23. Whatever Disaster? (2)

Confronting Anxiety Meditations No.23: Whatever Disaster? (2)

Hab 3:17,18  “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior”

Trusting God no.7: This, I think, in many ways must be an extension of what we were considering yesterday. The bare bones are that we live in a fallen world where things go wrong, and they often affect us. When the economy takes a dive, we all suffer (except the abundantly rich!).

Anxiety highlights a Problem: Yet the truth is that anxiety is a natural and right outcome when things are going bad. I say a right outcome because sometimes we need something to alert us to the fact that action needs to be taken. Sometimes it seems there is nothing that we can do personally about the big issues such as a failing economy or the potential of global warming, but that is never strictly true; there is always something, however small. I can choose wisely how to budget my income; I can plant a tree to counter global warming; small things but even small things help. And I can pray!

Options: So when the world is going wrong, we can do one of two things: we can either panic and perhaps move into conspiracy-theory rhetoric (as if that will help) or we can turn to God. I was rereading this morning a post I made a little while back in the previous series on the names of God, and specifically Him being my Stronghold. It was good stuff and as I often do, wondered, “Did I write that?” The truth there in that study reminds me that God is a shelter to live in, where peace remains, and a right perspective is regained.

Fleeing from truth: I say right perspective because I read that there are increasing numbers of people who resort to conspiracy theories which I think is not reality but running from reality. It reached its peak in this last decade over the causes of the Covid outbreak, as well as the realities of the last American presidential elections.  In wartime we speak of enemy propaganda where truth is substituted by lies told in order to undermine confidence. The increasingly widespread use of uncontrolled social media has meant a high level of vulnerability to loss of truth. When a multitude of speculative ideas are sent forth across the ether, it is very difficult sometimes to not think, “Is there an element of truth in that I wonder?”  It is only when we face the logical realities of some of these things that we realize how absurd they are, but many people today seem to be not very good at thinking logically.

But I mention this because, not only can situations in a fallen world be bad, but they can also be made to feel doubly worse by speculative untruths from the enemy and we desperately need to turn to God to get a right and true perspective.

The Example of Habakkuk: Habakkuk is the classic example of this. (Have you ever noticed that the Bible is full of ‘classic examples’ to teach us?) Habakkuk was a good guy in a bad world. Describes us Christians well. Habakkuk looked around him and thought, “What a moral mess, why isn’t God doing something about this?” And so went directly to God and complained (Hab 1:1-4). God’s answer was unexpected and mind-blowing: “Yes, I agree, (implied) and I am about to do something about it. I am going to get the Babylonians to come and sort this country out!” (1:5-11)  “Hold on Lord, that’s not what I meant! How can you use their unrighteousness?” (v.12-17). So he determines to listen more carefully (2:1). He hears some more: ”I realise exactly what the Babylonians are like (2:4,5) and they’re going to get their comeuppance in due season.” (2:6-19). This shakes Habakkuk and he resorts to more prayer and reminds himself of the Lord’s history (3:1-15), and in the light of that he determines to shut up and watch (3:16). Thus, in the meantime, he will submit himself to the Lord’s awesome sovereignty so whatever happens, however bad things seem to be, he will praise the Lord (3:17,18), and this lightens his spirit so it feels as though he can bound through life like a deer leaping across the rocky wastes. He is changed.

What Changed? So what changed Habakkuk? Partly it was his understanding that was changed in his interaction with God but partly, I believe, it was just simply the presence of God, the very fact of having conversed with God. When we do this, we are changed. The change that takes place in Habakkuk is dramatic. He starts out, almost angrily, questioning God but by the end he is in a place where he is completely submitted to God AND confident in God to such a measure that he declares that WHATEVER happens he will praise the Lord.

And Us? How can we reach such a point? By arriving at the belief, which the Bible repeats again and again, that God is Good, God is perfect, and He does all things well, so it doesn’t matter if we don’t fully understand what is going on, we are undergirded and are convinced by this truth. May we each be able to come to this point.

22. Whatever Disaster? (1)

Confronting Anxiety Meditations No.22: Whatever disaster? (1)

Job 1:20-22 “he fell to the ground in worship and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.”

Trusting God no.6: Earlier on in this series we confronted the fact that we live in a fallen world, a dysfunctional world, a world that is going wrong because of the presence and outworking of Sin, of godless, self-centred humanity, jostling for space and for identity in anguish and acting in self-destructive ways. We may not be part of it in terms of outlook, but we cannot help having to experience it and its fruits.

Example of Jeremiah: In this context, I always find the picture of Jeremiah sobering. Here was this amazing prophet (not quite a lone voice because there was also Ezekiel prophesying) pouring out his heart pleading with the nation’s leaders as well as the people in general, to turn back to God before disaster fell on them. But they wouldn’t heed him, and so it did. For them in their spiritual blindness, it seemed like the end of the world was there for Israel, as Nebuchadnezzar and his great army came into the land a third time, with a might beyond anything Israel could withstand, right up to the front door of Jerusalem which, after a long siege, they took and razed to the ground, including its famous temple.  

