September 13, 2025

Mark 9: 12 “Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected?” (NIV)

All our questions about God and suffering should, in fact, be filtered through what we know about Jesus.*

This is Jesus, answering a question with a question. It is part of his discussion with Peter, James, and John following their big encounter with Elijah and Moses up on a high mountain. I bring it up here in order to ask a version of that same question myself: Why did Jesus have to suffer and die? 

My question isn’t about the fact of his sacrificial death. Someone had to pay the price for sin. I get it. But why the suffering? With all the slaughtering of animals in the Old Testament, none of them was tortured first. 

In Acts 3: 18, Peter declares, “But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer.” So, he suffered to fulfill prophecy? Not exactly. It was prophesied because it was going to happen – the prophets didn’t make it happen just because they foretold it. 

In fact, I can’t find a direct answer to my question anywhere in scripture. I have asked some preacher friends and they couldn’t provide me with that “A-ha” moment that I was looking for. But I think I have a clue – from Peter, again. In his first letter, chapter four, verse twelve, he writes, “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering . . .” Could it be that Jesus suffered because his followers might also be called on to suffer for his sake? 

“But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ,” Peter continues in verse thirteen, “so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” We can rejoice because Jesus suffered, and Jesus overcame, and we will never be called on to suffer more than he did. According to Warren Wiersbe, not everyone is called to a ministry of suffering,* but Jesus asks us to surrender all. 

He may ask for our all – but he gave his all first.

We’ll never suffer more than Jesus suffered.*

September 12, 2025

Exodus 11: 10 Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go out of his country. (NIV)

God made us as free-will creatures who are able to sin, but who are also able not to sin.*

I have always wondered: If God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, what happened to his freedom to choose? I have heard it said that the same sun that softens wax also hardens clay,* which at first glance seems a likely explanation for what happened in this case – except that the raw material of our hearts is not a matter of choice, while rejecting God is. So how could we say that the way your heart reacts to exposure to God depends on what your heart is made of? Did Pharaoh have a choice?

I have twin sons who started out with physical hearts that were composed of the exact same genetic material. Their "spiritual hearts" were a blank slate. I was a single mom who didn’t have time to dedicate to nurturing their individuality as the experts recommended, so for the first five years of their lives, my sons had very few separate experiences. But from kindergarten on, their paths began to diverge and become more personalized. They continued to develop at the same rate and shared the same aptitudes and interests (including friends), but eventually they made different life choices – college, career, wife. Those life choices, however, were the result of what their hearts had been exposed to – not what they were made of.

Hearts may be composed of the same ingredients and exposed to the same stimuli, but at some point the owner of that heart decides how he or she will react. We are not victims of how we’re wired. So here’s the thing: Pharaoh had plenty of opportunities to soften his heart but he continued to choose poorly. Don’t be like Pharaoh. Maybe you will only get so many chances to make the right choice before God hardens your heart. 

Jesus warns us that a time will come when there will no longer be an opportunity to repent.*

September 11, 2025

Matthew 1: 23 “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” which means, “God with us.” (NIV)

He will be with you in trouble all day and through the night.*

Throughout the Old Testament, we find God making promises to be with someone. For example:

·  Exodus 3: 12 – God promises to be with Moses as he leads the people of Israel out of Egypt.

·  Joshua 1: 9 – God calms Joshua’s fears as he succeeds Moses as the leader of the Israelite nation.

·  Isaiah 43: 2 -  The prophet Isaiah shares God’s promise to be with Israel through flood and fire.

In the book of Hebrews, an Old Testament promise is brought forward to offer hope to God’s people today: “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Hebrews 13: 5; Deuteronomy 31: 6) But the promise that applies to all of us – and offers us the most hope – is found as the New Testament opens, in one of the titles given to Jesus our Savior: Immanuel. God with us. It is a constant reminder that we will never be abandoned by him.

And just in case we need further assurance, Jesus chose to reiterate the promise in his last recorded words on earth: “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28: 20) Sometimes we may feel lonely but we are never alone. Surely.

Have you ever felt as though God has forsaken you? . . . [Y]ou are in very good company. . . Jesus felt that way at one time too.*

September 10, 2025

Malachi 4: 6 “He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.” (NIV)

Matthew 1: 1 A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David the son of Abraham. (NIV)

The creation, although it did declare so much of God, as left all men without excuse, yet did not fully manifest the will of God, nor bring men to eternal salvation.*

The verses above are the last one in the Old Testament and the first one found in the New Testament. From the time one was written to the next was a span of more than 400 years. Some speak of this as a time when God was silent. It is true that no new words were added to scripture during that time, but was God really silent? It has been more than 2,000 years since John recorded the words of the revelation of Jesus Christ – has God not spoken since then?

