Be warmed by the fire of God’s promises

Aside from the way Christians love one another, I believe that one of the other primary ways a person demonstrates whether they belong to Christ is by their response during suffering, trials, and hardship. And beyond just suffering well (yet imperfectly), another distinguishing mark of a good tree is a person’s perspective on trials and suffering. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produced steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing (James 1:2-4). A Christian’s aim is to “count it all joy” when trials come, for we should know (by faith) that the testing of our faith is making us more like Christ. There are truths and promises of God that we hold fast to as Christians that inform our thinking and our response to the things that happen to us in this life. You cannot simply just make yourself “count it all joy” when trials come. You must actually believe through faith in Jesus that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness and leads to eternal life (that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing). How about some specific promises/truths to inform our hearts and minds?

My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives (Hebrews 12:5-6).

…He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith–more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire–may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:3-7).

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Chris Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39).

Do you really believe these promises? Do you stake everything you have on them? I know for me, historically, I would say I believe these truths but my functional theology says otherwise. Anytime we have fear, in that very exact moment when we’re feeling fearful, we are failing to believe the promises of God and that he is who he says he is as revealed in scripture. And a lot of the decisions I make and the motives of my heart come “out of” these fears. I think it is possible, as Christians, to truly believe these promises moment-by-moment and operate out of those moment-by-moment “trustings” of God’s promises. I’m not saying we will trust God perfectly in this life, but I do believe we can experience a great deal of freedom from the bondage of self-awareness. Self-awareness leads to fear and a realization that we have very little control over our circumstances (because we are not God).

How about seeing a trusting of God’s promises in the midst of hardship in action?

Habakkuk’s song of rejoicing in the Lord is a good example:

Though the fig tree not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on high places.

Thomas Watson, an old Puritan puts it this way in describing a lover of God: They can bear the want of anything but God’s presence. They can do without health and friends, they can be happy without a full table, but they cannot be happy without God.

Have you ever felt this way about God? Can you really do without anything except God’s presence? Habakkuk is able to not only withstand such loss of livelihood, but he is able to rejoice in God in the midst of it, because he BELIEVES in his salvation in God that is being “kept in heaven for him” (1 Peter 1:4-5). He believes that God is his strength (But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness’ – 2 Cor. 12:9) and that God strengthens and prospers him (but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint -Isa. 40:31).

What about Job? Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground an worshiped. And he said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed by the name of the Lord. In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong (Job 1:20-22).

Job didn’t charge God with wrong. He did not sin in the midst of his suffering, though we do know later on that he wasn’t perfect in his response to his suffering. Nonetheless, he is another example of trusting in the promises of God and belief in the character and nature of God. Although Job wasn’t able to look behind the curtain at the time, we are able to by reading the full account of what happened. God allowed Satan to test Job. Again, this shows God’s sovereignty. We cannot begin to grasp all the mysteries of God, but we can trust him. If you are a Christian, you can believe that every single thing (good or bad) that comes into your life is for your ultimate good and is in some way making you more like Jesus. I love how Thomas Watson puts it in his commentary on Romans 8:28:

All things work together for good. This expression ‘work together’ refers to medicine. Several poisonous ingredients put together, being tempered by the skill of the apothecary, make a sovereign medicine, and work together for the good of the patient. So all God’s providences, being divinely tempered and sanctified, work together for the best to the saints. He who loves God and is called according to his purpose, may rest assured that everything in the world shall be for his good. This is a Christian’s cordial, which may warm him–make him like Jonathan, who when he had tasted the honey at the end of the rod, ‘his eyes were enlightened’ (1 Sam. 14:27).

I like that word “warm” a Christian. The promise and truth of Rom. 8:28 should “warm” us. If we really believe that this is what God is doing in his creation (and that he’s intimately and joyfully involved in our lives), we will most certainly feel “warm and fuzzy.” And when I say warm and fuzzy, I mean warm and fuzzy. We can feel like a child who is being held in the arms of an all-powerful and all-loving Father (Psalm 91:4). A Father who is pleased with us and wants to prosper us (Jer. 29:11).

Is there anything that can possibly make you feel any more warm and fuzzy than a perfect Father who has dominion over everything with all power and authority who would stoop down ever-so gently and cup you in his hand? A Holy God who is an all-consuming fire who possesses such strength and might, yet is able to hold you without crushing you? We do not fully-grasp the nature of our God. This is what makes heaven “heaven.” No longer having to fend for ourselves; no longer worrying about what’s next to come out from behind the bushes; no longer having to be so self-aware and wondering what other people think about us. Getting to rest in the shadow of our Father’s company is what makes heaven, heaven. So if you often find yourself wavering to trust in the promises of God like me, what can you do? One word: Pray. As Charles Spurgeon would say, “What is prayer but the promise pleaded?” As Christians we simply “plead” the promises of God so that God would cause the Promises to be woven into every fiber of our being, so that even in the midst of cold dark winter, we can be warmed as if huddling next to a cozy fire. For those who are not children of the promise, the fire burns. But for those who belong to the Father, the fire warms us.

How about the comforts of Psalm 23? The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads be besides still waters…even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

God will weave these promises into us. You can trust that the work he began in you will be brought to completion (Philippians 1:6). He is the one that is faithful and unchanging. You can stake everything you have on Him. When darkness veils his lovely face, you can rest on his unchanging grace; in every high and stormy gale your anchor holds within the veil. He’s a solid rock on which to stand, all other ground is sinking sand.