PERFECT PEACE AND TRANQUILITY - DOES THIS LIFE OFFER IT?
Yes, we can be still and know that God is God, what a solace, what a comfort. There is the peace of God which passes understanding. Yes, with that joyous assurance which God eventually grants His people we are equipped indeed! But does this mean that Christians should not encounter obstacles in life? I have indeed occasionally discovered believers who hold this view. The truth, however, is that this view is just not scriptural! Rather we are promised trials, difficulties, temptations and tribulation.
Philippians 1: 29 states what path has been set out for us;
"For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake."
This is the path set before us, then. It is what Joseph discovered, what Moses discovered, what Isaiah discovered, what Jeremiah discovered, what John the Baptist discovered, what the apostle Paul discovered and, of course, what our Lord discovered.
Psalm 34 says this;
"The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry...The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all." (verses 15-19.)
So we see that we are most certainly not promised a charmed life! Notice it is believers in the true God who are crying out in distress here. Of course, this does not imply that non-believers never cry out in distress, they most certainly do so; but it certainly shows that the righteous are not exempt from lifes trials. Indeed, biblically, it appears that they may expect their fair share of them. Moreover there appears to be much more of a sense in which God will use such trials in order to develop a strength of character which He looks for from His people. I am going to quote the first 14 verses of Hebrews 12 here, please read these verses with care and carefully take in the message;
"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons; 'My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.' If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect, shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but grievous, nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed." (Hebrews 12: 1-14 NKJ)
There are several points here; one point is that Christians are going to be involved in struggles, yes, possibly including struggles to overcome this or that weakness, they will not suddenly walk as 'saints' (in the Roman Catholic sense) this is backed up by such chapters as Romans 7 and by what the apostle John says in 1 John1: 8 - 2: 2. Check it out! Also; quite obviously God will use the trials of the Christian life ( which should be expected) to build something into us which will spiritually benefit us in the long term. We do need to be aware of these things because some preach the 'prosperity message' (yes, lamentably, some of my fellow evangelicals!) According to this message, if one struggles, there is probably a 'secret sin' which has gone unrepented of, or maybe one is under some kind of 'curse' (which is perhaps an even more worrying development in certain areas of evangelicalism.) One is told to boldly 'claim the promises in faith!' But this actually hijacks the biblical concept of faith, turning it into something which requires God to give us everything we want - if we do our part!
But faith is not that; there is a big element of 'waiting on God' to see what HIS SOVEREIGN WILL may be in faith.
To see it as something which allows us to control God if we do certain things (which is effectively what the prosperity message teaches) is a misunderstanding of it!
In fact, we should be able to see that this flawed teaching is a reflection of modern western society which is primarily concerned about comfort, affluence and physical well-being. The prosperity message is concerned about the 'here and now', but as Christians we should be prepared to accept that God may have chosen a walk of life for us which we would not necessarily have chosen.
Of course, this does not mean that we should not strive to improve our lives even in the purely physical areas, but it does mean recognition that a Christians prime goals should be concerned not with this life but with the life to come!
Did not Jesus say,
"...Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses"
(Luke 12:15)
Jesus also said,
"Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him"
(John 6:27)
Museltof
2000
MUSELTOF APOLOGETICS AND COUNTERCULT
MY CHRISTIAN WORLD