Jeremiah Taken: And all the while Jeremiah had been faithfully speaking on God’s behalf, and what was amazing was that as hundreds are being killed in the sack of Jerusalem, Jeremiah is saved on orders from the Babylonian leaders. He is given the choice, return with them to Babylon or stay here – so he stayed, and that seemed the end of it, except it wasn’t. Foolhardy elements who had survived came and killed the Babylonian-appointed governor, Gedaliah, and then realised what they had done and so fled to Egypt taking all the surviving remnant with them – including Jeremiah! How unfair! One minute it looks like he can enjoy retirement in the Land, and the next minute he’s been dragged off to Egypt, where he keeps on prophesying. Presumably he eventually died in Egypt.

How would we feel if we had been through all that, remaining faithful to God throughout it all, only to be dragged away into oblivion? I suspect if we run across Jeremiah in heaven he will simply say, I just did what God gave me to do, to say what He told me to say; that was what it was all about, not my comfort, but His bigger plan to constantly seek to draw His people back to Himself. Whether they would respond or not was not down to me, I was just His messenger in the midst of the mess.

Jesus’ Teaching: That’s what true servants of God would say. How do I know that? Because that’s what Jesus taught in his parable about faithful servants: “So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’” (Lk 17:10) Indeed he said of himself, “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.” (Mt 20:28).

Options: If this sounds hard stuff to you, consider the options open to each one of us. First, we can serve ourselves, struggle for meaning, for achievement, for ‘success’, for self-aggrandizement, for self-glory, only to find all that is meaningless, that it seems great and wonderful for a while, but it still leaves us feeling empty inside. The alternative, second, is that we can wholeheartedly receive the salvation that Christ has earned for us that turns us into children of God with new goals, new resources, a new sense of identity and purpose, and a new destiny, and catch the wonder of the glorious presence of God. We also have the joy of hearing His, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” (Mt 25:21)  as we share in His purposes of redeeming the world, and the joy of seeing (at times) just one sinner coming to Christ (Lk 15:7,10).

Servants: Even more, when God chooses times and seasons to move more openly, how amazing it is to be part of all that, but that isn’t why we are there, not for the glory, at least ours. We are there as children of God who also act as servants (in that they fulfil the works of the Father) through whatever the times bring. In the ‘last times’ or ‘end times’ it  appears they will bring difficulties in which many of us will lose our lives (see Rev 6:9,11). Easy to read, not so easy to prepare for, should it be in our (limited) lifetime.

Job’s Example: But what has all this to do with our starter verse from Job? The point of Job, surely, is that he went through times that made anything we go through look mundane – and he came through it and the starter verse is his response to the most terrible of attacks on him by the enemy. Perhaps one of the lessons of Job is that Satan threw everything he could at Job, yet despite that, Job revealed a most amazing truth that many have also found true – the human race is capable of the most incredible endurance under the most trying circumstances.

Coping: How do you cope in such times? With God’s grace, His indefinable resource that enables you to cope. When does it come? Often ONLY when the situation demands it. Hence the incredible saints who refused to capitulate when thrown to the lions in Rome, those saints burned at the stake, and even those amazing first ten apostles who all died for their faith. And if you missed it in passing – often that grace ISN’T there until we actually need it, so there is no point worrying about it beforehand. 

21. Led into storms

Confronting Anxiety Meditations No.21: Led into storms

Mt 14:22,23 “Jesus made the disciples get into the boat…he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray… and the boat was …buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.”

Trusting God no.5: The trouble with life is that it is so unpredictable. If only we knew what was coming, wouldn’t it make life so much easier? Yes, I know we have certain things on the calendar – yes, we’ve become calendar and diary people who scan the page and see all the events, activities and plans we jotted down, completely ignoring James’ warning: “you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” (Jas 4:13-15) I think he was just saying, “Be real, people, you can plan as much as you like but so much of the time you haven’t a clue what is just over the horizon!”

Lessons of Covid? You would have thought we would have learned that through the Covid time. There we were, minding our own business, when suddenly some careless Chinese scientists let loose a virus from their bat-investigation laboratories, and suddenly the unthinkable was happening; we were being told to stay indoors by the government. What? This is a democracy isn’t it, we don’t let governments push us around – unless there is a plague at large!

Even a Cold: But it doesn’t have to be a real life-threatening disease (though apparently there are plenty of them in government laboratories around the world), it can be just a heavy cold – and let’s not even call it flu. One minute we are masters of the universe, the next we are sniveling (literally) wretches, feeling sorry for ourselves and taking every sort of medicine possible until it actually wears off after a couple of weeks (if you are lucky!)

Storms & Skirmishes: But the storms of life come in a whole variety of ways. We’ve just focused on physical ones, but they may be financial collapses (remember 2008?) or simply relational upsets. I know of two ladies, neighbours who live a couple of miles away. Not long ago one of them spoke out of turn and offended the other and they haven’t spoken to each other since. Neither has the grace to say sorry and ‘I forgive’ you so they are missing out on the friendship they used to have. That’s a pretty minor skirmish, they can often be much bigger things that divide families or even churches or even nations and the thing is, more often than not, we just didn’t see them coming.

Jesus teaches his disciples: Now when it comes to the Scriptures, we are given just enough to catch our attention and set us thinking. Often there are big questions that will remain unanswered this side of eternity. But that doesn’t mean we can’t learn from them. So we have the illustration from our starter verse, following the feeding of the five thousand. Jesus wants to pray on his own and so gets the disciples to pack up and make their way home across the Lake. For Lake substitute ‘small sea’ that is known for its unpredictability and squalls. Did Jesus know what was going to happen? Probably. Did he make the wind rise up to make it difficult for the disciples to get back home? I don’t know. All I know was that he used the situation to give the disciples a little lesson about himself.

