As I was putting the finishing
touches on my message this week, God was putting His finishing touches on me. I
had pretty much finished my sermon several weeks ago because I’m going to
use some of the same material as I teach at L.I.N.C. this week in Flordia. I was waiting on God to give me any last
minute thoughts before I finished preparing.
As I was updating a few things in my message, my ribs were wrapped in
ace bandage. What happened? A few days earlier, Alex and I were playing
basketball. One of the students, about
half my age, rammed his shoulder into my ribs leaving me sore for days on
end. In case you’re wondering, I didn’t
let him make the shot. He missed. Earlier that week the rheumatologist
diagnosed me with unspecified spondyloarthropathy. It’s a diagnosis that explains why I have had
to deal with so much pain in my back for nearly 20 years.
As many of you know, Miriam
has gone through much suffering over the years.
I’ll share a little bit more about that in a minute. Let me share a few Biblical thoughts that
have helped me over the years to understand pain in physical suffering.
In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 Paul says, “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”
What does Paul mean when he uses the
word “weakness?"
“What was Paul’s thorn in the flesh?
All we can say for sure is that it was some bodily trial which God allowed to
come into his life. No doubt the Lord purposely failed to specify exactly what
the thorn was so that tried and tested saints down through the years might feel
a closer kinship with the apostle as they
suffer. Perhaps it was some form of eye disease, perhaps an earache, perhaps
malaria, perhaps migraine headaches, perhaps something connected with Paul’s
speech.” Moorehead states: “The precise nature of it has been concealed perhaps
that all afflicted ones may be encouraged and helped by Paul’s unnamed yet
painful experience.”
In verse nine, God said that His
“power is perfected in weakness.” The
word “perfected” comes from a Greek word “teleo” In Romans 13:5 Paul uses the word this way: “For because of this you also pay (teleo)
taxes, for rulers are servants of
God, devoting themselves to this very thing.” (Romans
13:5). One translator says it means “to fulfill, to complete,” Vincent
says, “carrying the sense of the fulfillment of an obligation.”
In Galatians 5:16 Paul says, “But
I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out (teleo) the desire of the
flesh.”
The word fulfill is from teleo (τελεο)
which here means “to bring to fulfillment in action.”
"… The Holy Spirit is not a perpetual motion machine which operates automatically in the life of the believer. He is a divine Person waiting to be depended upon for His ministry, and expecting the saint to cooperate with Him in it. Thus the choice lies with the believer as to whether he is going to yield to the Holy Spirit or obey the evil nature. The Spirit is always there to give him victory over that nature as the saint says a point-blank NO to sin and at the same time trusts the Spirit to give him victory over it." (Wuest)
“He is a divine Person waiting to be depended upon for His ministry…” (Wuest)
I used to fight wildfires. When I worked for the Marine Corps I was sent to Waco, Texas to help with the wildfires there. I was so excited to fight wildfires in a different area than what I was used to in the thick woods of Eastern North Carolina. In Texas the grass was super dry, the humidity was low and the winds were blowing hard. All it took was one careless cigarette or one strike of dry lightning to set off thousands of acres of pasture. It wasn’t uncommon to hear of 11,000 acres of a farmer’s land to burn within days of the ignition.
A wildfire is perceived differently depending on who you are. If you’re a landowner or a homeowner, it’s a terrifying thing. If you’re a wildland firefighter, you have mixed emotions. On one hand, you see it as a terrifying and a tragic event. On the other hand, you see it as an opportunity.
You’ve been trained for this event. I was taught how to use the water pump on the back of the truck. I was trained how to fight the grassland fire from the inside, where the grass was already burned. I understood the tactics and communication necessary to command a bull-dozer team or a fire-engine team. The dynamics of a wildfire were fascinating to me. They still are.
As I sat there in the National Guard Armory, I waited. I waited for my opportunity to put out a fire and save someone’s home, land, livestock and even someone’s life. I waited and I waited. For three solid weeks I waited, but never got the call. That was extreme boredom. I calculated that I read approximately 1,500 pages in books. I did approximately a thousand push-ups. I checked the fire engine parts about 21 times. I watched the movie Braveheart three times. And I had to trade in my novex fire-pants for a size that was one inch larger in the waist. I was never called on during those three weeks. I had a chance to fight fires in other places, but not there.
