Days to be Remembered: The Book of Esther
(January 6 – March 24)
We
started the year by studying the short, unusual book of Esther. You’ll recall how the Amalekites and
Israelites had been enemies for years, despite being distant cousins through
their fathers Jacob and Esau. The
Israelites found themselves in captivity due to sin. The second in all the Persian Empire was a
man named Haman who hatched a plan to kill all the Israelites with the King’s
permission. However, he did not realize
that the king’s new wife, Esther was herself and Israelite. Despite her initial fear and at the urging of
her relative Mordecai, she approached the king to see a way to save her
people. God granted her favor in her
husband’s eye, and spared her. Once he
heard of the plot to kill his wife and her people, he had Haman put to death on
the very gallows he built for Mordecai and empowered the people of Israel to fight
back and be allowed to live.
God’s
name is never mentioned in this book, but I think that only serves to
accentuate His involvement in the affairs of mankind. Many believe that God sits back and doesn’t
involve himself in our daily lives. How
else would a young Israelite woman in a foreign land be chosen to be queen at
“such a time as this?” How else would Mordecai just happen to hear of the plot
to assassinate the king and spare the king’s life and find favor in the eyes of
the king? How else would an empire
suddenly become fearful of one ethnic group and refuse to kill them? Because the hand of God was clearly on
them. Circumstances don’t happen by
chance.
For in him all things were created:
things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers
or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.
– Colossians 1:16
Great and mighty God, whose name is the
LORD Almighty, great are your purposes and mighty are your deeds. Your eyes are
open to the ways of all mankind; you reward each person according to their
conduct and as their deeds deserve. – Jeremiah
32:18a-19
Oh, the depth of the riches of the
wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths
beyond tracing out! – Romans 11:33
The LORD has established his throne in
heaven, and his kingdom rules over all. – Psalm
103:19
Broken for Us (March 31 – April 28)
Leading
up to Easter, we had a 5 part series looking at Christ’s eternal sacrifice for
sin. We started with the “God Who Bleeds”
looking at how Jesus fulfilled all the Old Testament Messianic prophesies, but
was simultaneously God and Human. We
went through Isaiah 53, a well-known Messianic prophesy proven to be written
long before the time of Christ, and obviously referring to Jesus.
Our
second message in the series looked at what is traditionally thought of as
Jesus’ first of 7 sayings from the crucifixion, “Father, Forgive Them.” This phrase summed up the entire
experience. As He was hung on the cross,
he cried out “Father, Forgive Them!” Never looking to Himself, even in
agonizing pain, His focus was on the end goal.
The law required blood to be shed for the remission of sin. Christ
offering Himself as the sacrifice to appease the Father’s wrath did not say “I
forgive you,” but rather asked the Father to forgive the punishment and to look
on His sacrifice as payment of an unpayable debt.
Thirdly,
we looked at the “Righteousness of Jesus.”
This is another crucial element of His atonement. If he was not righteous, then He could not
offer Himself as a sacrifice and He too would have a debt to pay. We looked at how the sacrifices of the OT
foreshadowed His final sacrifice for our sin.
He fulfilled the law and was able to offer Himself as our perfect
substitute.
Fourthly,
we looked at His resurrection. This was
the exclamation point on the mystery of the gospel. All other gods have died, but only our God
left an empty tomb and conquered death forever. Finally, we saw how the promise
was fulfilled with the sending of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.
Paul’s Letter to the Romans (May 5 –
October 27)
Our
third series of 2019 found us in the book of Romans. We didn’t dive very deeply into the book as
we only spent 26 weeks on the 16 chapters, as opposed to others who have spent
years doing a series on Romans. Romans
has been compared to Paul’s doctoral dissertation. He delves pretty deeply into the gospel,
salvation, and the redeemed life as a result of the gospel. Paul gives his theme right in the first
chapter. And it was this very passage
that led to Martin Luther leaving the Catholic Church.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel,
because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes:
first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of
God is revealed--a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as
it is written: "The righteous will live by faith." –
Rom
1:16-17
In the
first 11 chapters, he focused primarily on the gospel – the need for salvation,
provision for salvation, result of salvation, and the scope of salvation. In chapters 12 through the middle of 15, he
focused on the transformed life. He
finished out the book with some remarks and instructions for the Roman
believers.
