Tag: suffering

To Make You Stronger

1 Peter 1-3

Devotion by John Tullis (OH)

One of the strongest building materials is steel.  All the great towers and skyscrapers today are built out of steel.  It is a very hard metal and very durable.  But it does not start that way.  It begins as a piece of iron ore.  To transform the iron ore into steel, the iron must be heated to extreme temperatures and exposed to blasts of super hot air to blow out the impurities.  When it is quickly cooled, the result is steel – a pure form, durable, and able to stand the test of time.  It is only tough and useable because of the intense “heat and violent blasts of air” that transforms it. 

The apostle Peter wrote his letters to Christians scattered out across Asia Minor (Turkey today).  The Christians there were struggling because of hardship and persecution.  Living a life of faith in God was very difficult and dangerous.  As the Roman empire continued to persecute the Christians across the empire, the apostles, like Peter, worked hard to encourage the children of God. 

Peter reminds us in his letter that we have a “living hope” (1 Peter 1:3-4).  No matter what kinds of trouble we experience in life, we can be assured that the hope that we have in Jesus is true and eternal.  We know this because Jesus has been raised from the dead, proving that every promise that He made is true.  No matter what kinds of sorrow we face in this life, we can be assured of an “inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.  Kept in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:3-4).  Jesus promised to return to this world to make things right.  Then, our promise will be revealed before our very eyes as we enjoy eternity with God the Father and His son Jesus Christ in God’s glorious earthly kingdom.

Despite being persecuted and threatened by the Romans, Peter reminds the Christians that they are to put their faith in God and serve Him.  Like the first Christians, God allows us to experience trouble and sorrow because, like heat to iron, He wants to create a tougher, more usable child of God.  God desires for each of us to endure troubling times.  We are a chosen people (1 Peter 2:9-10).  As God’s chosen people, we can be assured that He will use hard times to strengthen us.  It is God’s will that we suffer for doing good (1 Peter 3:17).  Jesus suffered greatly on the cross.  But the result of His suffering has brought us closer to God (3:18).  Who knows what incredible things God will bring about because His people are willing to suffer for doing good?

Questions for Discussion:

  1. Are good works the way to earn a blessing? (1 Peter 3:9-12)
  2. Why be gentle and respectful to unbelievers? (1 Peter 3:15)
SGL.2025.DecemberFullPageDownload

Joy of Every Longing Heart

Job 1-5

Students may feel time stands still, waiting the release of a school day, but where reality is truly suspended is at a school dance.  I am no scientist, but I believe Albert Einstein must have been chaperoning teenagers when he discovered the theory of relativity.  It isn’t just one thing that makes it feel like you are locked into an eternal session on “Cotton-Eye Joe” on a Friday afternoon, but the combination of the shouting,  the music, the shouting, the running, the shouting, the smells, and the shouting, create a enormous sense of anticipation and longing for escape.

Today in our chronological study, we end up in a completely different book. Job is thought to historically settle in and around the time of Abraham, but there is room for debate. Personally, I like the fade to black, and the entry into another storyline.  Multiple narratives, whether in our texts or as we edify one another today, demonstrate that God is working to bring all things to one conclusion or resolution, which indeed is our great joy as we consider his uniting Kingdom.

Conversely, the vast majority of Job’s story is within the walls of great suffering, where time seemingly stands still; the playlist is that of devastating loss. Job’s health, his wealth, and his family are stripped from him.  He slowly and surely unpacks the persistence of physical and emotional pain, reminding us of the sovereignty of God: it is His prerogative to give and to take away.

Nonetheless, Job continues to seek joy and restoration with God, though time stands still in agonizing sorrow.  Leaning, reclining, and collapsing on God are the only available avenues to move forward through the most intense trials and longest of sufferings.  David says in Psalm 16:11: “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” We long for security, satisfaction, and meaning, but the answer to these needs  do not come from momentary allowances. We can only attain this through God, who freely gives this and more through Jesus Christ.

Through His  life, death, and resurrection, we have abounding grace.  Through trials of every kind we can receive joy and develop perseverance because we know that our narrative is only one of many, tied to a single storyline about our Savior.  Though at times it feels like we will never move again, seeking God, we will be inspired to join in the conga-line with those before us who have died longing and waiting for their joy made complete.

