"And shall I pray Thee change Thy will, my Father,
Until it be according unto mine?
But no, Lord, no; that never shall be, rather
I pray Thee, blend my human will with Thine.
I pray Thee hush the hurrying, eager longing,
I pray Thee, soothe the pangs of keen desire,
See in my quiet places wishes thronging -
Forbid them, Lord, purge, though it be with fire.
And work in me to will and do Thy pleasure,
Let all within me, peaceful, reconciled,
Tarry content my Wellbeloved's leisure
At last, at last, even as a weaned child."
- Nathan Brown of Burma's prayer
"Let not our longing slay the appetite of our living!"
- Jim to Betty Elliot
Sunday, February 28, 2016
Saturday, February 6, 2016
Mercy - A Walk Through Hosea
"When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, "Go take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD."
"She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the LORD said to him, "Call her name No Mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all"
"When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. And the LORD said, "Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God."
Hosea 1:2, 6, 8
The Lord commands Hosea to marry a prostitute to demonstrate the covenant God has made with an unfaithful nation, a nation that, despite God's goodness and grace, has run to false gods of wood and stone, has chased after foreign peoples and unholy customs.
He then tells Hosea to name his children symbolically as well. The second child was named No Mercy. We often forget we serve a holy God. A just God. A God who can do no wrong and will not stand to be connected with evil. The only reasonable reaction from a holy God to an unholy people is to give no mercy. God gave the Israelites (and us) this warning in Deuteronomy 8:
1“The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers... 11 “Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, 12 lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, 13 and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, 15 who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, 16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end. 17 Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ 18 You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day. 19 And if you forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. 20 Like the nations that the Lord makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God.
Deuteronomy 8: 1, 11-20
This, sadly, is exactly what they did. The Lord caused them to prosper materially, to take possession of the promised land, to dispossess other people, to experience His favor and presence. And they forgot God. They intermarried with those of other faiths, worshipped foreign gods, and corrupted the temple of the Lord. They were not careful to keep God's commands. So just as He said He would, God pronounced their judgement, "No Mercy".
But that's not all. Hosea's third child was named "Not My People". God disowned them. Read what God had previously called them:
6 “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, 10 and repays to their face those who hate him, by destroying them. He will not be slack with one who hates him. He will repay him to his face. 11 You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today.
Deuteronomy 7:6-11
Being God's chosen people gave them worth. They are nothing without God possessing them. That is what set them apart. Without God, they are just like all the other peoples on the face of the earth doomed to perish, due to their unholiness.
But. Yet. The most beautiful words, when faced with the verdicts due to us.
"But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the LORD their God. I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen." 1:7
"Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, "You are not my people," it shall be said to them, "Children of the living God." And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head." 1:10-11
What? God will have mercy? God will save them? And not by any common, earthly way. God will save them by a miraculous way that no one expected. God prophesies that He will claim them again. They will be "Children of the living God." They shall be unified and follow one leader - Christ.
"Therefore remember that... you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ... For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God"
Ephesians 2:11-13, 18-19
Christ is literally the only way we can be accepted by God. We just keep sinning. We are faithfully unfaithful. The only way a holy and just God can call us "Children" is by a payment that appeases His wrath and pays our sin debt.
Outside of Christ, we get No Mercy and we are Not His People. We have no life. See 1 John 5:11-12.
This is what our collective faithlessness deserves, what my faithlessness deserves - No Mercy, to be disowned and discarded. To be abandoned.
This is what must be overcome to give mercy. Mercy costs.
In chapter 2 of Hosea, we see how God disciplines Israel for their unfaithfulness. And similarly how God disciplines us. God calls out to us to turn away from sin and turn to Him before He gives consequences for our actions.
Mercy.
We keep trying to run after worthless things. We seek death and destruction. I will go after my lovers. But God blocks us - hedge up her way... so that she cannot find her paths.
Mercy.
God reminds us of His love and goodness. I will go and return to my first husband, for it was better for me then than now.
Mercy.
And she did not know that it was I... Israel was using God's gifts to worship false gods, thanking objects for what God had given. Instead of seeing God's goodness and running back to God in thanksgiving, the material blessings and the deception they were in made them run to the false gods more. How do we do that now?
~ God blesses us with money and we work harder and longer to make more, serving the money/work gods rather than thanking and trusting God for provision.
~ God gives us a good friendship with someone of the opposite sex and we idolize the person and put our hope in a future relationship, instead of thanking God for the companionship and experiences that should point back to Him.