Previously: It’s not as if this sort of thing hadn’t happened before. There had been a time previously when they were all in the boat together (and Jesus was asleep at the back if it) when a ‘furious storm’ blew up threatening to swamp the boat. When they woke Jesus up, he stood up, ‘rebuked the winds and the waves’ (note the plural of both?) and calmed the storm, and the disciples, not unsurprisingly were ‘amazed’ (Mt 8:23-27) So yes, they been there before but this is a bit different; they are alone, Jesus is off up the mountain praying. Oh no he’s not, he’s walking across the sea towards them. (Mt 14:25) Panic!

Slow to Learn? You know, watching the disciples, I wonder about them – and us. I mean twice Jesus fed the crowds and you might have thought after the first time they would have clued in to what was happening (especially as they had seen him change water into wine previously, showing he was master over these sorts of things.) But no. Why? Well, I wonder if they had seen the miracle but thought. “Sorry Lord, we thought it was it was a one-off thing, We didn’t realise you can do this sort of stuff all the time!” We’re a bit slow to catch on, aren’t we?

You know, I’ve read the Gospels dozens of times, I’ve read books galore on healing and of testimonies of healing, and I’ve prayed, and God has (to my surprise) answered and I’ve seen healings, but I still can’t seem to break free from this, “one-off” mentality. So my wife mentions a physical need she has for healing, and I hesitate to pray and when I do it is half-hearted. Why was it John Wimber used to testify that he prayed 99 times, I believe it was, before he got his first healing? Was it the same thing?

And So: Whether it is the storms of life in general, or the specific need for healing or something similar, do we need to come to Jesus with that same plea that a man before him brought, “I believe; help my unbelief!” or as another version puts it, “I have faith; help my lack of faith!” or another, “I do believe. Help me to believe more!” and another, “ I believe. Help me with my doubts!” (Mk 9:24) Yes, I believe … but …

20. I can’t!

Confronting Anxiety Meditations No.20: I can’t!

Judg 6:15 “My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

Recap: In the previous study we considered the common anxiety that comes with struggling with daily resources, of handling our finances in the face of changing days when inflation is not matched by income rises, and our background resources are limited, when we are not part of the great and the good who seem to have it all!

Trusting God No.4: But I want to turn to another aspect of ‘provision’ that affects us all, so this is number 4 in these considerations about ‘trusting God’. It is an aspect that appears three times in the Old Testament, first seen in our starter verse expressed by Gideon, but also expressed by Saul when Samuel is presenting him with a new future (1 Sam 9:21) and also even more vocally by the great deliverer, Moses (Ex 3 & 4), when first called. What we have in each of these cases is this denial of ability, this expression of low self-esteem, that our title today sums up, “I can’t”.

Low Self-Worth: Putting it in a slightly different way, we are considering the feeling of anxiety that many suffer from, the feeling of low self-worth, the feeling that, if it were able to express it, would say, “Who am I, what am I, why am I?” Today we would talk about problems of Identity, a subject I considered more fully in a whole series of ‘Identity Meditations’ but observing it in the present context of ‘anxiety’ I would suggest it is a worry about inner resources that may be linked with background.

Background: Let’s deal with the background first. I had some cousins whose father had a prosperous business and so they were sent to top private schools. The result was that they had a confidence that outshone most of us. To be fair, they were ‘nice’ people and whenever I went to stay with them, I always enjoyed them, a lovely family. It was a shame that their father went on to have an affair with a woman in another part of the family which rather cast a shadow on who they were. But most of us come from, dare I say it, more ordinary backgrounds and often didn’t have the confidence that wealth and a private education convey. But can I say to you gently, does that matter?

Spectrum of Life: Each of the three biblical characters I cited above went on to achieve great things (yes, each marred by a personal failure, but that’s us in this fallen world!). When God calls us, we take on a different status – child of God – and a different, more glorious destiny, both here now and into eternity. I also observe the numbers of marriage breakups among the ‘great and the good’ that challenge that very description of them. A life without God, however prosperous or however much of a celebrity you appear, is a life that is vulnerable to the pains and anguishes of life, and when your only resource is yourself, you are guaranteed to find at some point in life, ‘you’ are not an adequate resource. 

Inner Resources: So let’s move on to consider the ‘inner resources’ that we have – or don’t have. If our health is good, we are physically fit, we are successful in life generally, and the sun shines, and those are the times when we feel we can handle it all. But that is deception. The truth is that we are made, as someone has said, with a ‘God-hole’ within us, and if we don’t ask Him to fill it, we will always be living on the verge of inadequacy.

Modern Church Struggles: Tragically the Christian world appears to be littered with fallen leaders who at one time were being celebrated and regularly named in the Christian media, but God doesn’t share His glory, especially with those who have feet of clay (all of us!). The glory that we contain (2 Cor 4:7) is His glory and if, in a time of success, yes, even when His anointing is upon us, the temptation for pride is at its greatest, we can find it is also the most vulnerable of times. Where God sees such pride rising in His leaders, I believe in His love for them, He lifts away His hand of protection and provision, and the temptations that come, overwhelm the previous sense of righteousness that they had, and they fall. Peter felt totally up to it (Mt 26:33,35) but had to learn that he wasn’t.