Revelation 21:4 reminds us that eventually the noise and the music will stop, and we can finally go home  – “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”  Blessed be the name of the Lord! What great joy there is in eternity, to sustain us through the most taxing times where we feel the ticking of every second.  We will be in the presence of God. We will be made perfect and whole.  We will be reunited. Oh come, thou long expected Jesus.

-Aaron Winner

Reflection Questions

  1. What has God given to you? What has He taken away? Why and how can you praise Him for both? What “negative” things has He also taken away for you?
  2. Who or what else also shares responsibility for the suffering Job endures?
  3. Who do you know who has suffered much and continues to praise the name of the Lord?
  4. How can joy and perseverance grow in the face of trials, tears and suffering?

Have you downloaded and printed the 2025 SGL Chronological Reading Plan

SGL.2025.CalendarBookletDownload

or just one month at a time – here’s January…

SGL.2025.JanuaryFullPageDownload

The Rightful Judge of the Universe

OLD TESTAMENT: Lamentations 4-5

POETRY: Psalm 119:121-128

NEW TESTAMENT: Revelation 9

We pick up this Friday by finishing off the final 2 chapters of the book of Lamentations—one of the most poetic cries to God in despair, pain, and anguish that is recorded in the Bible. Jeremiah has spent the previous 3 chapters weeping to God about the destruction of both Jerusalem and Judah, and the horrific circumstances it has thrown His people into. Besides the outright attack from the Babylonians, they also suffered siege and famine. Death was inescapable at every turn, from starvation and thirst to even resorting to cannibalism. Amongst all this, Jeremiah has seen it all. 

He questions why God had abandoned His people, and why they must suffer. At a certain point he recognizes it is because of the sins of the people of Jerusalem, and that God’s wrath is His own to disperse—that it is by God’s hand justice is determined.

“Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it? 

Is it not from the mouth of the most high that both calamities and good things come? 

Why should the living complain when punished for their sins?” (3:37-39)

I think about times in my life where it has felt as though I have been left alone—seemingly abandoned. In these moments, my first thought may be to question why God has abandoned me, and why I have to suffer. Why can’t it always be good times? Why would God allow this suffering?

But that thought is unfounded—it forgets the very essence of God’s nature, and does not take on the perspective that Jeremiah takes. God is the one and only rightful judge of this universe. What good would a judge in a court of law be if they let every person who’s done wrong off Scott free? 

God is not the source of sin, just as light is not the source of darkness. Rather, where there is no light, there is darkness. Without God and His righteousness, we fall back into sin and into that darkness. Thankfully, because of the sacrifice He sent for us, through the death of Jesus Christ, we can now live under a new covenant of salvation! And because of this gift, we ought to recognize the power and might of our God, as Jeremiah did. In both high and low, fire and ice, joy and pain, we owe everything to God, the creator of both the mountains and the seas.

“You, Lord, reign forever; your throne endures from generation to generation.” (5:19)

-Mason Kiel

Reflection Questions

  1. What suffering have you witnessed or endured that perhaps made you question what God was doing or why?
  2. What sins had Jerusalem and Judah committed? What sins do you see in your society? What sins do you see in your life?
  3. What do you gain by recognizing God as the just God of the universe?
  4. Suffering is sometimes brought about by God’s judgment on sin. Are there other explanations for some suffering?
sglcalendar2024Download

It was All Oppressive UNTIL…

Old Testament: Amos 3 & 4

Poetry: Psalm 73

New Testament: Luke 13:1-9

(Originally posted, April 25, 2020 when we were doing a chronological Bible reading plan so the reading for the day was 3 psalms, including Psalm 73, and the previous day we had read from 1 Chronicles.)

Yesterday we read the short short story (2 verses) of Jabez (1 Chronicles 4:9, 10).  He prayed.  God granted his request.  Remember, we don’t know the timeline for the life of Jabez.  Since he had requested from God the expansion of his territory (amongst other things) I feel it is most likely that this answer didn’t come with a snap of the fingers  -though God can certainly work that way when He wants to. I wonder if this answer was achieved over a period of time, with some persistence and wisdom and work required from Jabez.  But still – it sounds so simple and sweet. A fairy-tale ending in just two verses. Jabez prayed.  God granted his request.