Paul’s
letters often follow a very similar pattern to Romans. He starts the first half of the letter with a
theological treatise. The second half is
then devoted to the application of said theological point/points. They may not be equal halves, but they are in
two parts.
Fulfilling the Great Commission
(November 3 – December 8)
The
fourth series of 2019 was one that focused on the Great Commission. In this six part series that Carl taught
based on the book What Jesus Started
by Steve Addison. First, Carl reminded
us to see the end goal. We need to live
aware of the power of the gospel and focused on sharing with others. We often overlook people due to our decision
that they aren’t worthy of the gospel.
We need to “See the End” and live with it in mind, all while “Connecting
with People.” We can’t fulfill the Great Commission by staying in our comfort
zone and hiding. We need to seek to show
compassion to all looking for an opportunity to “Share the Gospel.” Once we have led someone to Christ, we should
seek to train them as disciples. Too
often groups seek to share the gospel, but fail to disciple. This would be almost like me walking away
from my children. They need me to teach
them morally, socially, and spiritually.
Failing to do so would set them up for failure. Failing to disciple leads to weak Christians
who don’t share their faith. Once we
have disciples being trained, they need to be in community.
Community
is defined as a group who share common interests and characteristics and is
distinct in some respect from the larger society within which it exists. Or, a church.
But frequently we try to “do” or “have” church. We sing a few songs, someone gets up and
teaches, and we all go home. What is
missing is involvement in each other’s lives, bearing one another’s burdens,
loving each other as we love ourselves. This is part of the reason for our
monthly sharing times, but I think there is also room for more small groups to
form to study together and to be involved with each other. Americans don’t like to open up, we are a
society of “rugged individualism.” We
pride ourselves on hiding our hurts and pains.
I’m going to get to this more later.
Finally,
out of this community who is growing together, is a multiplication of
workers. It is one large cycle. We see the need, connect and share, disciple
and train within community, then multiply workers by teaching them the
need. They go out to connect and share,
and the cycle should continue.
That’s
a quick wrap up of what we studied this year.
I want to take a few minutes to start our sharing time by talking about
something that is important to me.
Selfishly, this is part of the reason I like to have the Year in
Review. I get a brief shot to share
something other than the assigned passage or topic.
I’m
sure that like every other year, 2019 was a year of many ups and downs. Some of us had very little fluctuation in the
emotional wave, but for a few of us, it resembled a roller coaster with loops
and turns and twist and greater variation from valley to mountain top.
For my
small family of three, we found out in late March that our family would grow by
year end. Then in May, we got the news
that we were expecting twins. Despite
the shock and awe of expecting twins, most of the year was fairly easy. We were just prepping for our world to be
rocked by two infants invading our family in late November. Janet’s pregnancy progressed nearly
flawlessly. As we neared the end of
October, a date of November 11 was set for the C-section. Right after the date was set, I began to hear
a number of stories of infants or mothers passing from complications during
delivery or problems developed in utero.
My thought life became a constant battle to not fear, but to rest on
God. On November the 11th, we
went to hospital very excited to meet Nathan and Allison. The C-section went very well. We moved into the recovery room, and I
noticed a doctor examining Nathan. I
tried not to let my mind take off. He
gently explained to us that Nathan was laboring to breathe and needed to be
admitted to NICU for some respiratory therapy.
