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The Good of Suffering

Published by S.M. Wibberley on November 20, 2016
Today’s reading in EDIFIED! is a very appropriate reminder to us as Barbara goes through this dark valley.
 
“Trouble and distress have come upon me, but your commands are my delight.”
Psalm 119:143
 
I praise you this morning, Heavenly Father, for you are the Sovereign One, controlling all that goes on, all that comes to me. You hold back the tide of evil, allowing Satan only so much rope, and you use the fury of his attacks to advance your Kingdom.
 
Just yesterday I read of how many thousands in Haiti have come to faith after the great earthquakes of 2010. You used this tragedy to plow the hard and rebellious hearts of people, opening them to hearing Truth and surrendering to you.
 
Suffering is an unavoidable part of life in this sin-warped world; you are the One who allows what suffering comes to us, regulating it according to what we need to grow and give you glory, as well as what we can bear with your grace.
 
In the suffering that comes, you have reasons and purpose, you have goals, you have growth and privileges for us.
 
And we have the responsibility to flee to you, to turn to your Word, to take up and use your grace, to praise, to rest in you, to embrace what comes as opportunity to bring you glory.
 
I praise you, Lord Jesus, my good and great Shepherd:
• for your wisdom, which is far above our understanding;
• for your grace, which is more than enough;
• for your compassion, which provides all we need;
• for your love, which you pour out on us every moment.
 
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Psalm 34:18

Published by S.M. Wibberley on November 19, 2016
 
Praise be to you, Elohim, the Creator God, the Powerful One, the Faithful Ruler. You are perfect in your character, unchanging in your goodness, complete in your maturity, absolute in your righteousness, all pervasive in your wisdom.
 
How unlike us: we waver, vacillate, are up and down, fearful one moment, overly aggressive the next. I praise you, Lord, for your great and wonderful patience with us in this.
 
Today I thank you that you have brought Barbara home from the hospital, thinking clearly, stable physically, able to function adequately. This is your great answer to the prayers of many and I praise you for it.
 
As it says in Psalm 35:18 “I will give you thanks in the great assembly; among throngs of people I will praise you.”
 
[One thing I praise you for is giving the faith to offer praise before this beautiful answer came. You reminded me often that you have a plan, that you are sovereign, that I could trust in the darkness what you taught me in the light. Or as one person described it, when the train went into the tunnel, you kept me from getting off, but had me rest in you until it came out the other side into the light again.
 
Truly, you are good, Lord, all the time. Most often people say this after everything works out according to their desires—which requires no faith.
 
But it is in a sense even more true that you are good when everything falls apart, when we lose what we cherish, when nothing seems to work right, when all goes from bad to worse. Then we have the opportunity to praise by faith, to live by faith.
 
And then when you do bring us out into the light again, it is more more delicious, marvelous than ever because we are closer to you, especially on an emotional level, having joined you in your work in the darkness by rejecting the desires of our emotions to complain and instead offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving.
 
Lord help us to ever respond this way, remembering that no matter how bad things look, you have a plan, a plan for good to prosper us, to give us hope and a future (Jer. 29:11). Yours is a plan to lead us out into a wider space, a deeper walk with you, a more effective life. May you ever be exalted for your unwavering goodness, Lord.
 
May we ever remember that we can trust you no matter how bad things get and in the midst of distress, in faith, willfully, wholeheartedly offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving so that you may be honored, opening the way for you to show us the salvation of the Lord (Ps. 50:23).
 
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God in His Greatness Answers

Published by S.M. Wibberley on November 18, 2016
Barbara comes home today! Nat is here to visit! God is answering prayer!
 
Praise be to you, Lord God, the Righteous One, Hater of sin and Judge of rebels. I praise you that you found a way to eliminate evil, to remove it from the future, while offering mankind a way out of the dominion of darkness into the Kingdom of Light.
 
I praise you for saving us from Satan’s power, from sin’s slavery and from our own depravity. I thank you that you have made us your children, given us your Spirit and equipped us to be more than conquerors.
 
You are the God of Glory, the King of Freedom, the Lord of Love and the Shepherd of Grace. I praise you that you are sovereign, capable of controlling every single detail if you want, yet granting us the ability to make real moral and ethical choices in our everyday lives. You have given us important and significant roles in your great plan to bring about a sin-free Kingdom with a new heaven and earth.
 
