For the Encouragement of Faithful Doubters

Some people seem to have rock solid faith. They talk about God, Jesus, and the world, as if they see things with absolute clarity and as if nothing is going to shake them.

This can be disturbing for people for whom things are not so clear. They feel like they only see parts of a jigsaw puzzle. Some things fit together. Other bits are left to the side and don't seem to have a place. Perhaps they see parts of the Christian message really well - they know that God made the universe, they know they are sinners, they love Jesus for dying on the cross for their eternal salvation, and they pray to God as their Father in heaven. But perhaps other things make them wonder whether they are right to believe. Perhaps they cannot understand why the world seems such a cruel place, or how Jesus could have risen from the dead. Perhaps they wonder how God can continue to love them if they keep letting him down, or how God can overlook their sin without being unjust. Perhaps they can't see how God can be in control as the sovereign ruler over his creation at the same time as holding us responsible for our wrongdoing. Bits of the puzzle are all over the table, and they seem to suggest that the bits that they've already pieced together may not actually go together. Perhaps they should start all over again, they sometimes think. And when they see the confidence of others, they are discouraged, thinking that they can only really be faithful and believe if they have finished the puzzle with total clarity.

If you are in this second group of people, then I am writing this for you. I want to encourage you to press on and not to give up.

There is much that could be said, but I will try to be brief. There are basically four points I want you to understand:
• First, that absolute clarity in our understanding of God, ourselves and the world, is not possible in this life, because of sin and because of our finiteness.
• Second, that many of the great men of faith in the Bible were also struck with doubt and fear at times. We should learn from them.
• Third, the important thing is to have faith, not a certain amount of faith.
• Fourth, that the Bible has been given to us by God as our guide, and therefore greater clarity in life will come from studying it carefully. But we should understand it as a guidebook, and not as a map or Lego instruction book.

So firstly, we should understand that finishing the jigsaw puzzle is not possible in this life, because of sin and because of our finiteness.

Consider what God said through Isaiah. "'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.'" (Isaiah 55:8-9) The simple fact that we are created, and God is the Creator, means that there are things that we can never fully grasp.

Paul said, in 1 Corinthians 13:12, "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." So there are things that we only get to see as a "poor reflection" now, but will be made clear in the future when we meet Jesus face to face.

Sin-tainted, finite, human wisdom is just not cut out for the job of getting to grips with God and the meaning of life. Listen to Paul again. "Where is the wise man? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe." (1 Corinthians 1:20-21) He goes on to elaborate - Jews look for miracles, but we present Christ as crucified - apparently powerless! Greeks look for wisdom, but we present Christ as crucified - apparently absurd! In human terms this is the foolishness of what we preach. But to those whose eyes are opened by God, what we proclaim is, "Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength." (vv24-25)

Let's be careful here. This is not saying that the Christian faith is an irrational leap of faith. I argue that the Christian faith is completely rational, and in fact is the only worldview that does justice to the world we experience - the nature of reality, how we know things and the way we live our lives. What Paul is saying is that when human beings try to use their own intellect to understand God without listening to what he says, then the result is foolishness. But people don't recognize it as foolishness. They have so constructed their worldview that actually the real truth appears to them as foolishness instead.

True wisdom consists in listening to God and seeing things the way he shows them to be. That's why non-Christian worldviews can all be shown intellectually to be foolishness. I believe that. And I don't believe that's arrogant in any sense, since it is founded on the humble assumption of God's transcendence.

But if the Christian faith is so rational, and the arguments are so logical, why do many more people not believe? Paul gives the answer in 2 Corinthians 4:3-4, "if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ."

The only way we can see the truth properly is if God takes away our spiritual blindness. "For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." (2 Corinthians 4:6)

When God brings an end to this present universe, and brings us into the New Heavens and New Earth as he promised, we will see his light with pure, crystal clarity. Now, we see even this glorious light as a "poor reflection" by comparison. In between now and then we make progress, which too is given by God. We, "are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory." (2 Corinthians 3:18) "Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day." (2 Corinthians 4:16)

So we should not lose heart because we only see a "poor reflection", or because other people seem to see things more clearly than we do. We have been given the "light of knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ", and this will increase in intensity through our lives until it reaches its perfect fulfillment in eternity. That's why Paul says elsewhere, "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." (Philippians 3:12)

Secondly, we need to follow the example of some of the great men of faith in the Bible who had their moments of doubt.

You've heard of "Doubting Thomas", right? Did Jesus condemn him for faltering in his faith?

"Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came [after he had risen from the dead]. So the other disciples told him, 'We have seen the Lord!'

"But he said to them, 'Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.'

"A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, 'Peace be with you!' Then he said to Thomas, 'Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.'

"Thomas said to him, 'My Lord and my God!'

"Then Jesus told him, 'Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.'" (John 20:24-29)

John the Baptist also had a period of doubt, which you can read about in Matthew 11:1-19. Remember John was the one who baptized Jesus at the start of his ministry, and who called out, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29) And yet in Matthew 11:2, we read that he sent some of his disciples to Jesus to ask him, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?"

Did Jesus' answer condemn John for his faltering? No, he commends him, but with a serious encouragement - "Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me." (v6) And then he says that, in spite of this faltering, "Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." (v11)

Both Thomas and John were blessed with seeing first hand the Son of God, the Saviour of the world, walking and working on the earth in Palestine two thousand years ago. They both faltered in their faith and yet were accepted by Jesus. But in both cases Jesus pointed forward to those who would be more greatly blessed - the humble people who would believe in him in the future without seeing first hand - you and me!

My last example is one of my favourites, because it is such a great picture of how we feel in times of doubt.

In Matthew 14:22-33, we have the account of when Jesus walks on water. The disciples had gone on ahead of him in a boat, across the Lake of Galilee, and they got hit by a storm. In the midst of the storm, Jesus came walking out to them on the water! To say they were a bit startled is slightly understating the reaction!

Peter, always the hothead, says, "Lord, if it's you… tell me to come to you on the water." (v28) And Jesus tells him to come.

"Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came towards Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, 'Lord, save me!'

"Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. 'You of little faith,' he said, 'why did you doubt?'" (vv29-31)

Sometimes we doubt because of stormy situations - maybe hardship, maybe the criticism of others. We should simply cry out, like Peter, "Lord, save me!" And he will reach out his hand and catch us, and then he might just give us a gentle ear-bashing for doubting!

Thirdly, the important thing is to have faith, not a certain amount of faith.

Admittedly, it is a bit imprecise to talk about having a certain size or amount of faith. But Jesus talks like that. In Matthew 17:20, Jesus tells his disciples that great things can be achieved, "if you have faith as small as a mustard seed." I mentioned above one of the many occasions when the disciples were rebuked for being of "little faith".

