Safety is not our highest value

Guest writer

Brian Duggan

It is a testament to God’s grace that He uses broken and severely flawed people to build His Church.  There are many things we can point to in the church’s past that amaze and dismay…the crusades, slavery, and as often pointed out by young people, materialism.

Today another value has emerged in the developed-world that is insidious in its implications.  It is that safety and security is one of our highest goals in life – even a higher value than the spread of the gospel or simply following the call of God on our lives (although we would not admit that).

When safety is held as a high value it can trump obedience to God’s directive to go into the world and make disciples, to do ministry in a “bad” area of town, to travel to many parts of our world for ministry purposes or even to risk offending a friend or neighbor by sharing the Gospel.  A focus on safety means we buy only the newest car with the most safety features, don’t allow our kids to take risks considered a normal part of childhood a generation ago and we watch documentaries and read magazines that paint the world as a dangerous place which reinforces our fears. 

Since the church is often heavily influenced by its culture, this type of thinking has seeped into teaching and preaching, Bible studies, and small group fellowships.  The search for and value of safety becomes a given and people who don’t  live that way are often considered foolish.

God speaks of safety often in the Bible, but it is in the context of what He provides, not what we should pursue on our own.  He calls us to seek Him for our security, to ask Him for safe travel, to step out in faith and depend on His protection.  Nowhere does the Bible say that a person of faith is to seek his/her own safety or to decide whether to follow His leading based on how safe it is. When the Ephesian elders tried to convince Paul not to travel to Jerusalem for safety reasons, he replied to them "Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus (Acts 21:13-14)."

C.S. Lewis described this well in his portrayal of the lion, Aslan (a Christ figure) when he wrote, “He is not safe, but he is good.”  In a world where 24/7 news has to catch our attention to generate advertising dollars, fear sell: stories of hurricanes, wars, earthquakes, and criminals give hosts something to talk about and ads to sell.  But when Christians don’t use God-given filters and evaluate what they see and hear in the context of God’s Word, we are at risk of being influenced more by society than by our Father.

Is safety wrong?  No.  But the pursuit of safety to the detriment of obedience to God’s call is a tragedy that could have a larger impact on spreading the Gospel than many of the church’s past failings. 

Deep Influence and Deep Pain are Intimately Connected

For those who desire a life of influence, pain, while never invited is a gift nonetheless. Suffering develops perspective, character, forces us to focus on the important and shed the unimportant and brings us closer to a sovereign father if we respond by pressing into him. Unfortunately, there is no substitute for pain and suffering when it comes to our inner life, our relationship with Jesus and the renovation of our hearts.

Those who ask Him to help them become like Him, to give them a heart like His and to help them love as He loves are inviting suffering into their lives because that suffering is the very thing if responded to well that brings the desired result. In the New Testament, Peter, Paul and the writer of Hebrews all talk about the way that pain purifies and brings His transformation to our lives.

Think about this. When we are treated unfairly we learn what it means to trust our situation to God. When we are slandered we learn that it is God who holds our reputations in His hand. When we face serious illness we learn what it means to prioritize the elements of our lives and to shed the unimportant. When we cannot get through a day without His help and grace we learn what it means to live in His presence even hourly. When the unexpected slams into our lives and we are left reeling we learn that there is nothing more precious than our relationship with Him - when all is said and done, He is what we need.

I don't relish pain. Those who know me know that Mary Ann and I have had our share. The funny thing is that in retrospect while I never want to go through certain situations again, I can today thank God for the hard and painful gifts he brought through suffering. I can say with certainty that the contours of my heart have been irrevocably shaped in suffering and that nothing else would have sufficed. When C.S. Lewis said that pain is God's megaphone to us he was right. Thus I call it an unlikely gift but a gift nonetheless because it was God speaking to me through the pain - it was Jesus who wanted to get in touch with me in my suffering.  Pain is God's certified mail to our very souls if we will but listen.

One of my sons told me once that he thought God would really use him in a significant way. In the aftermath of that conversation I thought about the price he would pay if that were to be the case. Spiritual influence comes at a price which is why those who have suffered deeply often influence us the deepest. They have been forced to go deep with God and the quality of their hearts and lives show it well. In contrast, those who simply want a life of ease and safety may get their wish but it will be at the expense of spiritual influence they might have had. 

