Suffering

Follow Day 1 Trust Through Tears

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Job 1-2
Job 42
John 9:1-7
Romans 8:26-39
Romans 9:14-24

Follow, Day 1

Conventional wisdom says following God is easy when life is going well. We can trust Him when our circumstances seem to confirm God is good.

But what happens when life doesn’t go as we expect?
What happens to our faith in God when our circumstances seem to push back on our idea of the “goodness” of God?
Can we still trust Him?
Can we still follow God in the midst of suffering?

Job and his friends wrestled together with these questions (sometimes well, and sometimes poorly) throughout the Biblical book of Job. Job’s experience can be difficult for us to read; I find myself asking uncomfortable questions.

Why did God allow all of these terrible attacks against Job?
Why did Job lose everything after he had lived a blameless and upright life?
Didn’t Job deserve better treatment from God?

Job and his friends asked these same questions. Job maintained he was innocent of any wrongdoing, while his friends insisted he must have sinned to deserve the suffering to which he was subjected.

While I am often too afraid or embarrassed to ask these questions, Job was not. He asked and asked why he was suffering. He asked his friends to help him see his wrongdoing, but they could not.

Finally, Job was so discouraged by his circumstances that he began questioning God directly.
“I will say to God, ‘Do not declare me guilty! Let me know why you prosecute me. Is it good for you to oppress, to reject the work of your hands and favor the plans of the wicked?”
(Job 10:2-3)

Overwhelmed by his suffering despite his innocence, Job began to question God’s character. He was honest before God about his struggles, and sought to find answers. He never denied God, but he did question His plans.

When life beats us down, and we wonder where God is, it can be tempting to think we have done something wrong to deserve this hardship. We might consider suffering as a “sign” we have gotten off-track, just as Job’s friends believed his suffering to be a punishment for secret sin.

But this is not how God has revealed Himself. In fact, centuries later, Jesus and His disciples have a conversation about this very idea! The disciples see a man born blind and assume his condition is a direct result of someone’s sin. Jesus corrects their thinking, explaining, “This came about so that God’s works might be displayed in him.” (John 9:3) Jesus reveals the man’s blindness was not a punishment for sin, but a tool God was using to declare His glory.

This is where we can get uncomfortable again.
We ask those troubling questions.

Is God unjust?
Does He inflict pain just because He can?

Of course not! Paul addresses these questions in Romans 9.
“What should we say then? Is there injustice with God? Absolutely not! For He tells Moses, I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it does not depend on human will or effort but on God who shows mercy.” (Romans 9:14-16)

When Job questioned the purposes and wisdom of God, God Himself came down to speak to him. The Lord answered Job, but with more questions. He revealed to Job his own limitations and ignorance.

God asked Job, “Would you really challenge my justice? Would you declare me guilty to justify yourself?” (Job 40:8) He asked Job to explain the whole of the universe, from the stars of the sky, to weather patterns, to the behavior of the animals. God did this, not to be cruel or harsh, but to remind Job of the vastness of His knowledge and power.

We have a limited view of the world. We only see, know, and understand a sliver of His plans, but the Lord knows all. He purposes all things for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28), and we can count on this truth.

So, when life is confusing, and doesn’t seem to be going our way, we have a choice. We can choose to question God and wonder if He cares about us. Or we can choose to follow the Lord, trusting His ways are good, even when we can’t see how.

As wise followers of the Lord, we can maintain our devotion to Him even when life seems unfair. God’s vast wisdom is far superior to our own plans.

In the end of the story, Job repented of his self-righteous questioning. Job did not suffer perfectly, but he continued in his faithful pursuit of God’s character, even in his brokenness and despair. Job knew how to follow, because he knew the character of God.

Finally, God not only forgave Job, but also restored to him his fortunes, wealth, and position in his community. While we are not guaranteed a “happy ending” in this life, if we faithfully serve the Lord, we can trust we will receive our reward of eternal life with the Father.

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The GT Weekend! ~ Reveal Week 1

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The GT Weekend!

At Gracefully Truthful, weekends aren’t for “checking out”.
Use this time to invite the Almighty’s fullness into you life in a deeper way!
Saturdays and Sundays are a chance to
reflect, rest, and re-center our lives onto Christ.
Don’t miss the opportunity to connect with other women in prayer,
rest your soul in reflective journaling,
and spend time worshiping the Creator who
longs for intimacy with each of us!

Worship Through Journaling

Worship Through Journaling

1) 2020. The year that will be forever marked with loss for many, and confusion and chaos for nearly all of us. In what ways has the Covid-19 pandemic gripped you with loss? Even the loss of normalcy significantly impacts each of us in different ways around the globe. Together, we share in this experience of loss. Maybe for you, just seeing the word loss makes your eyes swim with tears. Perhaps you’ve dreaded this Christmas season because the weight of absence feels impossibly heavy. We often move into the tendency to manage how we feel about loss rather than deal with it, allowing it to become part of who we are. What would it look like for you to acknowledge your loss this December? What if, instead of trying to stomp out the embers of ache and emptiness, we allowed them to swirl around us unhindered. What might the Lord Jesus reveal about our hearts, and our always constant need for Him, in the light of those flickers of brilliant loss? Make space this weekend to journal about your emptiness and aching places as you walk into December. Weep and be held by the Lord of Life and let Him comfort you.

2) Heartache isn’t a word we love to talk or write about with languishing love. The very word signifies we have traveled a long path, a weary one, a wounding one.  While most of us can easily describe some of our past experiences as bringing burdening ache to our hearts, we don’t often consider the heartache of God. Jesus came as a squalling babe in a rough manger, experiencing our heartache from the moment His holy lungs breathed their first earthly breath. Then, hanging on a cruel cross, knowing your sin and mine was being paid for in His righteous flesh, His heart continued breaking for us to come near and know His peace. As we walk through suffering, often made raw again at Christmas, be reminded the Savior knows you deeply. Pen the words of Psalm 90:14 on a card and make it a visible reminder to ask the Lord to satisfy you with His love this Christmas!

3) Ancient King Solomon wisely summarized, “Hope delayed makes the heart sick, but desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” (Proverbs 13:12) What have you waited for? I mean, really waited for? A baby? A husband? A healthy marriage? A new position at work? Peace in relationships? Joy to return? Israel waited for the One promised by God to come and free them, but their expectations were so far off they missed the Savior entirely, even crucifying Him. I know I’ve done the same thing with my longings. For nearly two decades, I longed for my husband to act a certain way within our marriage. As Solomon wrote, I was indeed “heart sick”, but God graciously revealed how many good qualities I had missed completely because I wanted my “hoped for” to look as I expected. As I shifted my gaze to the Giver of all things, He opened my eyes to so much more! What if we each decided to surrender our hopes and dreams to the God who perfectly fulfills every heart that trusts in Him?!

Praying Scripture back to the One who wrote it in the first place is a great way to jump start our prayer-life! Pray this passage from Luke 1:78-79 back to the Lord and
let His Spirit speak to you through it!