We should always know that it was God who (fill in the blank). It is always God. He sovereignly and mercifully gives every good gift.
Then God disciplines because He is just and we are due our wages. And also because He doesn't want us to easily forget where our sin leads us. He wants us to know that apart from Him we can do nothing and we are walking to our demise. We experience His discipline that wakes us up to the truth, peels back the deception that makes us believe there is life apart from God.
Mercy. Painful Mercy.
Types of discipline seen in this chapter: removal of provision and gifts, shame and embarrassment, abandonment, depression, lasting joy removed, sources of security taken away, punishment
God loves us too much to let us stray too long and stay in our sin.
Mercy.
Therefore. The punishment is meant to bring Israel (us) to repentance. God wants restoration and reunion. In all my failed pursuits, I am always reminded that God is faithful, God is there, and God is enough. He forces me back to Him, back to love and life. I will allure her, and speak tenderly to her.
God gives good gifts. God makes us fruitful. God turns curses into hope, mourning into gladness, depression into joy!
Mercy!
God welcomes us back in. God forgives us. God claims us - call me "My Husband". And He does it all.
For I will - And I will - And I will - And I will - I will - I will. He says it 12 times from verse 17 - 23.
He brings us back. He names us as His. He renews our minds and desires. He makes a covenant with us. He brings peace and safety. He marries us, does all the pursuing and the wooing. He makes us righteous. He commits for forever. He gives us mercy.
Mercy!
And I will make you lie down in safety.
And I will betroth you to me forever.
I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy.
I will betroth you to me in faithfulness.
And you shall know the Lord.
And I will have mercy on No Mercy
and I will say to Not My People, "You are my people";
and he shall say, "You are my God."
Hosea 2:18b-20, 23
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Have I an Object, Lord, Below
Have I an object, Lord, below
Which would divide my heart with Thee?
Which would divert its even flow
In answer to Thy constancy?
O teach me quickly to return,
And cause my heart afresh to burn.
Have I a hope, however dear,
Which would defer Thy coming, Lord-
Which would detain my spirit here
Where naught can lasting joy afford?
From it, my Savior, set me free
To look and long and wait for Thee.
Be Thou the object bright and fair
To fill and satisfy the heart,
My hope to meet Thee in the air,
And nevermore from Thee to part;
That I may undistracted be
To follow, serve, and wait for Thee."
-G. W. Frazer
"Fix your eyes on the rising Morning Star. Don't be disappointed at anything or over-elated, either. Live every day as if the Son of Man were at the door, and gear your thinking to the fleeting moment. Just how can it be redeemed? Walk as if the next step would carry you across the threshold of Heaven. Pray. That saint who advances on his knees never retreats."
-Jim Elliot
Which would divide my heart with Thee?
Which would divert its even flow
In answer to Thy constancy?
O teach me quickly to return,
And cause my heart afresh to burn.
Have I a hope, however dear,
Which would defer Thy coming, Lord-
Which would detain my spirit here
Where naught can lasting joy afford?
From it, my Savior, set me free
To look and long and wait for Thee.
Be Thou the object bright and fair
To fill and satisfy the heart,
My hope to meet Thee in the air,
And nevermore from Thee to part;
That I may undistracted be
To follow, serve, and wait for Thee."
-G. W. Frazer
"Fix your eyes on the rising Morning Star. Don't be disappointed at anything or over-elated, either. Live every day as if the Son of Man were at the door, and gear your thinking to the fleeting moment. Just how can it be redeemed? Walk as if the next step would carry you across the threshold of Heaven. Pray. That saint who advances on his knees never retreats."
-Jim Elliot
Monday, June 22, 2015
Repairing Joy
My car needed some repairs that would take basically all day. The shop is maybe a mile up the road from my apartment. So I resolved to walk to get my car when it was ready.
The walk took 15 minutes at a stroll pace.
The sun was bright at 98 degrees.
The road was full at the height of rush hour on a Monday afternoon.
I grabbed my water and started out the door.
At first, my mind wandered to a current circumstance. I barely even noticed the road right in front of me. I fought the temptation to not be present, to let my thoughts carry me off to deal with something I clearly couldn't actually deal with at that time. I wanted to see and feel and be there in the walk.
So I looked around. Trees. Grass. Sunlight. Cars. Drivers' faces. Mostly looking at their phones. Or the road. Some even looking at me. Some trying not to. One man waved. Not in the Hey-girl-can-I-get-yo-numba kind of way. But in the I-want-to-encourage-you-in-your-journey kind of way. Another tried to let me cross in front of his car. I waited for the light, thank you very much!