Warnings: Paul warned, “if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” (2 Cor 10:12) but for most of us it is the fear that we are not up to it, and we will fall that causes us to fail to take our inheritance. Thus we have this underlying anxiety that my resources are not up to it, I feel too weak. It is then that we need to remember the way the kingdom of God works: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor 12:9) God’s grace, His power, His enabling, is there for the humble and the weak, for those who have learned that what Jesus said is true: “apart from me you can do nothing.” (Jn 15:5) We need the reminder, Jesus is the vine, and I am just a branch that is designed so that as I abide in him, I will bear fruit (v.4).

And So: The truth is simple: His grace IS sufficient, His resources are what enables you to live out your calling as a child of God, following him, following Jesus’ leading (remember, He said He would never leave you – Heb 13:5), responding to his promptings, guidance, directions, and as we do that, his life flows within us. (Jn 7:38). Enjoy it!

19. About Resources

Confronting Anxiety Meditations No.19: About Resources

Jn 2:3 “When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

Jn 6:5 “When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?”

Trusting God No.3: So we’re looking at a number of ways we need to learn to trust God, where failure to do so raises anxiety, and this is the third one. Anxieties – because this is a fallen world, we said – come in all different shapes and sizes. We’ve just considered the anxiety we may have in understanding what God may be doing in our lives, and why He sometimes seems to delay doing what we think He should be doing, but now I want to move on to something that is very practical, and which is, I suspect, one of today’s primary worries, how to stretch resources to cope with shortage.

The World Economy: Over the last two years, since the start of the war in Ukraine, its impact on energy prices has meant many costs going up and when income doesn’t go up, for many in the lower levels of the economy, that means worry about how to make the static income stretch to cope with rising prices. The media make noises about some people spending more on fuel than they do on their food (we are a mobile society!) and retailers who sell cheaper goods, boom. Such is the modern world. But making resources stretch is indeed a cause of anxiety for many today.

A Different People: But for those of us who are children of God – whether short on cash or well off, can we learn to live in the goodness of God, which sounds spiritual but is very practical. I have written in a previous series on the names of God, about the God who Provides, so I will not repeat all that here. So, I am left asking, can we perhaps live on a different plane to the rest of the world, especially when the New Testament shows us a Saviour who was so in control of the world that he could turn water into wine when a wedding ran into crisis when the wine ran out, and who also took very small amounts of food to feed very large crowds – twice!

God of Power: He was simply demonstrating God’s power over His world, a power that had been demonstrated in the Old Testament when Elijah helped out a widow so her flour and oil continued to provide for her (1 Kings 17:8-16), a miracle that Elisha copied a while later providing oil for another widow (2 Kings 4:1-4)  The biblical illustrations are clearly there.

Miracles??? However, there is a problem which, if we are trying to be realistic, needs to be faced. It is this. When we look at these miracles – providing wine for a wedding, food for thousands, oil for widows, there is no way to explain it beyond saying this is a miracle, and at that point many of us turn off; we aren’t in the age of miracles, or at least I’m not sure I can testify to any in my life.

The Unseen Things we DO accept: So is there any point in talking about a God who can stretch my limited resources if I don’t believe in things happening that I don’t understand? Hold on a moment, you accept a number of things in life without understanding them – electricity, gravity, ‘life’, atoms, molecules, quarks and so on. These things are there – science confirms it, but it doesn’t explain it, so we work with what we have and just get on with it. So why can’t we do that in the spiritual world?

Planting Bulbs & Wealth: When I plant bulbs or seeds in my garden, I know that rain, warmth from the sun and goodness from the soil will produce a healthy plant. So when it comes to finances and material wellbeing, if I just do the things that ‘plant’ the potential wealth, I can leave the rest up to God.

So what constitutes this ‘planting’? Well, first of all, it is a word and Spirit thing. As I seek to obey God’s word and respond to the prompting of His Spirit, I can leave the miracle-provision bit to Him. Like the bulbs or seeds I plant, initially I may not recognise what is going on, but stuff will be happening.

The NT Pattern: The ‘word bit’, if I may put it like that, means having a heart that starts by trusting that my loving heavenly Father WILL do what Jesus said, and provide for me when I seek first His will (kingdom) (Mt 6:25-33). It starts with belief and faith will follow. It means not being greedy, being hospitable, caring for the obvious needs of others, and being generous in giving when the need is presented. These are all things we find in the New Testament. So our lives first of all seek to conform to these simple guidelines, but then as the Holy Spirit prompts, when a need is presented (or may not even be obvious) we simply respond, give, and bless.

Transformation Lessons: The soil, the sun, the rain, in this context are my heart, His love, His Spirit and His word. Put all those together and water gets turned into wine, a few fish into enough to feed a crowd, and so on. But be warned: there needs to be wisdom here and that means not trying to please others or conform to what others are doing. Ananias and Sapphira did that and ended up lying to God and earned an early promotion to heaven. It was only “from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them,” (Acts 4:34) and it wasn’t every person, just the wealthy landowners. Give everything away to impress others and you become a charity case. Give as God prompts, and you become a source of blessing. It’s not a sin to be rich but it is to ignore God. It’s not a sin to be poor because sometimes the world treats us badly, but that is where the church comes in, first to care for the household of God, then to bless the world. But it starts by realizing we are plugged into a supernatural God whose miraculous ways are real, even if we cannot understand them.     