But, what about the times when the answer isn’t coming.  We may be praying hard – with a good measure of persistence, wisdom and work, too.  But, it’s just not coming together like we thought a good God would do.

I think of Job and the 41 long, difficult, trying chapters of his story – before the final 42nd chapter when we see God finally shower Job once again with double the blessings.  It would be great to read the book of Job today to remember Job’s anguish – and God’s answer.  Or, you can read Psalm 73 – it is like a mini book of Job boiled down into one powerful psalm.

The author of this psalm begins by acknowledging that he knows God is good.  And, yet, he personally had nearly lost his way and his faith because of his own serious struggles while simultaneously watching the wicked prosper.  He saw boastful, callous, violent, evil men succeeding and growing in popularity and wealth, all while denying and even mocking God.  Are we sure this wasn’t written in 2020 (or 2024)?  Haven’t we seen and heard the same things this week and shook our heads and asked, “Where is God?  This isn’t right or just or fair?  The world is too messed up!”  And we sink down deeper in our despair.   As the psalmist said, “When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me…” (Psalm 73:16)

UNTIL…

Yes – keep reading!  The good stuff is coming – just like it came for Jabez and Job and the psalmist,  it is coming for you and for me.  Though it does require a little bit of action on our part.  The psalmist reveals the secret.  He wrote, he was oppressed UNTIL he, “entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny.” (Psalm 73:17).  Look to God.  Put yourself smack dab in His presence.  Intentionally seek Him out.  Change your focus.  Consider the whole timeline, the big picture.  Look into the future.  Consider the consequences and coming judgement.  Rest in knowing God has got this.  And He has got me.  And if you let Him, He has got you.

The rest of this psalm has beautiful passages of God’s strength, guidance, comfort, plan, wisdom, & protection in any and every situation.  Don’t miss the chance to read it for yourself and soak it in.  Which verse is your favorite in Psalm 73?

Also, don’t miss out on the powerful truths in Psalm 77 & 78. (We will officially be reading those next week, but you could look ahead now.)  Psalm 77 begins much the same way Psalm 73 did – in agony and despair.  And maybe you have been there yourself sometime?  Perhaps you have asked yourself, “Has his unfailing love vanished forever?..Has God forgotten to be merciful?” (Psalm 77:8, 9).

And yet – here again we will see a great turn-around.  In a few short verses he will be writing, “Your ways, O God, are holy, What god is so great as our God?” (Psalm 77:13).  What makes the difference?  What happened in-between verse 9 and 13?  Did he win the lottery?  Did he get all his wishes granted in the sudden snap of his fingers?  It had looked so hopeless.  What changed?

10 Then I thought, “To this I will appeal:
    the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand.
11 I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
    yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
12 I will consider all your works
    and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”

His situation did NOT change.  His thinking did.

What he was focusing on changed.  He rewired his brain, his thought processes, his attitude, his words, his outlook.  He remembered the good God had done.  He meditated on God’s work.

The anguish and oppressive depression doesn’t have to win, even in a situation that appears so bleak.  You may find yourself in the dark, questioning God.  You are not alone.  But, don’t allow yourself to remain in the dark.  Keep stepping towards the light.  You don’t have to wait until your circumstances change.  Instead, change your view.  Enter His Sanctuary.  Search for the good things He has done – in the past and today.  Seek Him.  Read His Word. Remind yourself of His power, faithfulness and love.

Marcia Railton

Reflection Questions

  1. Psalm 73:2 & 3 says: “But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. 3 For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.” How does it affect you when you see the wicked prosper? How have you seen others affected? How can it lead to stumbling? What would be a better response when we see the wicked prosper?
  2. How does your view of things (the wicked, your suffering, the future) change when you enter God’s presence? How do you enter God’s presence?
  3. Which verse is your favorite in Psalm 73?
sglcalendar2024Download

When Life is Unfair

Old Testament: Jeremiah 13 & 14

Poetry: Proverbs 10 and/or Psalm 10

New Testament: 1 Peter 2

Does life ever seem unfair? Why does it seem like the people who are trying their hardest to do the “right thing” often face the greatest difficulties? Is it worth it to continue on the path you’re following, when it seems like you can never get ahead?

