Truth for the Weary Soul

When the storms of life wreak havoc on all you know and love, what theological truths anchor your soul? What doctrines do you turn to when the world around you seems to give way under your feet? What truths about God bring you the most comfort when life is uncertain and nothing makes any sense?

Though all of God’s word is essential for us to read, learn, memorize, and study, and though all of God’s word teaches us all that we need to know to weather the storms of life, there is one theological truth that stands out in times of trial and suffering. There is one doctrine that brings everything into perspective and provides comfort and rest for our weary souls.

The sovereignty of God...

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Sufficient in our Insufficiency

I have a confession. I don't like weakness. I don't like feeling helpless. I don't like not knowing how to do something. I don't like feeling incapable. I don't like being insufficient.

To make matters worse, there are many areas of my life where I find myself feeling weak, helpless, and incapable: motherhood, homeschooling, ministry, marriage, and friendship.  I have several new projects and ministry opportunities I am working on this year and while I am excited about each of them, I am also overwhelmed by my insufficiency. I lack wisdom, strength, and experience. 

And while I'm being honest, I might as well admit that I feel most weak, incapable, and insufficient about my first book coming out this spring. Sometimes, I'm downright terrified about it. You may think it strange to be terrified about such an exciting event. Many writers compare writing a book to having a child and that's how I feel--excited but also terrified. 

Have you ever been in a place where you simply don't know what to do? Or feel inadequate? Perhaps you've been given a great responsibility and you know you don't have it in you to accomplish it. The task looms large and impossible before you. Failure seems certain.  

If you are in a similar place as I, where you feel the depths of your insufficiency, the gospel speaks right to our problem. It reminds us that yes, we are insufficient, but Christ was sufficient for us when he lived a perfect life in our place. It reminds us that he took the wrath of God that we deserved when he bore all our sins on the cross. Through faith in Christ, God looks at us and doesn't see our insufficiency. He sees Christ's sufficiency instead. So we are sufficient in our insufficiency because Christ was sufficient for us.

But that's not the end of the good news. God is at work, even now, making us increasingly sufficient and capable. He is working in us, through all our weaknesses, and making us useful for his Kingdom purposes. God did not save us because we were sufficient on our own and he doesn't use us because we are already capable.  

Unlike applying for a job where you have to present the necessary skills and experience to get the job, with God, he doesn't use people who are already experienced and capable. Moses was not a natural born leader. David was the youngest of all his brothers. Mary was not the natural choice to mother a King. Uneducated Peter was an unlikely candidate to start the church. But in God's unexpected and upside down Kingdom, he uses the weak and helpless and makes them capable and sufficient. As God works in us, people don't see our strength and wisdom but the strength and wisdom of God through us. And God gets the glory. 

The wonder of God's grace is that we have everything we need to do what God has called us to. "His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire" (2 Peter 1:3-4). "But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me" (2 Corinthians 12:9). This means that when God calls us to a task, he gives us everything we need to accomplish it through Christ. 

So being in a place where we feel insufficient, incapable, and weak is exactly where we need to be. We don't have to fear being there. We don't have to fear not knowing what to do because we have everything we need in Christ. He is our sufficiency both in our salvation and in our sanctification. And he has promised to finish the work he started in us (Philippians 1:6, 1 Corinthians 1:8). 

In my own life, as I consider the tasks before me, I don't have to despair over my weaknesses. I don't have to worry about completing the tasks God has given me. Instead, I can rest knowing that Christ is sufficient for me. Like Paul, I can even boast in my weakness, knowing that God will get the glory. Whatever God calls me to this year, he will make me capable. Through Christ, I am sufficient in my insufficiency.

And so are you.  

A New Book: Women On Life

This week marks the 42nd anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, the court decision that legalized abortion in the U.S. In the years since that landmark decision, more than 57 million babies have died in the womb. And since that time, human life in general has become increasingly devalued. Those who aren't strong and capable are easily overlooked, mistreated, and simply discarded.