18. Jesus’ Timing

Confronting Anxiety Meditations No.18: Jesus’ timing

Jn 11:6 “when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.”

Trusting God No.2: I said at the start of the previous study that we are going to go through a series of studies that might come under the general umbrella title of ‘Trusting God’, so this is number 2, as we continue to reflect on aspects of life – yes, as believers – that can cause us anxiety, so we may then move on to think about how to deal with that. Here we are now looking at how we cope when either Jesus doesn’t appear to turn up for us, or he appears to delay in fulfilling a promise or, maybe even, when he doesn’t seem to be answering our legitimate prayers.

The Different Records: In the New Testament the incident involving Lazarus reveals this very clearly, an incident not recorded by the Synoptic Gospels, probably because Lazarus was still alive and still struggled with the fame or notoriety in respect of what had happened. But John writes much later and so it is probable that Lazarus had now gone to glory. It was all about his death and Jesus raising him from the dead which had been a big event in the weeks before Jesus’ final week in Jerusalem, no doubt being one of the major factors that prompted the religious authorities to move against him.

Confusing Circumstances: But it is what preceded that that we are looking at now. The plea came to Jesus from Mary and Martha to come because their brother was seriously ill, and our starter verse records his response. Instead of breaking camp and making for Bethany as fast as they could, he purposely stays where they are. Now of course when we have such a situation and we cry to the Lord for help, so often we let the enemy whisper lies to us – “He doesn’t care, you’re on your own.”

Jesus’ Controlled Strategy: But it is the word ‘purposely’ that I inserted above that gives the clue to what is really happening. Look at Jesus’ explanation: “When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” (11:4) Jesus obviously caught the Father’s intention behind what is happening. (Remember we saw that Jesus only did what his Father in heaven led him into – Jn 5:17,19). Note the words, “will not end”, for death will occur but that will not be the end of it; Jesus is surely going to raise him from the dead, but before that can happen, Lazarus has got to die. When Jesus raises him, this will cause such a furor that it will provoke the authorities to being about Jesus’ death. Remember what Peter preached, “This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.” (Acts 2:23) So, lesson number one, Jesus always acts according to a divine plan and if he appears to be inactive, there is a good reason for it!

Samuel & Saul: Now perhaps the Old Testament equivalent is what happened between Samuel and Saul. Samuel had said he would come to Saul to help and encourage him as he prepared for battle against their enemies (1 Sam 13:8) – apparently within seven days, but as the seventh day wore on, Samuel had not appeared. Saul ran out of patience and decided to take action himself, which involved him offending the Law and acting as a priest (which he wasn’t). For this he was rebuked by Samuel and told that God would replace him with His own man (David).

Responses to Timing Questions: So there we have two situations where timing appears important. In the first, anxiety (as there surely was – see Jn 11:21,32) was caused by a) failure to realise Jesus can redeem any situation – even one requiring a resurrection, and b) failure to realise that Jesus had a plan, a much bigger plan that involved provoking the authorities to being about his death! In the second situation it was merely a matter of impatience and careless regard for God’s Law.

Sarai & Abram: But there is an even more powerful illustration of failure to appreciate timing and God’s abilities which had monumental consequences, and we refer to Sarai  who gave up on waiting to conceive in accordance with God’s promise. Indeed she blamed God for it (Gen 16:2) and so suggested that Abram had a child through her servant girl, Haggar, which turned out to be a son who bred the Arab nations who have been hostile to Israel ever since. And yes, she did subsequently conceive and Isaac, the ‘son of promise’ (Gal 4:28) was born from whom the nation of Israel later came.

And us? Most commonly, I suspect, this applies in matters of prayer when we pray and pray, and God seems inactive. In charismatic circles it probably occurs when a word is shared but time goes by, and you almost give up on it ever happening. More generally, I suspect it occurs when we are just frustrated with the slowness of church life changing.

Lessons to be Learnt: We need to learn that, yes, God does know best. Sometimes (i) God delays because He is waiting for changes in us, or our circumstances to alter, before He acts. Sometimes (ii) He wants to teach us to learn to be patient. Sometimes (iii) we have been asking Him to do things that would require Him to override the free will of others, and He will not do that. Sometimes (iv) we just fail to see the bigger picture and so want things to happen that are contrary to the direction or the means that God is working for.

And So… In all cases we need to learn patience and submission to God’s ways. I speak here as one whom the Lord gently chided when he said that so often a word had hardly left His mouth before I was off running to go for it, and I needed to learn to hear His voice, “Wait, no, go now.” A lesson that takes a long time to learn. You’re in good company.   

17. God does know best

Confronting Anxiety Meditations No.17: God does know best

Ezek 37:1 “the Lord set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. … He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

Trusting God, Part 1: We are going to go through a series of studies that might come under the general umbrella title of ‘Trusting God’, so this is number 1. As I scan over my Bible, I realise there are many instances where the people of God struggled with various forms of anxiety, so I am going to start off with a fairly general perhaps all-encompassing one.