Theologians have tied themselves in knots over the implications of this. How much faith is necessary to be saved? Does that mean there are some things that are essential to believe for salvation, and other things are optional? Or rather, are there some things that it is ok to disagree about, or have doubts about, without calling into question the salvation of a person? But the problem with that way of thinking is that it can give us excuses to avoid repentance. If we say that only certain core truths are necessary to believe for salvation, then it may give us the mistaken impression that we can just choose those and believe whatever we like about everything else.

I don't want to go off here into a huge tangent about the nature of saving faith. There is a necessary place for that, but probably not here.

At the risk of over-simplifying, however, we should see saving faith more as an attitude worked out in actions, rather than intellectual agreement with a set of propositions. Intellectual agreement is part of the story, but not all of it. The attitude of faith is one of trust and love, and this is worked out by persevering in holiness and loving other people.

You may be worrying that your faith is not strong enough to carry on and see you through to salvation. But friend, thankfully the strength of our faith in our own perception is not what is important. Jesus Christ already went to the cross and achieved your salvation. And it is that that assures you of eternal life, even though you are a sinner. We ought to learn that faith is not something that exists within a vacuum. Faith is a belief and hope in someone. And our faith is in Jesus Christ, who bought our salvation for us with his blood on the cross on a particular Friday two-thousand years ago.

As an illustration – and all illustrations have limitations – picture several life rafts floating in the middle of the ocean after a big cruise ship has sunk.

In one of the boats, the occupants lost hope the moment they got into the water. They managed to salvage a few crates of vodka into the dinghy before the ship went down. And they set about drinking themselves into a stupor so that they don’t have to think about their predicament. They don’t know about the international coastguard, and they can’t be bothered with the distress beacon that they can simply switch on. Very soon they are unconscious and dehydrated and they die before the helicopter arrives.

However, the people in some of the rafts have started their distress beacons, sending out signals for someone to come and rescue them. They have recognised their need, and they have called out for help.

In one of those boats, the occupants are experienced sailors and know what is happening to the distress beacon, who is hearing it, and whereabouts they are in the world. They know that the beacon is being picked up, because they have some knowledge of the international coastguard and something about the technology of the beacon. They know what will happen when the distress beacon is heard. They know the sort of helicopter that will arrive, and roughly how long it will take it to reach them. And they’re planning their consumption of food and water in preparation for their rescue. They have such confidence that they immediately set the distress beacon going and set about planning for the arrival of the rescue helicopter.

In another of the boats, the occupants are scared and sea-sick, tired and irritable. They have started their distress beacon because they saw the people in the other boat do it, and it seems like the right thing to do. But they keep arguing with each other over when the helicopter is going to turn up, and what it’s going to be like in the helicopter, and some days they feel like they are never going to be rescued. Some of them are not even sure that anyone is hearing this distress beacon - I mean, it’s a mysterious radio wave that they can’t even hear, so how do they really know anyone is picking up the signal, hearing it, understanding it and acting on it. But most days they continue to watch the sky for signs of rescue.

And yet none of them were aware that a satellite had already seen and transmitted all the events of the ship sinking, and the rescue ships and helicopters had been sent out before the life rafts had entered the water! Did the strength of faith of the people in the life-rafts affect whether they were rescued or not? No! The rescue had already been assured before the life rafts even entered the water, to all those who would recognise their need of rescue and call out with the distress beacon to the one who could rescue them.

And so it is with Christ. He will certainly save all those who call out to him in faith, recognising their need and asking to be rescued, whether their faith is strong and fully knowledgeable or weak and sometimes doubting. The critical work of salvation has been done by Christ alone – the rescue helicopters have been sent out.

The attitude of faith is that we trust the Saviour, and we cling to his words. We may not understand everything God says, but we trust everything he says. We may not have fitted the entire jigsaw puzzle together, but we trust that he is showing us the picture bit by bit. We trust that even though we falter here and now, we see only the "poor reflection", and we will indeed see clearly later.

That's why I addressed this article to "faithful doubters". There is no irony really. All of us will have some doubts at various times. None of us will be able to fit all the pieces of the puzzle in place and see everything clearly this side of Christ's return. But we are called to be faithful and trust him.

Finally, the Bible has been given to us by God as our guide, and therefore greater clarity in life will come from studying it carefully. But we should understand it as a guidebook, and not as a map or Lego instruction book.

There is a great prayer in the first chapter of Colossians. Paul says to the Christians in Colossae that, "we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God…" (Colossians 1:9ff) There is an excellent full exposition of this in A Call to Spiritual Reformation by D.A. Carson. For my purposes in this (not very) short article, I want to point out only one thing.

One of the things that is involved in living a "life worthy of the Lord", and in pleasing him, is "growing in the knowledge of God."

Peter ends his second letter with a similar exhortation: "Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 3:18)

Growth is a necessity. It is part of living faithfully. Jesus also likens his disciples to the branches of a vine. "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit…" (John 15:5) We must be branches that grow and bear fruit (see also the full passage, vv1-8).

Two of the main things that God has given us to help us to grow in our knowledge of him are prayer and the Bible.

To grow and be stronger in the faith, ask God: "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." (James 1:5)

To grow and be stronger in the faith, use what God has given you already! "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

My final point on this is just a word of caution on how the Bible works in teaching us about God, ourselves and life. I would say that the Bible is more like a travel guidebook, rather than a map or a Lego instruction book!

In our pilgrimage through this life sometimes we wish we had a map. We wish that we had the satellite navigation version of the Bible. In other words it would give us the step-by-step guide to being saved and then a virtually flame-proof route from conversion to heaven. We could then switch off from everything else around us and just follow the voice.

Or we may wish that we had the design drawings for the universe and life, like a Lego instruction book. We want God to lay out before us how everything works, how everything fits together, step-by-step, brick-by-brick. Then we would know how to live in the right way and know what to believe.

But the Bible is not like that. It is full of letters, laws, songs, history, poetry, prophecy, parables, biographies, and so on. Some things we are told explicitly. Some things we are left to work out by implication.

The reason for that is that our lives are not all about getting to the end of the journey, but about the journey itself. We are assured that we will get to the end of the journey, and that the end of the journey will be fantastic. But God has things to show us in this life, while we are on the way - things about himself. He doesn't want us to know about his love in the way that we know Anthony's love for Cleopatra! He wants us to experience it. He doesn't want us to know his glory and greatness in the way that we know the Himalayas and a tidal wave (i.e. remotely). He wants us to experience it. He doesn't just want us to know his forgiveness in the way that we know that King David was forgiven. He wants us to experience it and delight in it.