You are marvelous in your wisdom, wonderful in your desires, majestic in your might and supreme in your rule. To you belongs all glory and honor. To you belongs all credit for what is positive and right and lovely. All that is good comes from your hand and we should and do give you worship for this.
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Psalm 34:5-10

Published by S.M. Wibberley on November 16, 2016
Psalm 35:5,6 “May [those who seek my life] be like chaff before the wind, with the angel of the LORD driving them away; may their path be dark and slippery, with the angel of the LORD pursuing them.”
 
[May you, Lord, deal with those who oppose us because we are yours. May you powerfully work to make them unsuccessful and fruitless in their pursuit of your children’s death and destruction. Send your angels to frustrate them, and bring them to a realization of their error and to a vision of your righteousness, Lord Jesus.]
 
Psalm 35:7,8 “Since they hid their net for me without cause and without cause dug a pit for me, may ruin overtake them by surprise—may the net they hid entangle them, may they fall into the pit, to their ruin.”
 
[Yes, may they be caught in their own traps, and see the error of their ways. I praise you for how you did this to the Al Quaida cell in the Middle Eastern city where we lived. They had planned to kill pastors and bomb churches in the city, had their lists and addresses ready, their weapons prepared—but were caught before they could carry out their pans. Thank you for your protection, Lord.]
 
Psalm 35:9,10 “Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD and delight in his salvation. My whole being will exclaim, ‘Who is like you, O LORD?’
 
[Yes, Lord, we praise and exalt you with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, for you have given help and protection—and will continue to do so. There is no one like you, Lord God, who knows all, sees all and is able to protect from all true harm.
 
Sometimes you do allow hurt—believers are killed, persecuted, beaten and driven from their homes–but even in that you have a greater purpose for their lives and deaths in the over-arching and magnificent scheme of your plans.
 
And you have a plan for Barbara as she and I battle the forces causing confusion and despair, hopelessness and disorentation.
As you lead us through this valley of the shadow of death, you know where we are going. You are our Salvation, our Rock, our Fortress, our high Tower in whatever may come. You are the One we can trust.]
 
“You rescue the poor from those too strong for them, the poor and needy from those who rob them.”
 
[And this you have done for us, the poor and needy, in rescuing us from the kingdom of darkness, bringing us out into the Kingdom of Light. And you rescue us every day from the schemes of Satan, self and sin, you protect us from those who oppose you.
 
You have also equipped us to join you in this rescue plan: “This is the victory that HAS OVERCOME the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God” (1 John 5:4b,5).
 
“Put on the whole armor of God that you MAY BE ABLE to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Eph. 6:11).
 
“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, SO THAT CHRIST’S POWER MAY REST ON ME” 2 Cor. 12:9).
 
Help us Lord, to join you daily in the battle against self, sin and Satan, to cooperate with you in your plans to rescue us from evil and harm, to take up your provision of faith and armor, to obey you in what we know to be right.]
 
Picture below: He gives us light in darkness, as with this full fall moon reflected in the pond
 
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The Lord's Provision

Published by S.M. Wibberley on November 15, 2016
Thank you all who have written to say you are praying; it does make a difference. Barbara was transferred to the hospital’s mental health ward for evaluation. Pray that she will be released in the three days as promised. Nat is coming tomorrow to see his mother for a few days.
 
The following devotional from EDIFIED, written in 2008, was a great encouragement to me this morning.
 
“My soul finds rest in God alone.” Psalm 62:1
 
My poor old Bible was worn out, the cover falling off, pages coming loose, so I took it to a bookbinder to have it rebound. When I picked it up, it looked great and I was pleased–until I opened it to the back and found my 5 pages of notes missing. The bookbinder had thrown them away! For years I’d collected sermon outlines and verses on different subjects, resources I’d found very useful. Now all that work was gone! It was like losing an old friend!
But praise God, He immediately brought to mind that phrase, “Knowing Jesus is enough for joy!” Although my emotions weren’t lining up with this as I embraced Truth, and exercised volitional faith (giving thanks when I don’t feel like it), I was able to thank God for this loss, knowing that He has something good in it.
It seems lately that God is giving us lots of opportunities to put into practice trusting and praising Him when we would rather complain. Here are some things from the last few weeks:
• In getting ready to move to Germany, we got the unexpected news of the need for a stent in my heart.
• We were unable to make an exit to a Greek Island to renew our visas because Greek harbor workers were on strike. This complicates our leaving for Germany, forcing us to go several days earlier, scrambling to complete the end tasks necessary—but God knows what He is doing!
• A fellow worker had his pickup truck stolen from in front of his house, along with his cell phone, plus the registration for another vehicle and equipment. We suspect that this was engineered by the police who would like this particular worker to leave.
• A business started by a local pastor fell into a legal trap and everything in his business was confiscated by the small claims court.
• No word on my stolen car or on a solution to a difficult and expensively unjust situation with a hotel where we held conferences last month.
However, in the midst of all these unresolved difficulties, the truth is: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9), and “Knowing Jesus is enough for joy.” In the midst of unresolved pressure and problems we can find our rest in Him, knowing that He will carry us through in the way He knows is best.
 