I like to speculate about what God was doing in the rest of the world while he was interacting with the Jews, and later, with the brand-new church. Was he silent then among all the other people on the planet? What did they know about God? Were the Gentiles who associated with the Jews the only ones who were exposed to the one true God? I don’t know who God revealed himself to outside of those mentioned in scripture, but according to Paul, in Romans 1: 19 and 20, since the creation of the world God has made himself known. So, God may have written all he is going to in scripture but he has not stopped speaking – even in nature we hear his voice.

Perhaps you feel that you are dwelling in a long stretch of God’s silence. You might wonder if those who claim to hear him speak are liars or nuts. My advice: place yourself within the sound of his voice. Start at the most basic, fundamental level – nature. God has clearly revealed himself through his creation. Acknowledge his invisible qualities – his eternal power and his divine nature. A great start! But you can’t stop there. Nature can’t tell you how to be saved – only God’s word contains that information. Read the Bible. Ask that God’s Holy Spirit will reveal God’s will to you and you will soon learn that God is not silent – you just weren’t listening.

God speaks to us through the Bible in new ways when we reflect on it deeply and repeatedly.*

September 9, 2025

Job 22: 2, 3 “Can a man be of benefit to God? Can even a wise man benefit him? What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous? What would he gain if your ways were blameless?” (NIV)

The New Testament makes clear that God takes pleasure in us: we are “peculiar treasures,” a “pleasing aroma,” “gifts that he delights in.”*

Job's friend, Eliphaz, wants to know: is man worth anything to God? It’s an interesting question. Even if we were wise or righteous or blameless, what good are we to the Almighty? We know that God loves us but maybe he has to. Perhaps he can’t not love us. 

I don’t know the answer to Eliphaz’s question. Maybe we are no benefit to God. But we know that he delights in us because the Bible tells us that he does. We find that he delights in: 

· those who fear him (Psalm 147: 11) 

· those whose ways are blameless (Proverbs 11: 20) 

· men who are truthful (Proverbs 12: 22) 

We also find accounts of God’s unconditional delight. In II Samuel 22: 20 and Psalm 18: 19, David proclaims that the Lord rescued him - for no reason other than that he delighted in him. God also delights in his people – for no particular reason (Psalm 149: 4; Isaiah 5: 7; Isaiah 42: 1; Isaiah 65: 19) other than that he chooses to. We also find that there are benefits for us when we delight in the Lord (Psalm 37: 4). 

So, in answer to Eliphaz’s question, I would have to say, “I don’t know.” But if I had to choose, I believe I would rather be a delight than a benefit. God doesn’t love us for what’s in it for him. Ours is not a typical give-and-take relationship because God does all the giving and we do all the taking. Well . . . he delights in us, so what else can he do?

God alone knows what pleases God.*

September 8, 2025

II Corinthians 4: 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. (NIV)

We never know in advance exactly how suffering can be transformed into a cause for celebration.*

I will always remember a certain trail in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. It was rugged terrain, and recent rains had left all the little ravines full of boot-sucking mud. I had new, expensive custom orthotics in my hiking shoes and I was frantic in my efforts to keep them from getting wet. We thought we were on a loop trail and that it would all be over soon - until we came to a sign announcing that we had reached the end of the trail. I did not react well to the news that I was going to have to go back the way I came.

When we finally reached level ground, I started booking it, so relieved was I to be able to just walk rather than scramble and slog. Yes, but level ground had also been subjected to rain, and a bare spot turned out to be slicker than ice. My feet went out from under me and I landed hard. This made me so angry that I threw my walking stick and said a bad word, shocking my husband (and myself). It took a few moments before I was able to get up, collect my stick, and set out again. . . And then we came upon this guy:

Now that trail was not exactly the Valley of the Shadow of Death, and our close encounter with nature may not have been such a thrill for anyone else; but our hikes were all about experiences like this. This one made it all worthwhile. If only I had known - before I had my little tantrum!

If I could turn back time . . . I wouldn’t. Because all those light and momentary troubles in life are just a part of the trail that I have to navigate before I reach the good stuff. And the good stuff on earth cannot compare to the eternal glory that lies ahead. Just watch your step!

He views your life the way you view a movie after you’ve read the book. . . . He’s not only read your story . . . he wrote it. His perspective is different, and his purpose is clear.*