The wonderful truth is that when we suffer and press into God we "share in His sufferings," in the words of Paul to the Philippians. We join our savior in the suffering that He endured for the sake of His father and for ours. We never suffer alone but have a high priest who has gone before us and understands the pain we feel and the issues we face. That is the gift of the incarnation. God, who had not known the frailties of those He created, became one of the created so that He could not only redeem us but identify with us forever. Thus in all pain and suffering we live with the reality that He not only went before us but goes with us in full understanding, compassion, grace, comfort and presence.

If you are living with the reality of pain today, my prayer is that God will comfort you and that you will go deep with Him and that out of it all will come deep and abiding relationship with the Father and deep influence with those around you. And to a friend out east who is in the confluence of pain, I pray that you will be encouraged, that God will do His work and that you will emerge stronger than ever.

Don't waste your pain

I often talk with ministry professionals who are walking through pain, some very deep. It may be of their own making, more often it is not and sometimes it is grossly unfair - as life often is. My counsel to them is to seperate the source of the pain from how God wants to use that pain in our own lives for our good, our growth and our enhanced leadership potential.

A great example of this is Joseph in the Old Testament. Unfairly accused by his master's wife of trying to seduce her, he spent years in prison. Obviously the charge was bogus and the incarceration unfair. But, God had greater things in mind for Joseph and it was his prison experience which grew his faith and prepared him for what eventually became the second most important job in Egypt. If Joseph had focused on the unfairness of the situation he would likely have grown a bitter spirit. Instead he focused on serving God in the prison and growing his relationship with Him and he emerged stronger and wiser and more mature.

Pain, from whatever source, focuses our lives and gives us the chance to go deeper with God. And God, in His wisdom and graciousness is more interested in our growth in relationship with Him than in our comfort. It is the process He uses to grow our hearts to be like His which is the greatest gift any of us could ever experience.

When we experience pain, there are two focuses we can choose. One is to focus on the source of our pain - often unfair circumstances or unfair people. We do need wisdom in how we respond to people and circumstances to be sure. However, even more important is to focus on what God wants to do in our lives through the circumstances because ultimately we cannot control people and circumstances but we can ensure that we don't waste the opportunity God is handing to us to grow closer to Him, learn more about faith and grace and followership and faithfulness.

Early in my ministry career I walked through some deeply unfair circumstances. Many around me wanted justice for me which from a human standpoint would have been very satisfying. In retrospect, however, I realize that while the situation was not fair, God was up to something in my life that was far more important than the fairness or lack of it. He wanted to change me in ways that only could be accomplished in pain. I am forever thankful for the pain, and that I did not waste the pain by focusing on the wrong things because that pain was responsible for major transformation in my own life over time. I did not get justice: I got something far more precious than justice - I got heart transformation that has spilled over to others ever since.

It is easy when experiencing pain to conclude that God is punishing us, or that we don't have enough faith or have not pleased Him in some way. The reality is that pain is often one of the greatest signs of God's love for us in that through the situation we have the opportunity to press into Him and get to know Him more intimately. Far from being punishment it is often an invitation to come to the One we were made for and experience His peace, presence and relationship.

Jesus said, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world (John 16:33)."

Dissappointment with God

The longer we live the more disappointments we incur in life: some major and life changing, some less so but disappointments nonetheless. They come in the form of illness, injustices, things beyond our control and some change our lives forever. It is the nature of life. All of us experience them, none of us are exempt. At 55, I have a long list of them.

The question is not whether disappointments will come but how we will choose to deal with them. There are three common responses, the first being bitterness toward God. We would not label it as such but it is there, lying just below the surface for many people. That bitterness distances them from God because if He is responsible for our pain, what can be said about His goodness, His love, His reliability and His care for us? 

But think about this: "It is easy to blame God for bad things that happen in this world. The truth is that in blaming Him we are doing something even more terrible. We are blaming the perfect and holy God who created a perfect and holy creation for the sin that we as humans brought into the world in rebellion against Him. In essence, He created a perfect world, but we rebelled and now blame Him for the imperfect world. We ask why He allows bad things to happen, why He tolerates injustice and evil and sorrow and pain. Blame is heaped on the One who sought the very best for men and women made in His image who instead chose to rebel and go their own way. That is the greatest possible transfer of responsibility ever (When Life Comes Undone, p. 52)."


Bitterness toward God is exactly what the evil one wants for our lives for he is in the business of stealing, killing and destroying (John 10:10). His lie is that God is responsible for the evil in our world while the truth is that we are responsible for that evil along with the evil one. Blaming the creator and therefore alienating ourselves from Him is one of the classic lies of Satan who uses that lie to destroy our relationship with God. 