So the Bible is given to point things out to us, to make us work at understanding God, to show how it has been done before. So it acts more like a tour guide. It helps us to appreciate what we are going to see and experience, and then confirms what we have seen and experienced in the context of God's creation, his love, grace and providence. It is multi-dimensional, showing more than a map or a design drawing could ever do. It works with our experiences and with the Holy Spirit to keep us growing. And therefore it is never a dead book of ancient texts. We will never get bored of it or grow out of it, as it keeps working through our souls day by day, year by year. Sometimes studying the Bible is hard work, but it is always worthwhile. As John Piper says sometimes, "Raking is easier than digging, but you only get leaves. If you dig you may get diamonds." (When I Don't Desire God, Crossway Books, 2004, p126)

Conclusion

OK, so as usual I've made this longer than I thought it would be! I apologise, but I hope that it has helped you and strengthened your faith and trust in our great and loving God. I wanted to encourage people who, though Christians, often see themselves as doubters.

Don't be put off by people who seem to have things "all sewn up", who see things clearly and who seem so confident. I know that I can come across like this sometimes. My confidence is real, but it has not arrived overnight. Neither is it based on exhaustive knowledge or wisdom, or a perfect life. I don't know everything. There are many things I don't understand. I fail time and time again. But "I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day." (2 Timothy 1:12)

"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:12-14)

God bless you.

Get Real! (Part Two)

Belief in an unseen future and an unseen world

I was brought up in a Christian home, going to church every week. I am very thankful to God for that upbringing. But there came a time, when I was twelve years old, when I consciously committed myself to the Christian faith. That's, I guess, the time I go back to and say that's when I "became a Christian". I am not precious about the terminology. I know there is a sense in which it was a "conversion" and a sense in which it was simply growing in faith.

The point of me mentioning it is that I can remember various things awakening at that point. I can remember conscious thoughts, probably none of which I shared with my family at the time. I was listening to a sermon in the morning service at church. I have no recollection of what the subject or text of the sermon was. The main thing I remember thinking was that I had been listening to sermons and reading the Bible week in and week out for years, but it had never previously consciously dawned on me that this was all real! I thought to myself, heaven is real, hell is real, Jesus and his atonement for my sin is real (although I may not, admittedly, have put it exactly like that at the time!). So if it is all real, then I had better live as if it is real, and therefore start to pay attention to what it means to put my faith into action. And by the grace of God, that is what I started to do.

And it's the reality of the truth of our hope as Christians that I am reflecting on now. The issue I started to think about in my last essay was whether the emphasis on the unseen makes the Christian faith a bit "pie in the sky". I have been reflecting on how we find comfort in hardships as Christians. And our comfort comes from an invisible God, who promises a new perfected world that we cannot see now, in the future which by definition cannot be seen by us.

I've already shown that belief in God is not only possible but necessary, because of other unseen things like natural laws and the requirement to be rational. (I didn't even mention other unseen things like our internal moral conscience, consciousness per se, self-awareness, the ability to conceptualise, and the ability to know anything at all - with similar logic all these things strengthen the argument that we all actually act like we believe in God even if we say we don't. That's because none of these things make any sense outside a Christian theistic worldview.)

Now I'm going to take that for granted. But now I'm going to acknowledge that even for committed Christians it sometimes feels difficult to rest all our hopes and our faith in what God will do in the future in an unseen world. I have had people who call themselves Christians say to me, "you simply can't rationalize all your suffering by saying that God has a purpose and he will sort it all out in the future anyway. That would be stupid! It's just trying to explain away bad things through wishful thinking!"

And it would be uncharacteristic of me if I pulled any punches at this point - that attitude is sinful and requires repentance. Ultimately it shows unbelief and if you persist in this unbelief then you will be judged with unbelievers. Why? Why should I be so bold about this? Isn't some doubt a healthy thing? Is it sin to be weak? Is it sin to be uncertain? I should temper my point by saying that I do not in any way fail to remember that we Christians do still struggle with sin of all kinds, and unbelief and sinful desires of different kinds are the root of all that sin. Struggling with sin will not rip us from our Saviour's gracious hand, even when the sin involves unbelief. But if we fail to recognize our sin when we are confronted with it, and if we do not repent even when we know we should, and if we persist to the end in rebellious unbelief, then we show that we never had saving faith, and we will be lost.

So my aim here is to encourage Christians, who have put their faith already in the invisible God to save them through Jesus Christ, his Son. I want to show you that this same God is the one who is with us when we suffer, and that the same hope of salvation through Jesus Christ is the hope that strengthens us through every hardship. I want to show that the unbelief that underlies despondency in hard times is of the same character as the unbelief that we turned from when we turned to Christ. And I want you to know that our most fundamental faith in God for our salvation is future orientated, so our faith in God for our endurance and perseverance must be future orientated too.

1. Questioning God's promise to bring us into a New Creation is as sinful as the first sin.

Let's think about the first sin, and it's context.

Adam and Eve were created and put in the Garden of Eden, and were given a specific instruction regarding one particular tree. "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;" said God, "but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." (Genesis 2:16-17) As we know, Adam and Eve chose to disobey that instruction and ate the fruit of the forbidden tree. But the sinful action came from a sinful attitude that arose earlier.

First, in Genesis 3, the serpent tries to twist God's words and paint him as unkind, introducing doubt into the woman's mind about God's goodness and care for them. "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden?'" (v1) The woman rebutted that one, but in doing so misquotes God. She quotes God as saying that they "must not touch it," or they will die.

Then, the serpent goes for complete contradiction, "'You will not surely die,' the serpent said to the woman. 'For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.'" (v4) He questions God's motives. Effectively he's saying, "God is just trying to hold on to power by withholding the knowledge necessary. Humans have the potential to compete with God and do their own thing. All they need to do is to reach out and take and eat this fruit. God's not really in charge, he's just trying to force you to do what he says."

And the sinful attitude that came before the sinful action was that Eve and Adam bought into that lie. Instead of trusting God, their creator, to provide for them in the perfect world that he had made, they allowed themselves to question his care for them.

What I realized when I thought about this was that for Adam and Eve they had very little past experience of God to go on, except the knowledge that he had created everything including themselves. They had the whole of the future to trust him for. The call was to have faith in him for his future grace in everything they needed for the rest of eternity. But instead they fell into unbelief and then sin.

We, who live thousands of years later, have the whole of the history of God's people, the whole of the Bible, God's only Son dying on the cross and rising from the dead for us and ascending into heaven to the right hand of the Father, the teaching of the apostles, prophecies, pages and pages more of what God has said. Still the call is to have faith in God for his future grace in everything we need for the rest of eternity in Christ… And still, instead, we call into question his goodness and his love, and his ability to do what he promises. We too fall in unbelief and in sin.

So when we doubt the reality of the unseen hope in the unseen future we are falling into exactly the same sin as Adam and Eve. And we need to repent of that sin, just as with any other sin.

2. When we became Christians we were expressing our faith in God's promise to save us in the future from his wrath through the atoning sacrifice of Christ. So why is it so difficult to have faith in God's other precious promises for the future through Christ?