Because of our God’s merciful compassion,
the dawn from on high will visit us to shine on those who live in darkness
and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Prayer Journal
Ah Lord God, my view of myself and my circumstance is often so magnified compared to how I view You. I forget You are sovereign. I forget You are loving, good, and always for me. Oh Lord, I do believe You, help my unbelief! (Mark 9:24) Sometimes, I think of those shepherds on that first Christmas, or of Mary and Joseph, all of whom saw angels with their own eyes, and heard glorious tidings of good news! How easy it must have been to believe them! I forget, Lord, how long they had waited as an entire people for Your coming. How many times had they doubted? Even in the middle of Your very presence in their lives, how often did the “ordinary” feel too mundane to be holy? Seep my heart in Your presence so deeply, Holy Spirit, that I begin to see my regular life from Your vantage point. I wait for much, yet You are never delayed nor out of touch. I grieve, yet I know You hold every tear in Your safekeeping. I’ve lost much, but I know redemption is Your good work. Though I cry out, “how long, Lord?” and beg You to “turn and have compassion on Your servant”, “let Your work be seen by your servants and Your splendor by their children.” You alone are holy, sovereign, and always love, and I praise You!

Worship Through Community

Can we pray for you? Reach Out! We’d love to pray for and with you!
Send us an email at prayer@gracefullytruthful.com

Build community, be transparent, and encourage others:
Share how God spoke to you today!
Comment Here or in our Facebook Community Group!

Worship Through Prayer

Worship Through Music

Reveal Day 2 Until He Appears: Digging Deeper

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Digging Deeper Days

Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!

Yesterday’s Journey Study connects with today’s!
Check out Until He Appears!

The Questions

1) What should we do when we call out to the Lord, but He does not save? (verse 2)

2) Why would God tolerate wrongdoing? (verse 3)

3) How can justice come out perverted? (verse 4)

Habakkuk 1:1-4

1The pronouncement that the prophet Habakkuk saw. 2 How long, Lord, must I call for help and you do not listen or cry out to you about violence and you do not save? 3 Why do you force me to look at injustice?  Why do you tolerate* wrongdoing? Oppression and violence are right in front of me. Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates.  4 This is why the law is ineffective and justice never emerges. For the wicked restrict the righteous; therefore, justice comes out perverted.

Original Intent

1) What should we do when we call out to the Lord, but He does not save? (verse 2)
The prophet Habakkuk had a problem. Commentator J.M. Boice describes his scenario like this, “He had lived through a period of national revival followed by a period of spiritual decline.” Under King Josiah’s reign, the nation of Judah followed God, but under successive kings, the country fell into sin.  Distressed by the immorality and injustice all around him, Habakkuk called upon God to save His people. He implored, “How long, Lord, must I call for help and you do not listen or cry out to you about violence and you do not save?” (Habakkuk 1:2) Habakkuk grew frustrated that His holy God was not stepping in to rescue the faithful from their broken situation. He wanted the Lord to swoop in and restore His people, but that was not God’s plan. When God told Habakkuk His plan included letting the Babylonians (or Chaldeans,) attack and conquer the nation as part of His judgment, Habakkuk was horrified (Habakkuk 1:6-12) This was not salvation! This would be the end of the world as he knew it. Habakkuk wondered, and pressed back, at God’s plan, so he went up into a watchtower to seek and wait on the Lord for a better answer. (Habakkuk 2:1) God patiently answered Habakkuk, explaining His plan and telling His prophet that the righteous will live by faith. (Habakkuk 2:4) Eventually, Habakkuk was reconciled to the fact that God is sovereign. As a result, Habakkuk was able to rejoice in God and the strength He gives (Habakkuk 3:18-19) For a long time, God seemed unwilling to save the nation of Judah, and when His plan finally came to Habakkuk, it seemed worse than the current situation, but the prophet pursued God and His ways. God granted him this clarity, not in full, but in part, along with peace about God’s design over Habakkuk’s. God welcomed Habakkuk’s questions as he struggled to understand God’s plan, and He encourages the same from us. God promises if we call to Him, pray to Him, and seek Him with all our heart, we will find Him. (Jeremiah 29:12-13)

2) Why would God tolerate wrongdoing? (verse 3)
The prophet Habakkuk is heartsick at the sin and injustice he sees all around him. He wonders why a just and holy God would put up with such wickedness. In Habakkuk 1:3 he asks, “Why do you force me to look at injustice?  Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Oppression and violence are right in front of me. Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates.” When Habakkuk discovered God’s plan for dealing with Judah’s wickedness was to hand them over to the Babylonians, he was shocked and dismayed. (Habakkuk 1:12-13) Author R. C. Sproul explains, “Habakkuk couldn’t understand how God could use the evil Babylonians to chastise His people, when it seemed from a human perspective that the Lord’s purposes for Israel had failed and His faithful servants would not be vindicated. God responded that those He regards as righteous live by faith (Habakkuk 2:4).” God taught Habakkuk he could have faith in Him regardless of the situation.  Often, it seems like God is letting the bad guys get away with evil and it’s hard to accept that His plan isn’t to wipe them all out or bring them all down.  Sometimes, like in the days of Habakkuk, evil seems to go unchecked and God’s plan to deal with it seems slow and difficult to accept. We wonder, “Where is God?” or “When will He act?”  Author Ravi Zacharias assures us, “It is not that God has absconded or is absent; it is that there is a divine purpose behind His visibility or invisibility. If one can rightly read the clues, the mystery is opened up in profound ways. Just as evil can be understood only in the light of the ultimate purpose, so also must God’s presence or seeming absence be judged on the basis of His purpose.”  We can trust that God has a purpose for what He is doing and what He allows, even when we can’t envision it at the time.

3) How can justice come out perverted? (verse 4)
Habakkuk 1:4 reads from the prophet, “This is why the law is ineffective and justice never emerges. For the wicked restrict the righteous; therefore, justice comes out perverted.” The prophet Habakkuk abhorred the fact that God’s laws were being ignored and His people were flagrantly sinning and injuring one another. He watched in despair as those in authority either did nothing or participated in the abuses. Author Jack Arnold explains, “In all of Judah, the Mosaic Law was of no effect. Literally, this says the law was “frozen” or “chilled.” Wickedness numbs the Word of God. Law was on the books, but it was not enforced. Law had no authority. Because of unrighteous judges, the Law was made ineffective.” There was no justice in the land, only a perverted version bearing no resemblance to the righteousness laid out by the laws of God. When Habakkuk asks God why He doesn’t intervene, the answer God gives brings even more distress because He plans to send the wicked Babylonians to conquer the disobedient people of Judah. (Habakkuk 1:6) God eventually helps Habakkuk see His punishment as just. As author Chuck Swindoll notes how the story of Habakkuk “reminds us that while God may seem silent and uninvolved in our world, He always has a plan to deal with evil and always works out justice . . . eventually. The example of the prophet Habakkuk encourages believers to wait on the Lord, expecting that He will indeed work out all things for our good (Romans 8:28).”  Even when it seems like everything around us is wicked and falling apart, God has a plan for true justice to be enacted. It may not be on the timetable we want or in the manner we prefer, but God will always bring about true justice.

