Grumbling: A Family Tradition

David McLemore 

So, how’s your quarantine going?

Isn’t it wonderful? We can’t go anywhere. We can’t do anything. All our plans are canceled. Maybe you can work from home like me, but I find it just makes my house unbearable at times. My kids are stir-crazy and I’m ready to get back to normal.

Normal. Remember those good old days? Like when we went to restaurants and sporting events and concerts. We had all we needed. But now? Look at us now. We’re basically prisoners! And for what? A virus? Come on!

Whose fault is this anyway? Surely, “they” could’ve stopped this. It didn’t have to be this bad. But they’re a bunch of failures. We always knew it, didn’t we? Can’t get anything right on a normal day, and when crisis knocks on the door, well, there goes our lives.

A LONG LINE OF GRUMBLERS

If walls could talk, would they, like a child, repeat the echoes of your grumbling? Mine would. I’m an expert grumbler. It’s too cold in winter and too hot in summer. The food was good but the service was slow. The night was long but sleep was short. Nothing is ever just right. Has it ever been? Reading the Bible, it appears my disposition isn’t mine alone. We come from a long line of grumblers.

Perhaps nowhere in the Bible is this clearer than in the story of Israel’s wanderings during the Exodus from Egypt. While isolated in the desert, God’s people quarreled with Moses because there was no water to drink—admittedly a big problem in the middle of the desert (Ex. 17:1–2). Moses responded by asking, “‘Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?’ But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses” (Ex. 17:3).

This was hardly their first go at grumbling. By chapter 17, they’ve been at it for a solid two months as they entered the Desert of Sin (Ex. 15:24; 16:2, 7–9, 12). Yes, God led them out of slavery in Egypt but their nomadic desert life didn’t satisfy their appetites. Oh, remember the meat pots and fullness of bread in Egypt! Better to die there with full bellies and no freedoms than in deliverance with empty stomachs! Does God know what he’s doing?

The middle chapters of Exodus (15–17) are a master class in the art of grumbling. Paul said, “Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction” (Rom. 15:4). But rather than submitting to the tutelage, I find my proverbial stomach too empty. I place myself among the frustrated Israelites, joining their ranks instead of learning their lessons. Who can blame me? It’s a family tradition.

DO ALL THINGS WITHOUT GRUMBLING

As the pages turn from the Old to New Testament, the family line and its tendencies don’t appear to improve very much. We don’t have the contextual details as we do with our desert-dwelling ancestors, but we find the Apostle Paul confronting what must have been a similar situation in the Philippian church. “Do all things without grumbling,” he says (Phil. 2:14).

Were they hungry and thirsty too? Did they find God less than who he promised to be?

I hear Paul’s words and I want to obey. I really do. The problem is, it’s hard. Some people seem never to have had a bad day. I wonder if I’ve ever had a good one. And these days of quarantine aren’t helping.

Every hour brings worse news than before. Sure, I have my moments of peace and contentment. But in all things? What do you mean by all, Paul?

Maybe it’ll help to define the word grumbling.

NO COMPLAINT OR DISPUTE

Grumbling must be distinct from complaint. Complaint feels too formal. I never go that far. I’m not filling out a form or sending an email. I’m not bringing this before the elders or anything. I’m just voicing my displeasure—informally and off the cuff, you know? No big deal, really. It’ll pass.

A complaint might get me somewhere, but I’m not looking for a handout. I’m not the kind of person who wants to speak to the manager. I just hope the waiter overhears me wondering where he is. I hope he sees my face as I take that first bite of less-than-expected taste. I just hope the two-star Facebook review I posted is filled with agreeing comments. Maybe things will start to change then, but probably not.

The real difference, in my opinion, lies here: a complaint gets you something you feel cheated out of, but that’s not my angle. I’d much rather let everyone know it’s their general failure in life that’s caused my displeasure. You know, like God leading a people into the desert with a meek leader like Moses and a severe lack of basic provisions like food and water. How can someone like that be trusted in trying times?

So maybe the lesson is this: to complain is to ask God why he’s not giving water in the desert and plead for him to provide; to grumble is to say there’s not water because God doesn’t care. The first seeks to obtain something. The other seeks only to destroy.

In Philippians 2:14, Paul commands the people not to grumble but also not to dispute. Grumbling rarely disputes anyone’s decisions. It doesn’t rise that high. It lays low in the water, like the roar of a wave that comes crashing all around. It might get you wet, which can be annoying, and it has enough salt and sand to rub you the wrong way, but the grumble isn’t there to argue. Arguing requires facts and reasoning. Grumbles don’t. The grumble grows out of emotions. The catalyst is the way one feels, which influences the way one thinks. The grumble doesn’t want to take anyone to court; it just wants everything fixed—now.

ACCUSATION

The problem, however, is that the grumble does inevitably take someone to court. The Israelites’ grumbling soon rose to Moses and then to God. How did God hear grumblings? The murmur was louder than they thought.

God got involved, which seemed to be an overreaction, really. Grumblings wither and fade. Once it’s off the chest it’s like mist in the morning, right? But Moses took it to God. He asked, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me” (Ex. 17:5). God’s answer was weighty. “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb” (Ex. 17:5–6a). God received their grumbling as an accusation against himself. He stood trial.

I think I’m beginning to see the lesson. Though it doesn’t look like it initially, grumbling is accusation. The Israelites weren’t merely venting their frustrations. They were accusing God of not being a provider. In fact, they were saying he was worse than Pharaoh. He must not have thought it through. A million people in the middle of the desert. “Yeah, God. Great idea.”