I wondered what they thought. Did they feel pity because of the temperature outside of A/C-filled cars? Did they worry that I was too close to the road? How old did they perceive me to be?
I started to think how grateful I was that I did have a car, one I was just going to pick up. It was costing a lot of money, but it ran well. Even better, after the repairs. I did have air conditioning. I didn't have to walk around from place to place. I didn't really have to walk then. I surely could have called a friend if I thought it necessary.
Then I started to think how grateful I was for the walk. So many blessings and evidences of God's grace were visible in that walk. At the most basic, I could walk. It was no real hassle for me to carry my able body the 1-2 miles across the busy highway. The shop was so close. They fixed my car - did exactly what they said they would. The weather was beautiful. God kept me safe. God provided all the money needed to get the repairs and able eyes and hands that saw problems and addressed them. And when I picked my car up, the man blessed me, pointing my eyes right back to the God who was worthy and deserving of all the thanks.
It's easy for us to see circumstances like car trouble as frustrations come to steal our joy - and resources. But that's not how God sees them. God says that He works everything for our good, those that love Him and are called according to His purpose. That purpose is making us Christlike. The devil would like to deceive us into believing our only logical responses to difficulty and annoyance are complaining, worrying or anger. But God says something different. God says we should count our tests and trials as joy. Joy that will make us perfect and complete through a cultivation of steadfastness.
God is good, and His steadfast love endures forever. Forever doesn't stop when we need car repairs.
What are you allowing to frustrate you?
How can you take hold of the joy Jesus already purchased for us at the cross?
What other truths of God's word are you allowing the devil to discount through difficulty?
Stand firm on the Word, Jesus Himself. And rejoice. Again, I say rejoice. We have the victory in Christ. He has overcome the world and through Him, we are more than conquerors.
The walk took 15 minutes at a stroll pace.
The sun was bright at 98 degrees.
The road was full at the height of rush hour on a Monday afternoon.
I grabbed my water and started out the door.
At first, my mind wandered to a current circumstance. I barely even noticed the road right in front of me. I fought the temptation to not be present, to let my thoughts carry me off to deal with something I clearly couldn't actually deal with at that time. I wanted to see and feel and be there in the walk.
So I looked around. Trees. Grass. Sunlight. Cars. Drivers' faces. Mostly looking at their phones. Or the road. Some even looking at me. Some trying not to. One man waved. Not in the Hey-girl-can-I-get-yo-numba kind of way. But in the I-want-to-encourage-you-in-your-journey kind of way. Another tried to let me cross in front of his car. I waited for the light, thank you very much!
I wondered what they thought. Did they feel pity because of the temperature outside of A/C-filled cars? Did they worry that I was too close to the road? How old did they perceive me to be?
I started to think how grateful I was that I did have a car, one I was just going to pick up. It was costing a lot of money, but it ran well. Even better, after the repairs. I did have air conditioning. I didn't have to walk around from place to place. I didn't really have to walk then. I surely could have called a friend if I thought it necessary.
Then I started to think how grateful I was for the walk. So many blessings and evidences of God's grace were visible in that walk. At the most basic, I could walk. It was no real hassle for me to carry my able body the 1-2 miles across the busy highway. The shop was so close. They fixed my car - did exactly what they said they would. The weather was beautiful. God kept me safe. God provided all the money needed to get the repairs and able eyes and hands that saw problems and addressed them. And when I picked my car up, the man blessed me, pointing my eyes right back to the God who was worthy and deserving of all the thanks.
It's easy for us to see circumstances like car trouble as frustrations come to steal our joy - and resources. But that's not how God sees them. God says that He works everything for our good, those that love Him and are called according to His purpose. That purpose is making us Christlike. The devil would like to deceive us into believing our only logical responses to difficulty and annoyance are complaining, worrying or anger. But God says something different. God says we should count our tests and trials as joy. Joy that will make us perfect and complete through a cultivation of steadfastness.
God is good, and His steadfast love endures forever. Forever doesn't stop when we need car repairs.
What are you allowing to frustrate you?
How can you take hold of the joy Jesus already purchased for us at the cross?
What other truths of God's word are you allowing the devil to discount through difficulty?
Stand firm on the Word, Jesus Himself. And rejoice. Again, I say rejoice. We have the victory in Christ. He has overcome the world and through Him, we are more than conquerors.