Everyday Application

1) What should we do when we call out to the Lord, but He does not save? (verse 2)
My friend struggles daily with physical ailments. She stays strong for her family, but she grows desperate for relief from her pain. Remaining hopeful is hard when no end is in sight. She longs to know why God hasn’t yet answered her prayers for healing. We have all been in similar situations, desperate to break free from persistent struggles with no coming relief.  Habakkuk experienced this enigma as well. He continually called on God to save his wayward nation, but instead of the hoped-for rescue, God revealed a plan that would greatly devastate Judah. (Habakkuk 1:2-11) Habakkuk struggled to accept God’s decision and questioned His drastic plan. (Habakkuk 1:12-17) Author Jennifer Rothschild notes, “because God loved His prophet perfectly, He didn’t give His prophet the perfect answer that Habakkuk wanted to hear, He gave him something better. He lifted Habakkuk’s spirit and gave him perspective.” This truth can be hard to accept, as it was for Habakkuk. No one wants to go through hard things that will undoubtedly bring pain and will forever change us. Habakkuk knew God’s plan would mean hardship and suffering, but he also recognized God requires the righteous to live by faith. (Habakkuk 2:4) Habakkuk knew he could trust his life and his nation to God because of His faithful, unchanging character. Jesus had this same experience in the garden of Gethsemane as He prayed deeply before being turned over to His accusers. Matthew 26:38-39 tells us, “He said to them, ‘I am deeply grieved to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake with me.’  Going a little farther, he fell face down and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.’” How remarkable that Jesus Himself prayed for a resolution He wanted, but accepted the will of the Father instead! God cares about our situations and our desperation. We can trust He is in control even when He seems not to answer, or when He gives an answer that we don’t like. Though we may neither agree nor understand, we can always trust His perfect will and faithful character.

2) Why would God tolerate wrongdoing? (verse 3)
If God controls everything, why allow tragedy and sickness? Of course, even acknowledging there is evil supposes there is also good, and this is where God comes in! Author Ravi Zacharias points out, “Transcending value and justice must come from a Person of transcending worth and an ultimate law or value-giver. The only reason people have intrinsic worth is that they are the creation of One who is of ultimate worth and the perfect lawgiver. That person is God.” So, we only know about good because God is good.  But why does He allow evil in the world? Evil entered the world when Adam and Eve sinned by disobeying God. (Romans 5:12) As a result, the world came under the sway of the evil one (I John 5:19, Luke 4:6) and humans became objects of attack from the devil (1 Peter 5:8). God’s plan to save fallen humanity from the eternal consequence of their sin was the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus. This work of Christ on the cross destroyed the power of sin and death, thwarting Satan’s plans for those who trust and believe in the Name of Jesus. (Hebrews 2:14) However, we still live in a sinful world, which Satan still rules for now. He still wages war against us, tempting us to give in to sin. At the second coming of Christ, evil will be vanquished forever when Satan is bound and thrown into the abyss of Hell. (Revelation 20:1-3) Pastor Tony Evans  explains, “God is holy; He can’t skip over our sin. He can’t tolerate evil, and we are all evil because of our sins. So for us to be able to draw near to God, Jesus’ death on the cross had to take place.” God’s plan for us involved a loving relationship with Him in a world without evil. Though sin kept us from God, He lovingly provided a bridge between Himself and humankind, this is Christ Jesus! Though we live in a world where evil exists, we hold tight to the hope of a future with Jesus where evil is no more (Revelation 21:3-4)

3) How can justice come out perverted? (verse 4)
I was a substitute teacher before having a full-time teaching job. I learned a lot about classroom discipline in those few months! Kids tested how far they could push the rules. It was obvious which classes had no rules and were confident they would face no real consequences when the teacher returned. I soon arrived at every job assignment with a backup lesson and rules of my own, just in case. I’ve had days in the classroom (even under my own management), when I was nearly as dismayed and distressed as Habakkuk when he watched the laws of God being flouted and justice being perverted making it unfair and ineffective. (Habakkuk 1:4) I have felt frustrated with God when it appears He is doing nothing about injustice. (Habakkuk 1:1) I wondered how I was supposed to teach grammar to kids hungry from poverty or neglect, who were under house arrest for serious crimes, who suffered with addiction, were victims of abuse, or were pregnant and scared. Why would God let such bad things happen to these kids? Why didn’t He stop the evil? Author Margaret Manning writes, “In our world of unanswered questions or in the difficult places where the answers are not what we want to hear, we are called to rest in this wordless place beyond answers . . . we can rest in God’s faithfulness from ages past. The wordless place can be for us the place of trust, instead of fear.” When I took my worries about my students to the Lord, I realized He could be trusted with my burdens for them. In the waiting, I understood He had provided each child with teachers, counselors, and coaches who cared, including myself! Some of us were just doing our jobs well, but some of us were also trying to be the hands and feet of Jesus to our students. We could not proselytize, but we could pray for them and speak truth over them. We could provide respite from the cruelties of the world every day by extending Jesus’ comfort. God saw their distress, and he sent people to help them. He brought true justice through His people.

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Digging Deeper is for Everyone!

1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God
in your everyday!

Digging Deeper Community

Share What You’ve Learned!
Pray Together!
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Our Current Study Theme!

This is Reveal Week One!
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Why Dig Deeper?

Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!

Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.

Study Tools

We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.

Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))

Memorize It!

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The GT Weekend! ~ Worship VII Week 1

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The GT Weekend!

At Gracefully Truthful, weekends aren’t for “checking out”.
Use this time to invite the Almighty’s fullness into you life in a deeper way!
Saturdays and Sundays are a chance to
reflect, rest, and re-center our lives onto Christ.
Don’t miss the opportunity to connect with other women in prayer,
rest your soul in reflective journaling,
and spend time worshiping the Creator who
longs for intimacy with each of us!

Worship Through Journaling

Worship Through Journaling

1) “Be still and know”. In a society which urges us at every moment to hustle harder, hurry to the next thing, and do more, the King of Kings calls His beloved children to be still. He calls those who love Him to cease their striving, to rest in His goodness and His completed work. He has always been faithful, and He will continue in His faithfulness. No amount of work or hustle can change His faithfulness toward you. Over the last six months since Covid-19 hit, some of us had the opportunity to slow down and sit with our thoughts as we have been kept at home, while others of us have had more and more responsibilities heaped on our plates beyond what we can manage. Spend some time today considering your response to God’s call to be still. Where in your life are you striving and working to make yourself better? Where are you resisting the gift of rest God has provided for you? Set aside some time this week to practice stillness. This may require getting up a little earlier or coordinating with your spouse to allow for some time away. Find space to rest, listen to God’s gentle leading, worship Him with honest transparency, and renew your soul by remembering “the Lord is on your side.”

2) “Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.” Jesus gave His life on the wondrous cross so we who believe might be united to Him. This unity demands we die to our selfish desires and relinquish any control we think we have over our lives. In Philippians 3, Paul tells his readers he has lost everything for the sake of Jesus, but considers all he lost as nothing because he has gained Christ. As followers of Christ, we will face suffering. This is the nature of our broken world. How have you responded to suffering in your life? Have you allowed God to make you new, even in the midst of suffering, or are you carrying around bitterness? Write down a current or recent struggle, then intentionally turn it over to the Lord. Ask for His help as you navigate this suffering. Name specific heart responses you have had toward your difficult situation, both positive and negative. Praise God for His work in you! If you’ve never died to yourself, knowing you have no righteousness on your own apart from Jesus, (Philippians 3:9) take these moments to repent from sin, asking Him to bring you the fullness of life only He can offer!