Their grumbling was a viral event, not quarantined to a small few. It was airborne and highly contagious. If I jumped in the DeLorean and headed back to that ancient and sandy land, I wouldn’t hear the story of God’s great rescue but the story of God’s great scandal: desert life without water. If I knew nothing of their history, I might be prone to think Egypt was a land of Eden and Pharaoh a king of kings.

The people had a point. What good is emancipation if you die a few weeks later with a parched tongue and cracked lips? They looked at their life and could see only the grim circumstances staring back at them. They forgot the plagues in Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, and the manna from heaven. They forgot their Rescuer, Deliverer, and Redeemer. The roar of their grumbling drowned out the song of their Savior. God had done mighty things before, but they disbelieved he could do them again. Rather than the path God was taking them, all they saw were walls. And those walls echoed to and fro throughout the land.

WATER FROM THE ROCK

God heard their grumbling, and he stood on the rock before them. Then he told Moses, “You shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink” (Ex. 17:6).

In 1 Corinthians 10:4, Paul looks back at this event and makes the shocking statement that Christ was the Rock. The water the people drank didn’t come from nowhere. It came from the judgment of God in Christ. Moses didn’t strike an inanimate object. He struck the Lord himself. Grumbling always strikes, and, ultimately, it always strikes the Lord.

But the gospel tells us that God takes that strike himself. Instead of standing on the rock and blasting the Israelites away, he stands on the rock and bears the punishment. This was just the beginning of God’s long-suffering. What started as a grumble in the desert rose to a cry in Pilate’s court: “Crucify him!” (Luke 21:23).

Alone on the cross, instead of grumbling, Jesus took our grumblings upon himself as the representative Grumbler. He died under them, struck by the judgment staff of God. When the soldiers came to Jesus to ensure his death, they “pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water” (John 19:34). That water was, as Paul says, the same spiritual drink the Israelites drank in the desert (1 Cor. 10:4). It came from a rock back then but came in Christ once for all on the cross. A drink of living water for all of us grumblers.

That’s the real family tradition—God’s grace for grumblers.

So how’s your quarantine going? Mine’s better than ever before, thanks for asking. I have all I need.

David McLemore is an elder at Refuge Church in Franklin, Tennessee. He also works for a large healthcare corporation where he manages an application development department. He is married to Sarah, and they have three sons. Read more of David’s writing on his blog, Things of the Sort.

Posted at: https://gcdiscipleship.com/article-feed/grumbling

Models for Combating Discouragement

Devotional by John Piper

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (Psalm 73:26)

Literally the verb is simply fail, not “may fail.” This God-besotted psalmist, Asaph, says, “My flesh and my heart fail!” I am despondent! I am discouraged! But then immediately he fires a broadside against his despondency: “But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

The psalmist does not yield to discouragement. He battles unbelief with counterattack.

In essence, he says, “In myself I feel very weak and helpless and unable to cope. My body is shot, and my heart is almost dead. But whatever the reason for this despondency, I will not yield. I will trust God and not myself. He is my strength and my portion.”

The Bible is replete with instances of saints struggling with sunken spirits. Psalm 19:7 says, “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.” This is a clear admission that the soul of the saint sometimes needs to be revived. And if it needs to be revived, in a sense it was “dead.” That’s the way it felt.

David says the same thing in Psalm 23:2–3, “He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.” The soul of the “man after [God’s] own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14) needs to be restored. It was dying of thirst and ready to fall exhausted, but God led the soul to water and gave it life again.

God has put these testimonies in the Bible so that we might use them to fight the unbelief of despondency. And we fight with the blast of faith in God’s promises: “God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” We preach that to ourselves. And we thrust it into Satan’s face. And we believe it.

Posted at: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/models-for-combating-discouragement

Hang on to God in Hard Times

Shepherd’s Press

Psalm 46 was written for difficult times, times like this past weekend in El Paso and Dayton. These opening verses are filled with the drama of life-dominating events. But even in chaos and turmoil, God is our refuge, the one we can hang on to:

“God is our refuge and strength,

a helper who is always found

in times of trouble.

Therefore we will not be afraid,

though the earth trembles

and the mountains topple

into the depths of the seas,

though its water roars and foams

and the mountains quake with its turmoil.”

Jacob was someone who knew that he needed to trust God. He made a mess out of his life. He struggled with God and with people. He conspired with his mother to steal his brother Esau’s birthright and blessing. He was deceived by his father-in-law about whom he would marry. He, in turn, managed to turn the tables and deceived his father-in-law to get his best livestock. Finally, it all caught up with Jacob. He fled from his father-in-law only to learn that Esau was coming to find him. One night when he was alone and worried he came across a man. But it was not just an ordinary man. Jacob wrestled with the man all through the night and would not let him go. The man, actually an angel of God or a theophany, responded by injuring his hip. But, still, Jacob would still not let go, so we read in Genesis 32:

Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

Jacob, the conniver, the con artist, is nonetheless a model for your faith. He held on to God with all that he had. He understood this is God’s world and he needed the blessing of God to survive. Jacob’s story is not one that would be typically held out as a model to follow. But throughout his life, he knew that God was God and he was not. Hebrews 11 lists Jacob as a man who lived by faith.