Prayer: “Praise you, Lord God, for your care and protection in my life. Thank you for all you allow to come to me. And thank you for the privilege of offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving to honor you. Help me to do this consistently and fulfill the purpose of my life by bringing honor to your name (Ps. 50:23). Amen.”
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The Lord's timing

Published by S.M. Wibberley on November 14, 2016
In the light of Barbara’s continuing mental confusion (she will be transferred to the psych ward today for observation), the following excerpt from EDIFIED was helpful, reminding me I can and must trust God in all of this.
 
“Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”
Psalm 50:14,14
 
In spite of a heavy downpour, I arrived at the Detroit airport in good time for my flight back to CT. After a week of teaching in Texas and another in Detroit, I was ready to get home.
At the gate it said the plane was on time; in fact it was sitting right there at the end of the ramp. However, at boarding time, an announcement was made that there would be a half hour delay because the crew was late. Then another delay–and another and another.
Each delay was further little adventure with Jesus, a chance to praise and trust. It turned out that the many thunderstorms of the day had stranded our crew on the runway in Columbus, Ohio for four hours.
They finally arrived and we boarded. The pilot then announced that our take off permission had expired and a new one needed to be printed. That took half an hour. Then came another announcement that they couldn’t find a machine to push us away from the gate. That took another 20 minutes. Then as we got out on the run way, the pilot stopped and shut off the engines, announcing that we were number 40 in the line to take off, but because of poor weather no planes were being allowed to leave at the moment. Half an hour later the engines started again and we crept to the front of the line and took off.
All this time my cell phone was not working for some reason, so during the last wait I borrowed my seatmate’s and called Barbara to tell her of the delays. Unbeknownst to me, she then wisely called the friend who was waiting to pick me up and told him to go home, as it was unclear when or if I would arrive. So when I got to CT more than four hours late, there was no one to meet me.
Well, this was a further adventure with Jesus; I prayed for wisdom and borrowed another passenger’s cell phone to call Barbara (there are no more pay phones at the airport!) and she said a neighbor would come to pick me up. Now comes the interesting part.
The fellow whose cell phone I’d borrowed came and sat next to me. His plane to Chicago had been cancelled because of the storms, so he was waiting for a hotel shuttle. In the course of our talk, he told me he had two sons, 6 and 8, both of whom had muscular dystrophy. This meant that by the time they are 10, they will be in wheel chairs, and would have a life expectancy of 25 to 30 years. I asked how he handled that.
“At first I was angry with God, but after a couple of years saw that was not working, so have now turned back to him. I go to church, but don’t get much out of it. I’m not sure how to proceed there.”
We then had a wonderful talk about God, salvation and reading Scripture. At the end of our talk he eagerly took a brochure on salvation and then made a very insightful comment. “Now I know why my plane home was cancelled and why your plane was late—that made it possible for us to meet and for you to help me!” Pretty amazing that this seeker recognized this significant “Jesus sighting” in both our lives!
The delays and frustrations of our lives are not random and meaningless. God is at work orchestrating events for our protection and growth as well as to provide opportunities to speak into the lives of others. Our praise in the midst of uncertainty prepares our hearts and minds for the chance to be an instrument in God’s hands as we offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving (Psalm 50:23), getting up the shield of faith.
 
Prayer: “Lord, help me to live in the larger reality of your orchestrating power at work within and around me. Help me to offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving for whatever comes, thereby honoring you and opening the way to join you in what you are doing. Amen.”
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Victim, Victor or Vector

Published by S.M. Wibberley on November 13, 2016
“Hear, O LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Guard my life, for I am devoted to you. You are my God; save your servant who trusts in you.”
Psalm 86:1,2
 
While reading in my journal, I came across notes from a message I heard from the leader of the “Hands of Hur” ministries. He talked about how we can have three reactions to a situation. We can be a victim, a victor or a vector. Joseph in the OT was all three. 
 