It hopefully only takes a moment's thought to realize that when we became Christians we were putting our hope in an unseen future. At least I am assuming that would be true in most cases. If you became a Christian for some solution to something entirely in this life then you will be disappointed, and you need to reassess the gospel you claim to have believed. So let's spend that moment looking at a few of the Bible verses we probably came across when we became Christians, and remember what they promise.

First, the problem that human race has in relation to God is sin. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) Sin is what separates us from God and causes his punishment to fall on us. "You were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live… gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath." (Ephesians 2:1-3)

We talk about repentance, which is turning away from a type of behaviour or attitude. And what we are called to repent of is our sins. "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins." (Acts 2:38) "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out." (Acts 3:19)

Then, what is the problem with sin? It is that it separates us from God, the main consequence of which is that it brings us death and hell in the future. It prevents us from living forever with our perfect God in a perfect relationship. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." (John 3:36) "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23)

We look forward to a Day of Judgment and realise we need a Saviour in that day. "Now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice." (Acts 17:30-31)

Jesus said, "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has the power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him." (Luke 12:4-5) He was contrasting the fear of bad things happening now with the even greater bad things that could happen in the future if we do not repent.

And so we trust Jesus Christ to take away our sin and enable us to avoid God's wrath and to have eternal life in the future. Jesus said, "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no-one can snatch them out of my hand." (John 10:27-28) He also said, "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world… Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." (John 6:51-54)

So our faith for salvation is future orientated. We believe in Jesus and repent in order to escape God's wrath and to have eternal life. Both these things are things that are in an unseen world in an unseen future. And yet they are the reasons we are Christians.

What I have been saying elsewhere about the unseen world and the unseen future being a comfort to us in times of hardship cannot, then, be seen as "pie in the sky" by Christians whose hope for salvation is already future and eternity orientated.


In conclusion, let's examine our hearts.

I can understand if those who don't call themselves Christians look at what we believe and try to fire it down as "pie in the sky". They just need to look carefully at the basis for what they believe before trying to shoot down Christianity, because they will find that shooting down the basis of Christian faith ends up destroying their own foundations for any understanding of reality, knowledge or morality!

But if Christians falter when being comforted by our invisible God, with promises of an unseen world in a far-off future, then we need to first recognize that faltering as sin, and second go back to Christ, our Saviour, and remember what he has done for us. And let's not just remember what he has done for us. Let's study, investigate, and search the Scriptures, to understand the full, enormous, glorious magnitude of our salvation.

"I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."
(Ephesians 3:17-21)

Get Real!

Well it's not quite what I expected to be dwelling on when I started my blog just over 6 months ago, but my thoughts on hardship and suffering as a Christian do seem to be multiplying. So this is turning into a series, and I intend to pursue it as long as I can find useful things to reflect on. And by useful I mean God-glorifying.

To set the context, I'm starting to write this on 13 February 2010, four days after completing my first cycle of chemotherapy. I am still in hospital. The lymphoma was found primarily in my duodenum (pipe between stomach and intestine). This meant that as the swollen area got worse it was not letting food through, and therefore I kept being sick because my stomach was just filling up. I now have a naso-gastric tube which relieves pressure in my stomach if it happens to get blocked up. That isn't comfortable, I can tell you! And I've been back on IV fluids for a few days. So fully tubed up - that's me!

Apparently even the first cycle of chemotherapy will reduce the swelling, so I should (according to the doctor) be able to eat normally again within the next few days or so. And I can leave hospital when I have shown signs that food is going through properly. So hopefully I will be home in a few days, and be eating fine. And since I haven't had a proper meal since just before Christmas, that will be great.

All that probably sounds unpleasant. And don't get me wrong, it is a bit of a pain. But I am well looked after in hospital. The nurses are brilliant. And there are always drugs on hand to make things feel better. And my mind is, most of the time, pretty alert, even when my body is a little weak. I praise God for those mercies! But it's not particularly the aches and pains of my body that bother me most of the time.

Surely I should be worried about the fact I have a life threatening disease? But I'm not. Not at all. I do not worry about what is going to happen in the future. Not only is there no point worrying about things I cannot change, but I also trust the One who has the future in His hand. And as I have said elsewhere, He holds not just the future in this life, but assures the place of believers in the glorious New Creation after the judgment day.

But it might be that some people are thinking that this all sounds a bit 'pie in the sky'! We "fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:18) "We live by faith, not by sight." (2 Corinthians 5:7) "Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." (Hebrews 11:1) "Hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." (Romans 8:24-25) "Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls." (1 Peter 1:8-9) "Then Jesus told him, 'Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.'" (John 20:29)

We Christians seem to take a lot of comfort from something wonderful that is completely inconceivable in the present world, promised to us by a God who is invisible, to be received a time perhaps way off in the future and almost certainly after we die… by which time it will be too late to change our minds about it! What grounds do we have for having that kind of hope? Is this "blind faith"? Isn't it just too convenient that we rationalize all the bad things that happen to us by saying it will be all outweighed by something we can't see, in the future we can't see, promised by the God we can't see?!

For those who are not Christians this may be a major obstacle to them having a faith in God. For those who are Christians it is not always easy either. In fact it is in the nature of the "spiritual battle" I have been talking about elsewhere. Part of our struggle is against "the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Ephesians 6:12), which we can't see! So this is the fight of faith, the battle to find our satisfaction in God, trusting Him for the present and the future through the love of Christ.

Belief in an invisible God

First of all let's quickly deal with the issue of having an invisible God. Is it irrational to believe in a God that you can't see? Doesn't it involve a leap of irrational blind faith?

Unfortunately, some Christians do talk about a "leap of faith", as if you take leave of your senses and just believe. But true Biblical faith has never been like that. The Bible portrays the truth about God as something rational, reasonable, logical. And can it be otherwise? God, who created the universe in an orderly design, with laws of logic and laws of physics inherent within it, surely would not then hide himself behind a mask of irrationality! Human beings are made "in the image of God", and therefore it is His imprint on us that requires us to be rational and logical in our reasoning. So I am not arguing that this is a battle between faith and reason. I am arguing that faith itself is reasonable, but a lack of faith in the Christian God of the Bible is irrational.

If you were reading fast at this point, I urge you to slow down and pause a few seconds and re-read the last couple of sentences. They look fairly innocuous, but they are pretty significant and worth reflecting on.

So let's deal with this issue of the fact that we can't see God, or the future that He promises, and yet we hold firmly to hope in Him. Is the fact that we can't see Him a convincing reason for not believing in Him? Shouldn't we only trust fully the things we can see, or sense (touch, smell, hear, etc)?

Well, let me ask, can you see the laws of logic? Did a law of physics ever bump into you? No! These are intangible, abstract, concepts. They are not made of physical matter. And yet we live our lives, necessarily, putting our faith in them as universally true. We could not function if we thought that somewhere the laws of logic did not hold true, because the fundamental law of logic is that of non-contradiction. i.e. something cannot be true and not true at the same time. If something could be true and not true at the same time, then all our reasoning would fall apart. So we have to believe that the laws of logic apply universally.