We are called to value all of life because God is the creator and sustainer of life. God's word teaches us that people are made in God's image and are worthy of respect and should be cherished, whether they have just been conceived or are 99 years old. In an effort to stand up for and honor life, the ERLC has published a new book, titled Women on Life: A Call to Love the Unborn, Unloved, & Neglected. I was honored to contribute to this book, along with many other gifted women. Each chapter in this book looks at ways we can honor life, looking at issues such as infertility, special needs, teen pregnancy, the elderly and more.

"Because all of life is important to God, we are compelled to talk about it. Whether it’s addressing purity and teaching our children about sex, teens and pregnancy, caring for the woman with a high-risk pregnancy, children with special needs, caring for the single mother, or getting involved in the pro-life movement, how we interact with God’s image-bearers matters. It’s our desire that this book will inspire you to care deeply about issues of life, equip you for prayerful action and begin a conversation in your churches and homes." (from the ERLC).

Here's an excerpt from my chapter, titled "Teens, Pregnancy, and the Family:

"After Adam and Eve fell into sin, God promised a Savior in Genesis 3:15. The rest of the Old Testament reveals the need for this Savior, foretells of who this Savior would be, and pushes forward the plan for his arrival. In the New Testament we meet the Savior, Jesus Christ. He came in the most surprising of ways, through the womb of an unwed teen. As the angel explained to Mary, “‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be borne will be called holy—the Son of God’” (Luke 1:35).

When he was 30 years old, Jesus began to teach about God’s kingdom. He gathered a ragtag group of disciples and traveled around the region teaching, healing and delivering people from their bondage. He revealed the heart and intent of God’s law, showing that sin isn’t only what someone does, but it is also what someone thinks. He taught that all sin, including sexual sin, begins in the heart, “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matt. 5:28).

In John 4, Jesus met a Samaritan woman at the well. As Jesus spoke to her about a mysterious source of water, he revealed that he knew more about her than she knew about herself. He knew about her multiple husbands and the sinful life she led. But he offered her more. He offered her grace and water that could quench the thirst that no man could ever quench. She ran off to the village, telling everyone about the grace of Christ, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” (John 4:29).

When he had completed his ministry, Jesus went like a lamb to the slaughter. Though he was perfect and had never sinned, he laid down his life to free us from all our sin. Through faith in Christ, we have been set free from the bondage of sin and are freed to live for him. This is the grace that our children and our teens need to know. Without this grace, we cannot hope to follow and obey Christ in a fallen world, especially in a world broken with sexual sin." (p.66-68).

I have one copy of Women on Life: A Call to Love the Unborn, Unloved, & Neglected to giveaway. Enter below. U.S residents only. Update: Congrats to Sarah H., winner of the giveaway!

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Set Your Mind on Christ

Have you ever sat with a group of friends and found yourself talking about a strange topic and wondered how you got there? My oldest son is fascinated by the rabbit trails that conversations take. He enjoys unwinding the twisted and jumbled strands to discover how one topic leads to the next. Whenever I facilitate groups, I have to be on alert for such meandering trails because it’s easy for people to get off topic and the longer we wander, the harder it is to find our way back.

Prone to Wander

This happens in our personal thought life as well. We follow such trails in our minds, going down winding paths, circuitous routes, and through dark passages. We start off with one thought and like a distracted child; we follow it wherever it takes us.

Consider the last time you were wronged in some way. You might have thought about how unfair it was and how you didn’t deserve such treatment. This made you think of other times you’ve been wronged. Perhaps you compared how you were treated to how others are treated. Your thoughts continue to spread and twist until before you know it, you are boiling in anger.

The same happens when we face a hardship or trial. We begin to think about how hard it is and how we don’t have the strength to endure it. We think of all the potential things that could go wrong. We worry and fret about the future. We follow those thoughts into dark places until we are paralyzed with fear and overcome with despair.

We come by such wandering thoughts naturally. As children of Adam, in our sin nature, we are drawn to meandering thought trails of half-truths, lies, and sinful thoughts.

