Today, Lord, we ask that You be ever more present for those facing the unknowns of this Covid-19 virus. For those who have the illness, for those who are caring for someone with the illness, for those who must work regardless of the virus, and for the many who remain isolated because of the virus, we pray. 

We remember in Your Word “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”  (Deuternomy 31:6)

We also know that You are our Healer, as You showed many times “A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy.” (Matthew 8:2-3)

We know that when we don’t know what to do, You will show us the way. “I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.” (Isaiah 42:16).

Today and every day, until this terrible pandemic ends, we call on You in faith, expressing our pain, our fear, our sorrow, and our hope. Be with us now. We pray in Christ Jesus’s name. Amen.

I have never experienced the emotions like I have these past six weeks.  I’ve resigned myself to being locked in my home like a prisoner.  I’ve cried over the losses the world experiences.  I’ve run the streets in anger, pounding the pavement with all the force and duration I can muster.  I’ve smiled through the pain of not knowing when this will all end.  I’ve raged at the loss of fundamental liberties.  I’m sure you share these and other feelings.

As we struggle through what may be the strangest time in our lives, I am reminded of foundational verses we read in God’s Word, in Colossians 2:6-7

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

I learned these verses many years ago, in a discipleship study created by The Navigators called “The 2:7 Series.”  My church singles group pastor, who studied under the founder of the Navigators, encouraged all of us to participate.  It was a two-year small group study, requiring a strong commitment to completion.  I had never been in a study quite like it, and remember the weekly meetings and going through the six workbooks and dozens of memory verses even today.

Today as I woke up from a peaceful sleep, I asked God to give me words to encourage others in our unusual and unsettling times.  In this moment, Psalm 119:9-11 were the first words that I recalled.  For whatever reason, I found myself climbing the attic stairs as quietly as possible while my wife slumbered, and retrieving my 2:7 workbooks from a bin marked “Chip’s Ancient Books.”  There, I found in Course 6 “The Hand Illustration,” which had come to mind along with the verses in Psalm 119.

The hand illustration was meaningful to me.  It describes a journey to greater and greater dependence on God, leading to a powerful indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  In the illustration, each finger is associated with one of five disciplines.  Looking at each finger, we see how each of the five activities has the strength of that finger, and from little finger to thumb the activities have more and more impact on us.

The five disciplines are based in God’s Word:

Hear [Romans 10:17]

Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.

Read [Revelation 1:3]

Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.

Study [Acts 17:11]

Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

Memorize [Psalm 119:9-11]

How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word.  I seek you with all my heart;  do not let me stray from your commands.  I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

Meditate [Psalm 1:2-3]

but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.  That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers

No matter what, God is with us.  God alone can carry us through this.  God wants us to rely only on Him, in His providence and in His love.  The principles of this hand illustration give us steps we can take to bring us greater and greater spiritual peace, even now.  Let’s challenge ourselves to hold on to God’s Word in new ways, trusting Him in everything.

A few months ago we learned of an associate who unexpectedly experienced a heart attack over the weekend.  Only a week ago a colleague’s new truck was robbed after a window was smashed.  As conversations about suffering often go, we learn of even more pain among our family and friends.  With the COVID-19 pandemic, suffering and death have become daily intrusions into everyone’s lives. These incredibly difficult experiences bring questions to mind that we have all heard, and many of us have asked ourselves.  The questions usually begin with “Why…?”  The questions naturally fit into two broad categories…

• Why does God allow suffering?
• Why does God allow evil?

When we try to answer these questions, we are left in an uncomfortable position.  We end up, usually, with a disconnect.  When we experience suffering, we doubt that God is merciful.  When a horribly evil act is seen by everyone, we wonder if God is really in control and truly powerful.  We find ourselves trying to answer these questions and most often failing.  Here, in our failure, it seems that we can only move forward if we question the question.

