The God of Desperate Circumstances

[In the August 4 sermon on Psalms 75 and 76 (available soon at this link) we considered also the story of the Assyrian emperor Sennacherib threatening Jerusalem during the reign of King Hezekiah, as recorded in Isaiah 36 and 37. The following devotion is taken from the concluding sections of a sermon preached in 2012 on that passage. You can listen to that sermon in its entirety  here.]

What is the difference between God and a genie who does for you whatever you wish?

You remember the story of Aladdin rubbing his lamp, causing a genie to appear who will grant his every wish.

What is the difference between God and a genie like that?

For many, there is no difference. The question many ask is simply: What’s the equivalent of rubbing the lamp? What words do I have to say or what rituals do I have to perform to get God to do for me what I want?

But biblically there is a huge difference.

God says: “Know Me. Trust my promises – particularly My promise of a Redeemer. Love me with all your heart. Follow me. Take up my yoke and learn from me. Hope in me. Depend on me. I will be God to you, you will be My people.”

When we have that sort of faith in Him, amazing benefits come to us. But note: He promises that by His mighty power we will accomplish His purposes – not that we will wield His power to accomplish our purposes.

When we face desperate circumstances, we naturally wish for an all-powerful genie who will perform our will. But time and again God has used His people’s desperate circumstances to bring them to repentance, to deepen their faith, and to advance His plan.

We see that in the case of the King Hezekiah when the Assyrian emperor Sennacherib attacks the Kingdom of Judah. As recorded in Isaiah 36 and 37, an Assyrian official comes to Jerusalem and calls out within the hearing of its residents, telling them not to trust in Hezekiah, not to trust in their God. For the Assyrians have conquered nation after nation, and no god has been able to resist them.

Hezekiah earlier has tried to protect the country through alliances with other nations – but now, driven to his knees by desperate circumstances, he prays an extraordinary prayer of dependence on God (Isaiah 37:16-20), which concludes:

O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the LORD.” (Isaiah 37:20)

God then slaughters the bulk of the Assyrian army during the night. Sennacherib retreats home and, in due course, is assassinated.

What principles can we draw out for ourselves today concerning the desperate circumstances we face?

There are many; we will only consider three:

First: Desperate circumstances are a gift from God

Hezekiah needed desperation to quit leaning on his own understanding. As long as there was another possible source of hope, it seems as if the king would hold on to that alternative. But to Hezekiah’s credit, when all these other sources failed, he did not sink into despair but fully trusted in the Lord God.

We too often need to become desperate before we fully trust in Him. In my own life I’ve seen this time and again: In 1982, when I almost destroyed our marriage; in 1995, holding baby Joel in my arms, wondering if he was dying; in 2007 when we experienced a crisis at DGCC, and I wondered if this church was dying. In two of these crises, I called out to God in repentance; in all three, I cried out with tears, trusting in His promises.

I would never volunteer to suffer again the deep pain of those times. But I am so thankful to God for what He accomplished through them.

What are your desperate circumstances?

Know that, amidst all the genuine pain and sorrow, those desperate circumstances are a gift from God.

Remember our Lord Jesus’ desperate circumstances. On the night of his betrayal, in the Garden of Gethsemane, He prayed, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39). Amidst that genuine pain and tremendous sorrow, He voluntarily went to the cross, where God the Father poured out on Him all the punishment you and I deserve for our rebellion.

Those were desperate circumstances. And God glorified His Name greatly through them. Indeed, God made it possible for you to come to Him through Jesus’ pain.

In a similar way: All of our desperate circumstances are a gift of God.

Second: God sometimes calls us to put ourselves in desperate circumstances.

In general, there is nothing wrong with planning to avoid disasters. For King Hezekiah, there generally would have been nothing wrong with making alliances and strengthening Jerusalem’s defenses. But it was wrong for Hezekiah to prepare for the Assyrian invasion in these ways when God had said, “I will punish the speech of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the boastful look in his eyes” (Isaiah 10:12). God called Hezekiah to step out in faith, to step out in way that other kings would not, to take steps that would lead to desperation.

And He often calls upon us to do the same.

So you see: Sometimes desperate circumstances simply come upon us, as in my case with baby Joel’s medical issue. Other times we must walk right into them, as in the case of Jesus and the cross.

Knowingly placing yourself in desperate circumstances is hard for everyone, but perhaps especially hard for Americans. Many of us grew up with parents who taught us prudence and emphasized security.