Sometimes we don’t even realize the influence our thoughts have on us nor do we realize how much our thoughts matter. The truth is, our thoughts hold great power over us emotionally, spiritually, and behaviorally. The things we dwell and ruminate on are like the rudder of a ship; they steer and guide our emotions and affections. Like the invasive southern Kudzu vine, our wandering thoughts can grow and spread, wrapping itself around our hearts until it suffocates and chokes our joy. Over time, our thoughts can spill out into our actions. As Jesus said, “For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of” (Matthew 12:34).

Be Alert and on Guard

As believers, what we think matters. Because Jesus bought and redeemed us from sin, we are new creations. We have died to our former selves (Romans 6:6). This includes our thought life. When we think untrue and sinful thoughts, we are not living like the new creations that we are.  “Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds…But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:17, 20-24).

Because we are new creations in Christ, Scripture charges us to be on guard in our thinking. The Apostle Paul wrote that he took every thought captive and made it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). This is strong military language. We need to be aggressive and forceful, intentionally searching out disobedient thoughts. That’s because we are in the midst of a spiritual battle and in wartime, we cannot be passive (see Ephesians 6).

This also means we need to be intentional in the kinds of thoughts we think. We must conform our thoughts so that they obey and glorify Christ. As Paul wrote in Philippians 4:8, "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, anything worthy of praise, think about these things." Thoughts like these are ones that we want to foster, take root, and grow.

John Piper points out in his book, A Godward Life: Seeing the Supremacy of God in All of Life that the Bible speaks of an intentional approach to our thinking, that of "set your mind":

“Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:2). “Those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh” (Romans 8:5). “Our emotions are governed in large measure by what we “consider”—what we dwell on with our minds. For example, Jesus told us to overcome the emotion of anxiety by what we consider. “Do not be anxious … Consider the ravens … Consider the lilies” (Luke 12:22, 24, 27, RSV). The mind is the window of the heart. If we let our minds constantly dwell on the dark, the heart will feel dark. If we open the window of our mind to the light, the heart will feel the light … Above all, this great capacity of our minds to focus and consider is meant for considering Jesus: “Holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus … Consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart” (Hebrews 3:1, 12:3) … It is when we focus our minds on the glory of Christ that we are transformed from one degree of glory to another (2 Corinthians 3:18).” (p.229)

The true and right thoughts we are to think are found in God’s word. There he tells us who he is and what he has done for us in Christ. We need to dwell on such truths, on God’s love for us in the gospel and what Christ accomplished for us through his life, death, and resurrection. We need to meditate on who we are in the sight of God because of Christ and what it means to be a child of the living God. We need to think these thoughts, not as part of some spiritual to-do list, or as an exercise to greater self-fulfillment, but because of who we are in Christ (Colossians 3:1-2).

Though we are prone to wander, especially in our thinking, Jesus has not left us alone. He has given us his Spirit who convicts us of sin, reminds us of truth, and even prays on our behalf when we can’t do so for ourselves.  If you struggle with wayward thoughts as I do, pray for the Spirit to prompt you when your thoughts go astray. Ask for discernment to know what is true and what is untrue. Assess your thoughts and compare them with God’s word. Be alert, watchful, and on guard. And above all, set your mind on Christ. 

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The Laments and our Fears

We had planned the trip for months. I looked forward to seeing God’s wonders on display in the majestic peaks of Northern California. I couldn’t wait to hear the sounds of rushing water and stand beside the towering ancient pines.

After a long hike, we waited for our turn to stand at the rickety metal fence that was the only thing keeping us from falling thousands of feet to the Yosemite Valley below. As soon as I stepped up to the fence, my stomach grew nauseous. Then my head started spinning and all I wanted to do was run the other way. I could barely stay long enough for someone to take our picture.

So Many Fears

We’ve all met fear before. It’s been a ready companion since the day our first parent’s fell into sin and hid from God. We fear all kinds of things, from heights to deadly storms; from debilitating illness to lost jobs; from terror attacks to empty nests; from failure to the unknown future. For some of us, fear is a constant companion, enslaving us, ruling our days and our choices.

