SUFFERING: A BATTLE SCAR OF LOYALTY?

Have you ever felt as if God had abandoned you?  Maybe you feel that way now.  You’ve walked with Him and served Him with all of your heart, yet things are going on in your life that you can’t fathom and you find yourself asking: “What is going on Lord?  Where are you?”  It feels a lot like punishment, but is it?

That’s exactly the spot in which the nation of Israel found itself when the sons of Korah penned Psalm 44. 

The psalmist begins by speaking of the ways in which the Lord had blessed Israel in days past.

“We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what you did in their days long ago.  With your hand you drove out the nations and planted our fathers (in the promised land); you crushed the peoples and made our fathers flourish.  It was not by their sword that they won the land. . . it was your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face for you loved them. . . . . in God we make our boast all day long, and we will praise your name forever.”

The Lord had done amazing things to enable Israel to settle in the land of promise - delivering them from Egypt, bringing them to the brink of the land and defeating their enemies so that they could occupy it.  It was His battle, not theirs, and for that they boasted, not in their own strength or military genius, but in His faithfulness and strength on their behalf.

Maybe you have been looking back on your own life, recounting all the ways in which the Lord has blessed you in your past.  If you haven't, make a list of all His past blessings right now.  Thank and praise Him for them, as the writer of psalm 44 did.

Like the psalmist, all of these blessings might just cause you to wonder even more about the suffering you're encountering in the present.

In Israel's present the psalmist saw no evidence of His  continued favor either.  In verses 9-16 he laments:

But now you have rejected and humbled us; you no longer go out with our enemies

You made us retreat; our adversaries plundered us

You gave us up to be devoured like sheep and scattered us among the nations

You have made us a reproach to our neighbors

My face is covered with shame at the taunts of the enemy, bent on revenge

Why did all of this happen?  There were plenty of times in Israel’s history when the Lord did discipline them as a father the son he loves, because of sin and idolatry, but such was not the case this time.  The psalmist says:

All this happened to us:

·         Though we had not forgotten you

·         or practiced idolatry

·         our hearts had not turned back and our feet not strayed from your path

If we had forgotten the name of our God, or worshiped a foreign god, God who knows the secrets of the heart, would surely have discovered it.

Maybe this is exactly what YOU have been saying as you’ve examined your heart in the light of what seems like God’s abandonment. 

Perhaps your argument sounds like theirs:

Lord, where are you?  Have you rejected me?  I feel alone before enemies who seemed determined to destroy me.  I feel as if you've abandoned me here while other people reproach and taunt me.

Lord, I love you!  I’ve been as faithful to you as I know how.  I don’t understand what’s going on.  If I had lived my life as if you didn’t exist, or if I had given up worship of you in favor of some other “god” of my own making, if my feet had been wandering down a path that takes me far from you – maybe then I could understand.  But I have done none of those things.  I have been faithful to you.  So why is this happening?

Verse 22 of Psalm 44 is perhaps the key to answering the questions of your heart.  It reads:

“Yet for Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

My NIV Life Application Bible says this in the footnote for these verses:

“Although (the psalmist) felt his suffering was undeserved, he revealed the real reason for it; he suffered because he was committed to the Lord. (The Apostle) Paul quoted the psalmist’s complaint to show that we must always be ready to face death for the cause of Christ.  Thus, our suffering may not be a punishment, but a battle scar that demonstrates our loyalty.”

What a comfort, what an honor, to be counted worthy to suffer because of our identification with Christ. 

If you are suffering in a way that seems unjust, though you have been as faithful to the Lord as you know how, consider that your suffering is not a punishment, but a battle scar that comes AS A RESULT OF your commitment to the Lord, a battle scar that demonstrates your loyalty to Jesus – and rejoice that you have been counted worthy to suffer for His Name.

TWO MINUTES OF FAME AND 50 YEARS OF SEPARATION

Three weeks ago yesterday I donated a kidney to my dear church friend Jennifer.  We are both a bit impatient with what seems to us the slowness of our recovery, but we’re getting there. 