This anticipation to help (or to fulfill an obligation) is the picture we see in this word “teleo”. The Holy Spirit wants to be put into action. He wants to fulfill His promises. Those are a couple of reasons that He lives inside of a Christian. He knows exactly what He needs to do. He just needs to be invited. Pain in physical suffering brings that invitation, that is, if we have faith and welcome the trial as our friend.
In James 1:2-4, J.B. Phillips translates these verses as this: “When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives my brothers, don’t resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends!” My immediate response to trials is to lock them out. I want to close the door, lock the door handle, bolt the chain and lock the deadbolt.
James, on the other hand, says to welcome them as friends. “Hello there, trials. Come on in. Can I get you something to drink or eat? Here, sit in my chair. I don’t mind sitting on the floor so you can have the better seat. I’m not surprised that you came. I’ve been expecting you. Since you’re here why don’t you help me with a few things. That’s what friends, do, right? I’m not going to ignore you and let you suck the life out of me. God wants to do some important things in my life. I know He sent you for a purpose. So, friend, take this broom and get to work.”
You can look at trials from your perspective or you can look at them from God’s perspective. To look at them from my perspective is worldly and fleshly. But to see them as God sees them is to have faith. You’re taking God’s words over how you feel. You agree with God that He’s right and you’re wrong.
Why should anyone delight in weaknesses and difficulties? Because every difficulty is an opportunity to see God at work. In Exodus 2, Moses saw an Egyptian beating one of his fellow Hebrews, who was a slave. He wanted to deliver God’s people in his own time and own way. How many people was he able to deliver? Only one. Where was God during this difficulty? Waiting. Waiting to be called upon in Moses life.
Where was God when Moses said, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11) He was waiting to show Moses that He had the power even though Moses felt inadequate.
Herschel Martindale said, “Moses did not see God at work in his 1st 40 or 2nd 40 years. Why? Because he didn’t see His need for God. There was no faith or prayer. He learned the lesson in the 3rd 40 years. He learned to turn to God, believe God’s promises, pray and trust God to provide and work in EVERY NEED.”
What gave Paul the motivation to boast about his weaknesses? First, he knew that God’s grace was sufficient for him. Second, he knew that his weaknesses allowed God’s power to rest on him. God’s power being perfected in our weakness is like this syringe. If this syringe had a large opening I could only shoot the water a couple of feet. But if there’s a small opening (i.e. our weakness), then I can shoot it pretty far. I can use the same amount of power from my hand to accomplish more work with this water because the whole is small. Our smallness isn’t an obstacle to God. It’s an opportunity to demonstrate His power. Thirdly, he was more concerned about Jesus than himself: “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.” 2 Corinthians 12:10 (NIV 84). When we’re more concerned about our priorities and our reputation we can get run down really quickly with trials. I know this from experience.
When we act in faith in the midst of pain, God’s face reflects off of our life more clearly. Let me explain: “The illustration is that of the ancient goldsmith who refines the crude gold ore in his crucible. The pure metal is mixed with much foreign material from which it must be separated. The only way to bring about this separation is to reduce the ore to liquid form. The impurities rise to the surface and are then skimmed off. But intense heat is needed to liquefy this ore. So the goldsmith puts his crucible in the fire, reduces the ore to a liquid state and skims off the impurities. When he can see the reflection of his face clearly mirrored in the surface of the liquid, he knows that the contents are pure gold. The smelting process has done its work."
"… The Holy Spirit is not a perpetual motion machine which operates automatically in the life of the believer. He is a divine Person waiting to be depended upon for His ministry, and expecting the saint to cooperate with Him in it. Thus the choice lies with the believer as to whether he is going to yield to the Holy Spirit or obey the evil nature. The Spirit is always there to give him victory over that nature as the saint says a point-blank NO to sin and at the same time trusts the Spirit to give him victory over it." (Wuest)
“He is a divine Person waiting to be depended upon for His ministry…” (Wuest)
I used to fight wildfires. When I worked for the Marine Corps I was sent to Waco, Texas to help with the wildfires there. I was so excited to fight wildfires in a different area than what I was used to in the thick woods of Eastern North Carolina. In Texas the grass was super dry, the humidity was low and the winds were blowing hard. All it took was one careless cigarette or one strike of dry lightning to set off thousands of acres of pasture. It wasn’t uncommon to hear of 11,000 acres of a farmer’s land to burn within days of the ignition.
