Zondervan Inspire

Flourish in New Ways

Sometimes the discipline God allows into our lives is highly individualized, and is determined by our unique circumstances. We may sustain injuries in a traffic accident, lose our job, or become obliged to care for an aging, invalid relative. We should not curse these events as bad luck, or become embittered by them. Even through such highly undesirable experiences, the dynamics of Christian spirituality can flourish in new ways. In all such forms of suffering God is still compassionately at work — salvaging good for those who love him (Romans 8:28). These unique circumstantial disciplines function as refining fires that produce qualities of enduring value to God's glory. Their ultimate purpose is to see the relational disposition, moral character, and purposeful actions of Christ mirrored in his resilient followers.

From A Little Guide to Christian Spirituality: Three Dimensions of Life with God

by Glen G. Scorgie

Any comments or testimonies today?

reminders

As author Michael Card says, "A thousand examples speak of a deep, inner hunger for beauty that, at its heart, is a hunger for God. We hunger for beauty because it is a beautiful God whom we serve."

God is not the author of [what happened at Virginia Tech on] April 16. I do not know why such tragedies happen, or why he bids the world go on like this for so long. But standing in the surf, gazing at the horizon, I am moved out of grief and toward faith and hope. I am pulled toward a peace that surpasses understanding. I am stilled enough to catch the echoes of the world as it once was. Eden is gone, but reminders of it—and of its good Designer—are all around.

From When Answers Aren't Enough: Experiencing God as Good When Life Isn't

by Matt Rogers

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ache

If God is sovereign—meaning there is no authority higher than him—then technically all things are at the least "allowed." But to say no more than this is to suggest that God coolly and dispassionately scans the list of possibilities for the day, checking off those he will permit and those he will not. Where in such theology is the outrage of God, his anger toward the evil that mars his good creation? Where is the indefatigable determination to root out all that sets itself up against his dream of love and goodness for the world? Where are the tears Jesus wept for his dead friend Lazarus?

Are we to assume that when Jesus was sweating blood in Gethsemane, begging the Father for a way out, God on high looked down with indifference and said, "Sorry, Jesus. I'm allowing it."? Or did he ache with his Son? Did he sweat blood with him? Did he grieve over the lack of alternative options? Yes, in the end, God allowed it. Fine. But he did not do so easily. We cannot experience as good any God who says okay to tragedy without a stabbing pain in his own heart. And thankfully, we need not try, for this is not our God.

From When Answers Aren't Enough: Experiencing God as Good When Life Isn't

by Matt Rogers

Any comments or testimonies today?

differently

At a funeral, I once overheard a man say, "Why are people crying? We should be celebrating. We're Christians! This man is in heaven." The comment grated on me terribly then. It sounded so spiritual and yet completely wrong. We may grieve with hope, but we do, and should, grieve.

Standing at the tomb of his friend Lazarus, the Bible simply says, "Jesus wept." I bet he was more than misty-eyed. I bet he bawled. And if Jesus mourned, then mourning is good. If I am to experience a good and sympathetic God in my grief, I must be willing to mourn as well. When the apostle Paul said not to grieve as those who have no hope, I do not believe he meant we should mourn less, but rather differently, without despairing, for we will see our loved ones again.

From When Answers Aren't Enough: Experiencing God as Good When Life Isn't

by Matt Rogers

Any comments or testimonies today?