The French philosopher Blaise Pascal writes, "All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views. The will never takes the least step but to this object. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves." Do you not find this to be true for yourself? All that you do, if you think carefully about it, you do because you believe it will, in the long run, make you happy. Even things you do not "want" to do, like going to work or having a hard conversation, you do because you are convinced your happiness depends upon it. There is no question, we want to be happy.
But, does God want you to be happy? The Bible answers that question with a resounding Yes! However, God does not want us to be happy in any way we want but to be happy in him. It is his will that we "delight in the Lord", Psalm 37:4. God's will that we find our joy in him is expressed in many ways. Today I want to consider a prayer we are taught to pray by God to be happy. Psalm 90:14 says, "Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days."
God wants us to be satisfied with his unfailing love because he tells us to ask for it in this psalm. To be satisfied is to be content, to want nothing more. It is to say, I have all I want and need. For people like us who live in a consumerist culture, satisfaction is a rare experience. We have been trained since childhood to be dissatisfied with everything so that we will buy new. There is a way to always be content people and that is to have God himself satisfy you with his unfailing love. This love is the love which God has for us is secured by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus; that is why it is a steadfast, unfailing love.
Notice that when God answers our prayer to satisfy us with his love, then we rejoice and are glad all our days. There is no want in our lives any longer, no lack because we have everything when we are satisfied with the love of God in Christ. When we have all we want we cannot help but be glad, to show forth our joy in rejoicing.
Much, not all, of our sorrow is due to the fact that we do not look to God to satisfy us with his steadfast love but we look to our spouses to satisfy us with their kindness or our children to satisfy us with their respect and admiration or our jobs to satisfy us with meaningful work or our retirement accounts to satisfy us with security or our friends to satisfy us with their admiration. However, none of these finite hings can satisfy us and thus make us glad "all our days" because they all are temporary and changeable. However, the love of God in Christ is unfailing, steadfast, unchangeable and eternal and thus can never fail to fill us up.
So today begin asking God to satisfy you with his unfailing love so that you can be glad (happy) all your days. Ask his forgiveness for all the ways you seek to be satisfied in other things and people and thank him that Jesus died so you can be forgiven for you treating his love with contempt as you seek happiness in other things.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
A prayer for sufferers
I remain cancer free at this time. I had blood work done on December 18 and a colonoscopy on January 30th, both showed no sign of cancer for which I am grateful. I will have my blood tested every three months. My next one will be March 18. My hands and feet continue to experience a profound neuropathy. I've gotten used to it, though it still does impede my typing somewhat. It is my goal to write one post each week, reflecting on some aspect of the glory of Christ and his saving work from God's word.
I recently was struck by one of Paul's prayers for the Christians in the church located at Thessalonica. In 2 Thess. 3:5 he expresses his prayer: "May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and the steadfastness of Christ." Paul often reports his prayers for the people to whom he writes. He does this not simply to encourage his friends with the knowledge that he prays for them and certainly he does not do it to show what a super spiritual person he is. Rather his prayers are meant to teach us what only God can do and thus to teach us what we ought to be asking him to do.
What is Paul asking the Lord to do? First, the verb "direct" is a very strong verb. It means to guide or direct a person or thing to his or its final destination. Paul uses the verb in his first letter tot he Thessalonians when he says, "may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you." Clearly here he means for God to overcome every obstacle and clear the way and impel he and Timothy to travel to Thessalonica. So in our verse Paul is asking God to do all that is necessary to make sure our hearts arrive into the love of God and the steadfastness of Christ.
When he mentions our hearts he is thinking of that part of us which determines all that we think, feel, say and do. It is my affections, what I love, trust in, fear, desire, value. Thus Paul is asking God to bring their hearts into a full knowledge and experience of the love of God and the steadfastness of Christ. He aims for these Christians to value and trust and rejoice in and desire these two things.
What is the "love of God" and "the steadfastness of Christ"? The love of God is God's love for us in Christ. Paul wants these believers to be fully aware of and consumed with the wonder and glory of being loved by the great Triune God who shows his love for his people by giving his son to die for us. Second he wants Christians to be overcome with the wonder of Christ's patient endurance of all the sufferings he went through. We are to be amazed by and desire and value the patient endurance of Christ; his settled determination to pay whatever cost in order to save us and glorify his Father.
The Thessalonians were in the midst of profound suffering. Paul knows that what they need are hearts taken up with God's love and Christ's steadfast suffering to accomplish God's will. When we know and trust and love the love of God for us we can endure all things because we know nothing can separate us from this amazing love. When we see Christ's joyful endurance of suffering beyond our comprehension it strengthens us to also remain steadfast in the midst of our troubles. In my own experience it is as my heart has rested and rejoiced in these two things that I have found strength to press on, to not give up. Especially as I sat by my son's bed in the early days after his accident I was helped by considering the steadfastness of Christ in his sufferings.
May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and the steadfastness of Christ.
I recently was struck by one of Paul's prayers for the Christians in the church located at Thessalonica. In 2 Thess. 3:5 he expresses his prayer: "May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and the steadfastness of Christ." Paul often reports his prayers for the people to whom he writes. He does this not simply to encourage his friends with the knowledge that he prays for them and certainly he does not do it to show what a super spiritual person he is. Rather his prayers are meant to teach us what only God can do and thus to teach us what we ought to be asking him to do.
What is Paul asking the Lord to do? First, the verb "direct" is a very strong verb. It means to guide or direct a person or thing to his or its final destination. Paul uses the verb in his first letter tot he Thessalonians when he says, "may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you." Clearly here he means for God to overcome every obstacle and clear the way and impel he and Timothy to travel to Thessalonica. So in our verse Paul is asking God to do all that is necessary to make sure our hearts arrive into the love of God and the steadfastness of Christ.
When he mentions our hearts he is thinking of that part of us which determines all that we think, feel, say and do. It is my affections, what I love, trust in, fear, desire, value. Thus Paul is asking God to bring their hearts into a full knowledge and experience of the love of God and the steadfastness of Christ. He aims for these Christians to value and trust and rejoice in and desire these two things.
What is the "love of God" and "the steadfastness of Christ"? The love of God is God's love for us in Christ. Paul wants these believers to be fully aware of and consumed with the wonder and glory of being loved by the great Triune God who shows his love for his people by giving his son to die for us. Second he wants Christians to be overcome with the wonder of Christ's patient endurance of all the sufferings he went through. We are to be amazed by and desire and value the patient endurance of Christ; his settled determination to pay whatever cost in order to save us and glorify his Father.
The Thessalonians were in the midst of profound suffering. Paul knows that what they need are hearts taken up with God's love and Christ's steadfast suffering to accomplish God's will. When we know and trust and love the love of God for us we can endure all things because we know nothing can separate us from this amazing love. When we see Christ's joyful endurance of suffering beyond our comprehension it strengthens us to also remain steadfast in the midst of our troubles. In my own experience it is as my heart has rested and rejoiced in these two things that I have found strength to press on, to not give up. Especially as I sat by my son's bed in the early days after his accident I was helped by considering the steadfastness of Christ in his sufferings.
May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and the steadfastness of Christ.
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