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Your anger lasts a little while, but your kindness lasts for a lifetime. At night we may cry, but when morning comes we will celebrate. Psalm 30:5 (CEV)
There is a common misconception that if you are living under the will of God you will always feel his presence and power in your life. The reality however, is that sometimes, even if we are working hard for the kingdom, we struggle to find ‘God’ in our lives.
When God seems silent, our natural assumption is that he is angry at us; that we have done something that has separated us from full fellowship with the Father. Some of the greatest spiritual leaders of our time have endured the ‘silence of God’. David asks God why he has forsaken him in several of his writings. Even Jesus Christ asked, “Why have you forsaken me?” as he died on the cross.
Mother Teresa endured several periods of spiritual drought in her life as she ministered to the needy in India. She writes, “If there be God — please forgive me — When I try to raise my thoughts to Heaven — there is such convicting emptiness that those very thoughts return like sharp knives & hurt my very soul. — I am told God loves me — and yet the reality of darkness & coldness & emptiness is so great that nothing touches my soul. Did I make a mistake in surrendering blindly to the Call of the Sacred Heart”
So how do we handle those times when God seems angry with us? How do we cope with the silence during those times when it seems our prayers barely make it past our lips; when the words from the Bible seem empty and we struggle to find our faith?
There are no easy answers. We can ask God to examine us, to spend a time of serious self-reflection in which we open the floodgates of our soul to him and implore his Spirit to enlighten us. But there are times when even this seems futile. That’s when the promise of Psalm 30:5 may give us comfort.
The Father’s anger lasts for a moment. He is a patient daddy. He doesn’t blow his lid at the smallest infraction, doesn’t lash out unexpectedly and wound our soul. He’s a patient teacher, a friend, a confidant. But there are times when he must rein us in; when he steps back to discipline, to correct, to catch our attention.
But when God’s anger seems directed towards us we can know his anger lasts for short time. When the dawn begins to lighten the eastern horizon we know the darkness of our night is over. The fears, the anxiety, the worry will soon be over. All that was shadows in the dark will be revealed.
In the same way, God will eventually reveal himself to us once more and we will rejoice in his presence. Have faith. Endure those silent times. Focus on the words of promise we have. He loves us with an everlasting love. His anger and silence doesn’t last forever.
PRAYER: Father God, there have been times when I’ve felt your anger and I confess it was my own doing. Selfishness, pride, lust and arrogance convinced me my way was better. There have been other times I’ve sought you and could not find you. I praise you for the promises of your word and that your silence and anger lasts only a short time. Amen.
I didn’t come from heaven to do what I want! I came to do what the Father wants me to do. He sent me, John 6:38 (CEV)
Jesus had just fed over 5,000 people from a few pieces of fish and a couple loaves of bread. His miraculous actions caught the attention of the people. They wanted more bread. They wanted to have their needs met. The wanted to make this man, who obviously had the power to accomplish anything, their King.
John chapter six is an interesting transition in Jesus ministry. It begins with the feeding of the 5,000 and ends with him asking the few that remained with him if they too would abandon him.
What was the difference? What caused the many that flocked to see Jesus to leave disillusioned and disappointed? It was the realization that Jesus was intent on doing his father’s will, not his own.
Whether you are in ministry, business or just doing your best at raising your family, it’s always hard to stay on task; to choose a direction and move that way; to keep from missing your personal goals because of distractions.
When that happens, when it’s apparent things aren’t going the way we hoped it can lead to frustration, anger and a sense of failure. Even though Jesus was rejected by many people, we see no sense of disappointment or failure in his reactions. Why? Because the things Jesus sought to do weren’t his own desires but the desires of his Father.
Those of us in ministry may struggle with this the most. We have a desire to see God’s work done in mighty and powerful ways. We have an idea of what God’s church may look like. We set goals for ourselves that we call spiritual/ministry goals but are in reality personal and professional goals.
The result? Disappointed ministry leaders; frustrated ministry recipients and people who need Jesus abandoning the church. Jesus was able to handle the ebb and flow of ministry because his goal wasn’t to build his own ministry. His goal was to do the Father’s will.
What is the Father’s will? Jesus answers it himself. To bring people to a relationship with him built on forgiveness, mercy and grace. Notice Jesus makes no reference to rules and regulations. He makes not promises of physical provision although this most certainly was proven to be important to him. But the defining characteristic of Jesus’ ministry was doing the Father’s will, not catering to the wants and desires of society.
Whether you are in a full-time ministry, a lay minister or simply a person seeking to share what you have found in Jesus Christ, remember our goal is not to add numbers to our ‘salvation/ministry’ ledger. It’s to seek the Father’s will for our lives and pursue it.
PRAYER: Father, I confess that often my energy is distracted to my own will and desires. Empower me with your Spirit to seek your will and allow you to do it in my life so others will see Jesus, not me. Amen.
Love the Lord, all his faithful people! The Lord preserves those who are true to him, but the proud he pays back in full. Psalm 31:23 (NIV)
Mom grew up in rural Minnesota long before cell phones and microwaves and cyberspace were even words in the dictionary. She’d often tell stories of riding to church in the sleigh or buggy with nothing but hot stones to warm their feet. When electricity came to their farm it was an amazing, exciting event!
In mom’s world, frugality was a lifestyle, not an option. The things she learned on the farm prepared her for her life as a pastor’s wife. With five boys to feed and a husband serving small, rural churches like she grew up in, excess was rare and simple things were cherished.
One of the many things mom did to make ends meet was to always have a big garden. At the time, I didn’t appreciate the fresh vegetables and detested the thought of having to help plant, weed or harvest. I don’t ever remember, however, being upset about having the fruit and vegetables mom canned on those cold winter evenings or for Sunday dinner!
I never once complained about having mom’s strawberry preserves on a piece of her warm, homemade bread.
Today, for the most part, people who preserve fruits and vegetables and make jam and preserve other fruit do so for nostalgia or to help make ends meet. For mom (and us) it was a necessity. Rows of colorful jars on the basement shelf in the fall provided assurance of food for the winter regardless of anything else that might happen.
I think of that when I read Psalm 31:23. The Lord ‘preserves’ those who are true to him. We, as his children are protected from the ravages of life. Regardless of what goes on around us, we stay safe in secure in him, like a jar of strawberry jam, unaffected by all that goes on around us.
Today the things I see around me make life difficult. Today I’m confused, frustrated, worried and maybe even angry at times by where I see the world going. But I’m preserved! I know that someday all this will pass and I’ll receive in full measure all that the Father has for me. The Father’s preservation of me means I’m changed so that life’s struggles will not affect me, yet I maintain the basic identity of who I am.
Those who reject his love, the psalmist says, will receive, in full measure, the consequences of their rejection. They will seek fulfillment in things unpleasing to God and suffer the despair of loneliness. They’ll openly reject the principles of his word and continue on a path of hopelessness. Will God punish them severely? I think the psalmist implies that he won’t need to. He’ll simply let the consequences of their behavior run its full course in their lives. Rejecting God carries its own penalty.
For us, though, as his children there is forgiveness, restoration, and best of all, preservation.
PRAYER: Father God, I thank you for preserving me. The things I see around me scare me. The trials I’m enduring now weigh me down. But I rest in your promise and wait for your blessing to unfold because I know that through Jesus Christ I am preserved. Amen.