Similarly with the laws of physics. We could not function if we thought that the laws of physics were not true universally in all places at all times. All our movement, our conversation and our living and breathing depends on it. For example, oxygen has the same effect on our lungs anywhere in the world at any time. If it didn't we would live in fear of dropping dead randomly one day because a physical law suddenly changed! All our technology, building, design and communication, energy production, medicine and so on, are all based on the belief that physical laws are true all the time, in every place, and never change. So we have to believe that the laws of physics apply universally.

So if we have to believe that the laws of logic and the laws of physics are always in force, and yet we can't see them, then the fact that we can't see God should be no barrier to belief in Him.

But also this points to the nature of faith in God. I hope that you can follow me through the argument from this point. I'll try to put it as clearly as I can.

But someone may say that believing the laws of nature, laws of physics, laws of logic is nothing like believing in God. Yes, all of them are intrinsically invisible. However, we believe natural laws because we see evidence that they apply. We discover through mathematical and scientific research in the physical world (i.e. the world that we experience with our senses -sight, touch, smell, taste, hearing) that certain rules seem to apply to things. And therefore we believe them. On the other hand surely we can make no such discoveries with God, so why should we believe in him?

The answer to that is that it is incorrect thinking on two counts.

Firstly, it overstates the quality of the evidence for natural laws. Remember we live our lives on the basis that these so called natural laws (laws of logic, laws of physics, laws of mathematics, etc) apply universally. That means they work at any time in any place in the world. But there is no physical evidence that we have, or can possibly have, that the natural laws apply universally. We do not see every action and consequence at every moment in every place. We only see the things we see. How do we know there is not something different and contradictory happening somewhere else we can't see, or that we will see at some time in the future?

So how do we live our lives with the confidence that we can walk down the street without gravity suddenly acting differently, or without running out of oxygen, or without bumping into air? We have faith!

Secondly, the incorrect thinking I was talking about understates or completely discounts real evidence for God. The Bible says that, "God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." (Romans 1:20) The world around us shows the hand of the almighty, personal God. Even our own existence, and the inner workings of our hearts and minds, show the touch of a just, loving and personal God. If we would open our eyes we would see the hand of God everywhere, so that we are "without excuse" if we doubt his presence.

At this point we should note, importantly, that this is where it comes to the crunch. The committed atheist will often cry foul at this argument, saying that we only see design and beauty and emotion and justice as evidence of God, because we have assumed he exists in the first place. They say that all these things are illusions and don't really exist. We've evolved chemical and hormonal responses to external stimuli that we label as emotion or justice or design or beauty etc.

And at first that seems to be a valid argument. But it's not. You see the atheist is doing exactly the same. They are looking at the universe saying, "nope, no evidence of any god", because they have assumed he does not exist in the first place. They can explain away anything that the believer calls evidence because they have decided that it cannot be evidence based on their belief that no god exists.

So how do we resolve this? First of all, it is critical that we all understand and accept that we are seeing worldviews head to head. We are seeing what we call presuppositions. Presuppositions govern the way we all look at the world. If we are convinced God exists then we look at the world one way; if we are convinced God does not exist then we look at it another way.

There is a lot more that could be said, but I am already working way beyond my allotted space. And I want to mention something else important.

Are we at loggerheads? We Christians look at things one way, atheists look at things another. Is that it? No way of resolving the conflict of worldviews?

I believe there is a way to show that Christianity is rational and required, whereas atheism is irrational. And that is, briefly, to go back to the questions we came to above. How do we live our lives with the confidence that we can walk down the street without gravity suddenly acting differently, or without running out of oxygen, or without bumping into air?

With atheism or agnosticism we are left with nothing. No-one can say that they can see the future, so no-one can say that they know everything about everything. And therefore no-one can legitimately say that the laws of logic and mathematics that meant that their bank account balanced today will still apply tomorrow. But none of us questions that will be the case. We'd think someone nuts if they suggested that it wouldn't be the case. So why does the atheist believe it? It turns out that they are only capable of blind faith!

On the other hand the Christian has the reason for their belief. The reason that we have confidence in natural laws applying universally is because we believe in a God who is rational, personal and created the universe with purpose. He has set it up that way, and told us that in the Bible.

The philosophical way of putting it is that belief in God provides the "preconditions of intelligibility". That means that only belief in God can provide the beliefs that are necessary to make sense of the world.

So you see far from belief in an invisible God being irrational, it is the only belief that will make sense of the world. This, in its deepest sense, is why the design of the world, the way the universe works, its beauty, justice, our emotions and our unique abilities, are evidence. They are clearly seen in the world, and we all live using them. And yet the only belief that will make sense of them is Christianity.

So the punch line is that even atheists live like Christians, because they live by presuppositions that only Christianity can substantiate. And yet they use those very things (logic and reason) to try and prove that God doesn't exist!

I find this a really strong reason to believe in an invisible God.

There is more to say, but I will break at this point, and in the next article speak to Christians about how they can believe God's promises about the unseen world and the unseen future.

Reflections on Hardship 6.4

If we should have faith in Jesus Christ in everything, including every illness, then why should we do things like medical research and invent things like chemotherapy and antibody treatment for cancer? Doesn't a reliance on God, through faith in Christ, make us complacent about the problems of this life because we can just sit and wait for Him to solve them for us either through prayer in this life or in the New Creation in the future? What motivation do we have in this life to work to make things better if we are convinced that God will take away every problem for ever in the next life?

I guess there have been religious people, some calling themselves Christians, who have taken a kind of ultra-spiritual attitude and shunned technology. They adopt a kind of monastic lifestyle, make only enough food to keep them alive each day, don't take drugs if they're ill, hate cars and mobile phones, etc. It's the kind of attitude that says, "If God had meant us to fly He would have given us wings!"

And, whilst I do genuinely hate this expression, they are the kind of people of whom they say, "they are so heavenly minded they are no earthly use." So I suppose there is a sense in which it's true. And they would have no objection to the saying being applied to them, because they have no interest at all in being of any earthly use.

Before I move on I'd better say that I'm treating this as a final part in my reflections on the way we consider statistics or chances of success as Christians. I've been arguing that, whilst assessing risks and chances of success is not wrong, and planning is not wrong, we can guard against complacency (when we think the odds are good and we rely solely on ourselves and human means) on one hand, and despondency (when we think the odds are hopeless and give up) on the other. We can do that by trusting God, who is powerful and can do anything, and, through Christ, is on our side. And not only that, but he has also already assured us of victory over every hardship, including death itself, in the New Heavens and the New Earth that will be our home after the future Judgment Day for ever, because of what Jesus has done.

This essay is a bit of a balancing statement, because someone said to me after reading the first part that they were left wondering why we should bother with medical science and technology as Christians if we should look at everything from the perspective of faith in Christ.