My wife and I had to ask ourselves these questions a couple years ago, as we were faced with the possibility of never having children of our own. We watched multiple individuals who were having child after child and living in very sinful conditions, and yet, we had been going to church faithfully, giving financially to God’s ministries, and trying our hardest to be holy. “Why should they be parents and not us?” Everything seemed unfair and out of order, and we had a very difficult time answering these questions honestly. Our faith and trust in God wavered sometimes, questioning why things are the way that they are.

Some of you may have felt this way too in your own way. “Everyone else seems to be successful except for me: why is God not blessing my efforts?” Thankfully, these questions are not new, but are ancient; we see them asked by the author of Psalm 10. He is calling for God to answer the questions we are asking today, about why the wicked seem to prosper when God’s people are suffering. What is amazing about this Psalm is that God doesn’t answer the author: he comes to his senses on his own, resting in the truth that God is King forever and will eventually take care of His people forever (verse 16-18). Knowing this truth about who our God is leads us out of the darkness of doubt, and into the glory of rest in His promises.

Brothers and sisters, this life was never meant to be “fair”; you will suffer, struggle, and feel like God isn’t listening to you. However, Jesus went through much worse than we can imagine, and God vindicated him by raising him from the dead (1 Peter 2:21-25). We were called to follow his example in suffering for good, but will eventually receive the reward of eternal life when he returns, just like he did. Although there are difficulties now, they cannot compare with the glory that’s to come in God’s Kingdom (Romans 8:18). If you are having a rough time right now, find some peace in knowing that Jesus understands your struggle and God will reward you in the end for your steadfast patience. Don’t give up; things are going to get better.

-Talon Paul

Reflection Questions

  1. When have you struggled with an unfair life and perhaps doubted God’s goodness and power?
  2. When that happens how can we be reminded of God’s promises?
sgl23bibleplanDownload

Producing Endurance

Old Testament: Jeremiah Intro – found below

Poetry: Proverbs 3

New Testament: James 1

(James is the only book we are reading twice, back-to-back. What can you find in a second reading of this short but wise letter?)

“Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.” — James 1:2–3

The testing of your faith through trials produces endurance. What is the opposite of endurance? Well, I suppose the opposite of “endurance” is “giving up”. When faith doesn’t endure it peters out. So if you don’t want your faith to peter out then you need some trials. Because James says it is trials that “produce endurance.”

Few experiences expose who we are like the experience of suffering. When trials come, we almost cannot help but hold out our heart for all to see.

Some sufferers bow their heads and give glory to God, while others curse him. Some say, through tears, “I trust you,” while others refuse to pray. Some collapse into God’s presence, and learn to love him with a broken heart, while others turn their backs and walk away.

What makes the difference between these sufferers? Dozens of factors, of course. But one of the most significant is what we know about suffering. The apostle James, writing to Christians beaten up by trials, calls them to suffer faithfully because of what they know: “Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know . . .” (James 1:2–3).

Rejoice, James says, because you know something about suffering. And what did they know? They did not know many of the specific good God was working in their trials. They did not know why these trials should be happening now. Nor did they know how long their trials would last. But they did know a simple promise, filled with power: “. . . for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness” (James 1:3).

Testing produces steadfastness. If these three words can sink their roots down into our souls, then we might meet our trials with the most radical response of all: joy.

If we know the promise that testing produces steadfastness, we may gain strength not only to endure our suffering, but to trace a line from our present pain to our future perseverance — and, wonder of wonders, to find ourselves counting even trials as joy (James 1:2).

Such joy will not be a simple joy. It will not be a fake smile or the motivation of a great speaker. It will instead be a complex joy, a joy mingled with tears and mixed with sorrow, all the way to the bottom (2 Corinthians 6:10). In other words, it will be an otherworldly joy, the kind that can only come from the man of sorrows himself. And being from him, it will one day return to him on the other side of our trials, “perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:4).

