Mourning Loss of Ministry

“The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.” (Job 29:13 AV)

Job’s testimony of himself was that he was a caring and generous person.  In particular, he shares that those who were hurting often found comfort by his counsel and encouragement.  Job was an incredible man who changed the world for the better.  He used his life to glorify God and minister to others.  Now he sits as the one in need.  It is interesting that Job received none of what he had at one time he had freely given to others.  Somehow, I don’t think his personality changed all that much despite the deep time of adversity he was facing.  I don’t think it mattered to him that his friends were mistreating him.  We know this because he offered sacrifices for his friends, lest the LORD inflict them with His wrath.  It was Job’s nature to do what he could for others.  Those above are the widowed and the dying.  Job went out of his way to help those in the deepest of needs.  One has to wonder if we are the same.

There is no greater trial of faith than death.  Either dying or surviving the passing of another.  Especially when the one passing on is the closest relationship one might have.  Being that precious saint who can ease pain is a great gift.  Serving as a chaplain for a local hospital was a particular blessing.  Never have I grown so much in the LORD is such a brief amount of time.  The experiences are countless.  Crazy things can happen.  But the most precious moments are also part of the experience.  One particular time I was called to a room of a patient who was departing.  There was no family.  The healthcare team had disconnected this patient from all the tubes and such.  They wanted this dear saint to pass into eternity with as much dignity as possible.  As my ministry partner and I entered the room, the saint lay there semi-conscious.  We asked if he wanted prayer.  He said he wanted us to read his favorite scripture passage following the prayer.  We prayed for God’s mercy on the saint’s body.  We asked for a pain-free rest.  We asked the LORD to prepare his heart for his home-going.  We prayed for God’s love to be evident and His presence overwhelming.  Then we read Psalm 23.  We did not get through the whole passage before he passed.  There was no struggling for breath.  There were no convulsions.  This saint passed into eternity as though he had simply fallen asleep.

This is no credit to my partner or me.  All glory goes to God.  The blessing it was to help this dear saint face the unknown was more of a blessing than words can ever tell.  Job did this regularly.  He didn’t do this because he was called into the ministry.  He didn’t do this because he was an ordained minister or trained Chaplin.  This gift requires compassion and understanding.  It requires following the leading of the Holy Spirit and listening to those who need ministry.  It is the ultimate act of kindness, second only to leading someone to Christ.  It is the total emptying of one’s Self for the total needs of another.  There is no remuneration.  There is no compensation.  It is total charity for the sake of someone who can never repay what was done for them.  It is awesome.  Job knew this.  And he knew that in his present state, he could be that blessing for others who had deeper needs than his own.  Job was more concerned with the lack of ability for others than he was his own personal loss.  This is what made Job a great man.

Knowing the Knowable While Accepting the Unknowable

“Lo, these [are] parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand?” (Job 26:14 AV)

A very sound theological statement.  It doesn’t matter how of the infinite is revealed to man, he can never completely know God.  In fact, Job is very correct here.  Because God is infinite in attributes and scope, at best a finite being can only know little.  Some find fear in this truth.  I find comfort.  A God who cannot be figured out is a God indeed!  If God could be dissected and understood, then we become equal to God.  The moment we become equal with God is the moment we do not need Him.  What can be known is the results.  At least as it affects us.  Job asks a follow-up question.  He asks who can know the power of thunder?  That we can know.  The obvious application is that we may not know everything there is to know about thunder, but we can know the sound and how it applies to us personally.

My wife loves the weather channel.  I am finding out that many ladies love the weather channel.  However, I think my wife’s fondness for it might be different.  Many like the human side of the channel.  They are drawn by the deep emotions people feel when disaster upends their lives.  The kinship a viewer feels as interviews of storm victims are broadcast is the attraction to the channel.  My wife, on the other hand, enjoys the extreme nature of weather.  I have son who is the same way.  If opportunity presented itself, I think both would sign up for an adventure with storm chasers.  They like the power of nature.  The LORD has seen fit to send some extreme weather my way.  I have outrun a tornado.  Felt and heard an ice-quake.  We lived in an area that was prone to earthquakes and felt a tremor or two.  Nothing comes close to a Midwestern thunderstorm!  You have to experience it to understand.  I have been through ice storms that brought everything to a halt for a two-week stretch.  There have been a few floods.  Don’t get me started on black ice and super-sized winter snowfalls.  I have even been out on a small craft during a small craft advisory.  Nothing compares to ten-foot swells in a sixteen-foot open-bow boat.  Let’s just say weather is serious!  I may not understand how it all works, but appreciation for what it can do is not lost on me.