Sunday, June 21, 2015
His Steadfast Love Endures Forever
God's steadfast love endures forever is the refrain in all 26 verses of Psalm 136. But how do we know? What proof does the psalmist give?
God is good. He is the God of gods and Lord of all lords.
God is powerful.
God serves us in mighty, even miraculous ways.
God is the Creator. He made things with understanding, with care and divine forethought. Everything is on purpose - the land, the water, the lights, the darkness.
God works justice for His people.
God delivers, redeems, protects, guides, and governs His people.
God removes unrighteous rulers.
God rewards His children and gives them an inheritance.
God considers our frame, our weakness and iniquity, and still He rescues us. He sent His Son to live perfectly for us, to die in our place, and to raise to give us freedom. He has rescued us from our biggest foes - sin, death, the devil.
God gives us all that we need.
All these God did for the Israelites. Yet the refrain says, his steadfast love endures forever. So we can be sure He is still and will continue to do these things for us as well.
26 Give thanks to the God of heaven,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
God is good. He is the God of gods and Lord of all lords.
God is powerful.
God serves us in mighty, even miraculous ways.
God is the Creator. He made things with understanding, with care and divine forethought. Everything is on purpose - the land, the water, the lights, the darkness.
God works justice for His people.
God delivers, redeems, protects, guides, and governs His people.
God removes unrighteous rulers.
God rewards His children and gives them an inheritance.
God considers our frame, our weakness and iniquity, and still He rescues us. He sent His Son to live perfectly for us, to die in our place, and to raise to give us freedom. He has rescued us from our biggest foes - sin, death, the devil.
God gives us all that we need.
All these God did for the Israelites. Yet the refrain says, his steadfast love endures forever. So we can be sure He is still and will continue to do these things for us as well.
26 Give thanks to the God of heaven,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
Best Dad Ever!
"Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;
sing to his name, for it is pleasant!
For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself,
Israel as his own possession."
Psalm 135:3-4
sing to his name, for it is pleasant!
For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself,
Israel as his own possession."
Psalm 135:3-4
The Lord has chosen us! That is great reason to give Him praise. Adoption is so beautiful because there was no pre-existing responsibility or duty. God didn't have to chose to love and save us and call us His own. He did that on His own accord. And now we, His children, get all the benefits of sonship. Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good!
Happy Father's Day!
Saturday, June 6, 2015
God's Grace in Community
On May 31, 2014, I moved my apartment into storage.
On June 6, 2014, I moved the final bits of my classroom into storage.
On June 7, 2014, I boarded a plane to Tulsa, OK, the first leg of my journey away from my Charlotte home.
I left many things in Charlotte - clothes, shoes, a hooded dryer (I should try to get that back), teaching supplies, books, files, a job. Temporarily, I left my TV, laserjet printer and my car. Some I've gotten back, some I knew I was leaving for good.
I also left community. The hardest thing to leave. Beautiful Christian community.
Community that knows, accepts and loves you anyway - a knowledge built over years.
Community that wants you around and sees all the good God has placed in you and is uncovering day by day.
Community that aids in the sometimes painful process of peeling away the filth to get to the gold. Community that celebrates you publicly on special occasions and quietly for the simple acts of faithful service, or just being yourself.
Community that sees your strengths and spurs you on towards great works.
Community that serves you and rallies around to meet your needs.
Community that prays for you and over you - the best gift.
Community that comforts you, holding your hand, talking you through and just being there. With you. In it.
Community that walks with you through decision making and encourages the wisdom and direction God has given.
Community that invites you over and comes to see you.
Community that laughs with you. Then cries with you.
Community that has not just gotten to know you, but has let you into their lives for mutual upbuilding.
Community that never wants to see you go, but pushes you to walk in the path God has ordered.
Community that hugs you tight, then sends you on your way, expecting a fruitful report.
I had this community from my work relationships, friendships, but most strongly from my church. God gave me this beautiful gift that I didn't even know I needed. In fact, I had never experienced such grace.
I knew that God wanted me in Durham, so He would be my provider. Not just physically, but for my spiritual and emotional deficiencies as well. He promises to give me all things I need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Christ. His plan is to make me like Christ, and He most certainly uses the Church in that sanctifying work.
But I'm moving away from my community.
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
But I only know a handful of people in Durham, and half aren't Christians.