In order to get there, we need to recognize our suffering for what it is: not ultimately a thief who steals our best years, nor a murderer who kills our greatest dreams, or a madman who wields his weapons at random. Our suffering is, rather, a servant from God, sent to make us strong and to use our word again. Steadfast.

-Andy Cisneros

Jeremiah Introduction

The book of Jeremiah was likely written by Baruch, Jeremiah’s scribe, as Jeremiah dictated it.  He prophesied against the people of Judah because of their wickedness – but nobody listened to his message.  Jeremiah prophesied during the rise of the Babylonian empire and the subsequent destruction of Jerusalem.  God commanded him to never marry and have children because God was going to send deadly diseases, sword, and famine.  Jeremiah ultimately was carried off to Egypt by fleeing Israelites, and likely died in Egypt.

Jeremiah didn’t have much choice in his profession, as we see in 1:4-5, “The word of the Lord came to me saying, Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

Jeremiah is called the “weeping prophet” because we see so much about his personal life and his sorrow.  4:19 is one of many examples, “Oh, my anguish, my anguish!  I writhe in pain.  Oh, the agony of my heart!  My heart pounds within me, I cannot keep silent.  For I have heard the sound of the trumpet; I have heard the battle cry.”

Jeremiah was very straightforward, whether talking with the rebellious people of Judah, as we see in 44:23, “Because you have burned incense and have sinned against the LORD and have not obeyed him or followed his law or his decrees or his stipulations, this disaster has come upon you, as you now see.”; or when talking with God, as we see in 12:1, “You are always righteous, LORD, when I bring a case before you.  Yet I would speak with you about your justice:  Why does the way of the wicked prosper?  Why do all the faithless live at ease?”

While most of the book of Jeremiah prophesied judgment, there are still many places (like Chapter 31) where God promised that He will make a new covenant with Israel.  31:34 says, “No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, “Know the Lord”, because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest declares the Lord.  For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

As you read Jeremiah, consider the sins of Judah and the judgment God poured out on them because of their sins.  And then consider the sins of our own society…  

-Steve Mattison

sgl23bibleplanDownload

The “Dones”

Old Testament: 2 Chronicles 31-33

Poetry: Psalm 11

New Testament: 2 Timothy 1-2

It’s Friday.  Have you stuck with me so far?  We’ve tackled some challenging subjects this week.  Most of the subjects have had to do with things that lead us away from God- from fear to pride to greed.  So many things have the potential to turn our hearts away from God.  It can be disheartening at times.

We talked earlier this week about the fastest growing religious group in America, the nones- those who say they have no religious affiliation or faith.  Today, I want to address another group, the Dones.  The Dones are people who have been highly committed believers, perhaps very active in Churches and ministries who have gotten to a place in their lives where they are just done.  Maybe they are a pastor or Church leader who has poured out their life and energy into helping others and then experienced resistance or mistreatment, or other forms of suffering and they simply said “I’m done” and walked away from their ministry or their church.

I know.  If you are a committed leader in the church and you get frustrated by people who treat you badly, it’s tempting to give up and say I’m done.  These people aren’t necessarily abandoning their faith in God to pursue a sinful lifestyle of adultery, drunkenness or debauchery.  They simply quit gathering with other believers in worship.  They might pray and read their Bibles in the comfort of their living room or back porch, but they aren’t in the fray with their sleeves rolled up active in ministry any more.  They are frustrated, depleted, disillusioned and disheartened and they are done with ministry or church or religion.

A couple of today’s texts address this.  Psalm 11 addresses the challenge of disillusionment in the people of God.  It asks the question: “When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?”  Some Christians have worked hard to help build the Church, make disciples and take a stand against sin and unrighteousness in the world, but as we look at what’s happening, the world seems to be winning and the Church is losing ground.  We are seeing some of the foundations of basic morality crumble – basic issues of what is right and wrong, what it means to be a human person as a male or female created in the image of God, the meaning of the covenant or marriage and family – all of these basic elements of faith and life are being contested and undermined.  The very foundations of society are being undermined right before our eyes.  It’s easy to become disheartened and give up.