3)It is easy to forget all that went into securing our hope of salvation. Jesus was brought down low in order that we who trust in Him could be united to Him. He suffered and died so He might invite the weary and burdened to follow Him and take up His easy yoke. I don’t know about you, but I am humbled that anyone would choose to die such a horrific death on my behalf; much less Jesus himself who stepped down from the highest heaven to become the lowest servant. This sobering thought should lead us to consider how we can serve others. What could we possibly do that Jesus Himself has not already done to serve the Church? How can I ever possibly think I am above any position of service? Where is God calling you to lay down your life and serve others today? Is there a need for volunteers in your church? Do you have a friend or neighbor in need of encouragement or a meal? Ask God to show you ways you can reflect the humility of Christ by serving those in need around you. Make a plan to serve at least one person this week because Jesus came low to serve you.

Praying Scripture back to the One who wrote it in the first place is a great way to jump start our prayer-life! Pray this passage from Romans 8:37-39 back to the Lord and
let His Spirit speak to you through it!

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Prayer Journal
Lord, quiet my heart. Help me to be still and consider the greatness of the gifts You have given Your people. Thank You that You are on my side, despite what the world tells me. I know You gave Your Son to die on a cross, so I might have life to the full. Help me to never take Your gift for granted! Remind me the wonderful cross was the ultimate sacrifice for my ultimate good. Give me courage, strength, and perseverance to die to myself and live out my union with Christ. And oh! Let me not forget the glory awaiting me in the life to come! Let my weary soul find rest in the comfort of knowing that one day, I will dwell in Your presence. I trust You are preparing a place for me, and I find joy in knowing You will make all things new. As I consider what heaven will be like, help me to live out the principles of Your Kingdom “on earth, as it is in heaven.” Let me abide in Your perfect love and share Your love with the world around me. May I be full of Your goodness and truth.

Worship Through Community

Can we pray for you? Reach Out! We’d love to pray for and with you!
Send us an email at prayer@gracefullytruthful.com

Build community, be transparent, and encourage others:
Share how God spoke to you today!
Comment Here or in our Facebook Community Group!

Worship Through Prayer

Worship Through Music

Worship VII Day 3 The Wonderful Cross

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Philippians 3:1-11
Isaiah 53
John 15:6-17
Mark 15:6-37

Worship VII, Day 3

Dichotomy
Such a fancy-sounding word, simply meaning a contrast between two differing or opposing ideas. Why is this word important for today’s journey into worship? As we explore the hymn The Wonderful Cross, we uncover the incredible dichotomy of the cross of Jesus, simultaneously wonderful and horrible. Come, discover with me.

“When I survey the wondrous Cross
On which the Prince of Glory died
My richest gain, I count but loss
And pour contempt on all my pride.”

In Biblical times, there was nothing wonderful about a cross. It meant crucifixion, which was excruciatingly painful, while also publicizing the victim had committed a crime deserving a penalty of death.

Except Jesus committed no crime.
There was no sin to attribute to Him. (1 John 3:5)

However, human beings have sins to spare, and Jesus took every last, ugly, despicable one of them to that cross of death and shame. (Isaiah 53:5-6)
His holiness took on our sinfulness.
His righteousness was willingly offered in exchange for our unrighteousness when we embrace the cross. This place of death offers a slaying of our sin as we submit to His rule and reign! Anything we give up in this life to follow Him is a loss so we can gain eternity. (Philippians 3:7-9) Praise Him, the Prince of Glory!

“See from His head, His hands, His feet
Sorrow and love flow mingled down
Did ever such love and sorrow meet?
Or thorns compose, so rich a crown.” 

Jesus’ cross experience was filled with pain and suffering. Can you imagine being beaten with a whip laced with metal? (Mark 15:15) Picture a crown of thorns beaten into your head. (Mark 15:17-19) Then carry a cross beam on your wounded back, only to be nailed to it, and hung to die. Every drop of blood, from His head, hands and feet flowed from joyful obedience to the Father. He could have focused on the pain of the cross. Instead, He focused on the joy of it, because He was winning our salvation.

In the face of hatred and jealousy, He expressed love.
In response to the envy of the chief priests (Mark 15:10),
His fellow Jews yelling, “Crucify Him!” (Mark 15:12-14),
Roman soldiers mocking Him (Mark 15:20),
and crowds scoffing as He hung on the cross for their sins (Mark 15:29-32),
He offered His life for them all.

This was pure love.

John 15:13 says, “No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends.”
Jesus, however, went beyond this definition. Romans 5:8 says,
“while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

While they were not His friends.
While we were not His friends.
He still laid down His life, because He loves us! Does it ever bring you to tears to think about someone, anyone, loving you so much? I can scarcely handle the thought of the most holy God loving sinful me that much. Yet He does! Glory!

“Oh the wonderful Cross, oh the wonderful Cross
Bids me come and die and find that I may truly live
Oh the wonderful Cross, oh the wonderful Cross
All who gather here by grace, draw near and bless Your name.” 

The chorus mentions “gathering to bless His name.” This is what we do on Sundays at church, at Bible study, in small groups, and as we pray together throughout the week. We bless Him.
When we lay our problems down so He can handle them, we bless Him.
All made possible because of the wonderful cross that brought His brutal death and our freedom.

On the day Jesus died, people gathered at the foot of His cross, but their intention was not to bless. They drew near to mock the very One who could save them. Today, in light of what Jesus finished for us, we metaphorically gather at the foot of the cross to bless the very one who did save us. (Isaiah 53:5 and Isaiah 53:11)

“Were the whole realm of nature mine
That were an offering far too small
Love so amazing, so divine
Demands my soul, my life, my all.”

How do we respond to this costly, sacrificial love? In His horrific death, we find the most profoundly extravagant act of love and selflessness ever displayed.

I can think of three actions we can take in response.
First, accept the gift of salvation. Jesus paid a high price for us to spend eternity with Him. Let’s not leave His gift unaccepted and unopened.

Second, since Jesus died for us, we should die for others in sacrificial love. On a daily basis, we work toward dying to self and to our sin. Philippians 2:3 explains it best, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves.” In a nutshell, dying to self means:

  • Operating in humility
  • Considering others before ourselves
  • Placing others’ needs before ours

I warn you, it will feel like death. I’ve tried it!
But it’s nothing compared to the cross of Christ. So, let’s just do the thing, and live in the love of Jesus as we follow Him, okay?

Third, we can take hold of the life Jesus died to give us.
Let’s read our Bible and do what it says.
Let’s use our gifts for His glory, not ours.
Let’s press on toward the goal for the prize of following Jesus. (Philippians 3:14)
We can do this in honor of the wonderful cross and our beautiful Savior!

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Calling Day 7 For This Reason: Digging Deeper

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Digging Deeper Days

Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!

Yesterday’s Journey Study connects with today’s!
Check out For This Reason!