But know: the way of faith, the way of holiness, the way to God’s greatest glory may well require us to voluntarily take big risks.

Third: You are here to bring glory to God among the nations

Imagine that after hearing the Assyrian threats, Hezekiah finds a golden lamp. Upon rubbing it, a genie pops out, saying, “Your wish is my command.” Hezekiah replies, “Kill tens of thousands of the Assyrian soldiers this night.” The genie does so, and Sennacherib retreats.

Is there any difference between that story and the biblical account?

There is a profound difference!

  • The point of the biblical story is not that Jerusalem was saved.
  • The point of the biblical story is not that Hezekiah was smart or lucky.

The point of the biblical story is given in that concluding line of Hezekiah’s prayer: God is a great King, and His Name must be glorified among all nations.

Just so with us.

My friends,

  • you are not in this world so that God can give you the easiest life possible.
  • You are not in this world to collect the most toys.
  • You are not even in this world to do what you think will help others the most.

You are in this world so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that He alone is God, that Jesus alone is worthy of praise, that Christ alone is worth more than all else in this world.

And that’s the message that will help others the most – even as you express love for them in a multiplicity of ways.

So how will you fulfill that purpose?

What is God asking you to do to bring this about?

In particular, What is God asking you to do that makes no sense? That is: That makes no sense unless Isaiah’s vision of God is true, that makes no sense unless Scripture is indeed God’s revelation of Himself.

He is faithful. He is loving. He guides every step of His people. He is King of all nations. He will glorify His Name among all the peoples – through you and me, through His people, often through our desperate circumstances.

So what’s your role in bringing that about?

How must you step out? What desperate circumstances must you face?

How will You glorify His Name?

Watch and Pray

How important is prayer? How important is watchfulness – for ourselves and for one another?

Travel with me to Gethsemane, the night our Lord will be betrayed. He is sorrowful and troubled. He asks His closest friends, Peter, James, and John, to come to the garden with Him, and to sit while He prays. He is in deep need. He wants their presence, their prayers. Yet after a while, He returns and finds them sleeping. He asks:

“Could you not watch one hour?  Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mark 14:37b-38)

The hour has come. The betrayer is at hand. Both Jesus and His disciples are about to undergo severe trials. And yet Peter, James, and John neglect to watch and pray.

Jesus knows they want to stay awake, to remain with Him, to intercede for Him: “The spirit is willing.”

Their flesh, however, is weak. They are exhausted. They lack focus. Rather than spur each other on to watchfulness, they become silent; their eyelids droop; and they sleep.

In noting that their flesh is weak, Jesus is not providing them with an excuse. Quite the opposite. Because their flesh is weak, they must call upon God to help them fight temptation. They must help one another to remain watchful.

What about us? Our flesh is weak, just like the disciples. And we have the same enemy assaulting us, tempting us, lying to us, deceiving us. Furthermore, just like the disciples, we must have more than a willing spirit; our statement, “Yes, Jesus, I will follow You!” is not sufficient for us to truly follow Him, to avoid temptation, and to live to God’s glory.

Given our weak flesh, given the power of our enemy, what must we do?

We must do what Peter, James, and John did not do that momentous night: We must keep alert; we must rouse one another; we must be aware of our weaknesses and Satan’s wiles.

And that means we must pray. The road set before is challenging and dangerous. We cannot travel it individually by our power. Indeed, we cannot travel it together by our human power. Yet just as Jesus instructs His disciples, all Scripture instructs us: Pray without ceasing. Depend on God. Call out to Him in the day of trouble – for yourself and for your brother and sisters. He is the God of all comfort; He is the God of all might; He is the Father of mercies. So pray for watchfulness and strength; pray for eyes to see reality as it is; pray for one another in this battle; pray for God’s Kingdom to come, His will to be done; pray against the schemes and power of the devil.

A Bible scholar of the last century wrote, “The essence of the road of the righteous is this: it is a road too difficult to walk without the companionship and friendship of God.” This God stands ready to strengthen and confort you, to enable you to build up and comfort others, to cause you to watch and pray effectively. Know that your flesh is weak. So don’t be content with a spirit which is merely willing. Cry out for the resources only God can give you to be able to watch and pray and encourage and persevere.

 

 

Should Christians Be Indifferent?

In the conclusion of Sunday’s sermon, I said, “Long for God to use you for His glory. Be confident that He will. But be indifferent to whether He uses you through pain and sorrow, or through success and fame.”

In my notes, I set off the word “indifferent,” and put a question mark next to it. Was it really the right word? Biblically, should we be indifferent to these outcomes?