A wildfire is perceived differently depending on who you are. If you’re a landowner or a homeowner, it’s a terrifying thing. If you’re a wildland firefighter, you have mixed emotions. On one hand, you see it as a terrifying and a tragic event. On the other hand, you see it as an opportunity.
You’ve been trained for this event. I was taught how to use the water pump on the back of the truck. I was trained how to fight the grassland fire from the inside, where the grass was already burned. I understood the tactics and communication necessary to command a bull-dozer team or a fire-engine team. The dynamics of a wildfire were fascinating to me. They still are.
As I sat there in the National Guard Armory, I waited. I waited for my opportunity to put out a fire and save someone’s home, land, livestock and even someone’s life. I waited and I waited. For three solid weeks I waited, but never got the call. That was extreme boredom. I calculated that I read approximately 1,500 pages in books. I did approximately a thousand push-ups. I checked the fire engine parts about 21 times. I watched the movie Braveheart three times. And I had to trade in my novex fire-pants for a size that was one inch larger in the waist. I was never called on during those three weeks. I had a chance to fight fires in other places, but not there.
This anticipation to help (or to fulfill an obligation) is the picture we see in this word “teleo”. The Holy Spirit wants to be put into action. He wants to fulfill His promises. Those are a couple of reasons that He lives inside of a Christian. He knows exactly what He needs to do. He just needs to be invited. Pain in physical suffering brings that invitation, that is, if we have faith and welcome the trial as our friend.
In James 1:2-4, J.B. Phillips translates these verses as this: “When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives my brothers, don’t resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends!” My immediate response to trials is to lock them out. I want to close the door, lock the door handle, bolt the chain and lock the deadbolt.
James, on the other hand, says to welcome them as friends. “Hello there, trials. Come on in. Can I get you something to drink or eat? Here, sit in my chair. I don’t mind sitting on the floor so you can have the better seat. I’m not surprised that you came. I’ve been expecting you. Since you’re here why don’t you help me with a few things. That’s what friends, do, right? I’m not going to ignore you and let you suck the life out of me. God wants to do some important things in my life. I know He sent you for a purpose. So, friend, take this broom and get to work.”
You can look at trials from your perspective or you can look at them from God’s perspective. To look at them from my perspective is worldly and fleshly. But to see them as God sees them is to have faith. You’re taking God’s words over how you feel. You agree with God that He’s right and you’re wrong.
Why should anyone delight in weaknesses and difficulties? Because every difficulty is an opportunity to see God at work. In Exodus 2, Moses saw an Egyptian beating one of his fellow Hebrews, who was a slave. He wanted to deliver God’s people in his own time and own way. How many people was he able to deliver? Only one. Where was God during this difficulty? Waiting. Waiting to be called upon in Moses life.
Where was God when Moses said, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11) He was waiting to show Moses that He had the power even though Moses felt inadequate.
Herschel Martindale said, “Moses did not see God at work in his 1st 40 or 2nd 40 years. Why? Because he didn’t see His need for God. There was no faith or prayer. He learned the lesson in the 3rd 40 years. He learned to turn to God, believe God’s promises, pray and trust God to provide and work in EVERY NEED.”
What gave Paul the motivation to boast about his weaknesses? First, he knew that God’s grace was sufficient for him. Second, he knew that his weaknesses allowed God’s power to rest on him. God’s power being perfected in our weakness is like this syringe. If this syringe had a large opening I could only shoot the water a couple of feet. But if there’s a small opening (i.e. our weakness), then I can shoot it pretty far. I can use the same amount of power from my hand to accomplish more work with this water because the whole is small. Our smallness isn’t an obstacle to God. It’s an opportunity to demonstrate His power. Thirdly, he was more concerned about Jesus than himself: “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.” 2 Corinthians 12:10 (NIV 84). When we’re more concerned about our priorities and our reputation we can get run down really quickly with trials. I know this from experience.