As Psalm 46 reminds us that the God of Jacob is our refuge and our strength. No, Jacob did not get everything right. But he got God right. Jacob is an example to you and to me that our hope lies not in how good we are, but in how good God is. Jacob knew that the most important thing in life is clinging to the promises of a faithful God. Many of the days of humanity are dark. But even in the darkest valley, God is still our God and merciful shepherd. Follow Jacob and hang on to the living God of heaven and earth!

Posted at: https://www.shepherdpress.com/hang-on-to-god-in-hard-times/?fbclid=IwAR2E80pC6IFeL-NEq9cxdmHMWUZf_9vGptXMZMU438TISXTDXhMunVPx5KY

Jesus' Encouragement to the Hopeless

Andrew Gilmore

If you are a human, no doubt you have felt hopeless at times. You’ve endured seasons in your life when everything around you seemed to be crumbling, and you couldn’t do anything about it.

If you are human, you’ve probably felt helpless a time or two. You may have believed that nothing you could do would make any difference no matter how hard you tried.

If we’re not careful, these seasons of hopelessness can morph into an ongoing outlook on life; we begin to expect the worst to happen. We believe things are already decided against us—and there’s nothing we can do.

It’s almost impossible to turn on the news or swipe through social media feeds without seeing some sort of horrible incident played out. With so much devastation and injustice around us, it is tempting to give up and resign ourselves to the evil around us.

But Jesus offers us hope and a fresh perspective on the darkness in our lives. While we are finite, time-bound people, Jesus is infinite and timeless and can see the larger picture of our lives.

Jesus Dwelt Among the Hopeless

Jesus taught a radically different approach to the corruption and brokenness of this world. He knew his followers would struggle with these very issues so he made sure to address the defeatist mindset.

If anyone had reason for pessimism, it was the first century Jew. Oppressed by Rome with crushing taxes and an obligation to Caesar, Israel couldn’t have what it most wanted: sovereignty. Sure, the empire allowed for a bit of freedom in the religious arena, but their designated “king” Herod the Great was corrupt and a Roman sympathizer.

Ditto for his sons and sister whom Rome appointed tetrarchs of Israel after the king died. It seemed as if there were no reason for optimism.

With this context in mind, we can better recognize the gravity of Christ’s teachings on the subject. And though he taught these lessons over 2000 years ago, they speak directly to the hopeless and pessimist inside each one of us.

3 Things Jesus Wants You to Know

If you struggle with any of these attitudes you’re not alone. Jesus took on our form to speak directly to the problems we face—including hopelessness. Here’s what he says:

Suffering is temporary for those who place their faith in him.

No matter what you’re going through, Christian, God will see you through it. There is an end in sight. Sometimes relief occurs in this lifetime, but if not Jesus will bring restoration when he returns to earth. As John wrote in Revelation:

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. (21:4)

It may sound like a cop-out to say suffering will cease when we enter heaven, but no one knew this truth better than Jesus. He endured the cross despite unspeakable pain from the whip, the thorns, and the nails because he understood his suffering was temporary and God would restore him.

Jesus told his disciples he had to die but that he would return to set everything right. But why wait to return? Why not restore everything to order right now, just as the Jewish people expected of their Messiah? Peter tells us why. He wrote:

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)

Did you get that? God allows suffering and sin to continue for a time as he waits for the maximum number of people to turn to him. He does not delight in judging and condemning people, therefore he’s giving them every opportunity to repent.

Christians can be light in the darkness.

Though things appear dim, Christians can make a difference. God is sovereign, but he chooses to use us, leveraging our faith to carry out his will.

When you feel helpless or overwhelmed, remember that Jesus said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you” (Luke 17:6).

Do you really believe that? This was no lesson on how trees grow, but rather a reinforcement of something Jesus said earlier: “All things are possible for one who believes” (Mark 9:23).

These are not just empty words! This is the power of God working through our faith to destroy the darkness in a corrupt world.

Persist despite corruption and persecution.

When faced with infidelity, child abuse, embezzlement, rape, natural disasters, and all the rest of the horrors the world throws our way, don’t give up. Persist in your faith. Easier said than done, right? How do we do it? Consistent prayer.

Jesus told a parable about a widow who needed governmental intervention to right an injustice perpetrated against her. Just one problem: the judge was an unrighteous man.

The first-century widow had little value or leverage in society. Since the judge was immoral, he had no incentive to listen to her. There was nothing in it for him. Nevertheless, the widow came day after day to the man, pleading her case. Day after day the judge ignored her, until finally one day out of frustration he relented and gave her the justice she sought.

What’s the point? Our father is righteous, so how much more should we approach his throne with our petitions? As Jesus said, “Will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily” (Luke 18:7-8).

Jesus told this parable to his disciples so that they would not lose heart. Once he was dead, it would be their turn to pick up his mantle and suffer persecution. He knew things were about to get rough for his followers, so he used this parable as a reminder that God grants the petitions for justice of his people.

We Are All Beggars

When you feel down and out think back to Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount in which he said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). This is an excellent reminder that we are dependent on God for everything.

I’ve heard it said this way, “Christianity is one beggar telling another beggar where he found bread.”[1] Spiritually, we are all beggars, who must rely on grace from our father. Once we embrace our spiritual poverty, it causes us to rely on him for sustenance—our daily bread.

In doing so, God fills our spiritual bellies, giving us enough to make it through the day. So take heart when you feel hopeless or helpless. Turn to God and he will restore you.