Psalm 11 says: “How then can you say to me, ‘Flee like a bird to your mountain.’”  In other words, the temptation in the face of all of these attacks against the Church and God and morality and our ministry could be to simply fly away like a bird to the safety of the mountain, far from the battle.  Go stick your head in the sand.  Give up. Become apathetic about religion or God or the Church and ride the clock out.  Or throw yourself headlong into achieving worldly pleasure or success (see yesterday’s devotion on money and happiness.)

Psalm 11 gives this following reminder when the temptation arises to fly away.

“In the Lord I take refuge.”  Our refuge is in God, not in running away to safety away from the battle.  Remember our reminder from earlier this week when God sent his prophet to Jehoshaphat- “The Battle belongs to the Lord”  Let us take refuge in God, but let us not run away from the battle.

“The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord is on his heavenly throne.”  Trust that God is still there.  God hasn’t gone anywhere.  God hasn’t abandoned us and flown away, he’s there, he’s watching, he’s engaged and he’s working his plan through us, through the church, through the proclamation of the gospel.  We can keep doing what we are called to do because we know that God is still on the throne.

“For the Lord is righteous, he loves justice; the upright will see his face.”  God cares about what is right and just and good and that day will come when we will be at rest and peace.  In the mean time, we may experience our share of suffering while we serve God.  But we trust that the day is coming when we will see God’s face and receive our full blessing.

And just a word from the reading in 2 Timothy.  Paul uses the word suffering many times in this reading.  Paul knew a thing or two about suffering.  Much that he wrote came while he was sitting in a prison cell somewhere suffering because of his faith in Jesus Christ.   For Paul, suffering was not something to be avoided at all costs but the price of doing business as a disciple of Jesus.  Paul wore his suffering as a badge of honor.  He considered it a privilege to be able to suffer while serving Jesus in ministry.  I admit that I haven’t quite hit that level of faith yet.  I’m not a fan of suffering and I don’t like it when my ministry efforts are met with resistance or failure.  I don’t like seeing people that I tell about Jesus reject Jesus or see formally faithful FUEL attenders or church members join the ranks of Nones and Dones.  But I do recognize that Jesus warned us that being his disciple in this sinful world has costs and challenges and can be painful.   After nearly 40 years of ministry, I have a few scars of my own.  But I’m not ready to fly away and join the ranks of the Nones and Dones.  I share Paul’s faith: “That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.” (2 Timothy 1:12)  I hope that you know him too and are convinced.  Keep yourself in the faith.

-Jeff Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1.  Do you know any Nones or Dones?  Have you tried asking them to join you as part of an active faith community?  If not, will you?
  2. Have you ever been tempted to join the ranks of the Dones?  What has kept you from flying away?
  3. Are you in danger of becoming a Done?  What steps do you need to take to stay fully committed and connected to a body of believers?
sgl23bibleplanDownload

It is Coming

Obadiah

Monday, November 7, 2022

Sometimes it can be hard to see what God has planned in our lives. When we choose to live a God-honoring lifestyle, it is easy to see all of the pain and suffering in the world and sit back and ask, “Why?” Why are some extremely wealthy and prosperous, yet, evil people allowed to do what they do untouched? The first thing we say is that it just isn’t fair. But really, to the people of God, good is coming and all we need to do is trust in God’s timing.

To be the smallest book in the Old Testament, the book of the prophet Obadiah is probably one of my favorites. Its message, once determined, is quite comforting and tells a message that is familiar to those of the Christian faith, albeit, from a different angle.

The whole book is composed of a powerful twenty-one verses that is to reveal the outcome of Edom, descendants of the family of Esau and long term enemy of the Israelites. And it doesn’t hold back. Condemning them for their pride, and for Esau’s violence against his brother Jacob, God says that though they build themselves up high like eagles, from that place He will bring them down.

“Then the house of Jacob will be a fire And the house of Joseph a flame; But the house of Esau will be as stubble.” (Obadiah 1:18)

The main lesson to be taken from this book is that God is a God that will vanquish our enemies. Yahweh is a living God that if we can trust, does hold the ultimate reward and in verse 21 “The deliverers will ascend Mount Zion To judge the mountain of Esau, And the kingdom will be the Lord’s.” The kingdom of those who can put their peace in the future day of the LORD.