When we act in faith in the midst of pain, God’s face reflects off of our life more clearly. Let me explain: “The illustration is that of the ancient goldsmith who refines the crude gold ore in his crucible. The pure metal is mixed with much foreign material from which it must be separated. The only way to bring about this separation is to reduce the ore to liquid form. The impurities rise to the surface and are then skimmed off. But intense heat is needed to liquefy this ore. So the goldsmith puts his crucible in the fire, reduces the ore to a liquid state and skims off the impurities. When he can see the reflection of his face clearly mirrored in the surface of the liquid, he knows that the contents are pure gold. The smelting process has done its work."
I don’t like being weak. My family has gone through a lot of trials over the last four or five years. I was leading a church in Wilmington, NC for almost four years, but it didn’t work out for us to stay. The church went through some enormous swings in growth. We doubled in size the first year we were there. Then, some of the members developed huge trials (some of which were self-inflicted). We shrunk back down to about six members before we left. But God was doing some amazing things through our small church. The whole tennis team was being reached with the gospel through one of our members. Peoples’ lives were being impacted by God in ways that I hadn’t seen before. But through the trials I felt stressed out, and at times, I felt like a failure. We would show up to our church meeting on Sundays not knowing if anyone would be there at all. At the same time that we were experiencing trials as a church, more personal trials began to pop up in our family.
As some of you know, Sarah became deathly sick with MRSA pneumonia. She spent 25 days in the hospital and had surgery on her lung to remove the infection. One of the church members was very angry with me about a decision I made and he began to slander us, even while we were in the hospital. By God’s mercy, Sarah finally recovered from the illness and we went home. During the month we were gone, more people left the church.
But God wasn’t finished using the MRSA in our lives. Miriam developed 30 boils on different places on her body over a period of a year. She had surgery to open up six of them so they could drain and heal up. One boil got so large on her face that you couldn’t tell who she was because her face was so swollen. I developed boils on my body and so did Sarah. During this time Miriam continued to have other medical problems that were a result of a brain tumor that had been removed in 2001. We felt like we were in the story of Job.
Our finances took a big hit because of all the medical bills. I picked up a part-time job working three days a week with a job that was mostly hard-labor. I would come exhausted, eat supper then head out the door to go to campus for the evening.
I felt weak and constrained by all of our painful circumstances. I saw pastors that I thought were successful and they didn’t seem to have all the trials that I was having. Their families were healthy. They had a growing church. Their finances were more stable, therefore, they were more available to do quality ministry work.
Some days at work I was on a tractor for most of the day. I listened to a lot of Bible teachings on my iPod. I listened to John MacArthur teach on the book of Philippians and it gave me a fresh perspective. I was reminded that God is never weak or constrained. Paul was chained to a prison guard 24 hours a day for 7 days a week. This went on for nearly two years. This is when he wrote the book of Phillipians. If anyone should feel constrained, it would be Paul. He couldn’t leave the prison. He couldn’t meet new people and share the gospel. How were churches going to be started? How were leaders going to be developed? But during Paul’s trial, God was never bound by anything, not even Paul’s lack of availability. Sometimes we question our availability to God when we’re going through physical pain.
Now think about it. What is the result of that? "My imprisonment for the cause of Christ has become well known." How did it become well known? "Throughout the whole praetorian guard." Why? Because those were the guys who were chained to him. Now you have to understand it's one thing for Paul to be chained to a soldier, and it's a whole other point of view to realize that a soldier was chained to Paul. Have you ever tried to evangelize someone who wanted to get away? Imagine being chained to Paul six hours. That could get a little heavy duty. Boy, what an incredible...incredible missionary opportunity. I'm sure there were Christians in the Roman church praying, "O God, help us somehow to reach Caesar's household. Help us somehow to reach the elite corps of the Praetorian Guard. Help us to get the gospel into the high places. Help us to reach these people." And there was no way in. And so the Lord in His wonderful wisdom made the whole Praetorian Guard captive to Paul at six-hour intervals while he evangelized them all.” (MacArthur, Joy in Spite of Trouble).