I hope that my previous essays will have shown (mainly) how we can plan our actions based on risk assessments that show bad odds (humanly speaking), but without becoming despondent and giving up. That's basically because our risk assessment should always include the spiritual realities of God and the future he has assured us of in Christ.

This time, on the other hand, I want to show that we can and should take action in science and technology (and any other field of knowledge, design or construction) to improve the odds in our risk assessments (humanly speaking), but without becoming proud and complacent and trusting only in our own abilities and those of other human beings.

And I guess the main summary of this balancing statement is to say that this life matters! The error of the ultra-spiritual monastic people I described above is either to so look forward to the next life that they treat this life as a kind of waiting room before the next life; or to wait for God to intervene and do everything for them. They abdicate responsibility for anything to do with this life. So that's what I want to highlight this time: that we have responsibilities as human beings, things we should be doing in this life if we want to live in the next life.

First, we continue to have the responsibility that was given to Adam in the Garden of Eden - to be fruitful and fill and subdue the earth. Immediately after Adam and Eve were created, Genesis records, "God blessed them and said to them, 'Be faithful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.'" (Genesis 1:28)

God created a world in which all the raw materials exist to carry out the mandate that he gave to mankind. Our creation in the "image of God" (Genesis 1:27) means that we have within us a reflection of the same ingenuity, intellect, wisdom, power, understanding and creative urge that God used to create the universe. He has made a universe for us to investigate and discover. And he wants us to use those advances in knowledge and understanding, and the ingenuity, intellect, wisdom, power, etc, he has given us, to fulfil a responsibility.

And that responsibility is basically to be his deputies in the world, ruling over the creation. We are to be faithful, increase in number, fill the earth, subdue the earth, rule over every living creature in the world.

When Adam and Eve ignored God's one restriction on their freedom and turned against him, he did not strip humanity of the responsibility of deputies. I take it that this means that that responsibility is inherent in what human beings were created for. Instead the punishments that God gave out for their sin were to put natural barriers in the way of fulfilling their responsibilities. Increasing in number would become painful - "To the woman he said, 'I will greatly increase you pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children.'" (Genesis 3:16) Subduing the earth would become toilsome - "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life… By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground…" (Genesis 3:17-18) Death and suffering in this life are part of God's punishment of mankind's rejection of his rule.

But we can see later on in Genesis that mankind makes progress in subduing the earth through technology and science - Cain and Abel were farmers (Genesis 4:2), Jubal was a musician (Genesis 4:21), Tubal-Cain invented tools (Genesis 4:22). By the time we get to Genesis 11, we find that human beings had made such technological advances that they were able to build a city and a "tower that reaches to the heavens" (Genesis 11:4). (The problem with that plan was the attitude with which the plan was made, rejecting God's command to "fill the earth" (Genesis 1:28) and instead attempting, "to make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth." (Genesis 11:4))

Subduing the earth (exploring, controlling, using, creating, building) was always, from the beginning, part of our responsibilities as human beings. From the fall it became a much harder job. And now the job involves overcoming suffering, disease, toil, sweat, difficulty, hardship, confusion, language barriers, conflict, environmental and geological problems.

So my first point is that scientific research and technological advancement are part of what God fundamentally requires of us as human beings. And that now involves medical research because of the effects of the fall.

Second, we are to love our neighbours as ourselves. If subduing the earth is what our role is, then God's Law shows us how we are to carry that out. We are to love the LORD our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and we are to love our neighbours as ourselves (Luke 10:27).

Loving God sets the context for all our endeavour. We are to do everything to bring him glory. So in everything we do we recognize that he is the Creator and we are the creature, and he sets the limits of our responsibilities, our abilities and our actions.

Loving our neighbour also puts limits on some of our actions, but also gives a motivation for some of the choices that we make.

So when we see human beings suffering with disease, pain, bereavement, unemployment, depression, injury, and misfortunate, we are called to love them. And love involves finding ways to alleviate suffering, heal disease, prevent death, and put right things that are wrong.

God's punishment of mankind's fall into sin has made the world a somewhat harsh place to live. And yet he has also hidden within the world the knowledge and the resources to combat that harshness, and given us the intellect and wisdom to use that knowledge and those resources for the good of our fellow humans.

So my second point is that science and technology can be used rightly to do good to human beings, and researching ways to cure diseases is part of doing good and showing love.

Finally, through the spread of the gospel on this earth God is bringing in a taste of the New Creation before the Old Creation is destroyed. So just as suffering negatively points to the regeneration of creation as a contrast (and a need), so the alleviation of suffering and toil positively points to the even greater victory over suffering and toil promised in the future. Romans 8 shows that the groaning of creation (with hardship and suffering and decay) is linked to the longing of Christians to be renewed and escape their own suffering and decay. God has so ordered things that just as Christians are themselves called a "New Creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17) while still living in their old bodies and battling with their old sinful nature, we should aim towards the perfection of this world so that we may start to taste the future New Heavens and New Earth before it fully comes.

So the advancement of technology, science, medicine, surgical techniques, etc has always been something that Christians have been motivated to be in the forefront of. We are seeking to "think God's thoughts after him", seeking to be obedient in loving our neighbour, and seeking to give the world a diluted taste of the perfect world order promised to all who trust in Christ.

So in conclusion, faith in Christ, far from giving us an excuse to abdicate any responsibility for the world, gives us more motivation to use scientific research and technology to help with the problems of the world. This life matters! But, to come back to where I started, it's a life to be lived with the confidence and assurance that God is with us, is for us, and gives us a truly amazing victory to look forward to through faith in Jesus Christ.

"Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory for ever! Amen." (Romans 11:33-36)

Reflections on Hardship 6.3

I was arguing in the last two posts that statistics should not make us despondent or complacent, because our God is above the statistics and has, in any case, assured His people a future victory over every adversity through Jesus Christ.

However, that raises a couple of practical questions which need to be addressed so that we have at least an outline sketch of the full picture.

One of those questions is, if faith in our great God guards against complacency if (from human experience) the odds are good on one hand, and despondency if the odds are bad on the other, does this mean that statistics and odds should not affect us at all? In my case, am I saying that my actions should be completely unaffected by the doctor's prognosis?

Well of course I'm not saying that. That would obviously be untrue. If that were true, then I would be back at work now.

So I wasn't in any way suggesting that medical experience, such as treatment success rates, should not be a factor in my decision making and planning. Neither was I saying we shouldn't weigh the odds relating to various potential outcomes in our decision making and planning in general.

We all have responsibilities in the way we live our lives under God. And even when you're ill you have to provide for those as best you can. And since different things take different amounts of time and energy, with different levels of urgency and importance, we have to make plans. And since we don't know everything we have to base plans on "risk assessments". And risk assessments involve odds, judgments about probabilities of various outcomes, often based on statistics from past experience.