And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19
One of my prayers (and the prayers of countless others for me) was that God would send me beautiful Christian community in my new home. A church home. Somewhere to grow, give and serve. Somewhere to be built up and to be challenged. Strong friendships built on the Truth.
I look around one year later and God has answered that prayer far more than I could have imagined.
Friendships at work. Community group from church. Beautiful random Monday night girls group. And all the other relationships I had before. They never left, never dissolved, just were supplemented. God has truly supplied my needs.
I am so grateful that these relationships aren't superficial. God calls us to bear one another's burdens, to walk in peace, to have brotherly affection for one another. God is a relational God, relating to Himself within the Trinity and with us. He requires us to have a vertical relationship with Him and horizontal relationships with one another. The one thing God called "not good" in creation was when man was alone. And the striking thing about this fact is that man wasn't alone. He had God, right there, in his face, walking in the garden with him. Yet God knew He had created man to be in community with other people also. God's grace is sufficient, but God graces us with relationships. He uses those relationships to conform us to the image of Christ and to prepare us for the perfectly reconciled sin-free relationships we will experience for all eternity with Him. When Proverbs speaks of ironing sharpening iron, it implies that the iron gets close - close enough to press and scrape and refine.
This first year in Durham has been an interesting one to say the least. God has been doing some refining. God has given me the grace to open my life to key people to aid in this scraping and pressing.
This is the key. We have to get close. We have to make ourselves vulnerable to other believers so that God can use them to complete His good work in us and in them. We have to be transparent. Is it risky? Of course. But Jesus did a pretty risky thing to bring us into relationship with the Father. In this fallen world, people will hurt us and we will hurt them. That is what takes faith. It takes no faith to guard yourself and your life from everyone while shouting "Jesus is enough!" In fact, in that way you are simply trying to protect yourself and not allowing God to be your protector. You are trying to protect yourself from being close, being known. But how will the iron get sharpened locked carefully away in the closet? Or on display set high on the shelf? Solomon tells us two are better than one and a cord of three strands aren't easily broken. God uses His community to meet our needs and aid in sanctification.
It won't be easy. But it will be fruitful when done in the power of the Lord. God is a god of reconciliation. For that purpose, He sent Christ to reconcile the world to Himself. He has now given us that ministry in evangelism and in our Christian relationships. Jesus tells us to forgive one another. Jesus prays that we would be unified, having one mind. Jesus didn't send us alone. He literally sent His disciples out in pairs. The Holy Spirit has organized the body of Christ as He saw fit, where we all need and rely on each other.
Community is so incredibly vital for the Christian. We live in an individualistic, independent society, where we think we can do it, make it, handle it all on our own. When we become Christians, we often change that mantra slightly to we can do it, make it, handle it all on our own - with Jesus. But in practice, it's the same. Because Jesus is calling us into relationships and interdependence with one another. The way the world will know we are His is by our love for one another. And love takes closeness and work!
Consider how you can engage more deeply with Christ's body.
How can you be transparent with other believers?
How can you show your gratefulness to the Body God has placed in your life?
How can you take the risk and cast aside any fears of being hurt to embrace the beauty of Christian community?
Thank you God that you don't leave us in that "not good" state, but that You provide exactly what we need in other believers. You are good. We can trust You to protect us, so we don't have to protect ourselves. You are our rock, shield and refuge. Because You have done the great work of reconciling us to God, we can stand in Your power and be reconciled to others. Thank you for Your Church. Thank you for choosing us to be a part of Your Church. May we never take her for granted. Amen.
On June 6, 2014, I moved the final bits of my classroom into storage.
On June 7, 2014, I boarded a plane to Tulsa, OK, the first leg of my journey away from my Charlotte home.
I left many things in Charlotte - clothes, shoes, a hooded dryer (I should try to get that back), teaching supplies, books, files, a job. Temporarily, I left my TV, laserjet printer and my car. Some I've gotten back, some I knew I was leaving for good.
I also left community. The hardest thing to leave. Beautiful Christian community.
Community that knows, accepts and loves you anyway - a knowledge built over years.
Community that wants you around and sees all the good God has placed in you and is uncovering day by day.
Community that aids in the sometimes painful process of peeling away the filth to get to the gold. Community that celebrates you publicly on special occasions and quietly for the simple acts of faithful service, or just being yourself.
Community that sees your strengths and spurs you on towards great works.
Community that serves you and rallies around to meet your needs.
Community that prays for you and over you - the best gift.
