Grains of Sand

Pixabay The media seldom reports on the persecution of Christians around the world. If we search the internet for information on the subject we come up with a number of organizations that speak for those who, for the most part, are not able to speak for themselves. The  Bible League Canada  estimates that there are as many as 100 million Christians suffering persecution.  Open Doors USA  says that 1 in 9 believers experience some form of persecution. One site posts that every day some 300 people are killed for their faith in Jesus. Perhaps the best known agency,  The Voice of the Martyrs , offers a variety of ways by which those of us who know little of being persecuted for our beliefs, can help those in places where being a Christian is a death sentence. The pilgrims of Peter's day understood persecution in a way that few of us can. In 1 Peter 4:12 to 19, Peter encourages them to rejoice in their suffering. What an odd thing to say! " Dear friends,...

Pixabay “ Praise be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. ” (2 Corinthians 1:3-5) Reading these verses reminded me of a life experience that a missionary colleague shared with me some years ago. She and her husband were serving overseas. They were expecting their first child—actually children plural. She was carrying triplets. The babies, all boys, were perfect when they were born. But none of them survived. She was RH negative, and the medical personnel were unaware, or unprepared, for the implications of that reality during her pregnancy or when the babies were born. I asked her what that terrible tragedy meant to her as she looked back on it years later. Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 1...

Pixabay There are so many questions that need to be answered. Well, perhaps “need” is not the right word. I “want” to know, but whether or not I ever find the answers to my questions will not change the course of history one iota. For example, as I arrive at Genesis 43 and 44, I have to hook on to something that happened in Genesis 42—something I wish I knew more about. The “boys,” Israel’s sons, return to Canaan after their first foray into Egypt to buy food. The Pharaoh’s right-hand man, Joseph (unrecognized by his brothers) has insisted that when they next return they are to bring their younger brother back with them. He has taken Simeon as hostage against their return. When Israel is told about the deal he is adamant that Benjamin will not go to Egypt with his brothers. Reuben, the oldest, steps in to guarantee that he will bring back the boy (42:37). He says that Israel may kill his two sons if he doesn’t do as he has promised. Nice! He doesn’t offer his own life but those of ...

Google Images Joseph arrived in Egypt as a slave when he was seventeen. At the age of thirty he became Pharaoh’s right-hand man (Genesis 41:46). Thirteen years of slavery and imprisonment. We hear nothing about Joseph’s feelings about all that he went through—except perhaps for a brief hint when, as Pharaoh’s Prime Minister, he names his sons. The firstborn was named Manasseh, which bears a connection to the Hebrew meaning “forget.” Joseph remarked: “I t is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household ” (41:51). Was this a point of no return, the moment when Joseph put behind him any thought of returning to Canaan, or being rescued or released? With a wife and a family, his roots were now firmly planted in Egypt. The reference to “trouble” suggests that Joseph had just glided through all this with some kind of other-worldly detachment. He knew trouble. He’d lived trouble. He’d survived trouble. The birth of the second son tells us a little more. T...

I love those curious little phrases in Scripture that pique my interest simply because they are unexpected. I found another one in my journey through the Book of Acts this morning. The context? Saul has been carrying his religious zeal a whole lot too far by persecuting the followers of Jesus Christ. On his way to Damascus in search of believers to throw into jail he has an encounter with the Lord which is recorded for us in Acts 9. Saul's not slow and he immediately recognizes who he is talking to and how huge his mistake has been. Blinded by the light of the Lord, he is led to Damascus. Instead of chasing down Christians, the seriously repentant Pharisee spends three days praying and fasting. In the Scriptures fasting is part of the act of repentance and without doubt Saul had a whole lot to repent of. While Saul and the Lord are dealing with the dirt, the Lord appeared to a disciple in Damascus by the name of Ananias. He instructs Ananias to find Saul and restore his sight...

