WHAT IS GOD DOING TO US?
Most of the time when this question is asked it's in the negative form. We question what God is allowing us to go through. "God, why are you doing this to me?" Perhaps people have asked this question since the pandemic started. But today, my focus in asking this question will be looking at the positive things God is doing to us. Let's take a look at some of them.
1) He saves us.
Titus 3:3-7, "At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and being enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.
He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life."
In chapter three of Paul's letter to Titus, who at the time was ministering to the people on the island of Crete, it starts out by reminding them they needed to be subject to rulers and authorities, to slander no one, to be peaceable and humble toward everyone.
As we see in vs. 3, the Cretans were pretty wild. So there was probably a regular pattern of rebellion towards authority figures. But when they became Christians they began to change their ways. So now, after having seen the light, they could see the pagan ways of their countrymen more clearly and were no doubt repulsed by what they saw.
It appears they were starting to slander them and be contentious toward them. Paul knew they needed to be reminded that at one time they were no different. In fact, in chapter one we see this: Titus 1:12, "Even one of their own prophets has said, “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.”
The Cretans were quite the bunch. So Paul's like, 'hold on! Before you continue slandering and being inconsiderate, you need to humble yourselves and remember how you used to be before God saved you.' They needed to be told that their salvation and ability to change was not of their own doing. They needed to be humble and remember that it was by God's grace they were saved and not by their own merit. If in their pride they thought they were somehow better than others they weren't.
2nd Tim. 1:9 says that God has saved us and called us to a holy life; not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. It was by God's design and purpose that salvation came through Jesus. Mankind in and of itself doesn't have the desire to seek God; we're not looking to honor him. Apart from God initiating it, salvation wouldn't happen.
Eph. 2:8-9, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast."
Being right with God isn't achieved by anything I do but only by what has been done for me through Christ. With that said, Paul isn't removing free will from the equation. Salvation involves me having faith and responding to the gospel; I need to receive the gift that is offered to me.
However, although there's a needed response on my part, salvation is not possible on my own. Faith is something I'm given the privilege to enact if I choose to. I wouldn't have faith if not for God giving me the ability to have it. Within ourselves we have no propensity for goodness. Apart from God enabling us to do good, we wouldn't. Our inherit nature is sinful.
Although God enables us to know right from wrong and make right choices even before we are saved, the ability to know the right thing and do the right thing comes from God; we can't lay claim to it. Knowing all this will cause us to better appreciate God's grace and our salvation, it will cause us to be more understanding of people's actions and it will result in us having greater humility. Who am I without God's amazing grace? What has God done for us? He saved us.
2) He strengthens us.
Psalm 18:30-36, "As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him. For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God? It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect.
He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights. He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You give me your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains me; you stoop down to make me great. You broaden the path beneath me, so that my ankles do not turn."
In this passage David cites all the things the Lord has done for him. I like how he starts out. It's like he's saying, "God's way is perfect-mine is not. God's word is flawless-mine is not". In order to be the beneficiaries of God's provision like David was, we need to come to the same conclusion as David did. We need to recognize how imperfect and flawed we are and how perfect and flawless God is.
God's ways don't always make sense, which is why we sometimes ask, "God what are you doing". Sometimes his word doesn't make sense to us either. Then there are times his word rubs us the wrong way because it addresses a sin we're committing or it's going against a principle we've held.
In these situations we have a choice to make and a conclusion to come to-will we accept God's ways and his word as perfect and flawless or will we be in contention with them? If we don't like something that's happening to us or if we're wrestling with something the bible says, but can humbly say, 'God, I believe that your way is perfect and your word is flawless, so I need your help accepting it', then we're in good shape and ready to receive strength and blessings.
Then David states that God is his shield-he is his protector. David doesn't mean that he expects God to protect him from everything. He acknowledges that God has kept him going when he could've very easily been dead numerous times. David could've died at the hands of Goliath. David could've died at the hands of Saul. David could've died in any one of the numerous battles he and his army fought. David acknowledges and appreciates God's protection over his life.
Has there ever been a time when you could've either died or been seriously injured but you escaped? God was your shield.
David goes on to basically say, "who could've done this for me besides God? Who's stronger than God?" God is the only God and he is the rock! David's not saying he didn't have any other help in these situations. Saul's son Jonathan helped David escape from the hand of his father. And David had loyal soldiers that helped him escape trouble. But David honors the one who made it all possible.
We may have people in our lives who have helped us in times of trouble. We may have had people who rescued us or were there for us in times of need. And although we need to thank them, our ultimate thankfulness and gratitude needs to be extended towards God-our strength and our shield.
As David acknowledges in the next verse-God is my source of strength, he's the one who leads me the right way. David may have had physical strength, bravery, courage-he fought bears and lions when they attacked his sheep-but he takes no credit-for he knows God is the one who arms him with strength.
David may have had wisdom and knowledge-these things are a must if you're going to be ruling a nation and leading an army-but he indicates that it wasn't by his own intellect that he knew the right way to go, it was God showing him the right way. "I can't take the credit for making the right decisions that led my army to victory; I can't take the credit for my bravery or courage in battle-I owe it all to my God."
In bible study Wednesday, we looked at Heb. 10 where it talked about the persecution the Jewish converts had gone through and that they joyfully accepted the confiscation of their property. It's not that they enjoyed it, but they were joyful just the same. I asked how they could do that. Their ability to do that came from knowing they had better and lasting possessions in heaven.
