This Changes Nothing

Yesterday I played golf, and amazingly I didn’t stink, I actually played pretty well.  It’s great when things go my way, when life seems to be on a fast track to success.  And so shouldn’t I always be looking for ways to avoid the challenges, the bunkers and hazards of life?

Over the past week I have been listening to various people speak, either virtually or in person, about God’s desire for us to grow more like him as he delivers us through, instead of out of, our circumstances.  Here are a couple of thoughts that really struck me.

The first was Pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle.  Mark asked a question that I had never thought of.  How did the accounts of Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane end up in the gospels of Matthew and Mark?  He believes that since the disciples were sound asleep during the actual prayer, Jesus must have taught them this during his time with them after the resurrection.  He said that Jesus’ prayer in the garden reflects a pattern of God-ordained prayer in the scriptures; that we should make our petitions known unto God, nevertheless always seeking His will.  Jesus asked God to deliver him <i><u>from<u><i> the hands of his executioners, nevertheless as we know, God’s will was to deliver Jesus (and us) <i><u>through<u><i> the resurrection.

Yesterday (before golfing), I was privileged to hear Larry Osborne, pastor of North Coast Church in Vista, California deliver a devotional on Daniel 1.  After reading it through with him, he pointed something out that I had never before recognized.  In short, he showed us that it was God that gave Judah over to Nebuchadnezzar, a wicked ruler who practiced a  Babylonian cult-religion.  And, it was God who put Daniel in a position of slavery, one where he was forced to change his name, to work directly for the king, learning all about his religion and idolatrous ways (which Daniel excelled at). 

Yet Daniel never complained,  he never sought deliverance.  He didn’t stage a protest, boycott the Babylonian theme parks or cry foul because his “freedoms were being denied”.  No, instead Daniel waited patiently, knowing that God’s will toward him was good, but that deliverance comes as we walk through our trials.  When this happens, God will give us all we need to accomplish His purposes, which may very well be to infiltrate the evil culture around us with love, rather than railing against them for the fact that they are slaves to sin.

So, as I press forward, and am tempted to focus on my challenges and ask God to pull me out of whatever trial I find myself in, I have to remember the words of James, who watched his Brother endure severe punishment at the hands of evil men:

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”