Really we cannot help planning and risk assessments. They are part of what make us human. "Risk assessments" (can't you tell I'm an accountant?!) simply highlight what the potential risks are in the things that we don't know about a course of action. If those risks are considered too high, we seek more information until we are comfortable with the risk, or we dismiss the course of action as too risky. "Risk assessments" also help us to develop contingency plans, things we can do if things go wrong to put things back on track. On that basis we make plans.

So my previous essays were not in any way detracting from that. In fact I wasn't really saying anything about planning. I was really just guarding against the emotional responses that omit from the risk assessment the most important factors in looking at the future - God and His grace.

I'll come back to my own practical example at the end. But first let's take a look at what the Bible says about these things. The Bible is full of planning, and we are never criticized for planning per se. "Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisors they succeed." That was the advice in the book of Proverbs (Proverbs 15:22).

Paul made plans: "… I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now)…" (Romans 1:13) "When I planned this, did I do it lightly? Or do I make my plans in a worldly manner…" (2 Corinthians 1:17)

So planning is not wrong, but the Bible also encourages us to make risk assessments as well. That's, I take it, why the proverb says that it's best to have "many advisors". Jesus also appeals to our natural inclination to assess risk when we make decisions or make plans when he advises us to count the cost of being a disciple before committing ourselves to him: "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'
"Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace." (Luke 14:28-32)

There are also right and wrong attitudes towards planning. James says this in his letter:

"Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.' Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." (James 4:13-14)

If we left the quote out of context, finishing it at that point, we might think that James is just criticizing over-confidence. Perhaps he would prefer it if we just said, "Well hopefully if everything goes well, and nothing goes wrong - because of course I don't know the future - then I intend, if possible, to do this or that." That sounds a little more in keeping with the humility of being a "mist that appears… and then vanishes." But he doesn't say that. He says this:

"Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.' As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil." (James 4:15-16)

The challenge to the tiny sphere of knowledge about our decision making and planning is not just from the bigger machine of the universe, and the whole course of time, which contains many more variables than we can compute. It is from the One who controls that whole machine - universe and time. Why else would James say that we must humbly acknowledge "the Lord's will" when we make plans with our own will?

The Psalmist makes effectively the same point, arguing from God's creating power:

"By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
"He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses.
"Let the earth fear the LORD; let all the people of the world revere him.
"For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.
"The LORD foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
"But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations." (Psalm 33:6-11)

"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails," it says in Proverbs 19:21.

So for me, knowing the medical experience of success in treating my kind of cancer is useful information. It helps me to plan the things I should be prioritizing in the short term and long term. Different success rates lead to different predictions, and therefore result in different priorities and contingency plans. But when I make those plans and decide on those priorities I do it with humility, recognising that I don't have all the information, and that God is the one whose purpose is really going to prevail. So I say, "If it is the Lord's will, I will do this and that or go here or there…"

Therefore, whilst it is right to plan, and to assess the risks (including recognizing the odds/chances of success), we must do so with humility, acknowledging that the Lord's purpose will prevail over ours and we accept that. And the reasons we accept it without grumbling are the ones we looked at the previous two articles - we know God is powerful, He is good, He is on our side in Jesus Christ, His Son, and His purpose includes rolling everything towards a great future that will include rest, peace and joy for His people for eternity.

Reflection on Hardship 6.2

Last time I wrote I was reflecting on how cancer treatment statistics could affect my approach and attitude to life. I concluded that only faith in Jesus Christ could provide an antidote to the complacency that trusts doctors and medicine more than God, and to the despondency that thinks there is no hope.

As I write this - so you know, when you read it weeks or months later - it is still only just less than two weeks since receiving the news of my cancer. And my chemotherapy treatment is due to start in the next few days. I am apprehensive. I don't know how I will react. I don't like feeling ill and tired, and yet all I can see ahead is months of that. So even though my writing can sometimes be a little theological, I assure you I write (especially about hardship) with trembling. I know these things to be true. I taste them. And one of my greatest fears is ever letting go of these truths, forgetting them or taking them for granted.

Neither do I want to be accused of not living in reality. I'm not sure whether you felt this at the end of my last essay, but there is a problem that still hangs over my explanation of the Christian's antidote to reacting to statistics. And that is that Christians still suffer. Faithful Christians still go through hardship. Christians who are prayed for very specifically by the church still die of cancer. Surely if God were on our side, through faith in Jesus, then He would use His infinite creative power on our behalf to heal and rescue us when we need healing and rescuing?

I've already quoted Paul in Romans 8:31-32, "If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all - how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" All things, right?!

I realized as I was writing the last essay that I was picking up quotations from Paul's letter to the church at Rome in a rather systematic way, almost like I was subconsciously presenting a similar argument. Be that as it may, the main reason I am still left with this problem is that I skipped a few steps in the argument.

A definite shift occurs as Paul progresses through his exposition of God's grace in Romans. That shift occurs in chapter 8, around verse 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 also share in his glory."

We are heirs. There's a future focus now that has not been particularly prevalent up to that point in the letter. We look forward to receiving an inheritance, to sharing in "his glory".

And Paul then makes a contrast. "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." (Romans 8:18) He admits that our present sufferings will continue, and that the full realization of what God achieved for us in Christ is still to be revealed in the future. But the comparison between the two is not worth making.

Until that full realization occurs we feel a tension. There is something we desperately long for and look forward to - a glory, a rest, a freedom - but we have to wait for it. Here is how Paul describes it:

"The creation waits with eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration… in hope that the creation will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
"We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." (Romans 8:19-25)

Similarly, in 2 Corinthians 4:17-18, Paul says, "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

Likewise Peter says in his first letter, "In [God's] great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade - kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time." (1 Peter 1:3-5) That's one of the longest, most convoluted sentences I think I've seen even in an English translation of the Bible! But you can't really miss the things to focus on. They are:

• the hope;
• the imperishable, unspoilable, unfading inheritance;
• our shielding by God's power through faith;
• the coming of our salvation in the future.

The point is this. If I focus on my cancer, and what God may be doing with it, whether it will be cured or not, I am fixing my eyes on what is seen. And what is seen is temporary. The temporary things remain temporary and are fading away, groaning, waiting for something better. In fact, illness is one of the things that points to the fact that there is something better.

God has healed people miraculously at various times, when Jesus and His disciples were on Earth 2000 years ago, and since. But we must also reflect on the fact that most sick people that came into contact with even Jesus did not get healed supernaturally. These miracles were/are signs, pointing to the redemption of the world that Jesus achieved by dying on the cross in our place. But the full redemption and the full glory of that kingdom is still in the future.

We cut ourselves off from such joy, and such comfort, if we restrict our view of God's work in our lives through Jesus to the here and now - the forgiveness we have now for our past sins, the joy we have now in our forgiveness, the peace we feel now in our trials, the prayers that are answered now. This is almost nothing! God has promised us a whole new world, an "eternal glory", an "inheritance", the fullness of salvation - in the future - all because of what Jesus has done for us.

