet that life has already begun, and we are to live into it now.

Christianity is a paradoxical faith. The way to gain your life is to lose it. The path to glory is through suffering.

This, my friends, means that we do not gain a good and blessed life by attempting to make everything in life go our way, without any difficulty. Instead, the good life comes by acknowledging the grit and grist of life. It is in the full acceptance of suffering, persecution, illness, death, and our own psychological infirmities that leads us into becoming who God wants us to be – and thus more open to what joy really is.

On the practical level, this means that our failures, our missed expectations, and our dashed hopes are very important pieces to our faith and it’s development. All of this is what awakens us to compassion – both for others and ourselves.

So then, Paul’s perspective on all the difficulties in his life is that they are significant spiritual incubators of faith for him. Paul accepted his sufferings and hardships – and more than that – he valued them for the ways they developed his faith in God and ability to minister to others.

As one old Rabbi once put it:

“There are many rooms in God’s castle. There is, however, one key that opens every room, and that key is a broken heart.”

Ba’al Shem Tov (1698-1760)

Sovereign God, let our love be genuine; help us to hate what is evil, and to hold on to what is good; and empower us to love one another with mutual affection. Strengthen our spirits so that we might serve our Lord Jesus. With you as our faith, we choose to rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; and persevere in prayer, by means of your blessed Holy Spirit. Amen.

Change and Stress (Acts 27:1-12)

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

When it was decided that we would sail for Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a centurion named Julius, who belonged to the Imperial Regiment. We boarded a ship from Adramyttium about to sail for ports along the coast of the province of Asia, and we put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us.

The next day we landed at Sidon; and Julius, in kindness to Paul, allowed him to go to his friends so they might provide for his needs. From there we put out to sea again and passed to the lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us. When we had sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia. There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and put us on board. We made slow headway for many days and had difficulty arriving off Cnidus. When the wind did not allow us to hold our course, we sailed to the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone. We moved along the coast with difficulty and came to a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea.

Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Day of Atonement. So Paul warned them, “Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also.” But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship. Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided that we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there. This was a harbor in Crete, facing both southwest and northwest. (New International Version)

Change is an emotionally charged word. For some, change is longed for. Those with adverse circumstances and difficult situations may look for change, and even for a miracle to turn their life around. Others want nothing to do with change; they’ve had a bad experience with it. Their fortunes were good, until something changed. And now they’re stressed out.

The majority of us have some sort of love/hate relationship with change – which is why there are people who look askance on Christianity and raise their eyebrow in skepticism toward Christians or religious folk in general. At the heart of Christianity is change, and change can be quite threatening toward a lot of people.

The Apostle Paul perhaps knew about change better than any Christian in history. He went from resisting change with violence, to embracing change so wholeheartedly that he became a victim of other’s violence. We meet him in today’s New Testament lesson as a prisoner being shipped from Palestine to Rome.

Paul’s message, at its core, is the good news of transformation because of Christ’ crucifixion and resurrection. It’s a message of radical and joyous change, of new life. And it’s also a scandalous message which impacts the surrounding culture.

Wherever the gospel of Jesus Christ went, people responded, and it influenced society to a significant degree. Throughout the Acts of the Apostles, political authorities, religious leaders, and cultural elites felt powerful shifts in their societies. Yes, a few became Christians themselves, but most resisted the change, and in some cases, in their irritated stress response, retaliated against believers.

The message of Christianity doesn’t yield to political forces that attempt to domesticate God; and that reality put many believers in the crosshairs of those forces.

Paul’s ability to keep up his witness to Christ, even while held prisoner under powerful Roman authority, comes from a theology that God is above all earthly rule and can make a way where there seems to be no way. In other words, no matter whether human institutions, empires, and structures either acquiesce or oppose the gospel makes no difference; God is able to bend any system and authority for divine purposes.

And this is precisely why the Apostle Paul appears calm, non-anxious, and able to encourage others in the center of a storm in which everyone might lose their lives. Put simply: Paul trusted God.