During the discussion about this, Bobby talked about how we at Cornerstone have gone through a lot of things over the years and have dealt with break ins, stolen property and verbal and physical altercations, etc. And yet we're still here. Why? Because the Lord has strengthened us-just like he strengthened the Hebrews and just like he strengthened David. Our love for the Lord and the strength he provides enables us to get through anything. He is our shield, he is our rock-he is our God.
3) He fights for us.
Although God strengthens us to be able to fight battles and pass tests, he doesn't make us fight all our battles. There are some battles that we can't fight; they are outside of our ability. We're in one of them now. We can't control the Corona virus. We can take measures and precautions and can persevere in faith and trust, but we don't have the power to just stop it.
There are some things we face as individuals or collectively that the outcome is completely outside of our control. There are situations we face where our only hope is in God intervening and doing something to help us. The Jews faced this issue.
2nd Chr. 20:10-12, “But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, whose territory you would not allow Israel to invade when they came from Egypt; so they turned away from them and did not destroy them. See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance. O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.”
Have you ever been in predicaments like this before and cried out to God? "I have no power to stop this! I don't know what to do!" We might not be able to do something about it, but we know who can. And we need to do what Judah did, 'but our eyes are on you'. That's what keeps us out of panic mode when we face impossible situations. "Our eyes are on you Lord; we trust in your great power".
As the Jews stood there, it says the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel. Vs.15-18, "He said: “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the LORD says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.
Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel. You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.’ ”
Jehoshaphat bowed with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the LORD."
What a pep talk! Don't be afraid or discouraged. Why? Because God's going to take care of this one. But, they still needed to do something. God told them to assemble the troops and march. That would be scary. Which is why he tells them again, 'do not be afraid or discouraged'. We can certainly understand the need to emphasize that, right? Go out and face them but don't worry because the Lord will be with you. And they took that to heart and got moving.
The next morning they set out and Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing praises to the Lord and say, "Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever." It's interesting that they were singing praises and giving thanks yet the Lord hadn't done anything yet. I can see singing after God comes through and defeats their foes but before? This shows me they trusted what God said would happen and went forth in praise.
Vs. 22-24, " As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated. The men of Ammon and Moab rose up against the men from Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them.
After they finished slaughtering the men from Seir, they helped to destroy one another. When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped."
The army of Judah didn't need to fight the battle because this huge opposing army turned on each other and took themselves out! Have you ever faced something you had no power over and in the end the ones who were against you ended up defeating themselves?
Sometimes this happens when there are false accusations leveled against us. We have no power against rumors and gossip spreading. We know the truth and we know God knows the truth and all we can do is leave it in his hands and ask for his intervention. And then, he fights the battle for us and the ones who told the lies are found out and the truth is revealed and we are vindicated. We might not know why God allows certain things to happen but we trust in his ability to fight the battles we can't.
4) He keeps us strong to the end.
1st Cor. 1:4-9, "I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge—because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.
He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful."
Paul starts out his letter to the Corinthian church with some nice accolades. He mentions how they've been enriched in every way and they're not lacking in any of the spiritual gifts. Quite complimentary. Then Paul says something that would give them great encouragement. Jesus will keep you strong to the end. Talk about being motivated?
The Corinthians had a lot to contend with. As a commercial city, Corinth had many pagan gods and plenty of unbridled immorality. So now, the new converts were trying to live righteous lives in the midst of all this sin. And they had issues. Right after this passage Paul goes into addressing the divisions that existed in the church. And in chapter five you have the situation of the man who was sexually immoral and some among them were proud of it instead of being filled with grief over this sin.
How can Paul tell them that Jesus will keep them strong until the end when they were acting like this? We see the answer at the end of verse nine-because God is faithful. God will keep you strong as long as you stay in fellowship with him. We never have to wonder if God will keep his end of the bargain.
But Paul talked about the Corinthians being enriched in every way and having all those spiritual gifts. So how could there be divisions and sexual immorality? This shows that God blesses the imperfect church. Our lives have been enriched by God and he has given us spiritual gifts too. But that doesn't mean we always live in the enrichment or operate in the giftedness.
Like the Corinthians, we have issues too. The Corinthian church was not perfect by any means. Yet Paul encourages them to persevere; he wanted them to know how they were going to be able to make it to the finish line. If you stay in the Lord you'll stay strong til the end-period.
You may falter along the way, but don't give up. And when you get weak, the Lord will lift you up and set your feet on solid ground again. "Lord, I can't go on." "Yes, you can", comes the reply.
This makes me think of the footprints poem. The tumultuous times in our lives when we think the Lord has abandoned us and left us to fight the battle alone we realize that the one set of footprints meant that he carried us.
It doesn't matter what we face; it doesn't matter who comes against us, the Lord who is our strength and our shield is fighting for us and giving us the strength to carry on to the very end.
Phil. 1:6, "Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."
Sometimes we might get discouraged, thinking because we keep messing up we're a lost cause. The Corinthians were messing up but they were told the Lord would keep them strong until the end. The Philippian church wasn't perfect, yet Paul told them that God, who began the good work of salvation in them would carry on that good work until the end.
That didn't mean they could sit back, relax and let God do all the work. No, they were partners with Paul in the spread of the gospel (vs. 5). No one gets to the finish line by sitting still. We need to do our part, we need to do the work that we were called to do. We aren't saved by our works but we are saved for good works, as Eph. 2:10 tells us.
So, we partner with Christ and stay true to him. We may fall short at times, we may get weak at times, we may feel alone and defeated at times, but we can be sure that God will never leave us nor forsake us. We can rely on him to sustain us, strengthen us and give us everything we need to complete the journey.