The Questions

1) How does Paul suggest we be filled with all the fullness of God? (verse 19)

2) How does God do above and beyond what we can ask or even think? (verse 20)

3) Why does Paul say his afflictions are for the glory of the Ephesians? (verse 13)

Ephesians 3:1-21

For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— 2 assuming you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that he gave me for you. 3 The mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have briefly written above. 4 By reading this you are able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ. 5 This was not made known to people  in other generations as it is now revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: 6 The Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and partners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. 7 I was made a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the working of his power. 8 This grace was given to me—the least of all the saints—to proclaim to the Gentiles the incalculable riches of Christ, 9 and to shed light for all about the administration of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things. 10 This is so that God’s multi-faceted wisdom may now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavens. 11 This is according to his eternal purpose accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 In him we have boldness and confident access through faith in him.13 So, then, I ask you not to be discouraged over my afflictions on your behalf, for they are your glory. 14 For this reason I kneel before the Father 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. 16 I pray that he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his Spirit, 17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, 19 and to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.20 Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us— 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Original Intent

1) How does Paul suggest we be filled with all the fullness of God? (verse 19)
In Ephesians 3:19, Paul prays his readers will be “filled with all the fullness of God”. “Fullness” comes from the Greek “pleroma” and “describes the full measure of something with an emphasis on completeness.” (Precept Austin.org) When Paul prays for the Ephesians to be filled with all the fullness of God, he begins by praying they would be “rooted and firmly established in love and be able to comprehend the length and width, height and depth of God’s love that surpasses knowledge.” (Ephesians 3:17-19) To experience this love beyond any measure is the beginning of being filled with all the fullness of God.  Author Stephen Cole suggests, “Paul is praying we will attain to spiritual perfection, having all that God is fill us to overflowing. As our capacity to receive it grows, He keeps filling us again and again. The idea of fullness implies total dominance or control, so that God perfectly controls our minds, our emotions, and our will.”  We can be filled with all the fullness of God when we give God all access and full control of all parts of our lives.  The better we know Him and His love, the more willing we are to let Him in to fill us and change us.  Paul follows this prayer to be filled with God’s fullness by reminding us that God can do much more than we can think or ask. (Ephesians 3:20) This extends to filling us with His love and with everything that God is and has for us.  He can fill us to a fullness we can’t even fathom!

2) How does God do above and beyond what we can ask or even think? (verse 20)
In Ephesians 3:20, Paul exhorts the Ephesians to give glory to the God who is “able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us.”  It’s not lost on his readers that Paul writes this encouragement from a prison cell in Rome, where he sits because of his unceasing desire to preach the Gospel.  Yet, Paul is focused on how the power of God in us can do far more than we think possible.  Author Priscilla Shirer observes that Paul is “just spilling over himself, tripping over himself trying desperately to figure out how to communicate the greatness and the grandeur of God’s capacity and His ability to work miracles in our lives and to be engaged in the details of our everyday living.”  Even in his difficult circumstances, Paul believes God’s power is beyond human comprehension.  Author Thomas Constable asserts, “The basis for Paul’s confidence that God is able to do far beyond what he had prayed for or could even imagine was the work God had done to bring Jews and Gentiles together in one body.”  Preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles became Paul’s life work, and he had daily proof that God could bring about unity and harmony in Christ beyond what Paul ever thought possible. Paul’s faith in God’s vast power was also based on his own conversion experience, which found him walking toward Damascus with intent to harm Jesus’ followers and instead encountering Jesus Himself. This experience turned his life upside down.  Instead of persecuting Christians, he was now converting others to Christianity, which was abundantly more than he could ever have considered.  Paul knew better than anyone how far God can go beyond our petitions and our thoughts; this knowledge caused him to give glory to God.

3) Why does Paul say his afflictions are for the glory of the Ephesians? (verse 13)
When the apostle Paul told the Ephesians his afflictions are their glory in verse 13, he wasn’t speaking flippantly.  Paul’s mission since his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9) had been to share the Good News of Jesus with the Gentiles. Fulfilling this mission caused him countless problems, including beatings, stoning, imprisonment, shipwrecks, and various physical dangers and discomforts. (2 Corinthians 11:25-26) Paul wrote his letter to the Ephesians while under Roman house arrest, and the people worried about him.  Paul told the Ephesians he didn’t want them to feel bad he was going through hard times for them because everything he faced was part of his heavenly mandate to bring the message of salvation to them. Through his hardships, they received the message of God’s redemptive love, and that was worth everything he suffered.  Author Peter Pett notes Paul declared his trials are “either a cause for them to glory, or will result in glory for them, or both. Without his imprisonment there may well have been no letters, and what would we have done then?”  Paul was as zealous to convert people to Christ as he had been to condemn Christians before his own conversion.  Every trial he faced brought the Gospel to more people, which was cause for rejoicing.

Everyday Application

1) How does Paul suggest we be filled with all the fullness of God? (verse 19)
It still amazes me some days that God chose to redeem me and chooses to love me.  I wouldn’t do it if I were Him.  I would have given up on me a long time ago, but God’s ways are far above mine. (Isaiah 55:9) He not only chose me, redeemed me and loved me, but He has all kinds of blessings and good things in store for me. (Ephesians 1:1-14) Paul calls it “being filled with all the fullness of God”. (Ephesians 3:19) He wants to make me more and more like Him by filling me with His fullness. He wants me to look like Him so I can draw others to discover Him. The best part is, I don’t need to do anything in my own strength to accomplish this! I cannot fill myself with all the fullness of God.  He fills me up with His love, His mercy, His grace, His compassion, and all the other things He is, so I will spill over with “His fullness”.  He fills me to capacity, and then when I grow, He fills me to capacity again.  Sometimes, He fills me just by pouring out His love and His goodness on me.  Sometimes, He fills me by letting me struggle and grapple and pursue.  Even when what I feel as being empty, He is actually in the process of filling me with hope and faith.  I agree with Paul that “God’s love surpasses knowledge” (verse 19), and I am grateful He keeps filling me as I grow to be more like Him.

2) How does God do above and beyond what we can ask or even think? (verse 20)
I have always been a tea drinker.  I believed all teas were about the same, until a friend gifted me a tin of gourmet cinnamon tea sachets.  Once I tasted that brew, I was ruined for any other cinnamon tea! I tried going back to cinnamon tea in the grocery aisle, but it would no longer suffice. The store brand tea was flat and bitter compared to the gourmet blend with hints of citrus. I think of this experience when I read Paul’s words in verse 20, “God’s power in us can do more than we could ask or dream up”.  Before my friend’s gift arrived, I had only known to ask for regular cinnamon tea, but this special blend was beyond anything I’d imagined!  It is important to consider this truth when I am asking God for things or imagining how I want things to go.  God has plans and purposes beyond what I can dream that are abundantly more than I can comprehend.  He puts His power in me so He can do great things beyond my wildest imaginings to bring Him glory.  I need to ask Him for what I can imagine, then trust Him to do more beyond that.  He doesn’t want me to be limited by what I can think or what I know to ask for; I need to be open to all He has for me.  Usually that doesn’t come in a package that says, “better than you can imagine.”  It often comes wrapped in change, difference, discomfort, and unknown. This is why Paul prays for the Ephesians to be “strengthened by the power of the Holy Spirit and to have faith.” (verse 16) He knows that trusting God is key.  May we trust in Him to do abundantly more than we can even think to ask Him!