Yes, we have unwanted circumstances. Yet, if we are able to entrust ourselves to a good God (which may sound trite and easy, yet is anything but that) then we find that we’re also able to have a radical acceptance of the situation we’re presently in.

Faith and trust help us to accept difficult changes and respond to stress with resilience because faith is attentive to the following:

  • Knowing change is coming. Throughout the New Testament we are told that adversity and suffering are an integral part of the Christian life. Paul wasn’t caught by surprise with a storm. In his life, he expected the difficulties to come.

You have seen me experience physical abuse and ordeals in places such as Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. I put up with all sorts of abuse, and the Lord rescued me from it all! In fact, anyone who wants to live a holy life in Christ Jesus will be harassed. (2 Timothy 3:11-12, CEB)

  • Paying attention to the feelings of self and others. Emotions are not a necessary evil. They play a very important role in helping us come to grips with what’s happening. Paul acknowledged the emotions of everyone on the ship, as well as his own. And this became the pathway to both acceptance and encouragement.

There’s a season for everything
    and a time for every matter under the heavens…

a time for crying and a time for laughing,
    a time for mourning and a time for dancing. (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4, CEB)

  • Becoming resilient. The ability to adapt, to find ways of surviving and thriving, is buoyed by a robust faith which can see with spiritual eyes and make decisions of faith, hope, and love.

“When I was born into this world,
    I was naked and had nothing.
When I die and leave this world,
    I will be naked and have nothing.
The Lord gives,
    and the Lord takes away.
Praise the name of the Lord!” (Job 1:21, ERV)

Stress and change can be hard and overwhelming. Yet, at the same time, it can be an opportunity to put faith into practice and be a blessing to the world.

Assist us, Lord, in living hopefully into the future. In the face of change, help us to set unnecessary fears aside and to recognize our potential for creative response. Help us to develop a reasonable optimism and to guard against our own defensiveness. Be with us as we remember and celebrate former times, and keep us from unreasonable yearning for them, which takes us from the work you have set before us in our time. All this we ask in the name of your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Take the Scroll and Eat It (Revelation 10:1-11)

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

Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars. He was holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand. He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke. And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down.”

Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. And he swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said, “There will be no more delay! But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.”

Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me once more: “Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.”

So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but ‘in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.’” I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.” (New International Version)

Maybe this goes without saying, yet it probably needs to be said anyway: Our human participation is required to go along with God’s action.

We are fellow actors with God in the drama of what is happening in this world. This is both invigorating and scary, at the same time. Decrees were not simply shouted from above, and down to humanity. Instead, God’s words are sent by heavenly messenger to the earth, to be digested by people.

The world is not changed from its hateful ways and prejudiced stances simply by God decreeing love for us. Rather, the words are followed by the invitation to participate.

For the Christian, this participation begins with the Lord Jesus. He entered into our situation, lived among us, full of grace and truth. Christ took the words of God, ate them, digested them, and allowed them to thoroughly guide his earthly life and ministry.

Some believe that the mighty angel in today’s New Testament lesson is none other than Christ in the form of, or using, an angel to communicate. Whatever is happening in the text, it is clear that Jesus is certainly behind it all.

A scroll was given to the Apostle John. He was exhorted to move from observer to actor. The bad news of humanity’s sin and judgment must be transformed into good news of grace and forgiveness through human presence and cooperation.

Take the scroll and eat it. The prophet Ezekiel, in the Old Testament, was also told to eat a scroll and then go speak (Ezekiel 3:1). We aren’t told anything about what was written in the scroll which John took – and that’s because the words themselves aren’t really the point of what’s happening.

Whenever the people of God take and eat the words of God, they have the dual experience of delivering the good news of grace with great joy, as well as enduring suffering with patience because of the testimony they proclaim.

Revelation, or the Apocalypse of John, was written not to craft elaborate prophecy charts about the end times, but was meant to offer encouragement to a suffering church that their witness to the gospel was worth it.