The Stress of ‘being alone’: Ever since the Fall we have struggled with a multifaceted problem – how to live, no longer in the comfort and security of ‘the Garden’ (Gen 2) where we can easily experience the daily presence of God, where we don’t have that easy access to get His help, guidance and wisdom in terms of what we do every day. No, essentially, we are on our own – until we turn to Him and ask Him into our lives and of course, going back a bit, we might have asked, why would He help us? But then came Jesus and lit up the world and showed those with eyes to see that God loved us and had sent him to redeem us and bring us back into that daily access to Him.

The Reality of ‘Sin’: But until that happens (at conversion, being born again) we struggle on our own and the Bible calls that state self-centred godlessness. I mean what else did we have without Christ? That lifestyle and outlook on life had a shadow of death hanging over it – the absence of any spiritual life (although the enemy would suggest counterfeits) and the fact of our mortality, our life transience lurking in the background.

The Reality of Free-will: But then we were saved and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, an element of the ever-present Christ within us, but we still have free will and the old ways are just a memory away for the enemy to offer us. That’s why the apostle John wrote, “I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, “ (1 Jn 21:1) He knew that although we were now running on a different track where we didn’t have to sin (to be self-centred and godless) we could still do it and therefore would need to be reminded of the facts of our salvation.

So why is there still the option of being self-centred and godless? Well, we’ve just said it, we have free will and unless we have been convinced of one most important truth, we will get in a mess again, ripe for anxiety. But it may be anxiety that gets us into a mess if we are confronted by a problem or question over life and we worry about the answer and may then resort to our own reasoning.

So let’s declare this two-sided truth straight away and then consider a biblical event to see it more clearly. Very simply it is that God knows best AND we don’t. Now come with me to watch Ezekiel.

Ezekiel: In chapter 37 of his book he recounts a vision that he had. It was of a valley; not  a high place, but a place often of shadows, and there he sees the whole floor of it littered with bones – dry bones that had obviously been there some time, and the Lord then asked him, “Can these bones live?”

Now I’ve just missed the start of the verse to accentuate it, for he addresses him as ‘Son of man’, i.e. human being. Yes, it is that simple, and the wise take note of it when God subtly points out our limitations. We are limited by strength and, even more importantly, we are limited in our wisdom, and that latter thing is because we are battle weary from living in this fallen world and having our thinking distorted by the struggles of it and hurts and pain received. Moreover we not only have limited (damaged) experience but we also have limited knowledge and understanding. So we need to recognise this starting point when God starts asking questions. We also need to realise that He is not limited and so He knows the answer even before He asks it, so the question is for our benefit.

Question & Answers: So the question comes, “Little man, can these bones live?” Now I think there are two extreme answers and a middle way. Put yourself in Ezekiel’s shoes. But you are a believer, a spiritual person, and you know your Bible (!) and so you know that, of course God can make these bones live, and so you reply, “Of course they can Lord!” Ooops, that ignores two things. Are these bones representing people and if they are, people have free will and may not want to ‘live’. The other thing is, does God want them to live?

Now the other extreme, if I may put it like that, is to feel perhaps a bit like Jonah (who we’ll look at in a later study) and feel a bit miffed or irritated by God, and so reply, “For goodness sake, how am I supposed to know? You’re God not me!” But the middle path is Ezekiel’s path. Perhaps he has picked up on the ‘little man’ part or perhaps he just realises God’s greatness, and he decides he will presume nothing and not come up with false humility or super-spiritual arrogance, and so simply opts for, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”   Notice how he addresses the Lord – Sovereign, all-mighty, all-wise One. Only you know the possibilities AND what is on your heart!

And So… Ezekiel, I would suggest, displays the starting point for the child of God – God knows best, ONLY God knows best – and I don’t so I must trust Him, be available to Him, and obey Him. THIS is the starting point for dealing with all anxiety, all things that would make us anxious.

16. Living with Uncertainty

Confronting Anxiety Meditations No.16: Living with Uncertainty

Mt 14:22 “Jesus made the disciples get into the boat…he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray… and the boat was …buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.”

Uncertainty: Back in the early days of Covid in 2020, I have been reminded that I wrote a short series on ‘Uncertainty’. Without looking back on those studies, I just want to pick up in respect of this subject of anxiety with thoughts about how uncertainty can create anxiety.

Jesus & Uncertainty: I think my starting point is something that I have seen more than once in recent days, the thought that following Jesus is NOT, contrary to the sermons some would like to preach, a life full of certainty. Having said that, the basic facts of our salvation are certain and unassailable for they are there clearly in Scripture. Jesus died for our sins on the Cross and all that is left for us to do is believe that and submit to him as our Lord and Saviour. No doubt that happened at a critical point of our lives when the Holy Spirit convicted us of our sin, of not being in relationship with God. No doubt it was on our knees (maybe not literally for all, but I certainly did) that we prayed, asked for His forgiveness and gave Him our lives. At that point He forgave us, redeemed us, adopted us, and gave us His Holy Spirit to indwell us. All of that IS certain.

Living it out: BUT, and here it comes, but the uncertainty bit comes in the way we live out our lives following Jesus on a day-to-day basis. Now you may think that the New Testament lays down instructions and guidelines on how we are to live – and it does – but the reality is that as we have just seen in the previous two studies on deception,  life is not always as clearcut as we might like it to be. There are many things where we are left to make judgments ourselves, and as much as we might hope that we are up to the task of acting wisely, that is not always so easy.