We had been warned prior that white male infants often need some
respiratory support, so I wasn’t terribly concerned. (In fact, the medical field calls it the
wimpy white boy syndrome.) A few hours
later while Janet tried to nurse Allison for the first time, I stepped across
the hall to check on Nathan. While I was
in there, the doctor got a phone call. I
could tell it was about Allison. He hung
up and explained to me that she was breathing too fast to be able to properly
eat. They brought her over to join her
brother. All we could do with our twins
was reach in and lay our hands on them and sing or talk to them. It would be nearly a week after they were
before we were allowed to hold them. I’m
not going to bore you with all the details; I just want you to get a feel of
what I was walking through.
The
day after the twins were born, my mom had to have a stress test done. It was inconclusive, and the cardiologist
ordered a nuclear stress test. Then my
mom got a call that her mom, my Granny, was not doing well. At first, I passed that off. For about 4 years now, her health had
declined around the holidays only to rebound after the first of the year. Questions were flying around in my mind. What was going on with my mom’s health? Would Granny pull out of this one too? I knew the twins current struggles weren’t
going to cause lifelong problems, but how long would we have to wait for them
to grow stronger and come home? When
could I go see my little Elise? I found
myself a couple times just sitting and reading the Bible in the twins’ room
trying to rest on God.
Allison
came home 10 days later on November 21.
We’d hoped Nathan would come home the following day, but then he took a
big step backward. That morning, I also got
a text from my mom that Granny’s hospice nurse had just said she probably
wouldn’t survive the weekend. My family was
in 3 places: Janet and Allison at our house, Elise with Fred and Christine, and
me in Greenville with Nathan. As the
dad, I wanted us all back together again.
But now, my Granny, the only grandmother who actually had anything to do
with me, would not survive the weekend.
So, I left Nathan in the hands of the very capable NICU staff and raced
to Lexington to say my goodbyes.
Thankfully I did as my Granny passed that night in her sleep.
I’m
not trying to make you feel sorry for me, or to say that my trial was harder
than what anyone else has been called to walk through, but I wanted to share
with you my trial and what God used to encourage and grow my faith during what
was probably the darkest valley I have walked through, yet. I pray it will also encourage you.
But I
opened myself up to others and told them of my struggles. I emailed the pastors in the midst of all of
this asking them to pray; and they all sent emails or texts with other passages
to meditate on during my distress. Even
the week before the twins birth, as I was listening to Christian radio they
shared on two separate days that week different passages that kept me focused
on God.
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind
is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. – Isaiah
26:3 ESV
But the Lord is faithful, and he will
strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. – 2Thessalonians
3:3
I
meditated on these both of these a lot, and then someone sent me Jeremiah
31:25:
I will refresh the weary and satisfy the
faint.
So I
added that the list. My brother also
started posting hymn lyrics to Facebook about this time, so I meditated on
those songs, and then I was reminded of other songs I knew. Music is interesting. It can affect us in ways almost nothing else
can. Music can affect our emotions and our
thoughts. Things learned in song are
remembered long. Songs that I learned
both long ago and recently flooded my mind.
Songs that brought me back to the truth of God.
But I
kept going back to one particular book of the Bible. The Psalms.
Why do we always go to the Psalms for trials? Why would Paul tell the Ephesian and
Colossian believers to speak to one another in Psalms, hymns, and spiritual
songs? What were Paul and Silas doing in
the Philippian jail? Singing hymns and
praying.
The
Psalms are the hymn book of the Bible.
In it, we are given a vast vision of who God is, unlike any other
passages. As we understand who God is,
we are comforted in our need and driven to praise, which leads to … more
singing!! There are Psalms that shows He pays attention to our tears (Psalm 56);
He is concerned about the burdens His children carry (Psalm 25). The Psalms also show us how to deal with real
life. In the Psalms, we see lamenting
like “How long, LORD, will you forget me forever?” (Psalm 13:1) or the other end
of the spectrum to “My heart is glad and my tongue rejoices…because you will
not abandon me to the realm of the dead.” (Psalm 16:9-10).