[1] D. T. Niles, as quoted by David Black in the New York Times, May 11, 1986: https://www.nytimes.com/1986/05/11/magazine/the-callings.html

posted at: https://unlockingthebible.org/2019/05/jesus-encouragement-helpless-hopeless/

Cares and Consolations

Article by Mike Emlet, CCEF

What cares and concerns burden you today? What challenges are you facing? Does God seem relevant to them? Do you experience his presence and help in the press of life’s challenges? What happens when anxieties grow within you?

Yesterday, in my Scripture reading, I came to Psalm 94, which contains one of my favorite verses:

When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul. (v. 19)

Or as the NASB puts it, “When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, your consolations delight my soul.” While I want to focus primarily on God’s consolations in this blog, first notice the realism of the psalmist: when the cares of my heart are many, not if. Life in a fallen world is hard, often excruciatingly painful. Christians don’t float above the mess of life, stoically relegating disappointments, trials, and tragedies to some back room of our lives. No, we sow in tears (Psalm 126:5). In the world we face tribulation (John 16:33). We are utterly burdened beyond our strength (2 Cor 1:8). We weep with those who weep (Rom 12:15).

But where do we go when the inescapable cares of our lives are multiplying? We look for and embrace the consolations of God. What are those consolations? It’s helpful to consider both “macro-consolations” and “micro-consolations.” Macro-consolations are foundational truths about God’s character and actions that bring comfort and confidence in the midst of hardships. Micro-consolations are the particular comforts and blessings God tailor-makes for a given day in our lives.

What are macro-consolations that help as fears and anxieties rise within us?

• God’s power. I am consoled by the fact that even a sparrow cannot fall to the ground apart from God (Matt 10:29). Or as the Heidelberg Catechism Question and Answer #1 notes, “He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven.” The One who created and sustains all things by his powerful word (Col 1:16-17) will not drop the ball when it really counts.

• God’s love. I am consoled that God’s power is directed and animated by his love. Psalm 94:18 highlights that God’s “steadfast love” holds us up. His loyal, faithful, never-ending love that comes to its apex in Jesus Christ. No wonder Paul can exclaim, “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Rom 8:32).

• God’s wisdom. I am consoled that God knows what he is doing. His powerful love flows in the deep channels of his wisdom. This really is the theme of the book of Job—can I entrust myself to him even when my finite perspective is screaming, “Foul!”

• God’s presence. I am consoled that he is with me. Perhaps this is the most critical comfort. I am not alone. Sometimes we acknowledge God’s power, love, and wisdom, but we envision him operating at a distance as though he is an absentee father. Yet one of the most precious realties Scripture reveals is that our God is with us. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me” (Ps 23:4). And this Good Shepherd is with us forever through the presence of his Holy Spirit (Matt 28:20), and one day we will see him face to face (Rev 21:3).

What about micro-consolations? Here it is important to pay attention to the particular grace of Jesus Christ; it is sufficient for the day. In the midst of difficulties, it is often hard to pull back and ask God to give us eyes to see the specific shape of his tender care in a given day. Here were some of my micro-consolations from yesterday: I learned that one of the servers at a coffee shop I often visit attends a Bible study at a nearby church led by one of my colleagues. God kept both my wife and my son (a relatively new driver) safe as they drove separately in the midst of treacherous conditions associated with our first snowstorm. A friend with a four-wheel drive vehicle picked me up after I was stranded near the coffee shop. I enjoyed the antics of our labradoodle in the snow. I had a warm bed to sleep in. And there were many more ways I tangibly experienced the fresh mercies of Christ that day.

God promises in Jeremiah 31:25, “For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.” What are the cares of your heart today? Let your anxiety serve as a pivot point, turning you to your Father who pours out his many consolations in your time of need.

posted at: https://www.ccef.org/resources/blog/cares-and-consolations?mc_cid=89235bded9&mc_eid=90be5e29a6

10 Resolutions for Mental Health

Article by John Piper

Founder & Teacher, desiringGod.org

On October 22, 1976, Clyde Kilby, who is now with Christ in heaven, gave an unforgettable lecture. I went to hear him that night because I loved him. He had been one of my professors in English Literature at Wheaton College. He opened my eyes to more of life than I knew could be seen. Oh, what eyes he had!

He was like his hero, C.S. Lewis, in this regard. When he spoke of the tree he saw on the way to class this morning, you wondered why you had been so blind all your life. Since those days in classes with Clyde Kilby, Psalm 19:1 has been central to my life: “The heavens declare the glory of God.”

“Stop seeking mental health in the mirror of self-analysis, and start drinking in the remedies of God in nature.”

That night Dr. Kilby, who had a pastoral heart and a poet’s eye, pled with us to stop seeking mental health in the mirror of self-analysis, but instead to drink in the remedies of God in nature. He was not naïve. He knew of sin. He knew of the necessity of redemption in Christ. But he would have said that Christ purchased new eyes for us as well as new hearts. His plea was that we stop being unamazed by the strange glory of ordinary things. He ended that lecture in 1976 with a list of resolutions. As a tribute to my teacher and a blessing to your soul, I offer them for your joy.

1. At least once every day I shall look steadily up at the sky and remember that I, a consciousness with a conscience, am on a planet traveling in space with wonderfully mysterious things above and about me.

2. Instead of the accustomed idea of a mindless and endless evolutionary change to which we can neither add nor subtract, I shall suppose the universe guided by an Intelligence which, as Aristotle said of Greek drama, requires a beginning, a middle, and an end. I think this will save me from the cynicism expressed by Bertrand Russell before his death when he said: “There is darkness without, and when I die there will be darkness within. There is no splendor, no vastness anywhere, only triviality for a moment, and then nothing.”

3. I shall not fall into the falsehood that this day, or any day, is merely another ambiguous and plodding twenty-four hours, but rather a unique event, filled, if I so wish, with worthy potentialities. I shall not be fool enough to suppose that trouble and pain are wholly evil parentheses in my existence, but just as likely ladders to be climbed toward moral and spiritual manhood.

4. I shall not turn my life into a thin, straight line which prefers abstractions to reality. I shall know what I am doing when I abstract, which of course I shall often have to do.

5. I shall not demean my own uniqueness by envy of others. I shall stop boring into myself to discover what psychological or social categories I might belong to. Mostly I shall simply forget about myself and do my work.

6. I shall open my eyes and ears. Once every day I shall simply stare at a tree, a flower, a cloud, or a person. I shall not then be concerned at all to ask what they are but simply be glad that they are. I shall joyfully allow them the mystery of what Lewis calls their “divine, magical, terrifying and ecstatic” existence.

7. I shall sometimes look back at the freshness of vision I had in childhood and try, at least for a little while, to be, in the words of Lewis Carroll, the “child of the pure unclouded brow, and dreaming eyes of wonder.”

8. I shall follow Darwin’s advice and turn frequently to imaginative things such as good literature and good music, preferably, as Lewis suggests, an old book and timeless music.

9. I shall not allow the devilish onrush of this century to usurp all my energies but will instead, as Charles Williams suggested, “fulfill the moment as the moment.” I shall try to live well just now because the only time that exists is now.

10. Even if I turn out to be wrong, I shall bet my life on the assumption that this world is not idiotic, neither run by an absentee landlord, but that today, this very day, some stroke is being added to the cosmic canvas that in due course I shall understand with joy as a stroke made by the architect who calls himself Alpha and Omega.

What the Bible Says to the Jaded, Discouraged, and Worn Out

Article by Colin Smith

Christmas season is the season of joy, but it is also a time when the cumulative weight of all that has happened in the course of the year catches up with you. Moving into the last month of the year often causes a sense of being worn out, discouraged, or stretched thin. Someone described it to me as a “collective weariness.”  

What is the answer to collective weariness? Where would we look in the Bible for help when we feel jaded, discouraged, and generally worn out? 

My mind goes to Isaiah 40: “They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength” (Isaiah 40:31). That speaks to me. That’s what I need, but how do I get there? How do I get to Isaiah 40:31? The first 30 verses of this chapter might have something to do with it! 

Isaiah 40 is full of anticipations of the birth of Christ, but I want to use this article to show the promise of renewed strength God gives to all those who are discouraged at the end of the chapter. 

Lean into The Truth You Know about God 

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. (Isaiah 40:28) 

God reminds his people of what they already know, what they have often heard, because faith is strengthened, not by learning something new, but by coming back to what we have heard and known. 

Faith is strengthened, not by learning something new, but by coming back to what we have heard and known: Christ crucified and risen for us. What is it that every believer knows and has heard about God that we need to lean into in these times of weariness? 

God is your Creator

The Lord is…the Creator of the ends of the earth. (Isaiah 40:28)  

God formed you in your mother’s womb. He gave you life with the purpose of redeeming you. He purchased you at the cost of his own Son. And, he infused a new life into you, recreating you in Jesus Christ. 

God does not grow weary

He does not faint or grow weary. (Isaiah 40:28) 

God sustains all that he has made. He never runs out of resources. He never tires of you. There is never a time when God looks at you and says, “Where do we go from here?” 

God works on an everlasting timescale

The Lord is the everlasting God. (Isaiah 40:28) 

Time is at his disposal. None of us knows what God will do in the coming year, let alone in 10 years or in 50 years, or what God will do in the lives of our children or grandchildren. The granddaughter of your rebel son may turn out to have a ministry beyond anything you can imagine. 

No one can fathom his understanding

His understanding is unsearchable. (Isaiah 40:28) 

None of us will ever fathom the mind of God, or gain a full picture of what he is doing. So why even try? His understanding is unsearchable! 

Lean into The Truth That You Know About Yourself 

He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted. (Isaiah 40:29-30) 

Notice the words that are used here: “faint,” “no might,” “weary,” “fall exhausted.” That’s us! And notice that this is us at our best: “even youths shall be faint and weary.” 

Then God says “Young men shall fall exhausted.” The phrase “young men” literally means “picked men.” This is like athletes who are in peak condition, the ones who catch the eye of the Olympic selection committee. 

At the end of the marathon, even athletes in peak condition are weary. Some fall exhausted. Others look faint. Why? Because their bodies have been through a test of endurance that has pushed them to the limits. 

There are limits to all human endurance. Paul describes our bodies as tents (2 Corinthians 5), not palaces made of stone and held up by marble pillars, but tents made of canvas and held up by ropes that stretch, sag, and fray. So, no Christian should be surprised at this experience of weariness. God has placed his treasure in jars of clay. We live in this earthly tent that one day will be torn down. 

Here’s what you know about yourself: You are not God. You’re a created being with limits to your own strength and endurance. You will become weary. You will know what it is to feel spent and exhausted. Feeling worn out should not take you by surprise. Lean into the truth that you know. But that’s only half the answer. 

Lay Hold of the Hope That You Have 

Laying hold of the hope that you have is the natural result of leaning into the truth that you know. When you lean into what you know about God (that God is the everlasting Creator and that he does not grow weary), you will look to him and, as you do, he will give you strength:  

He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. (Isaiah 40:29)  

Notice the word “gives.” This is an action of God in relation to his own people at times when we feel our strength is depleted, and our faith is burning low. He “gives power” and he “increases strength!” 

How does God do this? God does not faint or grow weary (Isaiah 40:28). The way he gives strength to the weary is that he gives himself to you.  This is not some zapping with power that moves an exhausted Christian into bionic overdrive. The effect of this strength is that God’s people keep pressing on. They keep running. They keep walking. 

Christ gives his Spirit to those who hope in him so that something of his divine power may touch us in our human weakness. Strength comes as we ascend by faith into the presence of the Lord and commune with our living Savior. Here’s what will come from that: You will keep running. You will keep walking. You will keep pressing on. 

Go to Jesus this Christmas 

Some of you do not yet have a living faith in Jesus Christ. I ask you today: Do you not know your own Creator? Have you not heard that strength and hope can be yours through Jesus Christ? This Savior says to you who are worn out, and to all of us, today, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). 

THE AUTHOR

Colin Smith

Colin Smith is the senior pastor of The Orchard Evangelical Free Church in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. He has authored a number of books, including Heaven, How I Got Here and Heaven, So Near - So Far. Colin is the president and teacher for Unlocking the Bible. Follow him on Twitter.

Posted at: https://unlockingthebible.org/2018/12/bible-jaded-discouraged-worn-out/

Relying on God in Times of Desperation

Article by: Meredith Hodge

His heart pounded, his lips quivered, decay crept into his bones, and his legs trembled (Habakkuk 3:16). He was confused, angry, terrified, and desperate for relief. He cried, “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear?” (Habakkuk 1:2). Habakkuk, an Old Testament prophet, experienced a season of trials that seemed endless. He was desperate for relief, for change, for God to intervene. Does that sound like something you can relate to? 

I too recently felt like Habakkuk. The weight of grief, depression, and anxiety consumed me to the point where my heart pounded, my lips quivered, my legs trembled, and it felt like decay crept into my bones. My heart and flesh screamed for relief—and in my desperation, I found myself tempted to stray from the truth of God’s Word. I desired comfort above all else, but was called to rely on the Lord in my season of desperation. 

When you and I feel like there is “no hope for a harvest” (Habakkuk 3:17), when desperation distracts us from God’s truth, and when our faith is shaken, what do we do? We can learn from sufferers like Habakkuk to: 

1. Rely on God by faith

Every believer in Jesus Christ is called to a life of faith (Galatians 2:20). Faith beckons us to rejoice in the Lord and be joyful in God our Savior (Hab. 3:18). When we love and are joyful through trials, it is the ultimate demonstration of true faith. Christian faith doesn’t rest on what is seen and what is temporary—it relies on the all-sufficiency of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:18). 

In many seasons of desperation, it’s often challenging to rejoice in faith. When we feel spiritually dry and cannot pray as we ought, we can rely on God through the Holy Spirit. The Father sent us the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ name, One who helps us in our weakness by interceding for us with groanings too deep for words (Romans 8:26). We can rely on him to convict, guide, help, and comfort us in and out of trials (John 14:26; Isaiah 11:2; John 16:7:15). The Spirit gives us freedom (2 Corinthians 3:17) and enables us to abound in hope (Romans 15:13). 

2. Be Honest with God

Habakkuk was far from denial regarding his situation. Through his knowledge of the Father’s character, he fueled honest prayers. He expressed himself passionately, honestly, asking “Why are you silent?” (1:13) and “Why do you tolerate wrong?” (1:3). Our Savior Jesus modeled this numerous times in his earthly walk, where it’s recorded that he prayed all night to God (Luke 6:12). We also see Christ’s honesty about his circumstances in Matthew 26, where three times he asks the Father to take the cup of suffering away from him (vv. 39, 42, 44).   

We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ and have been justified by faith (Romans 5:1). Therefore, we can freely approach him in honest prayer and with faith-filled hearts. By drawing near to and seeking him in humble prayer, we will receive a heavenly reward (Hebrews 11:6). And because our heavenly Father knows our deepest thoughts (Psalm 139:4), it is to our spiritual benefit to communicate with him honestly. Yet, we must rely on his grace, not his response. 

3. Rely on God’s grace

We have a warm invitation from the Creator of the universe to approach his throne of grace to find mercy in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16). By faith, we acknowledge that God is not obligated to respond to our questions or cries—but we rely on the gift of his justifying grace to us through Christ (Romans 3:24). On this side of heaven, we may never comprehend why God acts or withholds in our lives—but we can rest in the truth that his grace is sufficient for us (2 Corinthians 12:9). 

James exhorts us:

But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. (James 4:6-10)

4. Rely on God’s Power in Christ

When you face trials, remember God’s power and love displayed through his Son Jesus (John 3:16). Christ demonstrated and fulfilled his mission to live a sinless life (1 Peter 2:22), yet we see that he also desired relief (Luke 22:42) and felt the Father’s silence (Matthew 27:46). Through his obedience and painful suffering, Christ canceled our debts through his perfect sacrifice. The marvelous truth is that pain and death were not the end for Jesus Christ—and they are not the end for you. Our all-powerful Messiah defeated death and rose to life and glory, where all who believe in him will be also. 

We can rely on Christ’s power, which has been perfected in our weaknesses and rests upon us (2 Corinthians 12:9). Christ’s power can be more clearly demonstrated through our weaknesses when we submit to his plans. He is willing and able to accomplish even greater things than we could ever do in our own strength. Like Paul, we can say, “For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). 

Trusting in God’s Perfect Timing

Remember, the Lord was not ignoring Habakkuk’s or Jesus’ prayers, and he does not disregard ours either. His silence is not equal to a lack of care; he works behind the scenes, where together all things work for the good of those who love him (Romans 8:28). By faith, we must trust in his timing. God responds to Habakkuk’s complaints by promising, “Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay” (2:3). And in time, we will stand in awe at what he has done (Habakkuk 3:2). 

As you rely on God’s power and grace by faith, I pray that you “stand in awe” (Habakkuk 3:2) and are “utterly amazed” (Habakkuk 1:5) as you confidently proclaim alongside Habakkuk:  

Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.

The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to tread on the heights. (Habakkuk 3:17-19, NIV)

Posted at: https://unlockingthebible.org/2018/12/relying-god-times-desperation-habakkuk/

How To Diagnose Your Discouragement

Article by Christine Hoover

We sat in the sun and its heat beat down in the same way my heart beat up. I felt sunny, as if my heart were strolling along and whistling back at the optimistic blue sky. But my friend was a different kind of blue, and she told me why, and her tears sprang easily. I could see so clearly how God was using her and moving in her and gifting her and loving her, but her heart was clouded by that constant and persistent enemy: discouragement.

The questions I asked my friend and the words I spoke over her in response to her discouragement came in quite handy, for within the day the clouds rolled in on my own sun.

Discouragement feels much like an overcast day, doesn't it? Heavy, foggy, and cold. The clouds rolled in on me for various reasons--someone found my work distasteful, a child dodged (again) the wisdom I'd tried to impart, the endless demands kept endlessly demanding of my best energy and attention, several seemingly insurmountable obstacles jumped into my view.

I always know the clouds have rolled in when I find myself jumbled and uncertain, wondering most of all if what I'm doing for the Lord is worth the effort.

We all face the cloudy days. Though it is a worthy conversation, I'm not talking about depression or mental illness here; I'm talking about the days when we question if our lives matter, if what we're doing counts for anything, if God is at work. I'm referring to what Hebrews 12:12 calls "drooping hands and weak knees": the discouragement that comes with simply living.

The Christian is not immune to discouragement. In fact, because the Christian life is a fight against sin and flesh and all their wayward children, we may often find ourselves knocked down, weary, and needing to get back up again while feeling we lack the strength to do it.

This time, when the clouds rolled in, I thought back to my friend. She'd ask me, "How do you get out of your funks?" And I'd been so certain of my answer on that sunny day. Now, on the cloudy one, I needed to put into practice what I'd offered her. I needed to go back to the questions I ask myself in order to diagnose my discouragement.

What is Actually Happening?

Emotions easily rise to the surface when the clouds roll in, but they aren't always truth-speaking. I may feel discouraged or restless or that my work is pointless, but are these feelings true? My first step in diagnosing discouragement is to prayerfully dig down to the root issue that's causing me consternation. I ask myself these questions:

• What am I actually wishing for or hoping for in this circumstance? Is it a certain outcome or result? And is that outcome or result concerned with self-glory or God-glory?

• What was I doing in the moments before I recognized my discouragement? Was I comparing myself to someone on social media? Was I attempting to control a situation and not getting my way? Was I scrolling through an internal litany of worries or possibilities that make me anxious?

• Am I focused on being faithful or rather on how I (or my children) appear to other people? Am I doing what I'm doing for the Lord or am I rather looking for some form of validation?

• Where is my gaze? Am I staring hard at my discouragement, feeding and fueling it? Or am I making intentional efforts to respond to it with a God-ward response?

How Am I Responding or Have I Been Responding?

Noticing and acknowledging discouragement means I must also notice and acknowledge how I've been responding to it. My natural response is often an attempt at control: to work harder, to prove myself, and to overcome the obstacles in my life through self-righteousness. This is not a God-ward response to discouragement. In thinking through a response, I must ask myself these questions:

• God commands me not to be dismayed or fearful or full of worry. He says that I'm instead to "cast all my cares upon him because he cares for me." Am I casting my cares on him or holding them tightly to myself in worry or despair?

• Am I looking to other people to magically "fix" my situation and, therefore, rescue me from my discouragement? 

• Am I acting from a belief that if I work harder next time, I can prevent my own discouragement?

• Am I receiving the gifts of God's care that he's instituted for me: am I getting enough sleep? Am I getting exercise? Am I spending time with friends? Am I taking time off from work? Am I placing myself within the care of the Church through my presence, my commitment, and my relationships?

• After I've cast my cares upon the Lord, do I need to talk to someone about my discouragement? 

• What would it look like for me to trust God in what I'm facing?

What is True?

After diagnosing why I'm discouraged, I must then digest what is true.

• What does God require of me? The answer is always faith and obedience. Am I living from a different answer?

• Have I forgotten that Jesus said, "In this world you will have trouble"? How is my discouragement pointing me to him in order to "take heart" by the One who's overcome?

• How is God caring for me? How has he provided for me in the past? How does he promise he will care for me in the future? (It helps for me to write down specifics.) Do I believe him? 

• What do I see God doing in and around me? Am I only rehearsing a litany of my worries or am I purposefully noticing and thinking on the ways I'm seeing and experiencing God's goodness?

• Am I frustrated with a circumstance that is out of my control? How will I trust God in it?

• What specific verses or attributes of God speak to my discouragement? 

