God’s Provision to Get Us Through a Hard World

You’ve been there. I have. I wish I could tell you we won’t be there again, but before today ends, before the week ends, before the month ends, eventually we find ourselves back there. That place where we wonder how am I going to get through this?

Maybe you are facing an illness. Worse yet, maybe your child is. Maybe it is a financial struggle. Perhaps it is a prodigal child. Or it could be the loss of your job. It may be a loved one is very close to passing away. How am I going to make it through this?

Last blog, we had a reality check: we are fallen people (but in Christ redeemed!) living in a world under a curse, surrounded by other sinful people, and Satan himself is called the god of this world (until Christ returns to take it back).

I wish it were different, but the sad reality is that we live in a world where bad news, tragedy, heartache, and pain are the norm… we should expect these things. Jesus even promised in John 16:33: In the world you will have tribulation.

Bad news, just deal with it right? Wrong.

Jesus ALSO said, right before the previous statement: I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace.

So peace is found in Him. But what are these things He spoke to the disciples (and us) that deliver this peace? Apparently, Jesus said some things specifically for the purpose of showing us how we have peace in Him. So what are they?

Jesus made this statement at the end John 16, an extended teaching that began in John 13. Starting there, we find in this portion of Scripture at least five different things God is providing to get us through a hard world.

The first one is

PEOPLE TO COUNT ON.

John 13:34-35 - A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

God has given us each other. That’s great news.

I don’t know about you, but I can easily recognize and readily acknowledge the impact my brothers in the Lord have on me. When I am discouraged, they encourage. When I am down, they pick me up. When I am overwhelmed, they come alongside and help. And I try to do the same for them.

Not just trying to be a buddy, but loving each other. And not just loving each other, but loving as Jesus has loved us.Selflessly, fully, perfectly. And when the world see us loving each other that way, their response will be, “Those people must be true followers of Jesus.”

It’s sad when I hear people make comments like, “You don’t have to go to church to be a Christian.” That’s not only a statement from immaturity, but it’s a statement of someone who is missing out. Missing the blessing of peace that comes from knowing: yes, life is hard; yes, bad news is around every corner; yes, we live in a world of suffering…but we are not alone. We are in a team…no, a family, who loves us with the love of Christ.

So when life gets hard, we can say, “Bring it. Check out the people who got my back. God Himself provided them. So... bring it.”

Thank you, God, for your provision of people to count on. May I be one to them, too. 

p.s. - learning to love like Jesus loved

Not-So-Great Expectations

A couple summers ago, Erin brought home one of those Whamm-O brand inflatable pools. The front of the box depicted the pool, a very realistic painting of the alleged contents of the box. And on this box’s depiction, there were a dozen or so pre-adolescent kids merry-making in the summer heat in this pool. Flying down the slide, playing basketball in the pool, firing huge blasts of water from the water cannons… When I saw the box, I thought I would invite over every kid in the neighborhood for a pool party!

Then I opened the box.

This thing was the ultimate let down. The slide was barely a foot and a half long. The basketball was a little rubber inflatable thing, like what they make floaties out of, and was barely the size of a softball. The water cannons were sad little squirters. You could not have fit 3 Smurfs in the pool, let alone all those kids on the box.

Life is a lot like that sometimes, isn’t it?

We have high hopes, big dreams, great expectations… and we end up disappointed. Life just doesn’t turn out the way we thought it would. I thought I would have a better job…make more money…have a bigger house…have better health…have more kids/no kids/less kids/cooler kids.

We all want comfort, peace, pleasure, and prosperity. The problem is not that we want these. In fact, we were built for these things.

The problem is this: we expect these things from the world. We all have a silly tendency at times to expect that the world is finally going to cash in and give us happiness. Satan’s lie in the Garden of Eden is still his ploy: So we expect good things from the world.

We all have a silly tendency at times to expect that the world is finally going to cash in and give us happiness. Satan’s lie in the Garden of Eden is still his ploy: So we expect good things from the world.

But we have a world system that is manipulated by lies that ensnare us in Satan’s scheme. And that is the way Satan likes it: a world full of deceit and destruction seems to discredit the Creator who has sovereign control. (Tangent: When was the last time you heard Satan blamed for misery? Don’t we usually hear “if God is so good and loving, why is there so much misery in the world…?” Anyways...)

Reality check for us all: we are fallen people (but in Christ redeemed!), living in a world under a curse, surrounded by sinful people, and Satan himself is called the god of this world (until Christ returns to take it back).

So what should we expect from the world? If all this is true, why in the world do we get our hopes up?

Reality check for us all, continued: Jesus gave us some expectations in John 16:33: I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.

Jesus promised that in the world, we will have trouble.

But what are “these things” He said would give us peace in Him? We’ll catch those next time.

For now, let’s examine our expectations. Are we bitter because things aren’t exactly as we think they should be? Or are we starting to get it…? Things will never be perfect here.