Job 21-24 Job’s friends have told him that the evil he is suffering has come on account of his own wickedness. He proceeds to refute that by reminding them that there are plenty of wicked men who prosper and never suffer, not even once, during their lifetimes. So absence of prosperity, good health, or whatever, is not necessarily a sign of God’s judgment. The presence of these things is not a sign of his pleasure either. That argument doesn’t seem to impress Eliphaz: “ Is it for your piety that he rebukes you and brings charges against you? Is not your wickedness great? Are not your sins endless ” —Job 22:4, 5. He then goes on to list all the nasty things Job has done. Since we have already been told that Job was a righteous man (1:8), we can only imagine that Eliphaz is “talking through his hat” as my father used to say. He is in error when he assumes: “ Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you. Accept instruction from his mouth and lay up his wo...

I was packing up some stuffed animals and used clothing yesterday—things that will get dropped off to be distributed among those who could use a little encouragement along the way. The exercise reminded me of an incident that took place in Colombia where I served many years ago. Someone in Western Canada had taken it upon herself to collect a ton (literally) of used clothing which she then sent to us at the Bible Institute in Medellin. The huge crate arrived and we had an absolute ball going through all the stuff. Some was junk—a waste of time and money to sent. That junk included long underwear, mini-skirts, shoes without mates. I think there was even a ratty fur coat. But there was some good clothing in the crate. We distributed what was useful and in good condition to our Bible School students, most of whom were very poor. One young man refused to take anything. He told me that he didn't wear "hand-me-downs." Pride was written all over his face so I took him aside. His...

Word reached us on Sunday that one of our missionaries has thyroid cancer. He had stayed in Canada because his routine check-up showed a few things that needed to be followed-up. His wife and children returned earlier to France to get settled into the school year. None of us anticipated the diagnosis that was to come. There are so many decisions to be made and issues to be dealt with. My heart goes out to them, and my prayers go up to God on their behalf. I can't imagine what they might be feeling right now. Having that situation in mind, today's verse struck me in a special way. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:17, " For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all ." Do my friends and colleagues feel that this is a " light and momentary " trouble? When faced with the inconceivable, the unexpected, the complicated, the terrifying, Paul reminds us to " not lose heart " (vs. 16), to remember that w...

Last night a friend emailed me asking for prayer for her mother. Marion has just found out that her cancer is growing. The fear of pain and death, the reluctance to leave her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren behind, has left her anxious. She is only one on my list of people who, for various reasons, are suffering. Suffering takes many forms, but usually we think of it in terms of the physical. So when Paul writes in Romans 8:17: " Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may share in his glory ", our natural inclination is to think of physical death. But not everyone will suffer a painful death—certainly not death on a cross. Such suffering wouldn't be a prerequisite for sharing in Christ's glory. But Paul clarifies the statement in the verses that follow. He writes: " I consider that our present sufferings are not worthy comparing with the glory that will be...

Books have been written on the subject of suffering. Some people resign themselves to it. Others deny it. The devil gets blamed for it. Sin is thought of as the cause of it. We are encouraged to pray for relief from it. And the pharmaceutical companies make a profit on it. Paul reduces suffering to its bottom line. He writes in Romans 5:3, 4: " We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope ." Rejoice in suffering? Now there's a novel idea. My suffering is nothing compared to that of others. Nevertheless, when my hands refuse to work because of the pain, I fuss and fume. I seldom rejoice and thank God that they hurt. Paul would say that I was missing the point. He's right. Though suffering is a product of the fall, God uses it for his glory and our good—if we are willing to accept it as a part of our spiritual growth. Suffering is meant to be a "God-thing." I remember fond...

" It was fitting that God…should make the author of their salvation [Christ] perfect through suffering…Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect " —Hebrews 2:10; Matthew 5:48 NIV Sure, it would be nice to be perfect, but not through suffering. I'd rather just practice at it until I get it right, you know: "practice makes perfect"? Too bad it doesn't work that way. I am not a miner's daughter, even though I was born in a mining town. But I know a little about the mining process. Gold doesn't get purified unless it suffers a time in the fire. There is no other way to get rid of all the impurities in my life, and yours, except by embracing the heavenly Refiner's fire. The good news? There is pure gold at the end of the process.