The words of our question are important.  Sometimes we use words we know make sense, but fail to realize what the words communicate.  Looking at the three words found in our questions we see…

• Why — the word suggests that we are unaware of a cause that truly exists
• God — the appellation describes an omnipotent being of infinite capability
• Allow — the verb describes a permissive decision by one in authority

The nature of our questions reveals two foundations.  First, we express that we do believe in a supreme Being, who holds ultimate power in all things.  Secondly, we identify that there is an ideal that is not achieved.

What about the structure of our questions?  People who study language as well as people who program computers often find the structure to be vital to good communication.  If we use logic words in our language, our questions would look something like this

IF God is all powerful yet suffering is not desirable
THEN God allows suffering

IF God is all powerful yet evil exists
THEN God allows evil

The Bible gives us the truth, as only the Bible can. We can ask “Is God all powerful?” and see clearly that God is. In Romans 1:20 we read

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

Likewise we can inquire if suffering is likely. In Job 30:27 we find

The churning inside me never stops; days of suffering confront me.

We can wonder “does evil truly exist?” Genesis 6:5 offers this evidence

The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.

In our questions, we reach that point where the conditional “IF” statements lead us to “THEN” results that can shatter our beliefs about God. Naturally, we struggle with what appears to be an inescapable conclusion. Most often, we find ourselves either choosing to ignore the inquiry or stating that it is an inexplainable mystery. In truth, we can explore what troubles us simply by adding one key logic word to our concerns…

IF God is all powerful yet suffering is not desirable
THEN God allows suffering
AND …

If God is all powerful yet evil exists
THEN God allows evil
AND …

AND is a small but powerful logic “operator.” In computer programming, AND allows us to move beyond conclusions based only on the IF-THEN statements. Let’s again look at the words of God in the Bible that might follow the word AND…

IF God is all powerful yet suffering is not desirable
THEN God allows suffering
AND in our suffering, God both identifies with us, and restores us.

Christ Jesus, while on earth, experienced everything we do. His life of trouble was predicted in Isaiah 53:3

He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

God promises to hear us in our suffering. Psalm 22:24 tells us of our God who listens to us

For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.

As we suffer, God offers comfort and a vision for our future. In Psalm 119:50 we read

My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life.

If God is all powerful yet evil exists
THEN God allows evil
AND in a world of evil, God strengthens and preserves us.

Evil remains here, for a time, but as believers in Christ, we find God there with us. Psalm 41:2 offers us solace with this thought

The Lord protects and preserves them — they are counted among the blessed in the land —

In 1 John 5:18-19 we are encouraged with

We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them. We know that we are children of God, and the whole world is under the control of the evil one.

For anyone who has suffered, for anyone who sees evil face to face, the question “WHY, God?” no doubt will come out with groans and screams of pain. Your pain is real. No one can truly know your pain. AND, God is with you in your pain. The Bible promises that in our suffering and amongst all the evil in the world, God is with us. In Romans 8:31 through 39, the Bible offers us hope

What then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all — how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In all our circumstances, in all our troubles, in all our pain, when we question “IF God…,” let us remember to add “, … AND God.”

He loves you more than you can ever know.

As a parent, I often had to offer guidance to my kids. At times, I had to remind them of a rule.  In rare occasions, I had to reinforce my words, restating them with some emphasis.  At those moments, I sometimes felt angry.  When words are repeated, it’s probably best to listen carefully.

In the Bible, God speaks to us.  The words we read are directly inspired by God, and the human author writes as if God’s hand wraps around his own, just as we teach our tiny children to make letters on a page.  One striking example of God’s inspiration can be seen in Psalm 95.  The Psalm opens with words of praise, recognizing God as our salvation, our creator, and our sustainer.  In verses 8 and 9, we read:

Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the desert, where your fathers tested and tried me, though they had seen what I did.

What happened at Meribah and Massah?  We read of this event in Exodus 17, verses 1 through 7.  Here, the Israelites faced an uncertain future, one of extreme concern, the lack of drinking water.  In their complaint, the people showed no faith in God.  The people rebelled, threatening to kill their leader with stones.