A second response to the disappointments we incur is to simply decided to settle for a diminished life. To allow a profound sadness to permeate our lives, steal our joy, rob our passion and hold us hostage to our pain. Again, the evil one has won because he has stolen from us what God intended for us (John 10:10). In that same verse, Jesus says, "I have come that they may have life and have it to the full." Jesus said this knowing all the issues we would face living in a fallen world and still He promises that He will give us life and life to the full. 


A third response is to press into our loving Savior, with faith that He is who He says He is, Has our lives in His hands, redeems pain for His purposes, and turns our human scars into divine scars if we will allow Him to. And that, He is with us in our pain for He experienced the same kind of pain when he walked our earth so that we can "approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need (Hebrews 5:16)."


Choosing to trust God in the disappointments of life is the essence of faith. It is choosing to trust when we don't see the end and cannot understand the rationale. It is trusting God when we cannot see the answers we seek or the end we desire. Read again that great definition of faith in Hebrews 11:1. "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for."


In the disappointments of life we cling to what we hope for in Jesus and we believe in what we do not presently see - knowing that He has provided the hope and that He sees what we do not see. And in that choice, we choose life, we choose trust, we choose faith, we choose Him and the fullness of life which He promises despite our circumstances or pain.


All of us suffer from disappointments in life. Which choice are we making today?

The American Dream and God's Dream

As one who travels the world and sees how most of the world lives, I can say with great thankfulness that I enjoy freedoms and opportunities that are absent in much of our world. The ability to make a living, to have a home, access to childcare, a judicial system that while flawed in many instances is better then most in the world and the list could go on. For many, the "American dream" is alive and well, if not a bit more complicated than it used to be. 

Whether we live in the United States or another developed country we have much to be thankful for. The alternatives are so much harder and more difficult.


But....


God's greatest goal for us is not that we are comfortable, have all we need and live a pain free life. His greatest goal is that we experience Him in all His fullness, live out His purpose and destiny for our lives and daily take up our cross and follow Him. The great irony is that all we have are blessings from His hand but those very blessings can easily sidetrack us from the very thing that will bring us our greatest pleasure and His: Living in the center of His will! It is the paradox He warned the Israelites of in Deuteronomy where He warned them of being seduced by their prosperity, allowing themselves to think it was from their own hand and divert their attention from full followership of Him.


If comfort was our goal, Robert Morrison would never have been the first missionary to China, leading to a Christian population today of over 100 million. If comfort was our goal, the translators of Wycliffe Bible Translators would not have gone to remote villages to spend their lives translating the Good News. Nor would Paul have put up with beatings, shipwrecks, death threats, poverty and hardship for the sake of the Gospel - among whom we are the recipients. If comfort was the goal, the men and women of Hebrews 11 would not have followed God to hard places and suffered hard things for His sake. 


Jim Elliott had it right. "He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." All God asks is that we follow him closely, respond when He speaks to us and live lives that are in alignment with His heart. Ironically, the very things He may ask us to do are the very keys to our own joy and legacy. 


No one will regret for one instant in "eternity" what they sacrificed for the sake of Christ in "time." Many will regret for all eternity that they didn't follow Him more closely in this life. Our comfort is always secondary to our followership but in that followership we find joy beyond belief.

Disappointments are Opportunities

We all have them. In fact I had one yesterday: disappointments! They are a part of life and no on is exempt. The Apostle Paul had people who let him down, places he wanted to bring the Gospel but was prevented from doing so, physical ailments that God did not take away. Just go down the list of Biblical characters and you will find a trail of disappointments behind them. It is part of the human condition. Some of those disappointments are irritations and some are deeply painful.

But all disappointments are also opportunities because God is the only one who can redeem any and all disappointments for His glory in our lives. Humanly, disappointments are just that. Spiritually, they are an opportunity to see what God intends to do either in the situation, in the lives of others or in our lives through them. That fact does not necessarily make them any easier to endure but it does give us hope that God can take what looks messed up to us and use it in ways we never dreamed of. God is not just in the business of redeeming hearts but in redeeming circumstances as well. And no one is more creative in how He does it than Him.


Consider this: how many ministries on this globe were started by someone who had walked through great disappointment and pain and because of it channeled their energies to helping others in similar situations. That is disappointment turned inside out for God's glory! Ask people passionate about some unique ministry how they got there and you will often find the beginning of the trail at disappointment! 