This
surprised me when I read this, but over one-third of the Psalms are categorized
as Psalms of lament. These songs face up
to the sharpest of pains, the deepest struggles, and the loneliest of
moments. Sitting in Nathan’s NCU room
that Saturday morning after my Granny passed away and watching the doctor and
nurse try to determine why Nathan kept dropping his heart rate and blood oxygen
levels was pretty lonely. But a song
based on Psalm 42 kept coming to mind.
Lord, from sorrows deep I call
When my hope is shaken
Torn and ruined from the fall
Hear my desperation
For so long I've pled and prayed
God, come to my rescue
Even so the thorn remains
Still my heart will praise You
When my hope is shaken
Torn and ruined from the fall
Hear my desperation
For so long I've pled and prayed
God, come to my rescue
Even so the thorn remains
Still my heart will praise You
Storms within my troubled soul
Questions without answers
On my faith these billows roll
God, be now my shelter
Why are you cast down, my soul?
Hope in Him who saves you
When the fires have all grown cold
Cause this heart to praise You
Questions without answers
On my faith these billows roll
God, be now my shelter
Why are you cast down, my soul?
Hope in Him who saves you
When the fires have all grown cold
Cause this heart to praise You
Should my life be torn from me
Every worldly pleasure
When all I possess is grief
God, be then my treasure
Be my vision in the night
Be my hope and refuge
Till my faith is turned to sight
Lord, my heart will praise You
Every worldly pleasure
When all I possess is grief
God, be then my treasure
Be my vision in the night
Be my hope and refuge
Till my faith is turned to sight
Lord, my heart will praise You
Chorus:
And, oh, my soul, put your hope in
God
My help, my Rock, I will praise Him
Sing, oh, sing through the raging storm
You're still my God, my salvation
My help, my Rock, I will praise Him
Sing, oh, sing through the raging storm
You're still my God, my salvation
-Lord from Sorrows Deep I Call –
Words and Music by Matt Papa and Matt Boswell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nATJFlTjJF0
We often think of Psalm 42 as a
happy Psalm. It starts with the
illustration of panting for God the way a deer pants for water, but as you get
into it, the writer is clearly distraught.
He uses phrases like “My tears have been my food,” “Where is your God,”
Why are you downcast, O my soul?” “Deep calls to deep,” “Why have you forgotten
me?” Whoever wrote this Psalm (we aren’t
told who in the text) is clearly longing for God to come to him. He says in verse 9 “I say to God my Rock, ‘Why
have you forgotten me? Why must I go on morning, oppressed by the enemy?’” But he closes with verse 11 “Why are you
downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I
will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”
The chorus of the modern hymn reminding
me that God is still God. He is still in
control, and I could sing through the raging storm and hope in God. And by praising him, it became easier to
accept the new treatment timeline for Nathan.
It became easier to deal with the grief knowing that I would see Granny
again. It allowed me to be able to
comfort my mom and her sister with the same comfort I had been given.
I could keep going on and on of
songs that God used to remind me, I’m still God. When the storm is raging, when you think there
is no more hope left, I’m still on the throne.
I’m still in control. I have you
where you are for a reason. I’ll list
more songs and the YouTube links to the ones I quoted in my transcript along
with a few others.
I Will Wait For You (Psalm 130) – Words
and Music by Keith Getty, Jordan Kauflin, Matt Merker, and Stuart Townend
He Will Hold Me Fast – Words and
Music by Ada Habershonnew and Matt Merker
Trials Come by Keith and Kristyn
Getty
Let’s be mindful of what music we’re
allowing ourselves to listen to. It
subconsciously shapes our thinking.
Bombarding myself with worldly music always leaves me tense and on
edge. By listening to music that is
centered on the truths of the Bible, I am drawn back to God and meditating on
His truth and it helps me trust God more.
Despite late November being a very dark time for me, I can look back and
say that I can see God in every step. I
do grieve over losing my Granny, but I’m not hopeless. I’ll see her again someday. And it took 27 days, but our little family is
reunited at home again. God is just as
much sovereign now as He was during Esther’s trial that makes mine seem like a
walk in the park.
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