Oh sure, we are blessed, have much to be thankful for, and life is good! Yet things are not optimal by any means, and many weeks, there are more hard days than easy days. There is sickness, death, betrayal, disappointment, hurting, abuse, abandonment, and discouragement. And that's on a good day.

But when the LORD returns to restore all things, to make all things new (Revelation 21:5), then our expectations can change!

So in the meantime, we rest on the promises of Christ. 

p.s. - totally would have invited you to that pool party

Jesus: My Example for Prayer

Not only do we have the greatest resource in the world, and leave it unused too often, but we make excuses why we don’t use it! If you read the last blog, you get that we are talking about prayer.

Somehow Christians have normalized prayerlessness. But it is not normal. If I went to the doctor and told him I haven’t eaten anything in 2 weeks, he would say something is wrong…because that isn’t normal. Normal is eating. Prayerlessness is the same. Normal, for the believer, is praying.

I wondered one time, “Has there ever been anyone who doesn’t need to pray?” And my knee-jerk reaction was, “Jesus: did He need to pray? He, being God, didn’t need to repent, had all knowledge… maybe He is the only one who didn’t need prayer.” But the Bible shows us over and over - Jesus was constantly devoted to prayer!

One verse in particular is Mark 1:35, which says, “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.”

This verse is an excuse killer for me. And it must be for you. Jesus “shuts up” our excuses. Let’s see how He does it for the top three excuses:

“I don’t have time.” - Where does the time go? I have to ask myself that about twice a week. Have you ever kept a “time log“? I had to as a project for ministry work a few years ago. I was amazed at how much time is spent on some things, and comparatively how little is spent on others (yes, like praying!). I spent 3 hours watching a ball game, but when it came to talking to the God of the universe? No time for that? Here is a truth that is across the board: people always have time for what they to have time for. Jesus took advantage of time by getting up very early in the morning.

“I’m too busy.” - This is the tag-team partner of the previous excuse. Too busy. Too much work here, too much running around there. Jesus was pretty busy. But He made prayer a priority. He got up early and got away from it all by going to adesolate place . Before I do anything, I got to get away from everything, and get on my knees in prayer.

“I’m just not sure how to pray” - Jesus taught us exactly how to pray, and we’ll look at what He said next time.

p.s. - no excuses

God has given me the best resource in the world. Do I use it?

Imagine you are working for a large company and your boss gives you a 5 page document, and she wants you to make 80 copies. She walks you down the hall and shows you the biggest, fastest, state-of-the-art copying machine, and says, “Here, this is completely at your disposal!” And you promptly sit down at a desk, grab a pencil and a ream of blank paper, and proceed to hand copy the documents she wants, one word at a time. 

That is crazy. You are offered the best resource in the world, and you do the job your own way with your own abilities. But the crazier thing is, you and I often do the same type of thing every day! God Himself has given us the greatest resource in the universe: Himself! And He has given us access to Himself through a means we can use anytime, anywhere, and for any reason: prayer. 

Why don’t we pray as we should? Why are we willing to operate in our own strength and struggle before we call on the greatest Person in the universe to help us? Who, by the way, wants to help us, actually commanded us to call on Him, and always delivers? 

The answer: I don’t really know. I have been a Christian for 16 years, and I still can’t figure this out. I am sure it has something to do with my pride. But God’s Word makes me sure of something else: He will break my pride until I become dependant on Him for everything, so the glory may rest on Whom it is due. Not me. The Lord. 

Colossians 4:2 reminds us: “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.” We need that reminder. Prayer is the thing we all need to get back to, reevaluate, tighten up in our own walks with God. This verse gives us three directives in prayer: 

1. I need to pray consistently. Not just before bed or before supper. Not just in church. Always. Constantly. Persistently. God is always with us, at home, work, school, parties, funerals, victory, defeat, morning, evening, rain or shine…Oh, to dwell in sweet communion with the Lord 24/7. Not just knowing He is there, but realizing He is there!
    
2. I need to pray expectantly. An oft-repeated phrase really annoys me. And it’s more the tone that is usually behind it than the words stated. It’s this: “All we can do is pray.” A large SIGH usually follows or precedes it. Like prayer is the ultimate “Hail Mary” pass (pardon the pun, I didn‘t come up with the name) from earth to heaven. I’ll just throw it up to heaven, maybe the right Person will get the message. WRONG! God hears, God responds, things happen - but we need to be watchful, as in “pray, then step back and watch at what God is going to do, because we know He is going to do something…for sure!!!”
    
3. I need to pray thankfully. Not the laundry list. Not the Christmas wish-list. Sure, we bring our needs before Him, but it must always be done in a spirit of gratitude for what He has already done. It is also thanking Him ahead of time for what He is going to do. This is an attitude of trust and faith. God, we need you so desperately, so thank you for bringing us this far, and we know you are going to take us the rest of the way. 

The next couple of blogs are going to be about prayer. But let’s not just talk about it. Let’s do it! 

p.s. - prayerlessness is carelessness!