Dear Missionary Lady,
Greetings in the name of our Anchor. Even if everything else
falls apart, God is constant. God is faithful. God is always there and always
the same.
Life can be (and often is) hard. There’s “normal” hard, and
sometimes there’s “harder-than-I-ever-imagined” hard. Most Christians would
acknowledge, in theory, that some trials can be incredibly difficult and also that
sometimes they last for an incredibly long time. Of course, no one ever wants
to be the one caught in the incredibly difficult or the incredibly long. We
would rather think that we can pray and that God will immediately (or at least soon)
deliver us.
Have you ever noticed people’s responses to Christians in
those types of trials? Many responses would make it seem like no one should ever
admit that a trial is incredibly difficult. (“Don’t struggle. Trust God.”) And
no one should continue mentioning that they are still struggling. (“Rejoice.
Stop being negative.”)
Do you understand what I am saying? I’m not minimizing
proper encouragement, but noticing that sometimes people fail to give compassionate
and beneficial acknowledgement of reality. When it comes down to personal experience
or people we interact with, it’s almost like there is a mental denial of the
possibility of incredibly hard or incredibly long. We are so accustomed to
think of divine deliverance and spiritual growth that we always want to apply
the victorious filter. If someone’s situation doesn’t fit that filter, we don’t
know what to do with it. Something must be wrong with them and with the way
they are handling things.
The truth is, however, that sometimes God does ordain,
allow, and/or use the really hard and the really long. Those descriptions can
be realistic, accurate, and legitimate. So, what do we do if we find ourselves
in that reality? Lately I have been thinking a lot about one important word: “But.”
It’s not wrong to be honest about a trial or about our
struggle within a trial. Imagine how fake and damaging our Christianity would be
if no one ever acknowledged such (very real) struggles. There is another side
of the coin, however. There is an important anchor when life is extra
difficult. It begins with the word “but.” We must learn to accompany our brutal
honesty with “but” followed by truth about God, because if all we ever have is
ugly and heavy honesty, we will lose hope.
For example – we might say, “This is the hardest trial I
have ever faced, BUT God has shown me His love.” Or, “I feel like I’m drowning
every day, BUT the Bible keeps giving me truth to cling to.” Or, “Sometimes I
don’t think I can keep going, BUT God has been so faithful and compassionate.”
If we can’t come up with that kind of hopeful truth in our experience, we must
at least find it in our faith. “This is more than I can bear, BUT I know God
has a good plan.” “I know He loves me.” “I know He will give me grace.”
When I started thinking about this concept, I was amazed how
many Bible verses fit this pattern. “My faith is being tried by fire, BUT in
the end it will glorify God” (I Peter 1:7). “I am in great heaviness, BUT I can
rejoice in God’s power to keep me” (I Peter 1:6). “I’m suffering for a while,
BUT God will complete His work in me” (I Peter 5:10). “This training time is grievous,
BUT God will produce the fruit of righteousness” (Hebrews 12:11). “My physical
body is falling apart, BUT God is strengthening my inner man” (II Corinthians
4:16).
It's not always “but.” Sometimes it’s “yet,” “although,” “nevertheless,”
or similar words. The psalmists and other biblical authors were great at this.
They would be honest about the struggle, but they would turn to and cling to
truth. (Psalm 42-43, Psalm 57, Psalm 61, Psalm 62, Psalm 74, Habakkuk 3:17-19,
Job 23:8-10). These are just a few examples of many.
I have also been struck by one character that failed to find
the “but.” Read Ruth 1 and look for every time Naomi mentions God. She does
talk about God, and she desires God’s blessings for others, but when it comes
to herself, she has only the heavy and ugly truth of her very real and very
difficult situation. I especially noted verse 21: “I went out full, and the
LORD hath brought me home again empty.” Does that remind you of anyone else in
the Bible? I thought of Job, who said, “The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken
away” (Job 1:21). What’s the difference between Naomi and Job? Job found the “but”
– implied. “[But] blessed be the name of the LORD.” Job struggled – a lot. But
he kept bringing himself back to these wonderful truths, at least from time to
time. Without recalling such truths, it’s no wonder that Naomi was bitter and
without hope.
Focusing on the truth after the “but” allows for another “but.”
“We are troubled on every side, YET not distressed; we are perplexed, BUT not
in despair; persecuted, BUT not forsaken; cast down, BUT not destroyed” (II
Corinthians 4:7-8). When we have truth to follow the “but,” we have hope. We
have an anchor. We have something real to hold on to. If striving to include
truth can uphold us in the really difficult and really long, surely the same
practice will also uphold us in the “normal” hardships of life.
In whatever level of hardship you face this week, may you be
often reminded of “but” and then truth about our great God and His care for us.
Love in Christ,
Peggy Holt
member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA
