What kind of negative, condemning things do you say to yourself over and over?

I am fill-in-the-blank. 

Stupid. Lazy. Fat. A failure. A lousy parent. A horrible spouse.

Some people talk to themselves in the second person: “You’re a loser!”

The way we talk to ourselves about ourselves directly affects the way we feel and the way we live. Negative self-talk can quickly spiral down into overwhelming guilt and deep despair. And at the bottom of that slope, in the most extreme cases, the thoughts are even darker: “Life isn’t worth living. I should just end it all.”

As a Christian living in the reality of Romans 8:1—“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”—what should you do when you hear yourself (or others) talking like this?

Take negative self-talk seriously. 

The wisdom of the world says you should counteract negative thoughts by trying to think only positive thoughts and never saying anything to yourself that you wouldn’t say to a friend.

However, negative self-evaluation comes from somewhere, and we often have good reasons for thinking what we think. Instead of ignoring or suppressing those thoughts, consider why you are convinced that you are a failure. It is possible that you have actually failed to live God’s way. It is possible that you have been a lousy parent, a selfish spouse, or a rude friend. Long-term freedom from negative self-talk will never come from lying to yourself about how great you are when you know that’s not true.

Get to the root. 

Down below our thoughts and judgments about ourselves (“I’m worthless”) and our situation (“My life is hopeless”) are thoughts, beliefs, and convictions about God. And what you think about God is the root of everything. Like pulling weeds in the garden, getting to the root takes some work, mainly because the thing about roots is that they’re not visible. It’s not immediately apparent how a thought about myself has anything to do with God whatsoever. 

The key is to identify what your statements imply about God. Beneath the crushing thought that I’m worthless may be the belief that God can’t or won’t redeem me. Behind the conviction that I’m a failure may be the belief that God can’t or won’t forgive. At the root of the belief that I’m alone is actually a belief that God has abandoned me. Negative self-talk is so serious because we’re often implying untrue things about God.

Confess. 

To confess means literally “to say with” or to say the same thing. When we confess our sins, we are simply agreeing with God and all that he says about our sin. The thing about negative self-talk is that it’s often true, but it’s not spoken in godly repentance as genuine confession. Instead speaking harshly to yourself about your sin, confess your sin to God and trust his gracious promise: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

Take rebellious, unbelieving thoughts captive. 

In 2 Corinthians 10:5–6, Paul speaks of taking thoughts captive. He says it like this: “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete” (2 Corinthians 10:5–6).

Notice that the opinions and arguments are specifically “raised against the knowledge of God.” The thoughts you need to arrest and banish immediately are lies about God. “God has abandoned me. God doesn’t love me. God can’t help me.” If a burglar entered your home in the middle of the night, you would take action. Likewise, blasphemous thoughts must not be allowed to go trespassing through our minds.

Apply the gospel. 

The other thing to notice is that Paul’s aim is obedience in the life of Christians. If I feel like a failure because I have failed to obey God as a husband, I don’t need someone to pat me on the head and say, “There, there, nobody’s perfect.” I need to remember that every disobedience will be punished, that sin is serious, that Jesus died for my sin, that forgiveness is available for me in Christ, and that trusting in Jesus produces obedient fruit, not just “positive feelings.”

The painful reality is that we do fail. We all fall short of the glory of God. We come up short in our parenting, our marriages, our friendships, and our responsibilities. The remedy is not to turn a blind eye or to find someone who will tell us how great we are. The solution is to repent and believe, to confess our sins and trust in Jesus, the only righteous one. The way to be free from condemning thoughts is to be forgiven and justified.

Respond God’s way. 

You can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube, as they say. We can’t go back in time to change the past, but we are responsible for how we respond right now. When we blow it, the temptation is to wallow in self-pity and self-flagellation, but that’s simply an attempt to atone for our own sins without Christ. We can’t fix past wrongs by responding wrongly in the present, but we can always make things worse. When we respond sinfully to our problems, our problems always get worse. No amount of beating yourself up can atone for sin (Psalm 49:7–8). 

When you have failed, the only question is, “What does God call me to do now?” Then respond God’s way. Where sin abounds, the grace of God super-abounds (Romans 5:20).  

Discussion/Reflection Questions

• Have I ignored or glossed over negative judgments instead of taking them seriously and getting to the root?

• What do my negative and condemning thoughts imply about God?

• Are there any unbelieving thoughts I’ve been tolerating instead of arresting and confessing to God?

• Do I tend to be more aware of my sin and failure or Christ’s righteousness and forgiveness?

• How does God require that I respond to the current problem or challenge I’m facing?

We live in a reactive world—a world marked by polarity and panic. Whether personally, politically, or professionally, we probably all feel this to some degree or another. We know of our own nervous and anxious tendencies around others, we know of the politician who buckles and folds under pressure, and we know of the boss who overreacts and loses his cool. 

Edwin Friedman, a respected author writing on this reality, says that we inhabit a “chronically anxious” society that has a deficient immune system—one incapable of curing its disease. We might be able to treat symptoms, but we rarely, if ever, get to the root of the problem. And for the most part, I think he’s right. 

However, in environments like this, Friedman acknowledges that well-differentiated leaders sometimes do emerge who offer a calming presence that helps to quiet the generational anxiety. 

[People] who can be separate [from the anxiety] while remaining connected and, therefore, can maintain a modifying, non-anxious, and sometimes challenging presence. I mean someone who can manage his or her own reactivity in response to the automatic reactivity of others ….

Maybe you know someone like that. Someone with composure and a level head. Someone who eases the pressure of a situation and offers solace. People flock to that kind of person. What a gift a composed person is to our overly anxious society. But where does true composure like that come from in this world that has gone reactively mad? 

In the Bible, we find that the blessed man of Psalm 1 is, “Like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not whither. In all he does, he prospers” (Psalm 1:3). Isaiah sticks with the botanical language and calls these types of people sturdy “oaks of righteousness” (Isaiah 61:3). 

Such people, like firmly established trees, are steady. They aren’t tossed to and fro. They don’t get blown away by every news headline or reaction. Their roots go deep. And they absorb the anxious weather around them rather than reactively respond to it.  

On the flip side, our anxiety often stems from our inability to rest in the providence and sovereignty of God. It comes when we try to control things that we were never meant to control:

• I just want that person to like me, then I’ll stop being anxious around others. 

• Can you believe that he is our president? This is insane. 

• Why am I always getting the short end of the stick? Maybe God doesn’t like me. 

The list goes on, ad infinitum. 

But instead of reacting in the same way the world around us reacts to things that are outside of our control, what if we rested in the providence of God?

Question 35 of the Heidelberg Catechism asks: What do you understand by the providence of God? The answer should be a balm to our chronically anxious souls: 

“God's providence is his almighty and ever present power, whereby, as with his hand, he still upholds heaven and earth and all creatures, and so governs them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, food and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, indeed, all things, come to us not by chance but by his fatherly hand.”

Question 36 follows this up by asking: What does it benefit us to know that God has created all things and still upholds them by his providence? Again, the answer provides supernatural fertilizer to our root system, equilibrating our reactivity: 

“We can be patient in adversity, thankful in prosperity, and with a view to the future we can have a firm confidence in our faithful God and Father that no creature shall separate us from his love; for all creatures are so completely in his hand that without his will they cannot so much as move.”

In God’s common grace, yes, we can meet unbelieving, non-anxious people who aren’t panic-stricken by the things going on around them—those people do exist. But how much more composure should Christians have considering that we know the God who controls all things? 

Christians ought to be—to borrow language from Friedman—people who are separated from, but connected to the anxious world around them. They ought to maintain a non-anxious and challenging presence to the panicked people they meet. And through Spirit wrought self-control, they ought to manage their reactivity as they rest in the providence of God.

With calmed and quieted souls (cf. Psalm 131), Christians ought to offer their composure as a gift to everyone they meet. And by God’s grace, may we become such people.

Go ahead and re-read that sentence. Slowly.

That is the very first sentence in the Sovereign Grace Statement of Faith, which opens by declaring this glorious truth, that the One True God is a God who speaks. It is God’s very nature to communicate himself, to reveal himself, and to make himself known. 

God’s communicative nature is the foundation for all language, logic, and community. Because God speaks, we can know God—not simply know about God, but know him personally.

Because God speaks, words really matter. Spoken words, written words, formal and informal speech—it all matters because God speaks.

In 1 Thessalonians 2:13, Paul writes, “And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.”

God Communicates through People

The Thessalonians were idol-worshipers until the living and true God revealed himself to them (1 Thessalonians 1:9). But notice how God made himself known. He did so through his word delivered by human messengers who spoke in human language.

Isn’t it astonishing that God chooses to communicate himself in this way? He could write a message in the sky for everyone to see. He could command an angel army to appear in the heavens. He could do any number of the things that atheists say would persuade them to believe. 

Instead, God communicates himself to people through people. Wayne Grudem says it like this: “One must either read the gospel message in the Bible for oneself, or hear it from another person.” [Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2000), 118] Think about your own story. Someone—or most likely many someones—told you what the Bible says about who God is and what God has done for you in Jesus Christ. And you became convinced that these were not merely human words, but the very word of God.

The mission of the church is to make and multiply disciples of Jesus Christ. And disciple-making ministry is verbal. Paul says earlier, “Just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak …. We proclaimed to you the gospel of God. … We exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God” (1 Thessalonians 2:4, 9, 12, emphasis added). 

What do you do with the gospel once you have believed it? You speak! You explain it to others so that they can hear it and respond to it.

Notice those verbs: proclaim, exhort, encourage, charge. Whether the gospel is preached to a large crowd or discussed in one-on-one conversations, God communicates his divine message through human messengers and human language.

Who do you know who is far from God? And what opportunities do you have to bring God up in everyday conversations? We are always conversing—around the dinner table, in the car, over a cup of coffee, at the water cooler, on the sidelines or in the bleachers, over texts and phone calls. By God’s grace, these ordinary conversations can become occasions for people to hear from God through us.

The Word of God Works

Paul ends 1 Thessalonians 2:13 by asserting that “the word of God … is at work in you believers.” God directs his dynamic power toward us through his Word. His Word is not stagnant or abstract. It works. It gets stuff done. It stirs hearts. It changes attitudes. It produces faith. The word of God is powerful and effective.

Listen to what Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 1:4–5 (emphasis added): “For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.”

How could Paul say with confidence that God has chosen the Thessalonians? Because when the message of the gospel came to them, it didn’t go in one ear and out the other. They didn’t shrug their shoulders indifferently. The evidence that the Spirit of God was powerfully and discernibly at work was the fact that the Thessalonians heard the gospel and became fully convinced that the message was from God.

Many people have heard God’s word, but simply hearing the word benefits no one. However, where God’s word is received and believed, that is where you can be sure God is powerfully working.

Do you want to experience God’s dynamic power at work in you? Then read and meditate on and recite and listen to and talk about God’s Word. And above all, believe it.

However, we aren’t just called to engage with people on the issues, we are called to preach the gospel and to disciple all the nations in all that Jesus commanded—and that includes the people of our nation (cf. Matthew 28:19-20). In order to do that, we must stand firmly on God’s Word and we must know where foundational biblical principles are being undermined and attacked. And while we may not have time to think through or respond adequately to every issue that’s out there, we still need to pursue wisdom as we navigate these dangerous and uncharted waters (cf. Matthew 10:16).

With that said, we wanted to recommend some resources for thinking through some of the different issues facing us today. For those with little or limited margin, we have provided a few “shallow end” resources that are easily accessible and helpful. And for those who want to dive further into the topics, we have provided other “deep end” resources that are certainly worthwhile but will take more time and effort in mining them. 

(Some of these resources were commended last year by the elders of Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville here, but we have made some additions and changes for our purposes.)

Racial/Ethnic Issues

• Shallow end: 

  • “Ethnic Gnosticism” (Founders Ministries — Voddie Baucham Jr.)

  • “Seeing the World in Black and White” (Desiring God — Greg Morse)

  • “The Problem With Ending Racism” (Desiring God — Greg Morse)

  • “Black Lives Matter?” (Just Thinking podcast)

  • “George Floyd and the Gospel” (Just Thinking podcast)

• Deep end: 

  • Thinking Theologically About Racial Tensions (Kevin DeYoung)

  • Fault Lines by Voddie Baucham Jr. (good review of the book here)

C(R)T & Worldview

• Shallow end:

  • “Critical Theory, Social Justice, and Christianity: Are They Compatible?” (Neil Shenvi)

  • “Cultural Marxism” (Founders Ministries — Voddie Baucham Jr.)

  • “The Great Awokening” (Boniface Option)

• Deep end:

  • The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self by Carl Trueman 

  • “Cultural Marxism” (Themelios — Robert S. Smith)

  • Christianity and Wokeness by Owen Strachan

Sexuality and Transgenderism

• Shallow end: 

  • “God Loves LGBTQ People More Than We Do” (Samuel Sey, written last June) 

  • “The World is Catechizing Us Whether We Realize It or Not” (TGC — Kevin DeYoung)

  • The Nashville Statement (The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood) 

• Deep end:

  • Love Thy Body by Nancy Pearcey

  • When Harry Became Sally by Ryan T. Anderson (written by a thoughtful Catholic)

  • Irreversible Damage by Abigail Shrier (not written from a Christian perspective)

  • What Does the Bible Teach about Transgenderism? by Gavin Peacock & Owen Strachan

  • Is God Anti-Gay? by Sam Allberry

Mission of the Church 

• Shallow end: 

  • “The Mission of the Church” (TGC — Kevin DeYoung)

• Deep end: 

  • What is the Mission of the Church? by Kevin DeYoung & Greg Gilbert

    • With so many competing factors at play in our world right now that vie for our time, energy, and attention, it is vital for the church to keep the main thing the main thing. The two resources in this section provide clarity on the mission of the church in the world.

      
      

Role of Government & Navigating Our Moment

• Shallow end:

  • “Dogma Drives the Christian Life” (First Things — Carl Trueman)

  • “Fight Small Battles” (Founders Ministries — Timon Cline)

  • “Persecution?” (Mickey Connolly)

  • “Don’t Rejoice in the Collapse of Cultural Christianity” (First Things — Ben C. Dunson)

  • “Resistance to Tyrants Is Obedience to God: The Importance of Lesser Magistrates” (American Reformer — David C. Innes)

    • Though the title sounds provocative, this article simply illustrates how lesser magistrates can operate as God’s appointed magistrates to preserve the public good. Both historic and contemporary examples are provided. This is an important category that needs to be recovered. 

  • “Just Follow the Science: The Cult of Experts and COVID-19” (American Reformer — Andy Wilson)

    • At first glance, this article may seem contrarian and cynical in relation to our current health crisis, but its purpose is beyond that (so don’t let the title upset you!). The article forces us to consider the limitations of empirical science. Can science adequately answer transcendent questions related to morality, politics, and prudence? Those are questions we need to consider.

• Deep end:

  • Lex Rex: The Law is King by Samuel Rutherford

  • Vindiciae Contra Tyrannos by Junius Brutus  (available online here)

  • God and Government by Gary DeMar

    • If you haven’t before considered how biblical law relates to civil law or if you want to consider Christianity’s influence on American politics in particular, this book is a good place to start. Though it may be simplistic at times, it’s an honest attempt at applying Scriptural principles to government. 

  • Empires of Dirt by Douglas Wilson

  • Live Not By Lies by Rod Dreher

This list of resources will not end the discussion on any of these important issues of our day, but it’s our hope that they will help provide a good starting point for engaging the issues with thought, courage, and charity. 

Contending for your joy in the faith, 

Greg, Ryan, and Logan

Past Joy

In verse 4, the psalmist says, “These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival” (emphasis added).

Notice the past tense. The psalmist is remembering. With fondness he recalls sweet memories of joyful worship in community with God’s people. The scene he describes is festive—a multitude of worshipers marching toward the temple, shouting and singing and celebrating. And the psalmist himself was out in front, leading the way.

That was then. This is now.

Now he laments, “When shall I come and appear before God?” (v. 2). Instead of feasting with others before the Lord, his tears have been his only food (v. 3). Instead of enjoying the company of fellow worshipers, he is surrounded by cynics who taunt, “Where is your God?” (v. 3).

Can you relate? You can recall times in the past when you used to worship with passion and joy. Your prayer and Bible reading used to be rich and vibrant. Fellowship with others was once sweet and satisfying. You had a deep sense of purpose and direction and you were engaged in meaningful ministry to others.

But all of that seems like a faded memory. The past was pleasant. The present is painful. And now, even your recollection of those days seems faded and distant.

Present Reality

The valley between past and future joy feels barren and dry. That is where the psalmist started: “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God” (Ps. 42:1-2, emphasis added).

When you feel spiritually dry, it can hurt even to recall times of past vibrancy. You may feel shame or regret that you aren’t where you want to be. But remembering the past is a good place to start. The psalmist says, “My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar” (v. 5).

The geographic references are unfamiliar to us, but they are worth noting. The three locations mentioned are not three different places, but a poetic way of zooming in on the map to the psalmist’s physical location. The psalmist was in the land of Jordan. More specifically, he was in the Hermon mountain range, on Mount Mizar, to be exact.

Why does that matter? Because he longed to be at Mount Zion, where God’s temple was, to “appear before God” (v. 3). But even though he was physically and spiritually far from that place, even though his soul was cast down and in turmoil, he began right where he was. He began to intentionally remember sweet times of worship and specific truth about God. “By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life” (v. 8).

Future Hope

No matter the gap between where you are and where you wish you were, the next step is always the one right in front of you. And motivation to take that step comes from looking forward with faith in God’s promises. One of the striking features of Psalm 42 is the way that the psalmist addresses his own soul (v. 5).

He asks his soul questions: “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?”

He exhorts his own soul: “Hope in God!”

And he gives his soul reasons: “For I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.”

Notice how the psalmist directs his soul toward future hope. “I shall again praise him.” What do you do when you are in a spiritual valley? Call to mind the goodness of God you have experienced in the past and look forward with confidence that God will restore that joy again.

But what if that’s what you’ve been doing and nothing has changed yet? The fact that the same soul speech is repeated twice (in verses 5 and 11) is a reminder to persist. After asking, “Why are you cast down, O my soul?” in verse 5, the psalmist then observes matter of factly, “My soul is cast down within me” (v. 5). No change yet.

In fact, when we get to the end in verse 11, there is still no observable change. Just the same internal dialogue. “Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.”

When you are in the valley, keep remembering and keep expecting. Keep reminding yourself to hope in God. You will again praise him. Hope in God.

Photo by Céline Chamiot-Poncet on Unsplash

If you find yourself asking either of those questions, this Christmas season may be a good time for you to read through the Definition of Chalcedon (A.D. 451) in its entirety:

Therefore, following the holy fathers, we all with one accord teach men to acknowledge one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, at once complete in Godhead and complete in manhood, truly God and truly man, consisting also of a reasonable soul and body; of one substance with the Father as regards his Godhead, and at the same time of one substance with us as regards his manhood; like us in all respects, apart from sin; as regards his Godhead, begotten of the Father before the ages, but yet as regards his manhood begotten, for us men and for our salvation, of Mary the Virgin, the God-bearer; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, recognized in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation; the distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the union, but rather the characteristics of each nature being preserved and coming together to form one person and subsistence, not as parted or separated into two persons, but one and the same Son and Only-begotten God the Word, Lord Jesus Christ; even as the prophets from earliest times spoke of him, and our Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us, and the creed of the fathers has handed down to us.

The creeds and confessions of the church are not a substitute for Scripture, nor do they have authority over Scripture. But they do serve as helpful summaries of what faithful Christians have believed over the centuries, and they do help protect the church from certain doctrinal errors and distortions. We would be wise to pay them heed.

Regarding the incarnation, the church father, Gregory of Nazianzus, once said, “What has not been assumed has not been healed.” Chalcedon reminds us and affirms that Jesus was “complete in manhood” and that he was “like us in all respects, apart from sin” (cf. Hebrews 2:17; 4:15). As God the Son incarnate, he is completely qualified to be our all-sufficient High Priest and mediator. Furthermore, Chalcedon affirms that Jesus was begotten of Mary the Virgin for us and for our salvation. 

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us so that we might be saved. He assumed the likeness of man, body and soul, that he might redeem man, body and soul. This is the glorious news of Christmas. 

What sin had corrupted in full. Jesus came in flesh to redeem in full. What good news!

Athanasius, the great defender of orthodox Christology, remarked, “So many are the Savior’s achievements that follow from His Incarnation, that to try to number them is like gazing at the open sea and trying to count the waves.” 

So Be Merry

This Christmas, don’t forget to marvel at the birth of Christ—the great mystery of God becoming man. Be reminded once more that the Incarnate Word is the fleshly manifestation of God’s grace and generosity to us. It is good news of great joy for the world. Let your celebration reflect this reality. 

Drink your eggnog, hot chocolate, and wine. Eat your prime rib, Christmas ham, and sugar cookies. Open your presents with joy. Laugh your socks off. Bless those around you. And then repeat. Enjoy all of it in God, and enjoy God in all of it. 

Heaven truly has come to us. Gaze at the open sea, count some of the waves, praise the Giver, and have a Merry Christmas!

The other three methods of interpreting prophecies like this are historicism, futurism, and idealism. Historicism looks for the fulfillment down through church history. Futurism expects the fulfillment to occur in ‘the end times,’ which is sometime in our future. And idealism does not necessarily expect specific fulfillments, but looks for spiritual lessons communicated in the symbols.

One of the biggest questions we ask when we’re interpreting any passage of Scripture is something like, Who was the original audience and would would this have meant to them? Remember that Daniel was an exile in Babylon along with others from Judah. Why did God give these visions to his people during their exile?

In his book on Daniel, In the Days of These Kings, Jay Rogers says,

“Daniel is not a prophecy given to Protestants to describe the time of the Reformation. It is not a prophecy given to Christians today that describes events in our future. It is a prophecy given to the Jews to prove the time of the coming Messiah. [Note: Daniel 2:44 says, “And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed.”] The context and purpose of the passage point to a first century fulfillment. … If we say, for instance, that the ‘Little Horn’ is the papacy … in the Middle Ages, or a future Antichrist figure who will come out of the Middle East, then we also have to show how that is specifically applicable to the context and purpose of Daniel’s prophecy.”

And listen to what John Calvin says Daniel 7 and the intended redemptive effect it had on God’s people who received it:

“Here [regarding the little horn] interpreters begin to vary; some twist this to mean the Pope, and others the Turk [i.e., Muslims]; but neither opinion seems to me probable; they are both wrong, since they think the whole course of Christ’s kingdom is here described, while God wished only to declare to his Prophet what should happen up to the first advent of Christ. This, then, is the error of all those who wish to embrace under this vision the perpetual state of the Church up to the end of the world. But the Holy Spirit’s intention was completely different. We explained at the beginning why this vision appeared to the Prophet—because the minds of the pious would constantly fail them in the dreadful convulsions which were at hand, when they saw the supreme dominion pass over to the Persians. And then the Macedonians broke in upon them, and acquired authority throughout the whole of the East, and afterwards those robbers who made war under Alexander suddenly became kings, partly by cruelty and partly by fraud and perfidy, which created more strife than outward hostility. And when the faithful saw all those monarchies perish, and the Roman Empire spring up like a now prodigy, they would lose their courage in such confused and turbulent changes. Thus this vision was presented to the Prophet, that all the children of God might understand what severe trials awaited them before the advent of Christ. Daniel, then, does not proceed beyond the promised redemption, and does not embrace, as I have said, the whole kingdom of Christ, but is content to bring the faithful to that exhibition of grace which they hoped and longed for.”

One objection to preterism is that it makes prophecies in Daniel, Matthew 24, or Revelation “pointless” to those of us alive today. But that’s not true. Scripture is full of Spirit-inspired history and fulfilled prophecy that was written down for our benefit (1 Cor. 10:11). The already-fulfilled prophecy in Daniel 7 informs and encourages us. It reveals a behind-the-scenes glimpse into how and when God crowned his Messiah as King of the world, giving him dominion over all peoples, languages, and nations.

To which Jesus replied, “It is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test’” (Matthew 4:7).

If putting God to test means leaping off of tall buildings and expecting God to catch me, then I can honestly say I’ve never done that.

But that’s not all it means. 

Putting God to the test means putting God on trial. 

It means calling God’s character into question, accusing God of incompetence, negligence, or some wrongdoing, and demanding that God prove his innocence by meeting some test of our own design. 

Picture a courtroom complete with judge’s bench, witness stand, and jury box. Now imagine dragging God into the courtroom and placing him in the defendant’s seat, while you assume the role of prosecutor, witness, judge, and jury. Putting God to the test means accusing God and asking him, “How do you plead?”

Remember Massah? 

“And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’” (Exodus 17:7)

How did they test the Lord? By questioning his presence and by challenging him to prove himself.

Writing generations later, the psalmist Asaph zeroed in on the defiant and taunting attitude of the wilderness generation:

“They spoke against God, saying, ‘Can God spread a table in the wilderness? He struck the rock so that water gushed out and streams overflowed. Can he also give bread or provide meat for his people?’” (Psalm 78:19–20)

There are many ways people put God on trial. The atheist who says, “If God makes a table float across the room, then I will believe” is testing God. He acts like God’s existence is the question before the court and he insists on playing the role of judge and jury. But the trial is rigged because the skeptic recognizes no authority higher than himself. He can move the goalposts whenever he wants. He can remain perpetually unconvinced. Isn’t that what a skeptic is?

But those of us who profess faith in God can also commit the sin of putting God on trial. When we grumble and complain we accuse God of being unwise or unloving. When we interpret our circumstances as evidence that God is not good or not powerful, we are acting like we have the right to judge God.

Flip the Script

The remedy is to understand the real arrangement of the courtroom. God is not on trial, we are. God does not answer to us; we answer to him. Deuteronomy 8 opens a behind-the-scenes look at what was really happening in the wilderness.

“And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not” (Deuteronomy 8:2).

When Israel faced hunger and thirst, they misinterpreted that as proof of God’s abandonment or impotence. It was actually God’s grace. He was teaching them and revealing himself to them for their own good.

“And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 8:3).

In the end, God will not give an account of himself to us or submit to our judgment. “After hearing your defense and weighing the evidence, I find your reasons for allowing my suffering to be inadequate,” no one will ever say to God. No, we will answer to him for what came out of our hearts when we experienced trying times.

“The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the LORD tests hearts” (Proverbs 17:3).

“So then each of us will give an account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12).

When we go through hard times, we must not think hard thoughts about God. Rather, we must realize that our character is being tested by an all-wise and all-loving God who works all things for our good (Romans 8:28).

“When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.”

- “How Firm a Foundation”

Deuteronomy 6:16 is unambiguous: “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.” But what does it mean to put God to the test?

Evidently the events that transpired at Massah—which means testing—serve as the cautionary example. And one thing we learn at Massah is that putting God to the test is related to thinking suspicious thoughts toward God.

Exodus 17 recounts what happened there. On their way from Egypt to Mount Sinai, the Israelites traveled through the wilderness. “But there was no water for the people to drink” (Exodus 17:1). A couple million people in the desert with no water—that’s what you might call un problemo. 

So what did the Israelites do? 

Remember, these were the people who witnessed the ten plagues God sent upon the Egyptians, the people who walked through the Red Sea on dry land (Exodus 14:22), the people who drank bitter-water-made-sweet (Exodus 15:25) and ate bread from heaven (Exodus 16). This was not the first time they faced a difficult situation. They had literally seen and tasted God’s miraculous provision over and over again.

One might reasonably assume that the Israelites’ response to a water shortage would be to turn to God in faith, humbly asking him to supply all that they needed.

One would be wrong. 

“The people quarreled with Moses and said, ‘Give us water to drink.’ And Moses said to them, ‘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 and said, ‘Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?’” (Exodus 17:2-3).

Wait. What? “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us?” (That should be read in an incredulous tone.) After all of God's protection and provision, that’s what they thought God was trying to do? Kill them?

Everything God had done for Israel, he did so that they would know he was the Lord (Ex. 10:2). He multiplied his wonders before them (Ex. 11:9). He gave them favor in the eyes of their oppressors (Ex. 12:36). He brought them out of Egypt with a strong hand (Ex. 13:9, 16). He fought for them (Ex. 14:14).

But Israel repeatedly maligned God’s character and alleged that he was trying to kill them.

“The Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us” (Exodus 5:21).

“Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt?” (Exodus 14:11).

“Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger” (Exodus 16:3).

Hard times tempt us to doubt God’s character and intentions toward us. At Massah, the Israelites warn us how easy it is to misinterpret hard circumstances to mean God is against us when he is actually in the process of working mightily for our good.

The antidote to thinking hard thoughts about God is to form our convictions about his character and purposes based on his Word and not our ever-changing circumstances and feelings. And God has provided the ultimate proof of his love for us by sending his Son to be the propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:9-10).

That may sound innocent enough, but it epitomizes the sinful human condition ever since the Fall. In our rebellion against God, we insist that we can be our own gods and determine good and evil for ourselves (Genesis 3:4-5). 

I’m the King of England

My friend’s answer leaves it unclear exactly who the standard is. Is he saying that he personally is the world’s authority on justice? That’s unlikely, but possible. I mean, some people go crazy and claim to be the King of England or Jesus Christ. But I doubt that’s what he meant.

Most likely, he meant that every person individually should “think about it” and logically determine what justice is. But that’s actually as crazy as claiming to be the King of England. Didn’t Hitler think about and carry out what seemed right in his own mind? By what standard do we call his (or anyone’s) actions wrong? “Just think about it” doesn’t solve the problem. In fact, premeditated murder is the worst kind.

If good and evil, right and wrong, justice and injustice is simply a matter of what each person thinks, then justice is nothing. To put it another way, justice is transcendent, absolute, and universal or else it is meaningless.

Even children understand this. Listen to kids on the playground when one child gets a little bossy and tries to make the rules. All the other kids protest, “Says who? You’re not the boss of me!” If the rules are going to have any weight, they have to come from a legitimate authority that is above us.

But if justice is subjective and relative—if justice is whatever I feel, or whatever we feel, or whatever the majority feels—then justice is nothing. 

Ice Cream Is the Best

When you say that murder is wrong, do you mean that murder is absolutely, objectively, universally, and transcendently evil? Or do you mean that you personally don’t like murder? If the latter, why should anyone listen to you? It’s nice of you to share your opinion and all, but maybe nobody asked.

If truth is subjective, every supposed truth claim about justice and injustice is not actually about justice. It is actually a statement about the personal preferences of the one talking. “Ice cream is the best” is a subjective claim. It tells us nothing about ice cream. It only tells us something about the dessert preferences of the person talking.

If justice is subjective, then to say police brutality is the worst tells us nothing about police brutality and whether it’s actually evil. It merely tells us that the person talking dislikes police brutality. Maybe he also dislikes cilantro and lime ice cream. Fine. Thanks for sharing.

If justice is subjective, then all the protestors calling for justice are no more meaningful than a crowd organizing to protest the presence of cheddar cheese ice cream at Parlour. Sure it’s a bit weird. It’s not for everyone.

But no one is trying to say that things like racism and police brutality are matters of personal preference. People are trying to say that these are absolutely and universally evil, no matter when or where you live. But to make that claim, you have to answer the deep, deep question: Says who? Unless there is a transcendent, universal Law Giver, there is no transcendent, universally binding law. And if there’s no law, there’s no standard by which to judge right from wrong.

Under, Not Above the Law

However, as soon as we admit that justice is transcendent, that we don’t make it up as we go, but that we receive it from above, we have a problem. It means none of us gets to invent the standard but every one of us is accountable to the standard. That is, we are under the law. And our problem is that we are guilty of violating God’s holy and just law. We deserve God’s just wrath.

If we want justice in our society—and we should—we must first be reconciled to the God of justice, the One whom we have offended. Thankfully, amazingly, this is possible because God gave his only Son to be the sacrifice that suffered the just punishment our sins deserve. And his sacrifice was sufficient. Jesus is the only human ever to perfectly fulfill all the righteous requirements of justice, yet he also suffered the full punishment that justice demands of lawbreakers. So the work is finished. Atonement is possible. Jesus died as a substitute for the unjust so that everyone who submits to and relies on him can be freed from guilt and condemnation forever. 

Now, those who are reconciled to God, whose consciences are cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, can begin to understand what true justice is and how it must be applied in society. “Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the LORD understand it completely” (Proverbs 28:5). A just society is founded on the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The first half of 2020 brought things like COVID-19, protests over police brutality and racism, and widespread rioting and looting. Oh, and there’s supposed to be a presidential election in November. That should be … interesting.

Every new issue only further exposes how polarized our society is. We’re so sharply divided on everything that we can’t even agree about Aunt Jemima. And when people are polarized, civil conversations are as endangered as the giant panda. 

As Christians, is it possible to engage friends, family, and neighbors in productive conversations for the sake of the gospel in 2020?

It depends. You’re only ever half of the equation, but you can certainly try.

“If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” - Romans 12:18 

Perhaps the most effective way to engage peaceably with others is to ask questions. Here are some valuable practices I picked up from a book called Tactics, by Greg Koukl.

Ask Questions

Questions are the Swiss Army Knife of your conversation gear. Koukl’s basic rule is this: Never make an assertion when a question will do. Consider a few of the benefits to asking questions. 

• It’s a basic principle that you can’t communicate with someone who is moving away from you. Solution: Ask an engaging question in a friendly way to draw people into meaningful conversations. (Just don’t act like a lawyer cross-examining a witness.)

• Many of us avoid jumping into deep or controversial conversations because we feel uneducated or unprepared. The beauty of questions is that you don’t need any prior knowledge to wield them. You only need genuine curiosity.

• Speaking of curiosity, questions are flattering because they show interest. And a keen observer once noted that interested people are interesting people.

• Asking questions allows you to proactively steer the conversation.

• When a conversation hits a roadblock, the right question can get things moving again.

• When you use questions, you’ll walk away knowing more than you did before.

Here is a progression of three kinds of questions to use.

1. Gather information by asking, “What do you mean by that?”

Everyone knows what happens when we assume. 

“If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame.” - Proverbs 18:13

So avoid misunderstanding and misrepresenting the other person by inviting him to clarify, define, and explain. This also challenges your friend to be more thoughtful and precise.

“Can you give me a few specific examples of the kind of systemic injustice you have in mind?”

Talking about specifics (like lending practices, prison sentences, or economic disparities) will always be more valuable than talking about vague or ambiguous concepts.

Or you might learn something new. I assumed “systemic injustice” had to do with unjust laws that codified injustice (e.g., Jim Crow laws). It turns out that many people using that phrase are not referring to specific unjust laws. They’re actually talking about an entire culture and way of life they consider to be irredeemably racist to its core. So concepts (like objective truth), values (like hard work), and structures (like a two-parent home) all come from white-dominant culture. It’s worth clarifying.

“What do you mean by ‘racism’?”

One reason we are talking past each other today is that people hold one of two very different definitions of racism. Does racism mean any prejudice based on skin color?

Listen to Robin DiAngelo, author of White Fragility:

“For most whites, however, racism is like murder: the concept exists, but someone has to commit it in order for it to happen. This limited view of such a multilayered syndrome cultivates the sinister nature of racism and, in fact, perpetuates racist phenomena rather than eradicates them.” 

That’s a very different definition of racism. It goes back to 1970, when Patricia Bidol defined racism as “prejudice plus institutional power.” In other words, minority cultures can never be guilty of racism because they don’t have the power. 

Definitions matter.

“What does justice mean to you?”

Just as the architect and contractor should agree on units of measurement, it’s important to clarify the measuring rod we’re using when we talk about justice and injustice. What’s the standard? Says who? Are we talking about equality of outcome or equality of opportunity? To have a conversation about justice, we should define justice.

2. Reverse the burden of proof by asking, “How did you come to that conclusion?”

It’s easy for Christians to get defensive when we hear challenges or objections. Don’t these statements make you feel like you have to prove or defend something?

• “There is no god.”

• “A fetus is just a blob of cells.”

• “America was built on racist hate.”

• “The Bible is full of contradictions.”

• “You can’t know anything for sure.”

This is why it’s so important to understand the burden of proof and the burden of proof rule. 

The burden of proof is the responsibility to support your claims with reasons or evidence. And the rule is simple: whoever makes the claim bears the burden. (That’s another reason it can be helpful to avoid assertions when a question will suffice.)

If your first line of questioning seeks to clarify what your friend believes, your next set of questions should ask him to explain why he believes that. With a simple question, you invite the other person to turn an assertion into an argument (i.e., a conclusion supported by reasons). And since all of the examples above are assertions or claims, the person making them bears the burden to prove them.

• “There is no god.”

  • “Interesting! What brought you to that conclusion?”

• “A fetus is just a blob of cells.”

  • “I’m curious … Do you mind sharing with me the reasons you believe that?”

• “America was built on racist hate.”

  • “What do you find to be the most convincing evidence for that?”

• “The Bible is full of contradictions.”

  • “What makes you say that?”

• “You can’t know anything for sure.”

  • “Do you mind if I ask how you can be so sure?”

3. Graciously challenge by asking, “Can you clear this up for me?”

Once you know what the other person believes and why, you can consider whether or not those reasons support the conclusion. If you notice an inconsistency, a gap, or a fallacy, try using a question to gently point it out.

• I’m a little confused … If a fetus is not a person with rights until it can survive out of the womb, what about an infant who can’t survive without its mother?

• Can you clear this up for me? If justice is comes from society and not from God, would you say that the slave trade was morally right as long as the majority of people in a society agreed with it?

This step is the most difficult because you have to actually spot a weakness in the argument. (Check out The Amazing Dr. Ransom's Bestiary of Adorable Fallacies, by Doug Wilson and Nate Wilson.)

But even if you have to do some homework before continuing, you engaged your friend a conversation and learned more about what he thinks and why. That will give you a lot to think about and lot to build on next time.

Dear Amelia,

I’m so glad you reached out with your concerns. Based on your email, it sounds like you’ve been struggling to connect with other women in the church. It looks to you like all of the other women already have close friends. You’ve gradually concluded that no one is interested in getting to know you. But if I’m hearing you correctly, the real pain is a bit deeper. You’re getting the sense that some of the other women actually dislike you. Your personalities don’t mesh. Your interests don’t overlap. Your sense of humor is out of sync. You are too much for them.

Is that an accurate summary of the situation?

Since you feel so isolated and alone, you may be surprised to hear that your predicament is not at all uncommon. Believe it or not, you’re not the first woman in the church who has shared the same concerns with me. Hearing from numerous women has given me a unique vantage point as a pastor and I think I can offer some counsel. When I noticed that multiple women struggled with the same thoughts and feelings, I began to recognize that the real problem was not what any of the women thought it was. Let me explain.

What you perceive as coldness and dislike from other women is most likely their own insecurity and self-absorption. Think about it like this. When you’re feeling out of place and dwelling on the thought that no one likes you, how do you think you appear to the other women? Warm? Inviting? Friendly? Probably not. In fact, you probably appear to them the same way they appear to you. Now, consider what happens when you think they don’t like you and they think you don’t like them.

Of course, it’s possible that some other woman is consciously thinking, “I don’t like Amelia.” If you suspect someone has something against you, the solution is simple. Jesus said, “If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:23–24). So drop whatever it is you’re doing and go ask that person directly whether you have done something to offend her. If you have sinned against her, make it right.

But chances are good that no one is thinking about you in such a negative way. What some of those women are thinking is probably along the lines of, “Nobody likes me. Everybody hates me.” And who is the object of those sentences? It’s not you.

So what happens when you fill a room with women who are thinking about themselves? They come across to each other as cold, unfriendly, disinterested, and unkind, which only confirms everyone else’s suspicions. It can become a crazy cycle, unless someone stops it. 

And by God’s grace, you can stop it.

Start by learning to differentiate between your feelings and your judgments. I feel like no one likes me isn’t a feeling at all. It’s a hunch that will grow into a deeply held belief if you’re not careful. Instead you ought to say, “I feel lonely because I’m convinced no one likes me.” But is that conviction true? Evaluate your thoughts and take the rogue ones captive to make them obedient to Christ (2 Cor. 10:5). Do you know that no one likes you, or are you speculating about the thoughts and motives of others? Don’t allow yourself to dwell on false assumptions. Not even for five seconds. 

One of the worst things you can do is wallow in self-pity. Remember, obsession with self is what got all of you into this mess. So don’t waste any time feeling sorry for yourself or replaying that time Jane ignored you. Every time you catch yourself thinking a thought with “me” as the object, repent immediately. And by repent, I mean confess any self-centeredness to God as sin, turn your heart and your mind to treasure Jesus more than self, and rejoice that your sins are forgiven by the blood of Jesus.

I’d like you to read Philippians 2:3–11 and memorize verses 3-4. Then let that passage inform all of your interactions with other women in the church from this point forward. 

“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:3–11, ESV)

Jesus emptied himself, humbled himself, and died so you could be set free from needing to be made much of. Now Jesus is highly exalted, and you get to live to make much of him by loving and serving others. So the next time you’re around other women and you catch yourself thinking about what everyone else might be thinking about you, recite Philippians 2:3-4 to yourself. Then resolve, by God’s grace, to count those women more significant than yourself. Instead of wishing that they would be good friends to you, resolve to be a good friend to them. Take an interest in them. And if it’s awkward at first, don’t take it personally.

Fill a room with insecure and self-absorbed people and you’ll have an unfriendly place. But imagine the warm hospitality of a community where people are obsessed with Jesus and focused on the interests of others. Women who have the mind of Christ are comfortable in their own skin, and women who are comfortable in their own skin make homes and churches into joyful places. 

Like me, I’m sure you can think of numerous women in our church who are like that. I’m confident that’s the kind of woman God is making you.

For several decades now, the median age at marriage has been steadily rising. Men and women in America today are waiting almost a decade longer to get married than adults did in the 1950s and 1960s.†

Not only are people waiting longer, but fewer people are choosing to get married. In 1978, 59% of adults between the ages of 18 and 34 were married. Four decades later, only 29% of adults in the same age range are married.

The factors driving this trend are numerous. More unmarried couples live together today than ever before in America. Young adults who grew up in broken homes are unconvinced that marriage works. Others see marriage as an impediment to independence in the prime of life when they could be partying, traveling, and climbing the corporate ladder.

Of course, some adults are involuntarily unmarried. That is, they would prefer to be married, and being single (whether never married or divorced) is a painful and disappointing reality. That’s why I wrote in March about singleness as suffering. 

Others are unmarried by conscious choice, but not all choices are created equal. It’s one thing to have the gift of celibacy, like the Apostle Paul. It’s another thing to devalue marriage, disdain children, and choose personal convenience over covenant commitment.

While acknowledging and lamenting involuntary singleness, I want to offer this general encouragement to unmarried adults: as far as it depends on you, get married.

And I say as far as it depends on you because, as one of our songwriters has said, “There are lots of things that you can do alone, but it takes two to tango.”

To Marry or Not to Marry

There is nothing inherently wrong with being single, and for some, singleness may even be ideal (1 Corinthians 7:6-7). Yet for a great many, singleness is less than ideal. And while there are legitimate reasons for being single, it’s also possible for singleness to stem from laziness, immaturity, selfishness, or ignorance of God’s purpose for marriage. So how do you know if you should pursue marriage more proactively?

Well, are you lonely? After God made the man and put him in the Garden to work it and keep it, God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him” (Genesis 2:18). That statement stands out like a hipster at Target because everything else was said to be good and very good (Genesis 1:10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31). God made man in his own image to be fruitful, to multiply, to fill the earth and subdue it. We call that the Creation Mandate or the Cultural Mandate. But no man can fulfill it alone. It takes the institution of marriage, the union of one man and one woman in covenant commitment. The earth really is going to be filled with worshipers who outnumber the stars, and marriage is a key part of that (Malachi 2:15).

Do you struggle with sexual temptations? In 1 Corinthians 7:8–9, Paul writes, “To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single, as I am. But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion” (emphasis added). Singleness is never an excuse for yielding to temptation, but if you “burn with passion,” Scripture does admonish you to get married.

By the way, some people have this hyper-spiritualized idea that all of their motives and desires have to be perfect, all of their sins conquered, all of their maturity achieved before marriage. Not only is that unrealistic, it fails to recognize that marriage and parenthood are sanctifying relationships that God wields on our souls to produce maturity.

Do you struggle with idleness, gossip, or “drama”? One of Paul’s concerns for unmarried women in Ephesus was that some of them were “idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not” (1 Timothy 5:13). And what did Paul—inspired by the Spirit of God—prescribe as a remedy? “So I would have younger widows marry, bear children, manage their households, and give the adversary no occasion for slander” (1 Timothy 5:14).

Get Married

On at least two occasions, God’s Word prescribes marriage as a remedy to common temptations and sins. That doesn’t imply that marriage itself saves or solves all your problems. It means that marriage is a natural step of obedient faith for many and that avoiding it can both come from and lead to other problems.

At a minimum, all believers must have a high view of marriage. “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous” (Hebrews 13:4). Scripture explicitly affirms the goodness of marriage: “He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD” (Proverbs 18:22). And Scripture clearly condemns those who forbid marriage  (1 Tim. 4:1-3).

So take steps. If you’re a man, you might need to find the courage to ask her. And if you’re a woman, you might take a cue from Ruth and put yourself on his radar. In all of this, you may need to modify your “list” and adjust your expectations to align more with God’s priorities than your preferences.

If you don’t have the gift of celibacy, then as far as it depends on you, get married, start a family, and build a household. It will be one of the most challenging, rewarding, exhausting, thrilling, sin-exposing, and sanctifying endeavors of your life.

“Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.”

It was a timely reminder, and I was immediately encouraged by the simple fact that I’m not the only one who feels weak and weary. The author of Hebrews wouldn’t have written these words unless he understood that fatigue is a basic reality in the fight of faith.

In fact, it’s a bit surprising how many times Scripture encourages us to not grow weary. Paul repeated the same encouragement to two different churches:

“As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good” (2 Thessalonians 3:13),

and,

“Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9).

It’s naïve to think that doing the right thing is always going to be easy. The reality is that it’s often like paddling upstream or peddling uphill. Isn’t it encouraging to know that Paul was personally aware that living by faith can be tiring, exhausting, overwhelming, and wearying?

Several weeks into social distancing and “quarantine,” you may be feeling some atrophy. If all of this has disrupted your physical routines, your physical body may feel weak and lethargic. But what about relational atrophy? Or spiritual atrophy?

Inactivity can lead to feeling sluggish and lazy. And when we give in to laziness, we let certain habits of grace slide and we neglect the good that God has called us to do.

So if you feel weary, what is the remedy?

Fighting the fight of faith and running the race with endurance requires living by faith and not by feelings.

First, follow the admonition in Hebrews 12:3 by making time to set your heart and mind on the suffering that Jesus endured for you. Let your mind wander through the details of his betrayal, his agony in the Garden, the mocking, beating, and humiliation he endured during his trial and crucifixion. And as your sanctified mind’s eye envisions those scenes, marvel at his face set like flint, his resolute determination, his unrelenting faith in his Father, and his unwavering obedience. Your perseverance doesn’t come from trying to copy Jesus anymore than you can learn how to dunk by watching YouTube videos of LeBron. Rather, as you consider Jesus and trust Jesus, you are joined to Jesus and filled with his Spirit. And if the Spirit of Jesus is in you, then Jesus himself makes it possible for you to persevere without growing weary or fainthearted.

Second, consciously cling to the promise of Galatians 6:9: “For in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” We are tempted to give up when we don’t see fruit. But we aren’t supposed to live by what our physical eyes and our finite minds can perceive. There’s a line in a song we sing that says, “What eyes of faith have strained to see will one day fill our sight.” Those who live by what they see and feel in the moment will soon give up, but those who live by faith in God’s future grace will endure to the end.

Brothers and sisters, let us not grow weary in doing good.

Do we functionally believe all that we claim to believe?

We profess that God is sovereign, gracious, wise, and good, so we believe that God is ruling over COVID-19—indeed, over all things—“according to the counsel of his will” (Ephesians 1:11). We trust that God is at work in all of this for our good (Romans 8:28).

But what exactly is God up to? And what does it mean for how we respond to all of this?

John Piper just wrote a book that offers six answers to the question, What is God doing through the coronavirus? Desiring God is generously providing free access to the ebook here and the audiobook here.

We commend this resource to you. It will help us all behold and treasure the glory of Jesus in this moment.

In Psalm 119, the psalmist sees that the gracious hand of the Lord is upon him during times of affliction. He says:  

“Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now have I kept your word.” - Psalm 119:67

His affliction pointed him Godward. 

On the other hand, in times of ease, prosperity, and well-being, we can be tempted to forget God’s word. We can deny our dependence on God. We often do what is right in our own eyes. 

You might say as the psalmist does, we go astray. 

In the normal course of life we are prone to wander. We can be calloused toward our sin and unaware of our straying. Unfortunately, we often need something outside of us to shake us from our stupor. 

Enter affliction. 

Understanding Affliction

An affliction (such as the coronavirus), understood by itself, is a corruption proceeding from sin (Rom. 8:20-21). It is a result of the fall. Yet in the providence of God, afflictions and trials—if they point out our sin and make us find shelter in Christ—work for our good. God stands behind all history, directing it for his purposes (cf. Is. 45:7; Rom. 8:28). Puritan theologian, John Owen, at one point regards affliction this way. He says:

“Great afflictions work sometimes not from their own nature, immediately and directly, but from the gracious purpose and intention of him that sends them. He insinuates into the dispensation of them that of grace and power, of love and kindness, which shall effectually take off the heart and mind from sin.”†

There is great encouragement for God’s people in this understanding of affliction. As the psalmist understood in Psalm 119, affliction that drove him to an apprehension of and obedience to God’s word was a very gracious thing. Affliction that exposes our sin and straying could be called a “severe mercy.” A gracious judgment. 

Consider the present crisis.

Whether your life has been drastically affected by the coronavirus or only marginally impacted, consider asking yourself what gracious purpose and intention God has for you in these afflicted times. Might it be that God is exposing sinful habits or heart attitudes in you that you were otherwise oblivious to? 

Responding to Affliction

Have these times revealed selfishness in you that you were otherwise unaware of? Have they revealed hidden addictions and dependencies? Are you worried, anxious, or clutching at life? Are you honoring the Lord by making the best use of your time? If this affliction has revealed any straying or sin in your personal life, consider it a gracious thing from the Lord. Repent of your sin and turn to Christ in faith and obedience. He is your only shelter.

As families, has close proximity to one another revealed undealt with relational sin that needs to be reconciled? Does the aroma of your home smell more like a heap of dirty laundry or more like fresh baked bread (i.e., the aroma of Christ)? Husbands, are you gladly leading and loving your wife and household in sacrificial ways? Wives, are you submitting to and respecting your husband? Children, are you obeying and honoring your parents? If this affliction has revealed dysfunction or straying or sin in your home, consider it a gracious thing from the Lord. Repent of your sin and turn to Jesus in faith and obedience. He is your only shelter.

As you think about our nation, consider the ways we have allowed our affluence and well-being to lead us astray. We are a nation that celebrates things that are an abomination to the Lord (e.g. sodomy, promiscuity, dishonesty, and pride, to name a few). We are a nation that has allowed the murder of 50 million babies in less than 50 years. Might this affliction from the Lord be something that reveals and exposes sin and straying in our land? Pray that this affliction would bring our nation to its knees in humble submission to “the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God” (1 Tim. 1:17). Pray that God would use this affliction to bring multitudes of people to repentance, faith, and obedience to the King over all. He is our only shelter.

When affliction confronts us with our sin, let us be a people who can say with the psalmist:

“It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.” - Psalm 119:71-72

When affliction makes us worry and despair, let us be a people who can say with the Apostle Paul:

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,

“‘For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” - Romans 8:35-39

When affliction doesn’t make sense to us, let us be a people who can say with Spurgeon: 

“I have learned to kiss the waves that throw me up against the Rock of Ages.”

Let us be a people who can see the grace of affliction.

† John Owen, Overcoming Sin and Temptation, (Crossway: Wheaton, Illinois, 2006) pg. 360.

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