The answer is yes or no – depending upon how we frame the question. So consider these different situations, and whether or not we are indifferent in each one:

In looking at the present circumstances others are facing, we must never be indifferent to their pain and sorrow. As we noted last week when discussing the Haiti earthquake, we must weep with those who weep, and mourn with those who mourn (Romans 12:15). In this way, we are like Jesus Himself (John 11:35).

In considering those who do not know Christ, we must never be indifferent to whether or not they come to faith in Him. Paul has “great sorrow and unceasing anguish in [his] heart” when he thinks of the unsaved state of most of his fellow Jews (Romans 9:2). This is not indifference! Our hearts similarly should long for the salvation of those around us.

In the midst of our present circumstances, we must rejoice in the Lord always (Philippians 4:4). Paul writes those words while in prison. He goes on to say, “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content” (Philippians 4:11). Note that some of those reading this letter may have seen him live this out when he and Silas, beaten and bruised, praised God in song while in a Philippian jail (Acts 16:25). Now, I am sure that, other things being equal, Paul would have preferred to be out of prison rather than in prison. But he was content, he was rejoicing in the Lord, while confined. He knew God was at work. He was confident that God was in control. He was entrusting Himself to God in those circumstances (1 Peter 4:19) – and so his circumstances did not matter. In that sense, he was indifferent to them.

In looking to the future, we desire God’s glory above all else. We pray and long for His Kingdom to come, His will to be done on earth itself, and not only in heaven (Matthew 6:10). We desire the earth to be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14). We are not indifferent to this outcome!

In looking to the eternal state, we long to see Jesus face to face (1 Corinthians 13:12). We do look forward to living with perfected humanity without sorrow, without pain, with every tear wiped from our eyes (Hebrews 12:23, Revelation 21:4). But God Himself is our hope; all other joys of heaven pale before being with Him (Psalm 73:25). We are certainly not indifferent to that outcome.

In contemplating our personal future on earth, we want to be used by God in whatever role He chooses to bring about the coming of His Kingdom. This is the sense in which I was using the word in the sermon. God may grant us success or failure. We may be known or unknown. We may see a clear response to our ministries or no response. Our goal is not success, or fame, or even a response to our ministry. Our goal is God’s glory.

We could say that this attitude is Philippians 4:11 prospectively. We are content not only in our present circumstances, but in any possible future circumstances – if those future circumstances are part of God’s plan to fill the earth with the knowledge of His glory.

As in the case of present circumstances, we certainly will have personal preferences about what those future circumstances look like. I would rather be able to walk all my life than to lie in a hospital bed from tomorrow until the day I die. I would rather live with a roof over my head than to have an earthquake devastate my city and be forced to sleep in the open with thousands of others for days on end. And I would rather be the means hundreds come to faith than to speak to those of hard and stubborn hearts who never listen (Ezekiel 3:7).

But there is a sense in which I should be indifferent to these outcomes. For Jesus was indifferent to outcomes over which he had a personal preference. When faced with the immediate threat of the cross, of taking on Himself the punishment for all the sin of all redeemed humanity, Jesus prayed, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me” (Matthew 26:39). In that sense, He wasn’t indifferent. However, He continues, “Not as I will, but as You will.” Or as He says elsewhere when His heart is troubled at the prospect of the cross, “For this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name” (John 12:27-28).

He was indifferent in the sense that the joy of glorifying the Name of God so outweighed the pain that there was no comparison (Hebrews 12:2). Paul says our attitude should be similar: our terrible sorrows, real as they are, become “light momentary afflictions” when compared to the “eternal weight of glory” that they produce (2 Corinthians 4:18).

So will you have the indifference of Jesus? Will you pray, “Lord, I naturally want an easy life. And I naturally want to be used by You in ways that yield clear, obvious responses. But You are filling the earth with the knowledge of Your glory as the waters cover the sea. Above all else, I want You to use me in whatever way will bring that end about. So here I am. You choose. Enable me to serve you faithfully – in whatever way you choose: in sorrow and pain or in earthly joy and happiness; in success and fame or in obscurity and dishonor. Just glorify Your Name through me, Your slave.”

As Laurence Tuttiett wrote:

Father, let me dedicate all this year to Thee,
In whatever worldly state Thou wilt have me be:
Not from sorrow, pain or care, freedom dare I claim;
This alone shall be my prayer: glorify Thy Name.

My He do so. And may we always rejoice in Him. Amen.