3) Why does Paul say his afflictions are for the glory of the Ephesians? (verse 13)
The internet is full of beautiful stories about people shaving their heads to show solidarity with loved ones losing their hair to chemotherapy for cancer.  My tears fall with every pass of the razor when I watch those clips!  When I was a kid, I had a pal who was one of the only red heads in our small town, and he suffered a lot of teasing and embarrassment as a result.  His mom decided to dye her own hair red so he wouldn’t feel so alone.  These stories of people willing to endure hard things for their loved ones are deeply inspiring to me. The love they have is powerful. Even more inspiring to me is the lengths the apostle Paul was willing to go so he could share the Gospel with the Gentiles. He suffered much more than losing hair! He opens his letter to the Ephesians by calling himself the “prisoner of Jesus Christ on behalf of the Gentiles“. (verse 13) He endured intense persecution to preach salvation to those who would listen.  Jesus’ love for Paul was so radical and bursting with grace, Paul was compelled to give this love away.  Christ got Paul’s attention when He revealed himself to Paul on the road to Damascus, and Paul lived his life from that moment on with the singular purpose of sharing God’s love with everyone he could.  He was glad to suffer abuse if it meant the Gospel would be preached to more people.  He wanted everyone to know how deep and how wide God’s love is. (verse 18) He experienced God’s powerful love, and it made him able to love others profoundly, even when it cost him dearly.

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Digging Deeper is for Everyone!

1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God
in your everyday!

Digging Deeper Community

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Why Dig Deeper?

Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!

Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.

Study Tools

We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.

Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))

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Sketched VIII Day 13 Tamar And Absalom

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Read His Words Before Ours!

2 Samuel 13 
1 Corinthians 13
2 Samuel 11
Colossians 3:18-25
Psalm 91

Sketched VIII, Day 13

Tamar
What a mess I am in. According to our law, he is supposed to make me his wife. (Deuteronomy 22:28-29) But the law also says he cannot, because what happened between us is a disgrace and we’ll both bear the sin. (Leviticus 18:11, 20:17) However, I know my suffering and shame will be greater than his . . . though he was the initiator and violator.

My name, Tamar, is now soiled because of my half brother, Amnon. How could he deceive me into thinking I was coming to help him in his sickness, when he only wanted to rape me? (2 Samuel 13:6-14) How could he profess his love for me and
commit this great iniquity?
Love isn’t rude like he was.
Love does not do unrighteous acts.
Love is not selfish. (1 Corinthians 13: 5-6)

Amnon never loved me. He loved what he could take from me. And he has taken everything.
My virginity, my trust in men, my hope of a future, my peace.
All of it, stolen, never to be returned.

Who will vindicate me? Will my father, David? I am not sure. Whispers in the court claim he took Bathsheba as his wife in a similar way. Is it true my father also violated Bathsheba while her husband Uriah was fighting a war, as my father should have been? (2 Samuel 11:1-4) Are the rumors true that the child she mourned was also my father’s, a product of their encounter? (2 Samuel 12:16-18)

But she became his wife, so I cannot turn to her with my pain. She will not understand my position because my father did not despise her afterwards as Amnon hates me. O, woe is me! Who can help me in my time of great distress and need?

Surely not my father. No, Amnon is David’s son; David has taught Amnon by word and by deed. How can David chastise his son for something he also did? I will seek out my brother, Absalom. Perhaps he will not fail me.

Absalom
The scoundrel Amnon! He deceived our father and committed a great sin against my sister, Tamar. She came to me hopeless, weeping, covered in ashes of mourning. I took her into my home, asking her to keep quiet so I could make a plan before word of her disgrace spread. (2 Samuel 13:20)

I tried asking my father for help, but was denied. He showed anger, yes. But he did nothing for Tamar (2 Samuel 13:21); he chose his firstborn over us. Therefore, my own anger burned for two years because of his inaction. (Colossians 3:21)

Finally, I vindicated Tamar and made right what King David left in disgrace. Amnon is dead at the hands of the men under my command. Now my father grieves for Amnon while I must flee for my life. (2 Samuel 13:23-37)

Tamar
Amnon is dead. Absalom fled after he ordered Amnon’s killing.
I know Amnon thinks he has vindicated me.
I suppose, if nothing else, he has avenged me.

But I still live with shame. When Absalom ran, he left the household that had been my shelter. I must now return to my mother, Maacah, who is part of David’s royal harem. (2 Samuel 3:3) How humiliating to be the only one who is not a virgin, yet unmarried. No hope of marriage or family is forthcoming for me.

Though he tried, Absalom has also failed me. Blinded by anger and vengeance, he left me here alone.  And now my father mourns for Amnon, but who mourns for me? There is no man in whom I can hope or trust with my life, my well being.

I hurl my broken cries into the void surrounding me, expecting no answer but silence.
Yet here, in my deepest darkness and depression and pain, Someone whispers my name.
Not with derision or scorn, but tenderness and love.

YAHWEH
He alone will be my hope.
He will be my refuge and strength.
He will help me when I am in trouble.
He will provide.

If He is with me, I will not need to be afraid. When men continue to fail me, I will trust in Him. (Psalm 91:1-4) I cling to His promises to protect me and give me peace. (Psalm 91:14-16)

At the hands of men, I have been deceived, abused, violated, ignored, and abandoned.
In the arms of YAHWEH, I have found safety, acceptance, vindication, and redemption.
YAHWEH’s faithfulness, unlike men’s, is everlasting.

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A Note About Sketched
In this series, we are stepping into the shoes of various characters throughout history. Some are biblical, some are well-known in modern day times, and some are people our writers know personally. We do our best to research the culture and times surrounding these individuals to give an accurate representation of their first-person perspectives on life and the world, but we can’t be 100% accurate. “Sketched” is our best interpretation of how these characters view(ed) God, themselves, and the world around them. Our hope is that by stepping into their everyday, we will see our own lives a little differently!
Enjoy!
And keep watching for Sketched Themes to pop up throughout the year!

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Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus. Tap and hold from your mobile device to download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!

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Sketched VIII Day 2 Hagar And Ishmael: Digging Deeper

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Digging Deeper Days

Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!

Yesterday’s Journey Study connects with today’s!
Check out Hagar And Ishmael!

The Questions

1) Why did Sarai and Abraham try to fulfill the promises of God in their own power?

2) Why would God ask Hagar to submit to the mistreatment of Sarai?

3) Why did it mean so much to Hagar to be seen and heard by God?

Genesis 16

Abram’s wife, Sarai, had not borne any children for him, but she owned an Egyptian slave named Hagar. 2 Sarai said to Abram, “Since the Lord has prevented me from bearing children, go to my slave; perhaps through her I can build a family.” And Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So Abram’s wife, Sarai, took Hagar, her Egyptian slave, and gave her to her husband, Abram, as a wife for him. This happened after Abram had lived in the land of Canaan ten years. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she became pregnant. When she saw that she was pregnant, her mistress became contemptible to her. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for my suffering! I put my slave in your arms, and when she saw that she was pregnant, I became contemptible to her. May the Lord judge between me and you.”

6 Abram replied to Sarai, “Here, your slave is in your power; do whatever you want with her.” Then Sarai mistreated her so much that she ran away from her.

7 The angel of the Lord found her by a spring in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. 8 He said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?”

She replied, “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai.”

9 The angel of the Lord said to her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her authority.” 10 The angel of the Lord said to her, “I will greatly multiply your offspring, and they will be too many to count.”