In response to the complaint, the leader demonstrated his faith, by immediately turning to God. He “cried out to the Lord.”  He shared his deep despair, and the fear for his life.  And he waited for God’s response.  The leader went to a place where the Lord met him, with a few others from the group.  God rewarded him with flowing water from a rock.  On top of a mountain.  Where no rainwater could collect.  Where no underground stream would flow.  There is no doubt as to who provided the water!  The leader used a wooden staff to strike the rock, noteworthy as the staff used to separate a dry land path for the people in the midst of a sea as they fled oppression.  And from the rock, water flowed.

In a common Hollywood ending, we might expect for the flowing water to be the unbelievable highlight of the movie, where the leader is rewarded with cheers of the crowd for somehow bringing water to their number.  In God’s Word, though, the water is not the story.  We see this when we find the words of the Psalmist brought back to life in a well-written letter to those curious about Jesus Christ, in the book of Hebrews. The words of the Psalm are directly quoted, in Hebrews 3:7-11.  They are that important.  As children, we are hearing the words of a Father again.  We didn’t listen well the first time!  What does our Father say?

Do not harden your hearts.  Do not harden your hearts.

When we think back about our passage through life, no doubt we can think of a person once a friend, and now, well, not a friend.  On the playground in elementary school, one of your friends didn’t choose you for his kickball team, and that was it!  In high school, it was the person who left you all alone to face the wrath of the principal for bringing alcohol to the big game.  In your first real job, it was the person who stole your great idea and took it to the boss for credit.  Each time, our hearts were hardened towards the person.  The relationship ended, in emotional trauma, most often anger.  Sometimes forever.

Just like our relationships ended with certain people, the entire nation of Israel was separated from fellowship with God in a wilderness, as a result of their lack of faith.  Even the place names were changed to reflect what happened!  Massah means “testing,” and Mariah means “quarreling.”  Their lack of faith angered God.  Just like the person who left you holding the bag of liquor at the high school game angered you.

In His righteous anger, God decided to keep the nation away from “His rest.”  To these people, that meant a particular land “flowing with milk and honey.”  Forty years later, God opened that land to His people, just as He promised.  In a similar way, forty years later, at the high school reunion, you saw your old friend who left you under the stadium and reconnected over a glass of Merlot.  The relationship was restored.  Your disappointment from Friday night long ago was softened by a realization that a deep friendship was still possible, once you talked it over.

God doesn’t want us to be separated from Him for forty years!  There remains only one thing that separates us, and that is sin.  Sin prevents us from a relationship with God, even as believers in Christ.  Sin finds us struggling to find our way, instead of seeing God guide us effortlessly.  Sin finds us in fear, wondering how we are going to survive financially, instead of relying on God to provide.  Sin finds us alone, in a darkness borne of shame, instead of in community, where our true needs are met.  The writer of Hebrews offers this admonition in 3:12-15:

See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.  But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.  We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.  As has just been said: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.”

Even today, God is speaking to you.  He is promising a life of incredible richness and complexity.  He offers joy and peace.  He provides everything we need, and more.  Will we let sin’s deceitfulness harden our hearts against our loving Father?

Today, and every day, turn to God!  Look for His blessings.  Share God’s love with your friends and family to encourage each other to live holy lives, full of grace and truth.

And, trusting God for everything, enter His rest.  He loves you more than you will ever know.

At my church, our senior pastor related twelve gospel statements in a sermon.  One of the statements is “You are given grace and peace.”   As we gladly accept this good news, we might wonder “Why have I been given grace and peace?”

God’s Word states that our nature is sinful.  As much as we want to think of ourselves as a good person, with few moral failures, the Bible is clear.  In John 3:23, we read “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”  The Bible also highlights that “surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me” in Psalm 51:5.

Sin continues to dominate our lives.  No matter how hard we try to avoid sin.  No matter that we know of godly men and women who serve as examples for us.  In Hebrews 12:1 we read “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.”  Sin is both unavoidable and inescapable.  Worst of all, sin entangles us in a life of more sin.