This is the understanding Job is trying to convey.  We don’t need to know all there is to know about God.  We cannot anyway.  It also does not figure that the more ignorant we are of God, the more comfort we experience.  This is certainly not true.  Rather, there is a balance to be had.  That balance is found in the word of God.  He has revealed Himself in as much as we are capable of knowing Him.  Theology has bounds.  Those bounds are the natural bounds of the finite compared to the infinite.  These bounds are not in place for some nefarious purpose.  Rather, they are natural.  Mankind is foolish if he tries to understand the infinite.  Even worse, if mankind has the impression that he can know the infinite, it is pride at its height.  We cannot know the innumerable acts and attributes of God.  But we can feel the roar of thunder.  We don’t have to know any more than we are capable of knowing.  Simply put, we must let God be God!

The Right Mind in a Bad Place

“But he knoweth the way that I take: [when] he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” (Job 23:10 AV)

I don’t think this idea is a welcomed idea prior to a trial occurring.  Rather, this is perfect for those who are in the middle of it.  I am sure that if Job knew of his pending trial, he wouldn’t have made the statement above.  Rather, he would have done everything possible to avoid it.  No one wants to go through deep water.  No one seeks deep trials as a thing to do.  Who in their right mind would want to suffer?  Not me.  Not Job.  While in the midst of a trial, our hearts can change.  A heart of hope and gratitude can be a result.  Job has his ups and downs.  He has his pleasant moments and his terrible moments.  There are times he speaks of God’s goodness, grace, and mercy.  There are other times he refers to the LORD as an adversary or judge.  The ups and downs of deep waters force to the top our emotional person.  We feel and express our feelings.  The statement above is one of Job’s most optimistic.  He knows it.  But he doesn’t always feel it.

Peter tells us that Job was patient.  The above statement by Job proves the point.  He was a patient man to endure the onslaught of criticism leveled by his friends.  He was patient while at the same time agonizing over questions that had no answer.  It is the ‘gold’ part that we seem to struggle with.  Is the trial worth it?  Will the changes be worth the turmoil?  Will the work that God does through all the loss be worth more than the loss I feel?  As I get older, there are lessons learned that are profound and hard.  Lessons we knew were coming.  Lessons that one cannot prepare for.  There is a time of transition.  We begin to realize there is more time behind us that before us.  We begin to realize that opportunities are becoming less and less.  We look back on our lives and wish we had taken more opportunities or invested our talents much better than we did.  We look ahead and realize that time is short.  We go through a systematic exercise of ends.  There is coming a time when the things we took for granted become less, or cease altogether.  This is a hard thing to adjust to.  The biggest trial of our lives is always tomorrow.  Gold has to be the standard.

Job’s hope was that change would more than compensate for the trial he was facing.  He lost much.  He lost children who could never be replaced.  Things can be replaced.  But relationships cannot.  Those sons and daughters were gone.  There was nothing that could bring them back.  Of all the things Job lost, it was the relationships that would leave a lasting scar.  Sure, God replaced the ten children Job lost with ten more.  But they were ten new and different people.  Job would never know his eldest to take on the family business.  The daughters he lost would never walk an aisle arm in arm with their dad on their wedding day.  There would always be a reminder of that which he lost evidenced by a grave marker and a name.  God compensated for it.  But He could not undo it.  Gold is the hope.  Change is the goal.  Knowing that through all of our deep water, we will be changed into the likeness of Christ is the only result that makes up for the cost paid.  This takes maturity.  This takes a love for God that few know of.  This takes heavenly priority.  This state of mind understands that we were created for God’s glory and change is part of it.  This state of mind sees the hand of God as an extension of His benevolence and grace.  This state of mind treasures the gold far more than what was lost.

The Mathematician is also the Physician

“He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by [their] names. Great [is] our Lord, and of great power: his understanding [is] infinite.” (Ps 147:3-5 AV)

Of special note is comparing the healing of a broken heart with the knowing of all the stars in the universe.  There isn’t enough computing power in the world to number and name every celestial body in the universe.  The Bible tells us that the heavenly hosts are as innumerable as the grains of sand in the sea.  All the AI power in the world could not catalogue that vast number of individual grains of sand.  The point our writer is trying to make is that the healing of the human heart is immensely simpler than the numbering and naming of the stars.  If God can do the latter, then He certainly can do the former.