The Church Approach: So there are times when we are called to exercise judgments in respect of people. That happens when we have opportunities to vote, at local elections or national elections. In church, the New Testament approach (contrary to some parts of the Church that put education above Holy Spirit anointing) is for God to raise up elders and the congregation then to recognise them in that role. How many today in leadership roles do not have that Holy Spirit anointing? Is this why the Church is often so powerless?

And Others: But choosing people is also the requirement of managers in business or institutions – schools, hospitals, police, fire brigade, etc., etc. Establishing working policies, growth strategies etc., are all things where we have to make acts of judgment and, if we are wise, seek the wisdom and direction of God.

Discipleship often equals Uncertainty: But if we go back to the Biblical model of discipleship it simply means following Jesus. For the first followers, called to literally follow him wherever he led them, that was definitely a life full of uncertainty. Only he and the Father would know where they were going next, who or what they would encounter. Sometimes it is clear that Jesus led them into challenging situations (and we’ll look at some of them in more detail later to see how we cope with specific things) so there were times when resources were short, times when the weather turned bad, times when they were confronted by scarily powerful demoniacs, and there were times when Jesus made decisions that had them whispering among themselves about what he was doing.

Living NOT by Sight: When we read Paul’s “For we live by faith, not by sight,” (2 Cor 5:7 echoing Hab 2:4) we so often forget that that means that often we can’t see where we are going, and so we just have to trust the indwelling Holy Spirit to guide us. That is often a very uncertain walk, and the rule has to be, just put one foot in front of the other and let him take you on. Guidance sometimes comes just from a sense of disquiet that an apparent path to one way, say, is not the right one.

And So… So we have a whole spectrum of things to look at in the days ahead which, unless approached with faith and wisdom, will be things that bring anxiety into our lives. As a starting point, before going into the details, the broad approach is to remember the Old Testament teaching: “Trust in the Lord and do good … Take delight in the Lord …. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him,” (Psa 37:3-5) so that we may “dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture… and he will give you the desires of your heart… He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn.” (v.3-6) Summed up, put it in His hands at the beginning of each day and let Him lead you into the life of blessing He wants for you. Oh, yes, also a life of overcoming anxiety!

15. Deceptions, old and new

Confronting Anxiety Meditations No.15: Deceptions, old and new

1 Kings 21:9,10 “seat Naboth in a prominent place among the people. But seat two scoundrels opposite him and have them bring charges that he has cursed both God and the king. Then take him out and stone him to death.”

A Common Modern Blight: Perverting the truth has not been uncommon in this fallen world. We see it today with false accusations by countries seeking an excuse to invade another (e.g. Russia & Ukraine in 2022), we face it in the lies coming over your phone or Internet by scammers, and we hear it in political circles to such a degree that none of us any longer fully know the truth. But we also find it in the Bible.

Biblical Examples: THE classic instance is Satan challenging Eve over what God said and the consequences of it (Gen 3:1-5) at the Fall, but our starter verse reminds us of Jezebel’s strategy to bring down the somewhat unwise Naboth because of his refusal to sell his land to Ahab. But of course we also see it at the hands of the religious authorities plotting to ensure Jesus’ death (see Mt 26:59,60 – observe the word ‘false’ twice used.) Deception, perverting, distorting, twisting and corrupting the truth.    

Election Tampering: In the previous study we said we asked the Internet AI tools to answer our question, “What are the fears of AI wrongly influencing democratic elections?” Here is its answer slightly cut down for simplification (and we have sought to avoid changing the meaning of what it said!) So here goes:

“The fears of AI influencing democratic elections revolve around several key concerns:

Misinformation and Disinformation: AI can generate or spread false information, which can mislead voters and skew public opinion. This can undermine the integrity of elections by presenting fabricated narratives or distorting facts.

Deepfakes and Synthetic Content: The rise of generative AI has made it easier to create sophisticated deepfakes and counterfeit websites. These can be used to create fake endorsements or speeches, potentially swaying voter opinions.

Bias and Manipulation: AI systems might propagate biases or opinions that do not represent the public sentiment, leading to a skewed perception of candidates or issues.

Election Integrity: There is a concern that AI could be used to interfere with electoral processes, affecting the legitimacy of election results and the credibility of governments.

Social Destabilization: The spread of misinformation and disinformation through AI can trigger tensions, conflict, and even violence related to elections.

Erosion of Trust: The use of AI in spreading misinformation can lead to a general erosion of trust in democratic institutions and processes.

While these concerns are significant, it’s also noted that AI has the potential to combat these issues by identifying and countering false information and deepfakes. The challenge lies in ensuring that AI technologies are developed and used in line with democratic values and for the protection of the electoral process.”  Wow!

Modern Culture Wars: Turning to the modern day culture wars, initially promulgated to right wrongs, being THE other primary place of deception in recent decades, a couple of years ago I investigated these in some depth from a (hopefully) Christian perspective and the 23-Part extensive study can be found on CultureWarsContents (readbiblealive.com). What is interesting though is that despite the deceptions in respect of race, gender propaganda, etc. being accepted into the life and policies of universities, colleges, schools and most other public institutions, the woke philosophy is being rejected in large measure by young people. Using a  search engine on the ‘Times’ will save me documenting the changes that have, thankfully, been taking place recently.