-John Evans

Reflection Questions

  1. What are your feelings when you hear the Day of the Lord is coming?
  2. What does it mean to you that, “Your dealings will return on your own head”? Are there any exceptions?
  3. Do you feel prepared for the Day of the Lord? Is there anything you need to take care of in your relationship to God and to others before that day comes?
2022 SeekGrowLove Bible Reading PlanDownload

Lamentations of Hope

Lamentations 3

Lamentation is defined as a passionate expression of grief or sorrow. In this time Israel has been through pain and destruction.  Lament is a human response to suffering before God who can stop the suffering. Lamenting pushes us to be helpless before God who can rescue us and bring us out of our situation.

            Have you ever been in deep sorrow? The kind where all you want to do is disappear or break into a thousand pieces. Those times are hard to say the least. I know the same feeling more than I would like to admit.

            But I have realized that in those moments, the best thing we can do is go to God. Bring him our lamentations, our sorrows.

            This is what Lamentations is. In this book Israel is bringing their sorrows to God and finding peace in him. They have nothing left after the destruction and pain brought by the Babylonians, yet in Lamentations 3 it says this.

Lamentations 3:19-24

“Remember my affliction and my homelessness, the wormwood, and the poison. I continually remember them and have become depressed. Yet I call this to mind, and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for his mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness! I say the Lord is my portion therefore I will put my trust in him.”

            There is joy in the mourning! These people had nothing, had suffered, and yet they have all this love and trust in God and his faithfulness. Because God is good, and he knows our sorrows. He wants us to go to him with every little heartache just as the Israelites did!

There is hope in our lamentations and love for our suffering because God will use it for good.

            It is encouraging to know the good God we serve, who brings joy in the mourning. Who leads us through battle and into victory.

This is the best part.

Lamentations 3:31-33

“For the Lord will not reject us forever. Even if he causes suffering, he will show compassion according to the abundance of his faithful love. For he does not enjoy bringing affliction or suffering on mankind.”

I love this part, but it is a little bit of a tough pill to swallow. God is compassion, love, and peace, but he also brings along testing and affliction when he knows we need it. Those are the hard times. But we are strong through those hard times, knowing that God is there to guide.

We won’t know how long pain may last. But what is important is not letting our grief stop us from serving God. Our pain is what we can use to reach others with God’s love.

-Hannah Eldred

Reflection Questions

  1. Where do you turn in your sorrow?
  2. What gives you hope in the midst of grieving?
2022 SeekGrowLove Bible Reading PlanDownload

Attention All Shepherds (and Sheep)

1 Peter 5

Tuesday, October, 11, 2022

Chapter 4 ends with verse 19: Therefore, let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good (ESV).

The suffering in the New Testament is related to living a life set apart from worldliness, which is opposed to God’s will. It is not God’s will that we should suffer, but when we follow in the ways that he has prescribed for us we will undoubtedly face opposition and ultimately suffer for the sake of the Gospel. We need to trust that our creator will ultimately use that suffering for good. There’s a popular song that we sing at my church that has the line “you take what the enemy meant for evil, and you turn it for good” (drawing on Genesis 50 for inspiration).

Chapter 5 then begins with Peter addressing the leaders of the church, specifically calling to mind the sufferings of Christ. Pastors/elders are to function in the role of shepherds for the congregations that have been entrusted to them in leadership. The verb that is translated as “shepherd” also can be translated as “feed” – does this directive remind you of any instructions that Peter himself received from Jesus?

In John 21 three times Jesus asks Peter if he loves him (notice a correlation between Peter’s three denials of Jesus and the three affirmations that Jesus receives from him?) and three times tells him to feed his sheep (this is a different Greek word in John, but it means essentially the same thing). As the primary leader of the church Peter was to feed Jesus’ sheep, meaning Christians. The impetus for this spiritual leadership is not to be out of self-importance or in Peter’s case even that Jesus chose him to lead, but out of love for his master and savior (and friend!). When we see Peter lead, he is following in obedience to the one who called him out of the boat and invested in him and entrusted him to feed his sheep. Peter certainly was not doing this for gain or for an easy life, I imagine his life would have been much easier had he simply decided to go back to fishing full time, but he faced many trials and much opposition in his preaching the word and leading the church.