This is what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:50-57:

"I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, now does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep [i.e. die], but we will all be changed - in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: 'Death has been swallowed up in victory.'
"'Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?'
"The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

This brings us full circle, back to Romans chapter 8:37-39:

"…in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

We are "more than conquerors" in "all these things", because our future victory is assured, no matter what happens in this life. We are assured a bodily resurrection, where our imperfect bodies will be changed and become perfect. We will live in a "new creation". "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." (Revelation 21:3-4)

So I will not trust in statistics, or get depressed by statistics, telling me how likely I am to be cured. In reality, taking the very long view, I am 100% likely to be more than cured - because of what God has done for me in Christ! No comparison really! Praise God!

But I have one more circle back left to do. And that is to Hebrews 12, which is where I started this series (I didn't realize it would be a series back then!).

"Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." (Hebrews 12:1-3)

We are following in our Saviour's ways if we look to him, fix our eyes on him, imitate him. He endured the worst thing ever on the cross - the punishment, the hell, the separation from God, the shame, the wrath, that we deserved - because he looked forward to the "joy set before him". He looked forward to His resurrection and His vindication and exaltation to the right hand of the throne of God. And we too can look forward to that kind of glory, if we are in Christ.

That's why it's so important to "fix our eyes on Jesus."

Reflections on Hardship 6.1

Where do I put my trust?

This is being written while I am still in hospital (although I will publish it some time later), now more than a week after being told about my lymphoma. Sometimes the days are long and the mind decides to play games to fill the time! I've tried to fill a lot of time with reading, writing on the blog, and talking to friends and family when they visit. But sometimes the nature of being ill is that you don't have enough energy to read, talk or even watch TV. And then what does my brain do? It starts to go over all the possible outcomes for all the things that I don't know yet, focusing great attention on the scariest!

I won't try to mislead you. There is so much information to take in. I don't understand a lot of what the doctors say at the moment, but they expect that. They reiterate and take time. There is a specialist nurse who is there to get alongside and explain. But they can't hide the fact that this is very complex disease with a very complex treatment (which divides into a multitude of different types of the disease, each with different treatments). They haven't even concluded on which exact type of lymphoma I have, even though they want to start the chemotherapy soon. They also, however much they try, cannot get away from the statistics that show that not everyone gets 100% cured.

My doctor's approach, whilst pussyfooting around the percentage cure rates, was to say that talking about statistics is not really relevant when you are discussing an individual case. In other words, if he said 90% of people are cured (he didn't!), that would be no real ultimate comfort to someone who was in the unfortunate 10%. And they wouldn't know they were in that 10% at the beginning of treatment anyway! So why bother talking about it?

The other thing with statistics is that it's not like I've got a decision to make. I'm not really taking a bet, where I want to know the odds of winning. I have to take the treatment, because it's definitely more effective than doing nothing! So knowing the cure rates should not affect the way that I approach the disease. Would I take the chemotherapy any differently or live my life any differently if I knew that the percentage of people making a total recovery (which, by the way, is defined by being clear of the disease for ten consecutive years) was 30%, 50%, 70% or 90%?

The trouble is that it does make a difference if I'm being honest. Good odds can lead to complacency. Bad odds can lead to despondency. But both are examples of sinful unbelief.

If I am told that treatment for this particular type of cancer has a 90% success rate, then I could relax a bit and assume that I simply have to go through the treatment and expect to be healed. However, that simple assumption is really putting my trust in human doctors and in medicine. I am not putting my trust in God, and that is displeasing to God.

On the other hand, if I am told that treatment for this type of cancer is worth having but it has only demonstrated a 30% success rate, then I could become despondent. I could start to live as if I am going to die, thinking negatively, living negatively. However, that is not putting my trust in God's faithfulness and love towards His children. That also is displeasing to God.

True faith looks to and delights in the God who shows in the creation of the universe an unparalleled power, a supreme intelligence, infinite wisdom, and a heart-swelling and awe-inspiring capacity for beauty, diversity, magnificence, love and joy. The tiniest atomic particle to the biggest, hottest star or supernova; the smallest ant to the biggest dinosaur; the beating of my heart; the swell of love; the breathlessness of joy - all brought about, and held in being, by God. God is the only one we can turn to with complete confidence to know the solution for our healing, and have the power to bring it about.

However, we can't stop there. How can we be sure that this great God is on our side?

At this point we start to realize that throughout our lives we've ignored God, and acted as if He didn't exist. We've enjoyed all that He has created, but we have never acknowledged the Creator. We've known right from wrong many times, and chosen to do wrong, even by the standards of our own conscience. What right have we got to assume that our Creator will be on our side? We have turned our backs on Him. He should be angry with us.

And He is indeed angry. "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." (Romans 1:18-20)

The trouble is that this applies to all of us too. We are all involved in this. And God's anger is justified. In fact (this might take some pondering for a few minutes!) - God's anger is necessary, if beauty is to be truly beautiful, if love is to be truly lovely, if joy is to be truly joyful, and if perfection is to be truly perfect. God, who in His very essence has all these things, cannot ignore our offense against them if He is to maintain the integrity and unchangeableness that are also part of His character.

So what are we to do? Can God ever be for us? How can we ever call on Him to help us?

The answer is wonderful. It is the core of Christianity. God does punish sin, but He punishes it by pouring His wrath out on His only Son on the cross. That's why Jesus came. That's why Jesus had to die. It was all part of God's plan. God's Son, Jesus Christ, born without sin and having lived a sinless life, absorbed and extinguished the wrath of God for all who believe in Him. "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:21)

This is how Paul describes that transaction in Romans 3:21-26:

"But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished - he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who faith in Jesus."

Mind-blowing! God had a way of both satisfying His justice and maintaining His love to sinners who deserve His righteous anger and wrath. And that way is Jesus, faith in Him.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly… God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
"Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!" (Romans 5:6-10)

So, this is the point. And I admit that it will be ever so comforting for believers, but terrifying for unbelievers.

God is the only one who can be appealed to for help with perfect confidence, BUT only through faith in Jesus Christ. That was the way that God gave to satisfy His justice and provide for our eternal salvation. And we dishonour Him even more if we fail to recognize that.

Vague prayers begging for mercy will not be heard. Realising that we have offended God is not enough, saying sorry is not enough, regretting the past is not enough. Only trusting, believing, resting, delighting in Jesus Christ will give access to God's mercy and blessing.

"If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all - how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:31-32)

So with God's help I aim to avoid the complacency that trusts in doctors and medicine more than the God who created them all, and to avoid despondency, knowing that God the Almighty is on my side, because I trust in Jesus Christ. I pray that I may have that faith, no matter what the statistics say about my cancer treatment.

I could quite easily end there, but there are deeper things to understand. But those will have to wait until next time.