Some run and hide, staying as far from what they fear as possible. Others spend their days plotting ways to control what they fear. We search online to find solutions to our fears, only to end up more fearful. In the end, no matter what we do, fear wins the day as it robs us of our joy.

As believers, we know the Bible’s frequent admonitions against fear. We know that God calls us to trust in Him and to depend on Him alone in the face of fear. But the question is, "How?" How do we live in a broken and fallen world where fears surround us on every side? How do we turn to God in the midst of such fears?...to read the rest of this post, visit The Christward Collective, my writing home today.

All Things New

I just love the feel of new things. Crisp white paper just waiting for words, ideas, and stories to be written. Shiny new shoes to match that new dress. A new book with a spine that's never been cracked open. A new day with the sun just beginning to spread its rays through the window. A new year filled with possibility for adventure, change, and hopes fulfilled.

New things hold promises and expectations. Perhaps we'll write our best work on that piece of paper. Maybe the new shoes and dress will make us feel beautiful. Maybe that new book will answer all our questions. Maybe this new day will be better than yesterday. And maybe, just maybe, this new year will finally be the year when our life turns out the way we have hoped.

Unfortunately, there is often a dark side to "new." More often than not, those new things fail to deliver on their promises. Rather than bringing hope, they only bring disappointment. The new dress that fit perfectly in the store doesn't look quite the same when you get home (why is that by the way?). The new book fails to stimulate the mind or solve problems or is altogether boring. The new day that promised clear skies only darkens with clouds and the rest of the day is rainy and cold.

And what about the new year? We all face a new year with similar hopes and expectations. But a few months in, we often find ourselves disappointed. Our job stays the same. The bills still pile up. Our children still struggle in school. Our crazy schedules keep us from the gym. And the doctor still calls with bad news.

Our Longing for "New"

Our hopeful expectations are not without reason. Deep down, there's a reason we look for new things in the hopes they will make life better. Because deep down, we know that this in not how life is supposed to be. We know life should not be filled with things that break, friendships that hurt, and jobs that are lost. We know that life is supposed to be more. Much more. It's like an echo of a sound made long ago that we hear deep inside our bones. It's a stirring in our soul that the writer to the Ecclesiastes describes as "eternity in the human heart" (3:11).

We were made for something more than this world. We were created for eternity. It is this longing for the joy and perfections of eternity that makes us long for all that's new and better. The problem is that we try to find eternity here on earth. We try to find our hope in new things in this life. But what we long for deep in our heart will never be found in new houses, new friendships, new churches, or new shoes. What we are searching for is not found in new things, new days, or even new years.

It's found in a person: Jesus Christ.

Christ Makes All Things New

Our longing for eternity, for things to be made right, is found in Christ. Our search for  hope, meaning, purpose, and significance is found in him alone. And that desperate desire for life to work and make sense can only be fulfilled in Christ. Everything else pales in comparison. Everything else is a counterfeit. A substitute. An idol. We were made to love, worship, and be in communion with Christ and nothing else will suffice. Everything else will disappoint and fail to deliver.  

That is why he came to earth. Our Savior emptied himself, took on flesh, lived a sinless life in this broken world, and gave himself to redeem us from our sins so that we could be reunited with him. Through faith in his work on the cross for us, we get the "new" that we really need. We get the "new" that changes things. We are made new through the work of his Spirit in us.

2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." Romans 6:4 says, "We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life." The "new" that we've longed for is happening not outside of us, but in us. 

And one day our Lord will return and make all things new. Permanently. Not the new that we are used to where after one day on the street our new shoes are scratched and worn--but completely new. "And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” (Revelation 21:3-5)

On that day our faith will be sight. The longing for eternity will no longer be a faint echo but a reality. All things will be made right and new and we'll be with our Savior forever. That's the "new" we need to focus on this new year. Whatever our plans or hopes for this new year, may they all remind us and point us to the "new" that we have in Christ and the "new" that is still to come.