When We're Put To The Test

At the moment I’m spending two weeks in the book of Acts to finish off January exploring some of the most faith-testing situations I can find. You can get the first Sunday message from Acts in its various formats on the Faith Baptist online worship page.

It seemed like faith-testing circumstances could be a beneficial place to look for insight as we live through what is (hopefully) the high water mark of the Omicron wave coupled with the dark and icy grip of Nova Scotia’s unpredictable winters. Last week the Scott household was working around colds and booster shots and trying to stay on top of what matters most along the way.

What matters most. That is really where I was drawn when considering Acts 16 this week, and specifically Paul and Silas’ ordeal at the hands of the authorities in Philippi. How do you respond to torture and imprisonment with prayer and praise? How do you bring yourself throw away your chance to escape the people out to harm you in order to protect one of them?

Well, you don’t. Not if what matters most is your comfort, your well-being, or your very life. Other things would have to matter more. In this case those things would be trust in God, obedience to God’s calling, and the opportunity to proclaim the Gospel.

That’s challenging all by itself. How willing I am to put some act of service to God ahead of my plans, desires, or my very life in importance?

I’ve seen this kind of thinking used by Christians who aren’t fans of vaccines or pandemic restrictions and think that churches should gather regardless of the conditions. After all, isn’t accepting risk to worship or serve God a profound act of faithfulness?

There are a lot of things worth taking into consideration when it comes to how churches should gather in a pandemic and every situation is different. I’m not looking to take shots here, though I am saddened by those who utterly ignore scientific expertise and reasonable government policies. That looks a lot more like pride than faithfulness to me, and it has harmed people.

But it’s worth remembering that apathy is harmful, too.

This pandemic has been a strange experience because for many of us who aren’t in a medical, public health, or other front-line field of work the main thing being asked of us when things get tough is to not do anything. Stay the blazes home. Slow down. Do your part by sitting on the couch and binge-watching something. That’s not exactly inspiring.

And not doing things becomes a habit pretty quickly. Thinking you can’t do anything that matters can follow. Along with all of that comes a lack of any urgency to pray, other than praying that nothing bad will happen to you and yours. Purposelessness can set in.

In reflecting on Paul’s sense of mission from Acts 16 this week I wrote:

This missionary journey that led Paul and his team to Philippi is filled with clear purpose. Paul was confident that he had a calling from God preach about Jesus to the Gentiles - the non-Jews of the Roman empire. Paul was commissioned by the Church to go on this journey to do exactly that. And He was directed by a vision to go to Macedonia. He had a very clear sense of what God wanted Him to do - preach the Gospel, encourage believers, build the Church.

Having clarity of purpose helps a great deal when you face difficulties. When you are confident of God’s leading it’s much easier to keep trusting Him when you encounter obstacles. You expect opposition and challenges when you undertake a mission!

But if you don’t have clarity of purpose, or when you have no sense of mission, then your challenges and obstacles will seem pointless.

Nobody knows if this omicron wave of COVID-19 is the pandemic’s last major assault on us or not, but this season won’t last forever.

Ecclesiastes 3 famously reminds us that there are seasons for everything, and so we must adjust our expectations accordingly:

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:

a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing…

The purpose-filled risk-taking commitment of the early church has me considering the next season, and asking “what matters most?” What is God’s call on me for that season, and on our church? And in preparation for that I know that it’s vital to be attentive to God.

Pandemic living is tiring, it can numb our spirit, even making us apathetic. But we have been entrusted with the same message as the early Church, the same truth that Jesus is alive is inviting you to know Him. Nothing should matter more than walking in that truth, because it blesses and enlivens and empowers every good thing about us. And our community, family, and friends need to see that truth lived out and hear it spoken just as much today as at any other time.

I’ll try to get a little more practical about what preparing for this next season might look like in part 2 next week, but for now I’ve prepared a little devotional opportunity that might set the stage for that journey and invite you to take a quiet moment and spend a few minutes seeking God in this way:

Mid-Week Devotional

Consider first this passage from Jeremiah, with God’s instructions to Israelite exiles who were being departed to foreign cities, and what it might say about the suddenly-changed world we find ourselves in:

4 This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles I deported from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 “Build houses and live in them. Plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 Find wives for yourselves, and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons and give your daughters to men in marriage so that they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there; do not decrease. 7 Pursue the well-being of the city I have deported you to. Pray to the Lord on its behalf, for when it thrives, you will thrive.” (Jeremiah 29:4-7, CSB)

We have purpose from God even in times of disorientation. And He is our sustainer, whatever the circumstances. The Psalmist writes:

Lord, how my foes increase! There are many who attack me. 2 Many say about me, “There is no help for him in God.” Selah

3 But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, and the one who lifts up my head. 4 I cry aloud to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy mountain. Selah

5 I lie down and sleep; I wake again because the Lord sustains me. 6 I will not be afraid of thousands of people who have taken their stand against me on every side.

7 Rise up, Lord! Save me, my God! You strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked. 8 Salvation belongs to the Lord; may your blessing be on your people

(Psalm 3, CSB)

I know I need to diversify my musical recommendations, but I’m still taken with Mike Janzen’s Psalms albums, so here is his rendition of Psalm 3:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqbo43RdmTM

A prayer for today:

Look upon us, O Lord,

and let all the darkness of our souls

vanish before the beams of thy brightness.

Fill us with holy love,

and open to us the treasures of thy wisdom.

All our desire is known unto thee,

therefore perfect what thou hast begun,

and what thy Spirit has awakened us to ask in prayer.

We seek thy face,

turn thy face unto us and show us thy glory.

Then shall our longing be satisfied,

and our peace shall be perfect.

(Augustine, 354 - 430)

If possible take a few minutes to simply be quiet before you carry on with your day. Offer God that space. Considering giving the invitation of Samuel: “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”

God bless you today.