The believers were experiencing persecution from the hands of unbelievers. The vision of John was designed to pull back the curtain a bit, revealing a peek that, in the end, God’s purposes will be accomplished, evil shall be vanquished, and the people of God will be vindicated.

Perseverance requires active participation, not passive acquiescence. We endure through hardship. It has always been this way for God’s people. Believers walk through the valley, and sit at the table with the presence of enemies, along with the presence of God.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
    I fear no evil,
for you are with me;
    your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows. (Psalm 23:4-5, NRSV)

The ability to move through adversity requires collaborating with the Lord, knowing God’s words, and using that message for help and encouragement.

People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4, NLT)

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. (Hebrews 4:12, NLT)

The angel of the Lord camps around
the Lord’s loyal followers and delivers them.
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
How blessed is the one who takes shelter in him.(Psalm 34:7-8, NET)

The word of God is active and powerful. Ingesting God’s words enables God’s message to move within us and shape us for active and effective participation in the world.

It is neither an easy path, nor a wide smooth highway to speed down. Yet, for those who will take the journey, it is a joyous road and a winding narrow trail full of God’s signs and wonders.

This is the way of perseverance, and God’s words are our guide.

Heavenly Father, give us faith to receive your word, understanding to know what it means, and the will to put it into practice; through Jesus Christ our Lord, in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

How To Deal with Temptation (James 1:12-16)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
Eve reaching for the forbidden fruit, by S.J. Grove, 1995

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. (New International Version)

The slow slog of uphill adversity, at various times, is a common experience of us all. We must deal with circumstances we didn’t choose, and situations that are out of our control. Throw into the mix that many people have few resources, and you have a feeling of being totally overwhelmed.

In this state of being, it’s challenging to maintain solid decision-making, emotional stability, and spiritual support. We need both encouragement and warning so that we can be strengthened in faith.

The Apostle James sought to encourage and warn a small struggling church who were enduring difficult and unwanted situations. He reminded the believers that the person who perseveres under a time of trial and testing of faith is blessed. 

To be “blessed” is to have God’s stamp of approval. God approves of learning, enduring, and maturing through hardship. For such people, God has promised to give “the crown of life.” All the hard lessons we have under our belts, puts us in the position to connect with Jesus and enjoy God.

Don’t blame others

Sometimes, however, we face suffering not because of the circumstances which God brings in our lives, but because of our own unwise response to difficulty. 

Problems are compounded whenever we blame our troubles on others, and refuse to learn what God is trying to teach us. This sort of response has it’s origins in the Garden.  

Adam said to God, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” (Genesis 3:12) The implication of Adam is that he would have remained innocent, if God had not put Eve in the Garden with him. 

Ever since, blame-shifting has been a staple of human behavior. Our bruised hearts and damaged egos send us desperately looking for someone else to blame when we are confronted with our own trouble. 

“There are two eras in American history: the passing of the buffalo and the passing of the buck.”

Will Rogers

Some folks can be so desperate to justify themselves, they end up saying illogical things, such as: 

  • “I wouldn’t lose my temper if my co-workers were easier to get along with, my kids behaved better, and my spouse were more considerate.” 
  • “I would be a patient person if I didn’t have so many things to do, and if the people around me weren’t so slow and incompetent!” 
  • “I would have a pure mind if there were not so many sexual images in our culture.”
  • “I wouldn’t worry about the future if I had more money, and no health problems.”
  • “My spiritual life would be much better if the pastor did a better job.”
  • “I would follow if there were some decent leadership around here.”
  • “I could never forgive that person [or God].”
  • “My neighbor is an incredible cook; I can’t lose weight with such good food.”
  • “I’ll never be happy, as long as that person is in my life.”