11 The angel of the Lord said to her, “You have conceived and will have a son. You will name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard your cry of affliction. 12 This man will be like a wild donkey. His hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand will be against him; he will settle near all his relatives.”

13 So she named the Lord who spoke to her: “You are El-roi,” for she said, “In this place, have I actually seen the one who sees me?”  14 That is why the well is called Beer-lahai-roi. It is between Kadesh and Bered.

15 So Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son, and Abram named his son (whom Hagar bore) Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him.

Original Intent

1) Why did Sarai and Abraham try to fulfill the promises of God in their own power?
In Genesis 12:2, God told Abram He would bless him with many descendants. Abram and Sarai waited ten years for God to give them a child and fulfill His promise. They were already very old, so Sarai figured God must want them to use a surrogate woman to start a family. (Genesis 16:2) While the exact circumstances of the surrogate arrangement are not known, author David Guzik explains, “According to customs of the day, Hagar would actually sit on the lap of Sarai as Abram inseminated her, to show that the child would legally belong to Sarai, as Hagar was merely a substitute for Sarai.” Abram and Sarai believed God’s promise, but they took it upon themselves to fulfill it since it seemed as if God wasn’t coming through. If they had waited for God to fulfill His word (which He did over a decade later,) they would have saved themselves much suffering. By using Sarai’s slave, Hagar, to give Abram a son, Ishmael, they caused strife and heartbreak for everyone, including our own world as Islam came through Ishmael. The preacher Charles Spurgeon notes that, “Very likely Hagar was one of the slaves given to him by Pharaoh when he dismissed him and Sarah; and you know what trouble Hagar brought into the family. If Abraham had lived the separated life, and hadn’t fallen into the customs of those around him, he would not have had that sin and sorrow concerning Hagar; nor would he have had that righteous rebuke from Abimelech, the king of Gerar, when again he had acted deceitfully with regard to his wife.” (Genesis 20:1) Sarai and Abram were desperate to make God’s promises come true, but their intervention was not part of God’s plan.  John Piper notes, “God will not settle for anything less than the path of impossibility: He aims to show that nothing is too difficult for the Lord. (Luke 1:37) His purpose in all He does is to magnify His sovereign grace and keep us in our humble place.”  May we all cling to God’s promises while patiently trusting in His plan to bring the best results.

2) Why would God ask Hagar to submit to the mistreatment of Sarai?
When Abram and Sarai decide to use the slave woman, Hagar, as a surrogate so they can have a son, tensions rise. (Genesis 16:3)  Hagar is proud of carrying Abram’s child, and Sarai is enraged by her attitude.  Encouraged by Abram, Sarai mistreats Hagar and causes her to run away. (Genesis 16:5-6) God stops Hagar in her desert flight and urges her to return and once again submit herself to Sarai. (Genesis 16:9) While it may seem harsh for the Lord to send Hagar back to where she had been mistreated, God instructed her to return, not for harm, but for a blessing. According to the Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, “The counsel was given in kindness as well as wisdom; for, by continuing to penetrate further into the wilderness, she must inevitably have perished, and all her prospects of maternity been blasted.” God had plans for Hagar and her baby, even though she was not carrying the child of promise. Every life is important to the Lord, regardless of the circumstances surrounding conception! The angel of the Lord, which was “Jesus pre-incarnate,” according to Dr. Tony Evans, told her she would have a son and he too would be the beginning of many descendants. Scholar Elizabeth Tracy emphasizes “God focuses on Hagar’s future; she won’t return defenseless or with the same status.  She will return with strong promises received directly and personally from God.” As David Guzik explains, “The Angel of the Lord told her to repent. If she changed her direction, there was an inherent promise – obey Me and I will protect you. Jesus didn’t tell Hagar to return to abuse; He made an implied promise of protection.” After encountering Jesus, Hagar calls the Lord “El Roi,” which translates to “the God who sees”. (Genesis 16:3) Hagar does not fear returning to live with Abram and Sarai because she knows God has heard her, seen her, and promised her blessing through her son.

3) Why did it mean so much to Hagar to be seen and heard by God?
When the angel of the Lord, Jesus in the flesh before He came as a baby, appeared to Hagar, He told her some remarkable things as well as some hard things. (Genesis 16:7) One of those hard things was for her to return to living with Abram and Sarai, the place she had just escaped. According to author Beth Moore,  “Hagar is a name that means stranger — that she’s a stranger. Now I want you to please note that the angel of the Lord has sought out the stranger. This is making me think of Ephesians 2 which says you are ‘no longer foreigners and strangers, but you are citizens with the saints of God, members of the household of God, that he seeks out strangers.’” Because her very name means stranger, the fact that God would seek her out was meaningful to Hagar. Not only did God seek her out, but she is the first person in Scripture to whom the angel of the Lord appears. David Guzik notes how God “didn’t first appear to Noah or Enoch or Abram. The Angel of the LORD first appeared to a single mother-to-be who had a pride problem and was mistreated by the woman who put her into the whole mess.” Because she was a stranger, far from home with no resources or support, she had nowhere to turn. The fact that God heard her anguish and saw her situation was life-changing. Author Joni Eareckson Tada observes, “Her circumstances didn’t miraculously change, but she had experienced the miracle of a changed perspective. Knowing that God is real, and He was really involved in her life story, gave Hagar renewed vision for what otherwise looked like a desperate situation.” Knowing she had been seen and heard by God meant Hagar could keep going. She could return to the household of Sarai and wait for the birth of her son without fear, because she knew God was protecting her, watching over her, and had promised her the blessing of many descendants.

Everyday Application

1) Why did Sarai and Abraham try to fulfill the promises of God in their own power?
I have ruined many things because I couldn’t wait. I have served under-baked cookies and smudged my finger nail polish on more than one occasion because I was too hasty. Impatience proved to be even costlier for Abram and Sarai when they decided to fulfill God’s promises in their own way by having a son born of Sarai’s Egyptian slave, Hagar. (Genesis 16:3) They thought that since they had waited 10 years for God to provide with no results, God must want them to take the initiative. Surely their solution to make God’s promise come true would work, they reasoned. As quickly as Hagar discovered her pregnancy, problems with their scheme became evident. Hagar soon felt pride in giving Abram what Sarai could not, which made Sarai angry. Soon Sarai began mistreating Hagar so badly that Hagar ran away. (Genesis 16:6) Even after Hagar’s return, when her son, Ishmael, was born, there was still tension and strife. Eventually Sarai, now Sarah, would have the pair sent far away from Isaac, the actual son of promise. (Genesis 21:10) We do this, too!  We get tired of waiting on God. We figure He has forgotten us or that He must want us to take matters into our own hands since He hasn’t made a move to fulfill His promises to us in the way we think best. We become good at reasoning and rationalizing. We even grow angry that God hasn’t acted in the ways we assume He should.  Sometimes we figure the ends will justify the means. If God wants something for us, then it doesn’t matter how we get it.  This is not God’s way! We may not understand His ways or His timing, but His ways are always perfect. (Psalm 18:30) If we wait for Him and trust in His promise, we will see God do what only God can do. (Isaiah 30:18) If we attempt to muster up a way to make His promises happen, we miss out on His perfect plan, or we make a huge mess of everything. Instead, we can trust that God is a promise keeper. (Deuteronomy 7:9) When God promises to do something for us or in us or through us, He will make it happen. (Philippians 1:6) Though He sometimes uses us to fulfill His plans and purposes, He does not need us to come up with plan B when we feel His plan is off track.  His plans, and His ways, can be trusted! (Proverbs 3:5)

