Tag: desperation

Famine

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Dusty wind bent the tired old trees,
Their few remaining leaves turned upside down;
The air smelled of heat and pain.
Long winding river beds slept;
Deep wells drew empty buckets,
While brown grass held tight to cracked soil.

Dark shadows raced to beat the sun,
Churning and rising in power,
Their anger provoked by the dead.
The heavens grew in sorrow,
As thunder boomed from a great distance,
Fuming at the condition below.

The heartland was lost and decimated,
So desperate for living water
It no longer remembered the taste.
The ground shook; the Iight flashed;
The cursed sun swallowed up in wrath,
And the clouds wept.

Behind the lines

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’ (John 7:37-38).

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Numb

mourning-360500_1920It was hard to leave you this way,
I’d lost all feeling and didn’t know what to say,
They lowered you and filled in the dirt.
Conversations are harder now,
I can hear your voice, but my words won’t come out,
So I lay down by you on the ground.

Another person called,
They said they would pray,
I’m not as numb, but miss you each day,
I’m still learning who I am.

I found some things to give away,
You wore this black dress when we had special dates,
So I held you one more time and danced.
One mile beyond your grave,
I realized I drove your way,
So I held tight to memories.

They lowered me right beside you,
I reached for your hand just like I used to do,
I tried to cry, but had no more tears.

Behind the lines

I shed a lot of tears thinking and writing about the topic of losing a spouse because I’m very close to my own. My wife and I will be celebrating our 17th anniversary March 16th and I’m thankful for her and the growing love we share.

The grief that comes from losing a spouse (or family member) is hard to capture in words. I wrote the above before finding this R.C. Sproul, Jr. post describing what he has learned one year after his wife passed away. I’ve included the link because I think it adds context to the sadness and thoughts I’ve expressed. Here’s a second link to a post he wrote soon after she died.

Though great grief and emotion may overtake us, those in Christ do not grieve as if there is no hope. There is hope in Him (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

Jesus wept (John 11:35) because of the grief death brings and the Bible tells us to weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15). When someone is grieving the best we can do is pray for them, love on them, cry with them, and point them to where our only Hope is found.

Where is your hope found?

If you are grieving may the Lord Jesus Christ draw you near.

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Suffering

stations-of-the-cross-712001_1920Where is God in suffering?
Should I have joy through this pain?
Will my heart fail in Your hand?
In Your hand…

If I pray for healing now,
And death still comes, will I doubt?
Will I turn and fall away?
Fall away…

Reveal the cross and what it cost,
The Suffering Son,
Your only Son,
Remind me of the greatest love,
The Suffering Son,
Your only Son.

Am I forsaken like Christ?
Can I demand a painless life?
Father, where are You?
Where are You…

Does this anguish have an end?
Will the Son come back again?
Does joy spring from suffering?
Suffering…

Remedy for sin,
The only Hope for man,
Broken by Your hand,
By Your hand…

Behind the Lines

Does joy spring from suffering?

Repentant believers find great joy in the cross and resurrection (where Christ suffered and atoned for undeserving sinners and then conquered death and sin). So, yes, our joy comes through His suffering by the grace of God.

But what about our own sufferings? Are we to rejoice through our struggles and trials? What does scripture say?

Let’s look at three passages (as pointed out in Tim Chester’s book You Can Change: God’s Transforming Power for Our Sinful Behavior and Negative Emotions):

We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Romans 5:3-5 ESV)

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. (James 1:2-4 ESV)

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:6-7 ESV)

Chester writes: “What is striking about these passages is the way they all begin with a call to rejoice. We can rejoice in suffering when (when) we make the connection between suffering and growth.”

He makes two points about our struggles (and suffering):

1. “God uses our struggles” (for our good and to conform us to Christ).

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Romans 8:28-29 ESV)

2. “God not only uses our struggles, he promises to bring them to an end.”

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:3-4 ESV)

If we are angry at God for our suffering where shall we go?

Shall we abandon Him for something less, something artificial, something we think we can control? Shall we curse God and die? Or, do we find answers through the lens of the cross, the lens of scripture, and the lens of our future hope in the resurrection?

Joy in the midst of suffering is only possible through Christ and the Holy Spirit within us.  For our Joy is not dependent on our circumstances. If we are in Christ, we can rejoice and say with Paul:

“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (Philippians 1:21 ESV)”

Is this true of your life?

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