I felt unavailable. I was working another job, I was taking care of my family and I was involved in nearly every aspect of our young church.
A year before we left Wilmington, a church leader in GCC asked me if I would feel like a failure if we had to leave. I told him that I would definitely feel like a failure. But over that year, God began to change my heart. I began to see the growth of the church as His responsibility. I began to see that our trials gave people in our church an opportunity to serve. They would come over to clean our house or cut our grass. God’s power was being demonstrated through that small group of committed saints. I began to see that any change in peoples’ lives was truly a work of the Holy Spirit. I really believe that now. God allowed us to get to such a difficult place so that He would get the glory for whatever work was being done.
Through the counsel of other pastors and their wives we decided to leave. We needed to be in a place that was more stable emotionally, physically, spiritually and financially. We made a decision to move for the sake of our family. We moved to Clemson in August of 2011 and have plugged into our church family here. Looking back I can see how God was orchestrating our pain to lead us to Clemson. Our obstacle was truly an opportunity for God to demonstrate his sovereignty.
John Bunyan is well-known for being the author of Pilgrim’s Progress. He was a great preacher. His preaching was so powerful and influential that the authorities put him into the Bedford Jail to silence him. But he began to preach from inside the walls, and people gathered outside to listen to him even though they couldn’t see him. So, the authorities put him inside the jail were he could have no interaction with anyone. It was there in the solitude that God gave him the freedom to write Pilgrim’s Progress. They thought they could silence him. Instead it gave him the opportunity to write a book that would preach the gospel to millions and millions of people. God is not bound by our painful circumstances.
God has used other godly men and women throughout the years who have had chronic trials like physical infirmities. William Wilberforce was one of those people, “William Wilberforce, who led the fight to abolish slavery in the British Empire, was physically weak and frail, but he had deep faith in God. Boswell said of him, “I saw what seemed to me a shrimp become a whale.”
In 2 Corinthians 1:8-10, Paul tells about other difficulties he experienced:
For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us, you also joining in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many.
Wait a minute. Paul, are you saying that God will allow us to be “burdened excessively, beyond our strength”? The NIV says, “We were under great pressure; far beyond our ability to endure…” What about 1 Corinthians 10:13 that says, “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it." Isn’t that saying that God will not allow a trial to enter into our life that’s beyond what we are able? To answer this question I think it’s helpful to look at a couple of things.
First, the context of the passage dictates the meaning of the word “temptation” is dealing with sin, not trials. In 1 Corinthians 10:7 he says, “Do not be idolaters…” In verse eight he says, “Nor let us act immorally…” And verse ten says, “Nor grumble…” After verse thirteen, he stays within the topic of sin by saying, “flee from idolatry…”
Secondly, the translators thought it was necessary to translate the Greek word “peirasmos” as “temptation” and not as the word “trial”.
Therefore, in 1 Corinthians 10:13 Paul is saying that God will provide a way to escape sin so we don’t find ourselves in a situation that is beyond our ability to endure. But God will sometimes allow us to go through painful circumstances that are beyond our ability to endure. He wants us to be in a place of dependence upon Him.
Every obstacle is an opportunity. God is never bound by our trials. He is glorified through them. Having eyes of faith doesn’t mean you ignore your pain. It means that you believe God’s power can be demonstrated through the pain. Being able to deal with pain in physical suffering hinges on our understanding of who God is. God is not bothered by us asking him for help. He receives the glory because of it. I would like to close with a short story from John Piper:
“Once again, hear Jesus’ words in John 14:13: “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” Suppose you are totally paralyzed and can do nothing for yourself but talk. And suppose a strong and reliable friend promised to live with you and do whatever you needed done. How could you glorify your friend if a stranger came to see you? Would you glorify his generosity and strength by trying to get out of bed and carry him? No! You would say, “Friend, please come lift me up, and would you put a pillow behind me so I can look at my guest? And would you please put my glasses on for me?” And so your visitor would learn from your requests that you are helpless and that your friend is strong and kind. You glorify your friend by needing him and asking him for help and counting on him.” (Piper, Desiring God.)
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