The greatest truth in my discouragement is that God is with me. And this is true for you as well. In whatever you face – discouragement or something deeper – God is with you at every turn. As you consider a diagnosis for your discouragement, above all, look to the Lord and wait patiently on him. The clouds may last for a time, but the sun will shine again.

Christine Hoover, a Regular Contributor to For The Church, is a Bible teacher and the author of several books, including Messy Beautiful Friendship and her latest book, Searching For Spring: How God Makes All Things Beautiful in Time. You can follow her on Twitter at @christinehoover.

Article posted at: https://ftc.co/resource-library/blog-entries/how-to-diagnose-your-discouragement

How to Find Strength in the Strength of God

Article by John Piper Founder & Teacher, desiringGod.org

How do you do a task in the strength of another? How do you exert your will to do something in such a way that you are relying on the will of another to make it happen?

Here are some passages from the Bible that press this question on us:

• “By the Spirit . . . put to death the deeds of the body” (Romans 8:13). So, we are to do the sin-killing, but we are to do it by the Spirit. How?

• “Work out your own salvation . . . for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12–13). We are to work. But the willing and the working is God’s willing and God’sworking. How do we experience that?

• “I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me” (1 Corinthians 15:10). Paul did work hard. But his effort was in some way not his. How did he do that?

• “I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me” (Colossians 1:29). We toil. We struggle. We expend effort and energy. But there is a way to do it so that it is God’s energy and God’s doing. How do we do that?

• “Whoever serves, [let him serve] as one who serves by the strength that God supplies” (1 Peter 4:11). We serve. We exert strength. But there is a way that our serving is the effect of God’s gracious power. What is that way?

Introducing A.P.T.A.T.

In 1983 I gave my answer in a sermon, and to this day I have not been able to improve on these five steps summed up in the acronym A.P.T.A.T. (rhymes with Cap That).

In 1984 J.I. Packer published Keep in Step with the Spirit, and gave the very same steps on pages 125–126. He calls it “Augustinian holiness teaching.” It calls for “intense activity” but this activity “is not in the least self-reliant in spirit.” Instead, he says, “It follows this four-stage sequence”:

First, as one who wants to do all the good you can, you observe what tasks, opportunities, and responsibilities face you. Second, you pray for help in these, acknowledging that without Christ you can do nothing—nothing fruitful, that is (John 15:5). Third, you go to work with a good will and a high heart, expecting to be helped as you asked to be. Fourth, you thank God for help given, ask pardon for your own failures en route, and request more help for the next task. Augustinian holiness is hard working holiness, based on endless repetitions of this sequence.

My five steps omit his first one (“note what tasks are in front of you”). I divide his second step into two: A. Admit (his word, “acknowledge”) that you can do nothing. P. Pray for God’s help for the task at hand. Then, I break his third step into two. He says “expect to get the help you asked for.” Then, with that expectation, “go to work with a good will.” I say, T. Trust a particular promise of God’s help. Then, in that faith, A. Act. Finally, we both say, T. Thank God for the help received.

A. Admit
P. Pray
T. Trust
A. Act
T. Thank

Trust God’s Promises

I think the middle T is all important. Trust a promise. This is the step I think is missing in most Christians’ attempt to live the Christian life. It is certainly my most common mistake.

“We don’t just pray for help hour by hour; we trust specific promises hour by hour.”

Most of us face a difficult task and remember to say, “Help me, God. I need you.” But then, we move straight from P to A — Pray to Act. We pray and then we act. But this robs us of a very powerful step.

After we pray for God’s help, we should remind ourselves of a specific promise that God has made. And fix our minds on it. And put our faith in it. And say to God, “I believe you; help my unbelief. Increase my faith in this promise. I’m trusting you, Lord. Here I go.” Then act.

Paul says we “walk by faith” (2 Corinthians 5:7) and “live by faith” (Galatians 2:20). But for most of us, this remains vague. Hour by hour how do we do this? We do it by reminding ourselves of specific, concrete promises that God has made and Jesus has bought with his blood (2 Corinthians 1:20). Then, we don’t just pray for help hour by hour; we trust those specific promises hour by hour.

When Peter says, “Whoever serves, [let him serve] as one who serves by the strength that God supplies” (1 Peter 4:11), we do this not only by praying for that supply, but by trusting in the promise of the supply in specific situations. Paul says that God supplies the Spirit to you “by hearing with faith” (Galatians 3:5). That is, we hear a promise and we believe it for a particular need, and the Holy Spirit comes to help us through that believed promise.

10 Promises to Memorize

So, here is my suggestion for how to do this. Memorize a few promises that are so universally applicable, they will serve you in almost every situation where you face a task to be done “by the strength that God supplies.” Then, as those tasks come, admit you can’t do that on your own. Pray for the help you need. Then, call to mind one of your memorized promises, and trust it — put your faith in it. Then, act — believing that God is acting in your acting! Finally, when you are done, thank him.

“Act — believing that God is acting in your acting!”

Here are ten such promises to help you get started. Of these, the one I have used most often is Isaiah 41:10.

1. “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10)

2. “My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)

3. “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” (2 Corinthians 9:8)

4. “‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’” (Hebrews 13:5–6)

5. “The Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.” (Psalms 84:11)

6. “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32)

7. “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” (Psalms 23:6)

8. “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7)

9. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

10. “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” (Psalms 50:15)

Never cease to ponder Paul’s words, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). Not I. Yet I. By faith.

John Piper (@JohnPiper) is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is author of more than 50 books, including Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist, and most recently Expository Exultation: Christian Preaching as Worship.