Community that comforts you, holding your hand, talking you through and just being there. With you. In it.
Community that walks with you through decision making and encourages the wisdom and direction God has given.
Community that invites you over and comes to see you.
Community that laughs with you. Then cries with you.
Community that has not just gotten to know you, but has let you into their lives for mutual upbuilding.
Community that never wants to see you go, but pushes you to walk in the path God has ordered.
Community that hugs you tight, then sends you on your way, expecting a fruitful report.
I had this community from my work relationships, friendships, but most strongly from my church. God gave me this beautiful gift that I didn't even know I needed. In fact, I had never experienced such grace.
I knew that God wanted me in Durham, so He would be my provider. Not just physically, but for my spiritual and emotional deficiencies as well. He promises to give me all things I need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Christ. His plan is to make me like Christ, and He most certainly uses the Church in that sanctifying work.
But I'm moving away from my community.
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
But I only know a handful of people in Durham, and half aren't Christians.
And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19
One of my prayers (and the prayers of countless others for me) was that God would send me beautiful Christian community in my new home. A church home. Somewhere to grow, give and serve. Somewhere to be built up and to be challenged. Strong friendships built on the Truth.
I look around one year later and God has answered that prayer far more than I could have imagined.
Friendships at work. Community group from church. Beautiful random Monday night girls group. And all the other relationships I had before. They never left, never dissolved, just were supplemented. God has truly supplied my needs.
I am so grateful that these relationships aren't superficial. God calls us to bear one another's burdens, to walk in peace, to have brotherly affection for one another. God is a relational God, relating to Himself within the Trinity and with us. He requires us to have a vertical relationship with Him and horizontal relationships with one another. The one thing God called "not good" in creation was when man was alone. And the striking thing about this fact is that man wasn't alone. He had God, right there, in his face, walking in the garden with him. Yet God knew He had created man to be in community with other people also. God's grace is sufficient, but God graces us with relationships. He uses those relationships to conform us to the image of Christ and to prepare us for the perfectly reconciled sin-free relationships we will experience for all eternity with Him. When Proverbs speaks of ironing sharpening iron, it implies that the iron gets close - close enough to press and scrape and refine.
This first year in Durham has been an interesting one to say the least. God has been doing some refining. God has given me the grace to open my life to key people to aid in this scraping and pressing.
This is the key. We have to get close. We have to make ourselves vulnerable to other believers so that God can use them to complete His good work in us and in them. We have to be transparent. Is it risky? Of course. But Jesus did a pretty risky thing to bring us into relationship with the Father. In this fallen world, people will hurt us and we will hurt them. That is what takes faith. It takes no faith to guard yourself and your life from everyone while shouting "Jesus is enough!" In fact, in that way you are simply trying to protect yourself and not allowing God to be your protector. You are trying to protect yourself from being close, being known. But how will the iron get sharpened locked carefully away in the closet? Or on display set high on the shelf? Solomon tells us two are better than one and a cord of three strands aren't easily broken. God uses His community to meet our needs and aid in sanctification.
It won't be easy. But it will be fruitful when done in the power of the Lord. God is a god of reconciliation. For that purpose, He sent Christ to reconcile the world to Himself. He has now given us that ministry in evangelism and in our Christian relationships. Jesus tells us to forgive one another. Jesus prays that we would be unified, having one mind. Jesus didn't send us alone. He literally sent His disciples out in pairs. The Holy Spirit has organized the body of Christ as He saw fit, where we all need and rely on each other.
Community is so incredibly vital for the Christian. We live in an individualistic, independent society, where we think we can do it, make it, handle it all on our own. When we become Christians, we often change that mantra slightly to we can do it, make it, handle it all on our own - with Jesus. But in practice, it's the same. Because Jesus is calling us into relationships and interdependence with one another. The way the world will know we are His is by our love for one another. And love takes closeness and work!
Consider how you can engage more deeply with Christ's body.
How can you be transparent with other believers?
How can you show your gratefulness to the Body God has placed in your life?
How can you take the risk and cast aside any fears of being hurt to embrace the beauty of Christian community?
Thank you God that you don't leave us in that "not good" state, but that You provide exactly what we need in other believers. You are good. We can trust You to protect us, so we don't have to protect ourselves. You are our rock, shield and refuge. Because You have done the great work of reconciling us to God, we can stand in Your power and be reconciled to others. Thank you for Your Church. Thank you for choosing us to be a part of Your Church. May we never take her for granted. Amen.
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