So, I ask us, “What will it take?”…

  1. To stop making excuses? 
  2. To quit blame-shifting onto others? 
  3. To trust God and step out in faith?
  4. To cease worrying about what other people think and start doing what God thinks? 
  5. To look at faith as a dynamic relationship with the Lord, instead of just a static thing you possess? 
  6. To read Holy Scripture as if your life depended on it? 
  7. To minister with initiative and confidence? 
  8. To be humble, do justice, and act with mercy? 
  9. To spiritually grow?
  10. To truly enjoy life?

Don’t blame God

It seems that to err is human; to blame it on the divine is even more human.

God cannot be tempted; it’s not an option. God hates sin and disobedience; the Lord has no appeal for it, at all. It’s a moral impossibility for God to even consider attempting to do evil. Therefore, since God cannot be tempted by evil, God cannot tempt people toward evil.

Then why in the Sam Hill would we ever blame anything on God? Because it’s a cheap easy (and pathetic) way of absolving ourselves from responsibility for our own unwise choices, words, and actions. 

Certainly, God tests us, in order to improve our character, and to bring us toward greater spiritual maturity. Yet, God never forces us to make bad, immoral, or evil choices. God may have brought the trial and testing into our lives; but how we respond to it is up to us.

Take responsibility for yourself

The real culprit behind temptation is one’s own personal and strong desire. It’s the intense motive to have-to-do-it, have-to-say-it, and have-to-have-it, which are at the root of temptation. 

We all have legitimate needs, wants, and desires for love, security, companionship, and to make a difference in the world. Yet we may seek illegitimate means to satisfy those needs. We are lured to the hook by the enticing bait of temptation, and if we bite, that’s on us. Our own temptations lure us to satisfy our legitimate needs in illegitimate ways. 

And when we get ourselves in a pickle because of following our own temptations, the internal push to blame others and/or God becomes strong. It doesn’t help that blame-shifting feels good; it gets the monkey off my back – at least for a time. 

But like a bad addiction, blame-shifting needs to occur in a bigger dose, after a shorter duration of time. Before you know it, we’re caught in a destructive cycle. The temptation has enticed us and we have taken the bait.  Like a fish-eyed follower of evil, we succumb to the lust for ambition, revenge, sex, power, fame, or money.

Know the consequences of blaming others

Temptation, like a smooth operator, comes along and gives a slick pitch about how our troubles can be managed or taken away through blaming others, even God. Then, all of sudden, like a star-struck fan seeking to be satisfied, we take the bait and go to bed with the idea. 

We let sin’s temptation have its way with us. Now, it’s inside us. Like a fetus, the small sin grows within. Eventually, this pregnancy will come to full term. But instead of giving birth to life, there is the terrible agony of death.

Conclusion

Everyone struggles in some way with some sort of temptation. We don’t all wrestle with the same demons, but we’re all tempted in some manner. However, the cycle of guilt and separation from God can be broken. The glory of the gospel is that it breaks the power of sin.

So, hear the good news: 

Don’t let anyone fool you by using senseless arguments [blame-shifting]. These arguments may sound wise, but they are only human teachings. They come from the powers of this world and not from Christ… Christ has taken away your selfish desires… God let Christ make you alive when he forgave all our sins.

God wiped out the charges that were against us for disobeying. He took them away and nailed them to the cross. There Christ defeated all powers and forces… Now the forces of the universe don’t have any power over you….

Kill every selfish desire. Don’t be immoral or indecent or have evil thoughts. Don’t be greedy, which is the same as worshiping idols….  You must quit being angry, hateful, and evil. You must no longer say insulting or cruel things about others. And stop lying to each other. You have given up your old way of life with its habits….

God loves you and has chosen you as his own special people. So be gentle, kind, humble, meek, and patient. Put up with each other, and forgive anyone who does you wrong, just as Christ has forgiven you. Love is more important than anything else. It is what ties everything completely together.

Let the peace that comes from Christ control your thoughts. And be grateful. Let the message about Christ completely fill your lives, while you use all your wisdom to teach and instruct each other. With thankful hearts, sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. Whatever you say or do should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, as you give thanks to God the Father because of him. (Colossians 2:8-3:17, CEV)

Amen.