In the New Testament, thirteen books were written by Paul.  Paul’s life was transformed from a person seeking to kill believers in Christ to a man who died proclaiming Christ.   Paul met Christ in an extraordinary encounter on a journey to find and prosecute believers in Christ, and in that moment he realized God’s incredible gift of salvation in Christ.  As an apostle and missionary for Christ, he traveled the region extensively, later giving guidance and encouragement to the many churches he helped to found.  In these letters, found now in the Bible, Paul offered the phrase “Grace and peace to you…” in every letter.  We see this phrase in Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus and Philemon.  Every letter ascribed to Paul.  As an introductory phrase to all thirteen letters, we know that Paul’s gospel — his good news — was best summarized by these words:  Grace and peace to you…

Imagine reading one of Paul’s letters, in a church like this.  Today, it would be like watching a sermon from a pastor somewhere far away on a big screen in our church.  We would sit quietly in the auditorium, the band would leave the stage, and the lights would dim.  The face of a pastor would smile from that screen, and the first words we would hear are “Grace and peace to you.”  Being in church, believing in Christ, we wonder why every message begins with the same words.  Aren’t we OK with God?

Believing in Christ, who died on our behalf, we might think all is well.  But, the battle against personal sin never ends.  In the ancient church traditions, continued by many traditional Christian denominations today, the church service includes a time of corporate confession, followed by moments of silence for personal confession.  Afterwards, the church pastor turns to the congregants and offers a reminder of God’s forgiveness and absolution.  We rarely see this in our typical church services today.

Why should we confess sins in prayer?  And how?  The Bible reminds us of four elements of an ongoing relationship with God:

Contrition
Micah 7:9
Because I have sinned against him, I will bear the Lord’s wrath, until he pleads my case and upholds my cause. He will bring me out into the light; I will see his righteousness.

The Bible reminds us that we remain sinners.  In that sin, we bear the Lord’s wrath, until He Himself acts as our attorney before the judge.  Our sin is personal, and takes us into darkness.  The Lord’s actions alone move us from darkness into light.  Can we gain a deeper and deeper awareness of personal sin, and how it grieves the Lord and merits wrath? Our ability to see His righteousness is magnified as we are saddened by our personal sin.

Confession
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Confession of sins brings to mind scenes from many movies, where a person speaks with a priest in a small dark box.  We don’t have to do that!  Confession of specific sins simply means  we are to pray to God about the specific sins we recognize.  We pray to place them on the altar before the Lord. In so doing, we are given a great weapon to avoid such sin in the future, as He again takes action and purifies us from our unrighteousness.

Cleansing
Jeremiah 33:8
I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me.

It is not always easy to recognize that sins are actually rebellion from God.  Such rebellion separates us.  God cannot have a living relationship with us in our rebellion!  What is amazing is that God wants a continuing relationship with us, and He alone chooses to and has power to cleanse us.

Celebration
Romans 7:24-25
What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

The battle with sin, which never seems to end, brings us to a recognition that we are truly wretched.  Even though we are well-dressed, greet one another with a smile, and share pleasantries with friends, we are actually living as if we were on death row.  Our garments are ragged, dirty, and mark us as condemned with stripes that show our guilt.  We are trapped in a dark cell, surviving on moldy bread and dank water rather than filet mignon and merlot wine.  The singular sacrificial act of Christ leads us to exclaim “hallelujah!” in thanksgiving for our rescue.

So today, what would your prayer of confession be?  Can you confess your sins, recognizing that God alone chooses to act to save us?  Can you share with God your sorrow over your sin, your recognition that it separates you from Him, your desire to return to fellowship with Him, and your gratitude for Christ’s sacrifice?  Can you ask God to purify you?

If we do, we will live in a continuing state of celebration, in which we recognize the gospel of grace and peace in our lives. Because of our sin, we need grace. With God’s grace, we live in peace with Him.