Modern Failures: What is sad is that there have been church leaders and even denominations who allowed themselves to be mindlessly swept along on the torrent of pressures from the culture warriors without investigating before acting, and thinking before acting, and thus failed to raise a voice of dissent that is only now being raised in government and media. Deception, without doubt, was the name of the game. I have sought to address some of those things in the online study referred to above, but even that is now out of date, now the tide is indeed turning.

A Need for Discernment & Wisdom: Whenever we hear of news reports of anything to do with modern culture, social behaviour and trends, and morality – either on social media, or on the internet generally – we need to be praying and asking, what really is the truth about this? As a general rule, may we adopt Jesus’ approach of loving acceptance, but challenge anything that causes division, and seek to think well of others, while seeking to be discerning.

A Rock & a Hard Place? Someone summed up the difficulties of being a Christian in America this year as follows: On one hand we seem to have a president who espouses a permissive lifestyle. On the other we have a challenger who appears to make sense in ‘Making America a better place,’ yet seems to exhibit distinct signs of unrighteousness. Do we opt for the permissive life on the one hand or the unrighteous approach on the other? Across the water, we will simply pray that you will have the wisdom of Solomon. We ALL need it in these anxiety-creating days which we are passing through.

14. The world of deception

Confronting Anxiety Meditations No.14: The world of deception

Lk 21:8 “Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them.”

Recap: We are considering those things that impose upon our lives from outside, not things inside our thinking, if we may put it like that. Yesterday we started considering things that impose themselves on us, that are the outworking of sinful humanity, of individual despots as well as general struggles, for example of modern politics seeking to manage economies. But we also raised the red-flag warning to see things that are harmful or destructive as works of darkness to be prayed against and seen for what they are, works of the enemy to be brought down through prayer and God’s revelation and power.

Deception: But living in this world, mostly self-centred and godless, means that we have to contend with or even resist whole ways of thinking that are deception. Now deception simply means something that is believed and conveyed that is contrary to the truth. Thus all forms of atheism are forms of deception. Similarly all forms of religion that use violence are deception.

Our stating point has to recognise that ‘God is’, and God reveals truth, all that is in accordance with His creative design. Seeing the world in any other way is deception, believing in something that is false. Believing there is no God, and that all life is therefore the outworking of chance-evolution (as against God-directed evolution, say) is deception that robs people of a rational foundation of life and requires them to make even bigger leaps of blind faith to find meaning in life.   

Jesus & Truth: Now of course Jesus declared, “I am the way, the truth and the life,” and went on to say that, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” (Jn 14:6) When he said, “I am the truth,” he was surely meaning, I am the very embodiment of what is reality. Now deception is not uncommon, and Jesus taught about false prophets and false teachers (Mt 24:4)and those claiming falsely to be him, and Paul gave similar warnings (Col 2:4, 2 Thess 2:11, Rom 16:17,18).

Satan the Deceiver: Meanwhile  Satan is portrayed as a deceiver (Gen 3:4, Rev 20:7-10) out to con the human race into self-destruction. Sin the Bible teaches is deceitful (e.g. Heb 3:13) and thus often, especially in sexual matters it seems, the sin being observed is accompanied by deception, lies and untruths, for example, “This isn’t wrong, who says it is, who will know, what does it matter,” all lies.

Modern Tools used for Deception: It would appear we are living in a world where deception is increasingly prevailing through social media and the Internet, especially with the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Our young people are almost certainly more aware of this than the older generations. Only the other day, one of my sons, using one of his networking connections, had a well-known sports person text his daughter to encourage her along the athletics path she was taking. When the text came through, my granddaughter turned to her dad and asked, “Is this AI?” He reassured her she had contact with a real athlete.

Scammers & Liars: But the point is that we now have the capability for scammers to take either your photo or voice (and it only takes them 15 seconds apparently of your voice – so don’t get drawn into conversations with strangers on your phone – they may be recording you) and turn it into video that looks just like you and sounds just like you. It is then that they seek to convince people who know you that this is you, probably to ‘help them out financially’!!!! This is technology creating deception.

Dealing with it: How do you overcome it? First of all make your family aware of these possibilities. Second, agree within the family for a secret code word and counter-word to be used when there is any question as to the identity of the person you think you are talking to (obviously only in questionable-conversation [money-based]  situations.) Thus, for example, if you chose ‘shop’ and ‘farm’ as your two words, if you are not certain about the voice at the other end that purports to be a family member, you might nonchalantly said, “Did you visit the shop last week?” and if the answer does not include something like, “No, but I visited the farm,” you have reasons to be suspicious. What a day we live in.

Don’t be Gullible: These days whether on your phone (mobile/cell or house) or on the internet, we are bombarded with deception in the form of scammers seeking to get you to share your banking details with them, and the number of people who appear gullible and happy to hand them over, is quite scary. We need to educate our family, friends and church members on the threats that are out there.

A Year of Elections: The year 2024 will see something like 76 countries that are likely to be holding nationwide elections, roughly half of the world’s population, and because this is such an important feature of the modern world, we asked the AI tools on the Internet to tell us what are the common fears and so, rather than making this an unduly long study, we’ll show you the finding in the next study.

And So? For the moment, let us conclude with this comment: I believe it is arguable to say that in the past decade we have moved into a period of history where we are all more susceptible to deception than ever before seen in the world. The casualty is truth, and the ongoing outworking is anxiety. We may seek to overcome this by becoming aware of the possibilities and determining to do all we can to prevent us being casualties of these modern forms of deception.