2) Why would God ask Hagar to submit to the mistreatment of Sarai?
It is pretty clear to me by now that God doesn’t do things the way I would. If something is hard or causes me pain, my plan is to avoid it.  Seems pretty logical, right? More often than not, however, God uses the pain I experience as an integral part of my growth process. (James 1:2-4) Scripture even tells us if our suffering is for God, it brings favor with God. (1 Peter 2:18-20) When God told Hagar to return to the household of Abram and Sarai, the thought of returning to the misery she just left must have been overwhelming. (Genesis 16:9) This is how I feel when God asks me to stay in a season of hardship, or stick with a difficult relationship. I feel overwhelmed by the thought of staying with what causes me pain, even though running away has its own perils. When Hagar encountered God in the wilderness, He gave her hope by telling her He heard her, He saw her, and He had better things in store for her. (Genesis 16:7) If she endured by His strength, she would see reward.  I have seen this same reality in my own life and the lives of others. I know a young person who has endured painful physical issues his entire childhood and now waits for a heart transplant.  He could be bitter and hopeless, but instead God has made him grateful, humble, and compassionate. Through the pain and hardship, he has learned to trust God and rely on Him for everything. My young friend understands that all things, even the painful ones, work together for our good if we love God and are called by God. (Romans 8:28) My prayer is that I don’t run from God, but rather turn towards Him when I experience hurt and pain, so He can use it to mature me and make me more like Him.

3) Why did it mean so much to Hagar to be seen and heard by God?
When Hagar ran away from Sarai and Abram’s household and fled to the wilderness, presumably heading back to Egypt, she must have felt invisible. (Genesis 16:7) She was a slave, a pregnant, unmarried woman, and a foreigner in a strange land.  She was mistreated and abused by those who chose her to be their surrogate child-bearer even though she was carrying Abram’s heir. (Genesis 16:6) She couldn’t have expected God to find her and call her name. (Genesis 16:8) She couldn’t have imagined He would see her in anguish and hear her despair.  How amazed she must have been when the angel of the Lord called her name and asked for her side of the story. She may have expected Him to chastise her for being prideful with Sarai or for running away.  (Genesis 16:4) Instead, God gave her good news that her child was a son and he would bring her many descendants. (Genesis 16:10-11) He gave her a way to safely return, be provided for, and raise her son.  After she spoke with God, she called Him El Roi, the God who sees. (Genesis 16:13) She recognized God saw her, knew her, and cared about her situation. It didn’t matter she was a runaway slave. It didn’t matter she had been mistreated or angered Sarai. God saw her, and extended mercy and love. God saw her, the woman Hagar, and not all the things she had done or had been done to her. He heard her heart and saw her need for Him, and He came through for her! He became her hope for a future.  He became her ever present help in trouble. About the story of Hagar, Ann Voskamp says,” For the women forgotten and for the women discouraged and the women lost, there is water in the wilderness and He is our well and all. is. well.” Through Hagar’s story, God is telling each of us, no matter who we are, where we are, or how we got there, He sees us, He loves us, and He has love and mercy for us, too.

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1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
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as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
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Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

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Ten Day 10 A Love That Honors

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Exodus 20:1-17
1 John 4:7-21
Psalm 136
2 Peter 1:1-11
Matthew 5:13-20

Ten, Day 10

The email started with a simple question,
“Did you attend Marquette University in the early to mid 80s?”

The name sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place it. Then I realized it was an old flame from college. I wasn’t sure what he wanted, but thought he might be working through a twelve-step program, so I confirmed my identity.
The next email started with compliments and ended with the real question.
“I know you’re married, and so am I, but is it possible for us to talk?”

I’m not going to lie. I was tempted for a moment. But in the end, I responded, “No, it would be disrespectful to both our spouses.” And that was that.
Events easily could have taken a different path.
Because I value my relationship with God, there was no alternate ending.

Exodus 20:14 is a command straight from God,
“Do not commit adultery.”

It’s from a set of ten God gave to the Israelites through Moses. But they weren’t just rules to act like bumpers on a bowling lane. They weren’t meant to be an “am I holy?” checklist.

Because, you see, we cannot keep the commandments.
We’re not righteous enough to live a perfect life.

Romans 3:23 tells us “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” And in the Old Testament, Psalm 14:3 tells us there is not even one person who does good.

So why did God give us commandments we are doomed to break, you might ask?

Quite simply, because He loves us.
1 John 4:10 explains, “Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

He wasn’t acting on a mean-spirited desire to set us up for failure. Since Adam and Eve’s first sin, He had been separated from His precious children, and He was heartbroken.

So He planned to sacrifice His very self to give us a way back into relationship with Him . . . but this way back is dependent upon our recognition of our sin, repentance, and embrace of Jesus as our Savior.

By giving us ten commandments simultaneously reflecting His holy character and highlighting our sin,
He was helping us understand our need for a Savior.

Next, let’s explore what God reveals about His character by identifying adultery as a sin.

First, He is faithful.
Avoiding adultery means to remain faithful.
And what is God, if not faithful?

Psalm 136 repeats “His faithful love endures forever” twenty-six times as it recounts God’s wondrous creation and His consistent protection of, and provision for, His people, despite their repeated disobedience, failures, and abandonment of their Creator and Rescuer.

In fact, Judges and 1 and 2 Kings tell a dismal story of the countless times the Israelites disobeyed God or chased other gods. Yet God always saved them, because of His faithfulness and in spite of their unfaithfulness.

Scripture tells us that no matter what we do, no matter what happens, God loves us.
Why?
Because “God is love.” (1 John 4:8)

Marriage is a covenant promise. By asking us to keep our promise to another human being, God was demonstrating that He is a promise-keeper. (See for yourself! Check out Joshua 21:45, Number 23:19, and Ezekiel 12:28)

God wants the world to know He is a faithful, loving, promise-keeping God; therefore, He instructs us to reflect His character in our relationships by abhorring adultery.

It’s important for believers to adhere to this command,
because if we won’t honor the relationship with our spouse, whom we can see and touch,
how well will we honor our relationships with God, Whom we cannot see or touch?

When we do follow His command, our marriages become a reflection of Who God is and how He wants to love the world. We become a shining light in a world dark with sexual sin and broken promises. Matthew 5:16 says when our light shines, the world sees and gives glory to God. What an honor!

Are you familiar with the story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife in Genesis 39? She was doing all she could to commit adultery. But Joseph would not oblige her.

In recounting all Potiphar had given him, Joseph asked, “So how could I do this immense evil, and how could I sin against God?”. (Genesis 39:9) Joseph understood that to commit sexual sin was to hurt the heart of God.

And he was right. When we honor God, and express our love for Him by following His commands, our actions speak louder than any words we could say.

So, let’s change our perspective on the commandments as a whole, and the command regarding adultery in particular. Let’s shift our focus from ourselves to leading lives that honor God, in order to share His character, His love, and His sacrifice with the world.

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