When he was thrown into the pit by his brothers, he was a victim, focused on “poor me.” Genesis 42:21 says, “…he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen”. A victim allows his circumstances and suffering to define him. He has a very narrow, self-centered view of life.
 
A victor has moved beyond that to a trust in God, freeing him to serve more whole-heartedly. When Joseph was working in Potiphar’s house, he was a victor: he gave the right responses and triumphed in each situation, even resisting the temptations of Potiphar’s wife.
 
A victor lets his successes define his life. God is there, but He is not the center of the victor’s existence. Joseph told Potiphar’s wife that everything was in his hands, that he was the greatest in the house and, by the way, that he was obeying God (Gen. 39:8,9). The focus was on himself and his accomplishments, not on God. This continued while he was in prison, as he told the other prisoners how he could interpret dreams rather than giving God credit.
However, when he stood before Pharaoh, Joseph had become a vector, an arrow pointing the way to the True Victor. A vector is one whose life is centered on God, who points others to God, not to success or comfort.
 
A vector’s life is defined not by his suffering, or by his victories, but by God’s relationship with him. When asked if he could interpret dreams, Joseph said, “No, but God can” (Gen. 41:16). And when he gave the interpretation he said, “God has chosen to show Pharaoh what he is about to do.” Joseph leaves himself entirely out of the picture, pointing all to the Lord of all. He had been truly broken, learning not to trust himself, but to fully trust God.
 
Paul expounds on this concept in Romans 8:37 in which he tells us we should be MORE than a conqueror, more than a victor, pointing us to the possibility of being a vector, a signpost to God for all those around us.
 
In each difficulty, disappointment or danger that comes into our lives, we can be a victim, a victor or a vector. A lot of what determines which one we’ll be is how we cultivate our first love for Christ in meeting with Him each day in worship, confession, reading the Word and prayer. Are we cooperating with God in doing this?
 
Prayer: “Lord show me where I am acting like a victim or victor. Bring me to repentance and help me to live as a vector, focused on you and helping others to look to you. Praise you now for the help you will give. Amen.”
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Light in Darkness

Published by S.M. Wibberley on November 12, 2016
Today’s reading in EDIFIED! is perfect for me.
 
“My soul finds rest in God alone.” Psalm 62:1
 
The Puritan writer Burroughs says that contentment is not what we have when looking back, able to see what God was doing through a difficult time. It is being at peace in the midst of difficulty and suffering without any visible clue as to what our Shepherd is doing, and in that knowledge vacuum resting in Him.
 
Knowing the character of God is enough. He whose wisdom created the world, made the human body and gave man dominion over the earth; He who did not give up when Adam sinned and twisted the whole of creation; He who secured salvation at huge personal cost, and loves us to the end, He is trustable when all else is hidden from our understanding.
 
Knowing You, Lord God, the great Yahweh, holy, glorious, entirely other, hater of sin, lover of the sinner—to know you is enough to give us contentment when everything goes wrong, when we suffer pain, when we are mistreated, when we fail and are, humanly speaking, hopeless.
 
Contentment is knowing the wisdom of your mind. You, O God, are the One who created the micro world of subatomic particles, who set the laws that govern their states. You made the molecules, formed the elements and brought out of them all we see, from microscopic animals to stars a million times bigger than our sun. You who have done this have enough wisdom to bring into my life what is right. I can trust you.
 
Contentment is knowing the power of your right arm. You, Lord Jesus, spoke and created all that we see, with its incredible variety, beauty and vastness. You hung, spun and run the earth. You ride, guide and hide the winds. You hold, mold and unfold events. You send, bend and end history.
 
Never defeated, never stretched, never inadequate, your power is immeasurable. In you we can trust.
 
Contentment is knowing the patience of your will. You have a plan, you will reveal it at the pace you know to be best. You will not rush, you will not be late, your timing is perfect. When nothing appears to be happening, you are at work on deep levels, persistently, patiently, powerfully bringing to pass events and conditions that will move history to the conclusion you have determined. We can trust you in your timing.
 
Contentment is knowing the greatness of your love. You are Agape Love itself: the commitment to act for the good of others, no matter how they may react. The wonder of your rich, deep, powerful, unending, gracious love is an ever-growing joy as we walk with you, learning of you from your Word, from your works, from your way.
 