In the same way, those of us who are called to be pastors and elders (who are specifically addressed here, but anyone who holds an office in the church should take heed of this) should be using their love of Jesus as their motivation for leading. Presumably most church leaders start off this way, but it can easily go to one’s head. There are many public instances of pastors who have become controlling, power hungry, and abusive (quite often we see this in large churches with lucrative opportunities for pastors) – but even in small churches the desire to control can infiltrate the hearts of those who are called to lead or “run” the church. Elders (I’ll include pastors in this title from here on out) are to be willing and eager to carry out the work that they have been called to. With a calling to leadership comes responsibility – a significant thing to note is that we who are in authority (and who teach) are held to a higher level of accountability (James 3:1). Those who are in authority are to be an example to those who they oversee spiritually, and humility is one way in which we should be an example. Jesus stated that he was gentle and humble (Matthew 11:29), and we see in Philippians 2 that humility was essential in Jesus salvific work as God’s anointed one.

As Jesus was humble and as we who are elders (overseers) are to be humble (following Christ’s example), so then are the members of the body to exercise humility and submit to those who are in authority over them. If leaders are humble and operating as Jesus would expect them to, then humble Christians submitting to the godly authority that has been placed over them will thrive in their submission. We’re never going to agree on everything and that is why the decisions of local congregations are to be subject to the elders and not left up to the democratic will of a large collective. Elders absolutely can delegate responsibilities and set up clear roles for the body (Acts 6), but the authority over the church should lie with them.

We just added two new elders at my church yesterday. The process was not a short one… Myself and our other elders had many discussions on who we thought would be a good fit to assume these offices and eventually recommended that these two individuals be confirmed as elders. We don’t accept nominations for elders, but rather we look for men who meet the requirements of elders as listed in Titus 1, and then we have a confirmation vote. Other churches do things differently and may have boards structured in different ways or may be more egalitarian in the way that they define elders, I don’t condemn that, but we need to take seriously the guidelines that are listed in scripture and not be too quick to structure things in a way that is more reflective of the nation/society we live in than how the early church did things. Regardless of our views on church leadership one thing we need to be able to do is disagree with grace and love.

We need to make sure that whatever disagreements we have are dealt with in love and we need to not let them distract from what God would have us do and we need to make sure that we keep our minds clear (5:8, reaffirming 4:7), be on the lookout, and refrain from being anxious (cast those anxieties on God, see also Matthew 6), because the enemy prowls like a lion looking for someone to devour. When we allow conflict to take root or we allow anxiety to be prevalent in our churches, bad things will happen. We may often think about the enemy being on the prowl for individuals, but he’d also love to devour a local church and render it ineffective at making disciples or worse, cause it to die out (is that really worse?). I bet we could all think of examples of things we can (or do) divide over, one such argument could be what Peter means by “our enemy the devil”, but we need to take seriously the words of the author of Hebrews when he/she says: “Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;” (Hebrews 12:14–15 ESV).

-J.J. Fletcher

Reflection Questions:

1. For those of you in authority: do you do it willingly? Eagerly? Without being domineering? Sometimes we do have to be forceful and make unpopular decisions, but that can still be done in a graceful and kind way. Do you need to be humbler, or do you think you have that well under control? Do you have an individual in mind that has authority problems with whom you can practice extra grace?

2. For those of you under authority: Do you respect those who have been placed in authority over you? Do you easily submit to that authority? Do you gossip about the leaders of your church and cause problems that way? Do you stop attending church when changes occur, or decisions are made that you disagree with? Do you go church hopping and just stick around till someone ticks you off and move on to the next place (which might just be going back to a former church until the vicious cycle starts over again?

Podcast Recommendation: The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill (from Christianity Today). It can be difficult to listen at times, but it has lots of examples on how to do leadership wrong, which we can benefit from.

2022 SeekGrowLove Bible Reading PlanDownload