My wife, Jill, is one of the most faith-filled people I know. On a regular basis, when something happens that I may or may not like, she has graciously reminded me that the Lord is at work and behind it all. Her perspective is not unique, but I feel like her faith is. I struggle at times to see God’s hand and find myself with anxiety about a variety of things. I consistently take my cares to the Lord and cast them upon Him, but feel like I keep going over and over.
Recently, I have begun to take Jill’s encouragement and faith to ask the Lord to give me new eyes to see, so that I might be filled with faith like hers (and more biblical). I want to share a few of these things with you in this post as a way to consider God’s hand in life’s challenges and to build fresh faith in God’s work.
I hope you’ll see how this ties to our ‘one another’ series, as well.
Seeing and resting in God’s hidden hand of providence:
- When a health crisis hits:
- It is God’s way of reminding us that this world is not our home, and heaven is our reward.
- It is God’s way of creating greater dependence on His care for us. Nothing creates greater dependency than when we’re faced with something that seems impossible, this side of heaven.
- It is a reminder that our physical bodies are wasting away, but our inner man is being renewed day by day.
- When a financial crisis hits:
- It is God’s way of reorienting our affections to Him. We’re to love Him above all, and the love of money is a root of all evil.
- It is God’s way of building in us a greater trust in His provision.
- It is God’s way of re-orienting our priorities. Are we handling our money in a way that honors God?
- When relational conflicts hit:
- It is God’s way of reminding us that we are not in heaven yet and of making us long for the day when we’ll be perfectly reconciled with all Christians from all time forever.
- It is God’s way of bringing what is hidden and secret out into the open. Sometimes, you don’t know what people really think, until you’re in a conflict with them.
- It is God’s way of helping us trust in the power of the gospel to truly reconcile. It takes a unique, supernatural power to graciously confront, to walk in humility, and seek and grant forgiveness.
- When political or national crises hit:
- It is God’s way of reminding us that no nation on earth deserves our ultimate allegiance.
- It’s a great reminder that God brings kings to power and takes them out for reasons He alone knows.
- It is a reminder that there is no King but Jesus, and until all nations are submitted to Him, there will be no peace.
Now, you can see how this is a flip of perspective on many things. And I must admit, I wrote these to preach them to my heart. I need this exercise regularly.
It only matters when it matters:
During baseball season, I have my teams practice fundamentals every day. We have a round of hitting drills we do every day, including bunting. We have defensive drills every day to work on footwork, glove work, throwing, catching, and fielding. I tell the players that we do this because “it only matters when it matters.” They understand that this means there will come a time, at some point, when we’re going to need the very thing we’ve been doing every day.
This is one of the reasons for the ‘one another’ series. It only matters when it matters. And I’m concerned that day is approaching very quickly.
You would have to have your head in the sand or not pay attention to miss what happened two Sundays ago at Cities Church in Minneapolis. In case you don’t know, a group of protesters went into Cities Church, disrupted the service, and stopped the gathering of Christian worshippers. It was an awful moment. This event crossed a line that we need to be aware of and prepared for. We should pray that we never have to face something like this, but if we did, we should pray that we would be ready to respond in a way that honors Christ and stands against evil.
If we are angry with one another, are not humble with each other, do not care for one another, then when a real attack like this one happens, we will not be prepared. Practicing and applying the ‘one anothers’ prepares us for moments when the world attacks or persecution hits. Believe me, when you need other Christians standing beside you, you’ll want to have your fundamentals down.
I am a specifically local church pastor. What I mean is this: I don’t pay a ton of attention to what’s going on in the bigger evangelical world. I’m not a huge podcast listener. I am particularly focused on CLF and our community. I spend my days thinking, writing, praying, studying, and preparing with CLF in mind. I don’t write about broader ‘world’ events, nor do I get overly worked up about them. I am focused on us.
With that thought in mind, here are a couple of thoughts for CLF:
- Below are a couple of articles that I found helpful. The one by Denny Burk includes a video from a protester during the church service. Pay attention to how the church-goers respond. I paid attention to how Pastor Jonathan Parnell responded. It’s a great lesson in restraint, self-control, and courage.
- Some have wondered, ‘What kind of protection do we have at Jacoby Auditorium because it’s on a community college campus?’ It’s a great question. My response is that we have quite a bit. There are specific rules for the UCC security team regarding protesters, and they have given our security team the guidelines for what to do inside Jacoby. If this were to happen, we’d ask our folks to allow our faithful security team and pastors/elders to protect the body. We must keep in mind that anything will be recorded and used against us, if possible.
Here are the articles posted by Justin Taylor:
- https://www.dennyburk.com/the-desecration-of-city-church/ by Denny Burk
- https://wng.org/opinions/a-brazen-invasion-of-christian-worship-1768807502 by Joe Rigney
- Also, this one that we forwarded to our security team leaders: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/faqs-churches-protest-sanctuary/
Brothers and sisters, these are strange times, and we must practice our fundamentals because it only matters when it matters.
Looking ahead:
This week, we will look at the command to forgive one another from Colossians 3:12-15. Coming off last week’s sermon about bearing with one another, this is a great follow-up.
Cheap seats:
- I didn’t have the Seahawks vs. Patriots Super Bowl on my card when the year started. But two very good defenses, and it will once again come down to which quarterback stays away from making mistakes. I’ve got the Seahawks in the revenge bowl.
- At the moment, I’ve enjoyed the Cowboys’ offseason. Old Jerry seems to have finally gotten out of the way (at least in the defensive coordinator search and hire).
- College baseball is just about to get rolling. I love what ESPN has done with putting more games on TV. I love hearing games going on in the background as I work. There is nothing like the sound of baseball announcing and games being played to get my gears moving.
Happy New Year!
Christ is King!
In Christ,
Dave York