Your strong, careful, overwhelming love is revealed in the goodness you give us daily: in being so kind when we give you pain with our sin and selfishness, in the grace you offer us moment by moment when we so often spurn it in pride. We see your love in the kindness you exercise in your correction of our stubborn and self-centered hearts. We can trust your heart of love.
 
As we climb the golden staircase of your grace, care and love, knowing you more and more each day, we can be content in you and in whatever you bring, whatever we suffer, whatever we lose, for you are good.
 
Prayer: “When all is meaningless, when all we do seems foolish, when pain obscures our vision, still our hearts to know your heart of love and grace. Help us then to rest in contentment. Glory be to you, the Great God of contentment, worthy of all worship and wonder and trust. Amen.”
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Humility

Published by S.M. Wibberley on November 11, 2016
(From my last prayer letter; See prayer request at end)
 
Humility is a word we mention a lot, but it seldom gets defined.
One viable definition is this: “Agreeing with God.” In fact, this is what the Greek word translated “confess” means. And the word translated “virtue” in 2 Peter 1:5 also has the idea of agreeing with God.
 
Pride is the opposite–thinking that we know what is right, defining good and evil ourselves. This is what Adam did in eating the forbidden fruit.
 
Humility is abandoning that self-centered thinking to embrace God’s opinion about everything. In fact, that is also what it means to fear God: caring very deeply what He thinks, standing in awe of His wisdom, knowledge and power so much that we obey Him whether we feel like it or not.
 
The one time Moses failed in his humility was when he reacted as he wanted: instead of speaking to the rock to get water, in anger he struck it, thereby stealing honor from God.
 
Most of us would like to be humble, but If we are honest, we only selectively agree with what God has to say. The rest of the time we elevate our intellect above His Word. For instance, how often have I gone ahead and said something negative even after the Spirit has warned me not to! I decide that giving a zinger to someone is more important than obeying God—and thereby steal honor from God.
 
I want to touch on a point of humility where every single person misses the mark: our opinion of ourselves. A finer focus of the definition of humility is this: “seeing ourselves as God sees us, both in our holiness and in our depravity.”
 
Those of us who are proud or self-sufficient or self-absorbed, tend to focus on what a good person we are, missing the truth that we have an old nature where we are worthy only of condemnation, rejection, punishment and death.
 
On the other hand, most of us are dissatisfied with our performance, looks and position. We focus on our lacks, our failures and negatives. We are down on ourselves, disappointed in ourselves and talk frequently about what we “should do;” in our opinion we never pray enough, read the Word enough, witness enough.
 
But how does God look at us? He acknowledges the fact that by nature we are depraved, evil and worthy only of condemnation. But He then focuses fully on the fact that we are chosen, forgiven, cleansed, adopted into His family, into His Kingdom, and into His plan.
 
He loves us richly, deeply, unconditionally and eternally. He delights in us, rejoices in us, sings over us and cherishes us.
If we are humble, we will agree with both of these, and with God, and will focus primarily on how He forgives us, accepts us and forgives us—and do the same to ourselves!
 
When we begin to understand how much we are loved, there will be a transformation in us. As we “know this love that surpasses knowledge—[we] may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:19). And part of this fullness is viewing ourselves as He does. That is being humble!
 
So let us repent of our dissatisfaction with ourselves, repent of our focus on performance and looks, and instead, as a result of Christ’s sacrifice, forgive, accept and love ourselves as God loves us—and the resulting fullness will lead to a life of greater obedience (loving our neighbor as we love ourselves), holiness, humility and honor for God.
 
Pray for Barbara and me that we will look at ourselves as God does, forgive, accept and love ourselves as Christ does. If we do so, we will reflect God’s beauty to the world, as the pond does the beauty of the sky in this picture.
 
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Request

Published by S.M. Wibberley on November 10, 2016
Today Barbara is scheduled to come home from the hospital, as her sodium level is almost up to normal, as is her mental state.
 
One of the facets of her illness is depression, which has various sources (Lyme’s, her mother’s death, retirement and destructive values imparted to her in her childhood, to name some).
 
The counselor in the hospital suggested that it would be helpful to demonstrate to Barbara how much God has used her in her many years of ministry, countering what she says often, “I’ve done nothing.”
 
If you’re so inclined, and Barbara has in some way been a positive influence in your life, it would be helpful if you could write a little something about that and get it to me. You can message me, write a comment here or email it to me, and I will compile them and give them to her to read, hopefully over and over again.
 
Thank you to those who will respond.
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