The cancer that my wife has is prone to develop heart issues later in the digression of the disease.  If the tumors are functioning, which means they are producing hormones, then a condition called Carcinoid syndrome is the result.  This is caused by too much serotonin in the bloodstream.  In particular, the excess hormone can result in hardened valves.  We had a friend who needed a heart valve replaced because of this syndrome.  The operation is complex.  The heart must be stopped, and the patient placed on bypass.  There are two types of valves available.  There is a mechanical heart valve and a biological heart valve.  The operation typically takes five hours or so.  The most common type of operation requires open heart surgery.  This means the breastplate is open so the surgeon can have direct access to the heart.  Recovery is long and hard.  Although this procedure is routine, few have the expertise required to successfully replace heart valves.  Those patients living in more rural or remote areas must travel to a specialist.  The expertise needed takes years of education and practice.  A successful heart surgeon is in a lucrative career because few can manage the complexities of this type of surgery.

Is complex as the human heart is, biologically speaking, the human soul is vastly more complex.  Healing takes the hand of an expert.  The only one is existence is the Creator of the human soul – Jehovah God.  If we face overwhelming circumstances, or are suffering from deep loss, as God can name and number all the celestial bodies, He can heal your broken heart.  There must be a yielding to the Creator’s hand.  Much like signing a consent form for major surgery, we must yield to the care of the Master Surgeon.  He cannot heal a heart that wishes no medicine.  He cannot bind up the broken heart if it is running from His care.  There is a book that came out many years ago.  The title is, Only God Can Heal the Wounded Heart.  It is a good book.  Some I cannot endorse.  Must most of it is good.  The point of the book is that God can heal any situation of the soul.  There is no need to depend on others.  Although God uses others, He is the author of healing.  If He can number and name all the stars of the universe, surely He can heal your broken spirit.

Hold The Line with a Line

“Every word of God [is] pure: he [is] a shield unto them that put their trust in him.” (Pr 30:5 AV)

The word ‘shield’ is of particular interest this morning.  We often see the word of God as an active agent.  We are asked a question, and we answer with the scriptures.  A doubt comes in, and we study to find an answer.  We study and write to teach or preach.  Scripture verses in greeting cards are often our choice.  We use the word of God actively.  A shield is often passive.  A shield can be held and adjusted as the threat presents itself.  Often, however, a shield is held in place, and the soldier takes cover.  The idea of some ancient cultures was to use a shield as bulwarks of sorts.  Some ancient armies would carry their shields and the upon an enemy advancement, would ram their shields into the ground, hiding behind them like a mobile wall.  They were active as long as the enemy was stagnant.  If the enemy attacked, they were passive.  This is why it is so important to fill the head and heart with the word of God.  There are times of activity.  There are also times of stillness.  It is the latter that we must consider.

Of all the years that the LORD has graciously allowed me to preach, you would think I have the vast majority of the word of God memorized.  I am a horrible memorizer.  That is, as we are accustomed to think of that gift of memorization.  Unless I know why something is the way it is, I cannot memorize it.  I associate the information with cause and purpose.  Not simple order.  You might think this is funny, but I find it hard to recall alphabetical order unless I rehearse the alphabet afresh.  Does W come before or after Y?  Does ‘M’ come before ‘N’?  Sometimes, I have to start the alphabet song to figure it out.  When it comes to the word of God, the source is supernatural and has a way of hiding in your mind and heart without knowing it.  The more stress one is under, the saint would be surprised at just how much bible he or she knows.  Verses the saint has forgotten come back to the front of the mind.  This can only occur if we are constantly reading and studying the word of God.  The ore we put into the mind and heart, the more can be recalled when needed.

I have been reminded of this recently.  Getting into a debate is not my forte.  I cannot remember all the details which I had learn decades ago.  So, when someone very intelligent challenges me, I merely plead old age and go on with life.  When the soul lays in the balance, this is quite another thing altogether.  Peter tells us to be ready to give an answer to those who notice our faith and wonder at our hope.  Shame on us if we do not know the word of God well enough to explain salvation.  What we are ruminating on this morning is something different.  The word of God is a shield. It is a shield to all those who put their trust in it.  This means the word of God must be assumed as the ultimate authority in all matters of faith and practice.  This means we defer to the Bible first.  Not when all other sources have been exhausted.  The shield was carried into battle primarily directed at the enemy.  The shield was the first thing an enemy projectile met.  It wasn’t the foot soldier.  It wasn’t their offensive weapon.  It was their shield.  The same is true with the word of God.  We may not know the exact passage that we need before we need it.  We may not think we have enough Bible memorized.  It amazes me how much the Holy Spirit will bring to my remembrance verses or bits of verses just when I need them.  This is supernatural.  This is divine leading.  This is the Comforter's way of telling us that we are loved and that God cares.  He will take care of us.  His shield is invincible.  Being acclimated toward the shield being our greatest weapon against the adversary is that which needs work.