In fact, ask yourself this question. "What were the greatest disappointments of my life and how did God use those disappointments to make me who I am today?" Most of the major ministry themes in my life can be traced back to disappointments that God turned into opportunities to minister to others. Can you see any of the same trails in your life?


Dealing with disappointments is influenced by how deeply we understand and believe in and trust God's sovereignty over our lives. This understanding does not lesson the pain of disappointments but it does give us a foundation for how we deal with them. I am convinced that nothing happens in our lives, good or bad that does not first pass by the hands of God and which He does not use for his purposes in our lives. That knowledge does not lesson the pain of disappointment. It does give me a reference point of faith in dealing with them. I can say in my heart, "God is up to something in this and He will redeem it for His glory if I let him and trust Him."

Moses had forty years to deal with his disappointment of being a fugitive on the run and then a simple shepherd before God redeemed his situation to lead his people out of bondage. Joseph had disappointments with betrayal from family and employers before God redeemed his situation for His purposes. David was anointed king and then chased for years by Saul and you hear the despair in his voice through the Psalms. The list goes on. I am on the list. You are on the list. God is in the business of redeeming our situation for His glory and our growth.


Yesterday I received one of those nice "no thank you letters" from a publisher who had previously said they would publish what I consider my best book. Disappointment. But then, I began to think "I wonder what God has in mind" because what to me is a disappointment is to Him an opportunity to demonstrate His creativity, His sovereignty and in the end His glory. What it takes from us is to turn our disappointments over to Him and ask Him to take them, redeem them and use them in a way that honors Him. We will often be surprised with what He does.

Reputation management

Everyone who leads, whether full time, or in volunteer settings accumulates wounds from that leadership. Sadly, the most painful wounds are not from those outside the Kingdom but from those inside. The deepest wounds for many of us are attacks on our character. I once had the joy, years ago of listening to six pages of accusations against my character read in public. Nothing is more painful. One cannot lead without being attacked and the most painful attacks are to what matters the most to us - our reputations.

When our character is attacked, what we want to do at the least is to respond and defend what is so precious to us. Or, even to strike back in righteous anger. Both are human reactions but neither are helpful. Those who attack our character will not be moved, and in the end only God can vindicate our actions and character. 

David, agonized over those who attacked his character. He also gave us great advice when evil men speak ill of us - and attacks on our character are often the work of either "evil men" or those who the evil one is using to discourage and hurt us, whether believers or not. David tells us when attacked:


"Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him"
"Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret"
"Wait for the Lord and keep his way"
Psalm 37


Time and God have a way of sorting out our character in the minds of others. We play not to the crowd but to an audience of One. His opinion is the one that matters, not the opinions of our detractors. The best thing we can do when attacked is to refuse to fight back, give our pain to God, guard our own hearts, attitudes and words and focus on being the people God wants us to be.

This is neither easy nor natural. In fact, responding in grace to personal attacks can only be done when we are staying close to God, have His perspective and are walking in the power of the Holy Spirit. In the end, we cannot manage our reputation, that is God's responsibility. What we can do is live in a way that pleases him rather than worrying about what others think.

Please pray for Southern Sudan!

I received this from one of our ReachGlobal staff today. This impacts many believers in Southern Sudan.

I just received this horrific string of emails from one of our Pastors and President of the EFCS William Laku. The conflict in the Northern part of Southern Sudan continues to escalate! As we near the July 9^thindependence day and birth of the world’s newest country “Southern Sudan” the country of Northern Sudan continues to bomb and plant land mines in Southern Sudan’s Unity State, Abyei and Southern Kordofan which has been a disputed area since the South’s almost unanimous vote for secession took place in January. 

The disputed areas are wanted by Northern Sudan because of their rich oil fields. These areas were promised, by the Government of Northern Sudan, that they would also have the opportunity to vote for secession from the North or to unify with the North. After realizing that these areas were most likely going to vote for secession, the North refused to allow them to vote and decided to take the land. This is the same scenario that took place before the 25 year war that ended in 2005. 

As with many disasters there is great opportunity to share the gospel and bring much needed help to these people. 

Please join me in prayer for the people of Southern Sudan and that these attacks from the North would stop. They have waited so long for their much deserved independence and to have peace in their lives. Many lives have been lost and many families devastated by the atrocities committed by the North. 

The following accounts are from Christians on the scene.