The day before the transplant on August 14, Jennifer was contacted by the public relations person at the hospital to ask if she had permission to contact the media with our story.  Jennifer and I talked about it.  More than anything we wanted God to be glorified in all that had and would happen through our experience, so we agreed to allow her to do that.  Interestingly enough, none of her efforts went anywhere.  We had some initial contacts, but other things got in the way and none of the media contacted us again. We didn't know why that happened, but were okay with it since the Lord  had already shown us He was in control of all things, including this.  But that wasn’t the end of it.

As it happens, another church friend, Chris, works in the media and so she “pitched” our story for us and in the end we were contacted by a cable TV station here in New Jersey and by one of the major news stations, CBS news, channel 2, out of New York City.  Jennifer and I were only just home from the hospital when they each arranged interview time at Jennifer’s apartment. 

We were so delighted to be able to tell our story and to talk freely about how the Lord had led us, encouraged and answered our prayers, and enabled us to face serious surgery with peace and excitement instead of fear and anxiety.  Since our connection was related to our membership in the same church, each of the news stations showed a clip of our church and mentioned its name.  Our pastor was even interviewed!

Jennifer and I took the next step of posting the news media links on Facebook so that friends and family living across the country could view the videos as well.  The interviews, which took an hour to do, and 2 minutes to air, were shown repeatedly during the daily news broadcasts over the next day or so.  We received all kinds of comments about our “2 minutes of fame”, and it was fun, and we hoped, God glorifying.

Within a week I had a call from our church secretary.  A woman I’d gone to high school with 48 years ago, saw one of the interviews on TV and wanted to get in touch.  I called her, and that call led to a wonderful reunion yesterday at a local restaurant, and what a reunion it was!

My greatest delight was that this friend was very anxious to hear about my walk of faith.  She didn’t remember me as a particularly religious person back in high school and wanted to know how I got to be the person of faith I am now.

This is the kind of conversation, initiated by someone else, that we Christians long to have with others, but they are so rare.  I can remember having only one other. Many years ago now, I was working closely with a young man and during that time was having a serious and very scary family issue and he knew it.  He often asked me about it and I could tell he was concerned. 

We talked a bit about God in relation to all of that, but it was when I was preparing to leave the job and he had invited me to dinner that the conversation became more focused.  At some point during dinner he turned to me and said, “I have only met 3 people in my life who were passionate about God and you are one of them.  I want to know why.”  I was blown away by this wonderful opportunity to talk freely about Jesus, and I did.  Just a year or so later, both this young man and his soon to be wife became believers in Jesus themselves through the discipling ministry of our pastor.

So yesterday, when my friend asked about my faith, I was able to tell her that I actually WAS religious back in high school in that my family attended church and took our involvement seriously, but  it was only after I came to know Jesus that I began the journey of faith I have now.

Being religious is different from being a person of faith in Jesus.  Being religious usually involves doing religious things, like going to church and participating in our church's sacraments, but it's possible to do all of that, and miss knowing Jesus Himself.

Being part of a church, attending church, taking part in communion, serving others is all important – but of FIRST importance is a relationship with Jesus.  So I was “religious” in those days, but I did not know Jesus. My friend asked how I came to this faith and I explained that it is the work of God.  He does the drawing, He creates the longing for Himself in the heart.  I believe He is at work doing exactly that in the heart of my friend, creating a longing that will only be fulfilled when Jesus occupies His place in her heart.

I’m still recovering from surgery so I haven’t gone a day without an afternoon nap, but yesterday, sleep was impossible.  I was too busy rejoicing over the awesomeness of God to use a 2 minute interview to renew a friendship that allowed me to talk about Jesus, and for what He is up to in the life of my friend. 

I’m so grateful for my God, who is sovereign over TV interviews and 50 year separations. 

Who but YOU, Lord??