Try Prayer

“O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man [pleadeth] for his neighbour!” (Job 16:21 AV)

What a great desire from one who was suffering much.  His plea to his friends was that they might refrain from pontificating and start praying.  Since no one was privy to the conversation God and Satan had, no one knows for sure why Job was asked to suffer as he did.  Not even Job heard the conversation.  Even if they were to guess correctly and label Job’s trial as a trial of faith, they couldn’t know that for sure until God revealed it to them.  Therefore, all the conversations these men were having with Job were hurtful and lacked compassion.  It was for naught.  It did more harm than good.  To express the depth of Job’s wish, he compares all the passionate arguments these men were offering and wondered if they, with the same degree of passion, pray to God for him.  If they would simply refocus their zeal on that which could bring change rather than on that which only caused harm, perhaps Job’s situation might have turned all the sooner.

We simply do not pray enough for one another.  We have all sorts of passions.  Passions that may be bad for us, or at best, neutral.  But where is our passion for prayer?  Many years ago, I sat in a meeting of a Booster’s Club for high school sports.  My son was signed up to play some baseball.  As the dutiful parent, I was asked to attend and get involved.  The meeting went two hours long.  For a Booster’s Club!  About eight of us sat around and spoke of a few things.  But the one item that took over an hour to review was the purchase of a hot cheese machine for the concession stand.  The discussion was rather heated.  Over a $600 cheese warmer.  I sat there dumb-founded.  How can people argue this passionately about something they could easily buy out of their own pocket?  It was rather embarrassing.

Over the years, I have spent many hours over varied situations pleading for an individual to change course.  I have pled with drug addicts, unfaithful spouses, depressed saints, and fearful sheep.  There have been equally as many theological answers to what troubles them.  Whether it is a funeral or a hospital waiting room, there comes a time when counsel simply isn’t sufficient.  At that point, prayer is the only tool left.  It is too bad that most do not go there first.  One wonders how different we could process adversity if our instinct was to go to God first.  This is what Job sought.  No more opinions.  No more words.  Just prayer and prayer alone.

Empowerment Comes From God

“«[A Psalm] of David.» Blessed [be] the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, [and] my fingers to fight:” (Ps 144:1 AV)

The two words, ‘teacheth’ and ‘fight’ could be understood as mere instruction.  But that is not what the Hebrew words mean.  The first means to goad.  The second means engagement.  In other words, skills for battle are useless unless a battle is undertaken.  David shares with us that God not only gave him skills and strategy, but also motivation and strength.  This statement is both surprising and obvious.  When we think of David the warrior, we think of someone who was naturally acclimated toward battle.  He killed the lion and bear with his own hands.  He killed Goliath with a slingshot.  He killed tens of thousands of Philistines.  And the list goes on and on.  One would think that David’s ability and zeal for warfare was who he was.  One would think he would not need much motivation or added ability.  Yet, the statement is necessary because God made him that way, but also empowered him to be that way.  In other words, David may have had some of what he needed because God created him to be a warrior.  Yet, his warrior personality was not sufficient.  God had to empower him and motivate him to be what God created him to be.

Sometimes, the responsibilities of are calling are overwhelming to the point we lose all strength to face them.  We may have some knowledge, yet there still remains a few missing pieces.  Our training can solve some of the challenges, but not all.  Even if our knowledge could carry us through, the sheer volume of what we face becomes discouraging.  Our strength is sapped by the knowledge of what lies ahead.  That does not change a thing.  The mountain is not moving.  It is still there.  It must be climbed.  It must be conquered.  I remember a time when the Tennessee River, the Cumberland River, Mississippi River, and the Ohio River were all at flood stage.  We lived a mile south of the Tennessee.  As the waters rose, there were several counties that were under a flood watch.  The emergency management services asked churches if they would be willing to fill sandbags.  You would think there would be more people than work.  I went to a friend’s church to help out, and it was just me and my son.  The dump truck had dumped sand.  All we had to do was to fill and tie bags.  How are two people supposed to stop the floodwaters of four major rivers?  Especially when one of those two was approaching the later years of middle age.  Outside of the LORD, I don’t know how we did it.  Just the two of us filled all the bags and used up all the sand in our two-hour block of time, for which we signed up.  What seemed impossible was done by the strength of God’s power.

It doesn’t matter who are or what we are facing.  Our challenges are always more than we can manage.  We could be David looking at an enemy that outnumbers him, or Peter who is asked to walk on water.  We could be a Moses who is asked to lead a great nation without all the answers or sufficient strength to do so.  The Bible is filled with people who accepted what God asked them to do regardless of their ability to do it because they trusted in the LORD to both guide and enable.  David was a great man not merely because he did great things.  David was a great man because he believed in and relied upon a great God.  This verse is encouraging.  It should be.  When we are faced with something we do not think we can overcome, then we must remember that we cannot without God’s strength.  Then we must pray for it and rest upon it!