    

 From the 17Th -18Th June 2011, I was in Khartoum to attend the Board of Trustees of the Sudan Council of Churches (SCC). During the meeting, we had two people who managed to escape from Kadugli. The lady who gave us her testimony painted an extremely bad picture of the killings of the Nuba people by forces of the SAF in Kadugli. She saw 360 dead bodies as she and her tree children were trying to escape killings. Hers was a rela miracle as women, children and men were being slaughtered.

Nuba youth have been targeted apart from  the aerial bombardments. After listening to their disturbing and lengthy testimonies, the meeting issued two statements to the International community and the other statement was directed to our ecumenical partners in form of an appeal, if they could begin to mobilise relief items; food, water, clothing, shelter and medicines as a matter of urgency to the 73,000 displaced of Southern Kordofan. Kindly share the info with as many people as you can.

At moment I am in Nuba Mountains. I am writing this email from Kauda . I want to tell you it is really Genocide. We are bombed daily by Northern government, even just few minutes before writing this email we were frighten by one of them and we runned away before writing this email. What I want you do is to pass this information on behalf of me and my people. Here is a link to the latest news if you are interested.     http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43535068

Dying for his faith

This is a portion of a letter to believers around the world that was written from a prison in Kabul. Sayed Mossa is a Red Cross worker from Afghanistan that has been condemned to death by the Afghan courts for converting to Christianity. In spite of the fact that Afghanistan is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its religious freedom clause (Clause 18) and the Afghan constitution that promises to uphold this right, Sayed has been condemned to death without legal counsel and in spite of pleas from governments around the world. His only crime is accepting Christ as his savior.

Please pray for Sayed and his family. May this be a reminder that across our globe there are believers who die for their faith weekly and as Sayed says in his letter - are willing to make a public testimony for their faith! This is also a reminder of the stakes in the current upheaval in the Middle East. Afghanistan claims to be a democracy yet it does not uphold the rights of the minority - in this case believers in Jesus. This scenario has already been played out in Gaza under Hamas, Iraq where Christians have been driven out in droves and numerous countries where it is a crime to convert from Islam to Christianity.

As believers in the west who have amazing religious freedom, we ought to pray daily for those around the world whose life is in danger daily because of their faith.

You can read Sayed's story on these sites:

International Christian Concern

World Magazine

National Review Online

Cultures of Life and Death

The culture of Christ is a culture of life in all of its dimensions. It sees people as made in the image of God with eternal souls. As men and women and children in His image it sees them as infinitely precious and rejects all actions, attitudes or institutions that demean or diminish that image. 

As image bearers - no matter how flawed the image by the fall, every individual on this planet has infinite value to the Creator, and therefore to us as His family members. 


But just as the culture of Christ is a culture of life in all of its dimensions, the culture of the evil one is that of death and destruction in all of its dimensions. Jesus put it this way in John 10:10, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." Christ brings life. Satan brings death.


It should not surprise us, therefore, that the predominate culture of our world is one of the devaluing of human life. Think of all the things that devalue life: pornography, sexual promiscuity, lack of justice, corruption, the sex trade, abortion, the indiscriminate killing of civilians in warfare, spousal and child abuse, slavery, discrimination, and all behaviors that devalue people. Wherever people are marginalized, mistreated, denied basic rights, oppressed, used and denied justice, the culture of the evil one prevails - and that is most of our world.


The Gospel is good news for the soul - and the only route to eternal life - but its implications are far broader than that. Jesus invaded our world to right what had gone wrong in the fall and which will be completed in his return. We are told to pray (and therefore act) that "His will would be done on earth as it is in heaven." The gospel brings eternal life but it also must bring a culture of life to a world that has a culture of death and devaluation of people made in His image.


As Christ followers we are called to live and to promote a culture of life where the dignity of individuals is lifted high, where those things that devalue life are seen for what they are and to the extent that we can have an influence, eradicated. 


Think about this: Prison ministry brings a culture of life to a dark place; abstinence education globally brings a culture of life rather than a culture of using people for our own gratification; those who stand up for justice bring a culture of life; those who help women with unwanted pregnancy stand up for a culture of life; those who minister to orphans and widows the same. Every time we act to help those who are marginalized, mistreated, oppressed or uphold the dignity of people made in God's image we support a culture of life.

The thief comes to steal and destroy in every way He can. Jesus comes to heal, save and restore in all dimensions of life. When we join Him in that work we support Him and push back the culture of death with His culture of life.

Costly Devotion

Guest writer

Anna Blanc

Worship leader at the International House of Prayer in Kansas

City

I have a confession: I am terribly distracted while worship leading when I notice older saints connecting with the Lord in the room.  It is not as though I can avert my eyes and move on; I am taken with the sight.  Tears traveling down wrinkled faces, weathered hands lifted toward Heaven.  There is something awe-inspiring in the testimony of a man or woman having lived through years, decades, of turmoil, pleasure, the mundane, pressure and sorrow, and her confession through it all, openly displayed through her worship, is that He is worth it.

I am grateful that the Lord values and enjoys even the first declarations of love from the youngest believer.  To Him, a yes is a yes, and He receives it as His treasure.  Even still, there is a sweetness that comes when there is a cost to love.  When things are not going well; when there is loss at stake.  When the believer must turn his back upon all other pleasures, treasures, desires, face the God of whom he actually knows very little, and say in truth, “I choose You”.  When the One who holds in His hand our very breath allows difficulty, pain, and loss in our lives, the choice to love Him is often made in anguish and tears.  And yet in that pain-riddled declaration of love, there is a weightiness that plumb lines inexplicable joy into the depths of the spirit of the one who proclaims it.  In finally surrendering our self-perceived rights to comfort, ease and well-being, we tear down the idol that has kept us from walking in the way of true joy and peace.

God allows pain in this life.  We can hide from this reality, but in doing so we adopt a microscopic view of the great I Am, declaring Him impotent and unable.  God allows loss.  Look at Paul.  Look at Job.  Look at Jesus.  But if God is able, all-knowing, and all-powerful, then the wrestle of the human heart in the midst of trial becomes… why?  It is in the midst of this struggle, as the eyes of the believer are blinded to its answer on this side of time that the painful depths of love are plummeted.  Yes, it’s a real fight of the heart; God is a big God with big shoulders, and He can take all the overflowing, confused emotions we can dish out.  But eventually we lean, more like crumple, into Sovereignty.  Denying offence and refusing self-pity, it is enough that God knows, and that He can be trusted.

The struggle of the heart through the testing of sorrow is in sustaining a tender spirit.  How we care for the deep wound of the heart caused by loss is pertinent to how our spirits emerge from a season of pain.  Through neglect and denial, our hearts can harden, becoming dull and unfeeling, not unlike a scar on the body.  But as we wrestle for righteousness and simple faith, surrendering our own understanding in light of His unchanging kindness, we allow the tearing in our heart to become a riverbed for the Holy Spirit.  He gains access to new depths in our devotion to Him, and we gain a fresh infilling of His peace and presence.

A young girl in my twenties, how much do I really know about living through pain and suffering?  Not much.  But I see the woman in her eighties on row twelve, fully engaged in loving Jesus, declaring, “Great is Thy faithfulness”.  And I know that I want to join her, day after day, year after year, till my confession carries the weight and beauty of a love proven by time.

An unexpected gift

There is a perspective on hard times that we often overlook. It is a wonderful thing to come to a place where we have nothing to trust in but God.  It forces us to put our trust in the only place of ultimate hope – Christ.

When it is all stripped away, when all of our resources are exhausted as eventually they are, there is the one answer we have had all along, “the righteous will live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4).  Here is the most important question we can ask ourselves: Are we coping with life on our own, or are we living by simple child like faith in the living, all powerful, loving heavenly father who invites us to live by faith and simply to trust Him?

We might just call it “simple faith!” It is a faith that believes that God is in control of all of our circumstances and knows that nothing under His control can ever be out of control. Not cancer, bankruptcy, a spouse walking out, a child’s death or the worse that we could imagine. Nothing under His control can ever be out of control. He is still God and still Immanuel – God with us – regardless of what happens to us.

I remember such a simple faith in an old woman I met in rural China one day. She was a Christ follower. Her possessions were the clothes she was wearing and two little pigs. When she discovered that we were believers she said, “My eyes are not good (she had cataracts), would you ask Jesus to heal them?” Simple child like faith – she had nothing else to trust in but God. Putting aside our own sophistication, we joined her in her simple faith and asked God to heal her eyes.

Periodically God interrupts our lives with issues that we cannot solve and did not ask for. They are often scary and painful interruptions. But they may also be a great gift as we are forced to put our trust in the only safe place to put it – stripped of our own solutions and answers – our heavenly father.

Several times in my life I have had the gift of coming to a place where all I had to trust in was God. In retrospect, those were precious times of simple faith where I learned more about my heavenly father than all the theology I have studied sermons I have preached or books I have read. It was a true gift.