Dear Friends,

This week, I have both some truths and an invitation for you to consider.

First, some truths. You may remember last week’s Connect, as we began to grapple with the hard blows we all experience from time to time in this life — life in a world that isn’t the way it’s supposed to be. I was reminded of that just last night as I read the words of an acquaintance who died recently of metastatic breast cancer. Read at her funeral last Saturday, these were the thoughts she recorded a few years ago in the first days after her diagnosis: “The Lord has given me a gift, not necessarily an easy gift, but a gift from His hand, nevertheless, just as certainly as life and union with Christ are His gifts to me." Friends, I want to be as faithful when (not if, unless Jesus comes again first) the day of hardship comes for me, and more than anything else as your pastor, I want you to be able to approach hardship and suffering with that same perspective on the Lord’s “frowning Providence” (to use the words of the hymn I quoted last week). To help us get to (and stay in!) that place, let’s consider this truth: Though a good God does not cause all of (what seems at the time to be) our suffering, the Sovereign Lord of the Universe has purposes in it and they are good ones because He is a good God. I invite you to think just a moment about two parts of that last statement.

Our God is sovereign. “Sovereign” is an SAT word that simply means He rules and controls everything He has made and nothing and no one is more powerful than God; He is the ultimate power. Because of His power, everything is sustained and maintained. The God who made all things rules over His creation. Nothing escapes His notice and nothing happens that He does not ordain to happen — even the greatest evil ever committed. We’re not just talking about God’s rule and control over big things, either. Though He made the planets and the stars, He rules all of His creation in such a way that He knows the number of hairs on our head and even sustains and ordains the lives of wild animals. As Abraham Kuyper said 100 years ago, “There is not one square inch of the universe over which King Jesus does not say, ‘Mine!’”

Now, you may let that idea roll around in your head a moment and come to an initial conclusion along the lines of “I can’t believe that God reigns and rules over all of the evil in the world or that He has even permitted all of the pain in my life or the pain in the lives of people I love.” It’s an understandable reaction; along with the feelings we have, it is borne out of genuine affection and often heartache for loved ones. Consider this for a moment, though. What is the alternative? A little-g god and not the God of the Bible. If God is not sovereign over all, then there is some part of the universe He does not control that is outside of His lordship and thus could do us harm and He would be powerless to stop it. If God was less than sovereign, something could happen to us that surprised Him and He would be unable to redeem even the most senseless tragedies for our good and His glory. Now, that would be senseless and terrifying. So it should be a comfort to Christians that God of the Bible is in absolute control of everything in your and my life. Of course, this doesn’t answer many questions about our suffering, but there is no adequate answer to our suffering that doesn’t begin with this truth.

The second truth we must ever keep in mind is the goodness of God. A sovereign God is not “The Force” from Star Wars. He is a personal God who lovingly relates to what He has made. He is compassionate over His people and the world He has made. He is tender toward His people. Unlike the ancient Greek and Roman gods, He is not selfish, capricious, or harsh. Rather, He is the God who shows mercy to a thousand generations, who weeps over Jerusalem, and who did not spare His own Son, but gave Himself up for us all. He is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. Jesus is not like the kings of the earth who send men to die for them, but instead He is a King who once died for His subjects. Never believe the false idea that a sovereign God is somehow cold and passionless, distant from His creation, or akin to a mind-changing child who moves us around like those little green Army men we once loved to play with.

Because of the twin truths of the sovereignty and goodness of God, we can — and should — take solace and comfort that, even in our most awful moments in this earthly life, the truth we use as a confession of faith once each month from the Heidelberg Catechism (and following John 6:39-40; John 10:27-30; 2 Thessalonians 3:3; 1 Peter 1:5; Luke 21:16-18; and Romans 8:28-29) is gloriously true: “He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.” This truth should lead us to a place where we can say along the lines of David in Psalm 124:8: “My hope is not in the right job or the right income or the right diagnosis, not in the odds of beating cancer or in having an obedient child, but my hope is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth.”

I know that this doesn’t answer all of the questions about evil in the world, suffering, and all of the whys. Still, all Biblically satisfactory and, ultimately, true answers begin with these two truths. They are what led Samuel Rodigast to write a hymn for his friend. Meditate on the Biblical gold in these words:

Whate’er my God ordains is right:

His holy will abideth;

I will be still whate’er He doth;

And follow where He guideth;

He is my God; though dark my road,

He holds me that I shall not fall:

Wherefore to Him I leave it all.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:

He never will deceive me;

He leads me by the proper path:

I know He will not leave me.

I take, content, what He hath sent;

His hand can turn my griefs away,

And patiently I wait His day.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:

His loving thought attends me;

No poison can be in the cup

That my Physician sends me.

My God is true; each morn anew

I’ll trust His grace unending,

My life to Him commending.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:

He is my Friend and Father;

He suffers naught to do me harm,

Though many storms may gather,

Now I may know both joy and woe,

Some day I shall see clearly

That He hath loved me dearly.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:

Though now this cup, in drinking,

May bitter seem to my faint heart,

I take it, all unshrinking.

My God is true; each morn anew

Sweet comfort yet shall fill my heart,

And pain and sorrow shall depart.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:

Here shall my stand be taken;

Though sorrow, need, or death be mine,

Yet I am not forsaken.

My Father’s care is round me there;

He holds me that I shall not fall:

And so to Him I leave it all.

Oh, that we would see life rightly, from the perspective of this hymn, praying such words as we face hardships that seem incomprehensible in the context of God’s will. Or when we consider our brothers and sisters here at Christ Community Church, we might remember this hymn as a way to fulfill our membership vows to the Lord and each other. As we read over the bulletin and come to the list of those who have asked for prayer, we could pray its verses for them. It’s one of the most powerful things we can do for those with whom we are yoked in church membership. More on this subject in the weeks to come.

Now, the invitation: On Sunday evening, we will have our annual Thanksgiving Breakfast. Begun many years ago and traditionally held on Thanksgiving morning, the original breakfast was an opportunity to gather together and for folks to share evidences of the Lord’s goodness to them in the previous year. The only drawback to this event was that it often conflicted with the travel plans of many and as a result was a wonderful time for a limited group. Now our “breakfast” happens the Sunday evening before Thanksgiving. It’s always a good way to close out the Lord’s Day and allows many to come who would be traveling if we gathered later in the week. On top of that, who doesn’t like breakfast food for supper every now and then?

Come prepared to share your hope, your joy, your Ebenezer from this past year. We will start serving supper at 6 o’clock. The cost is $2 per person with a maximum of $7 per family. Our sharing will start around 6:45. We should be dismissed by 7:30. The food will include all of the normal breakfast standards of eggs, pancakes, etc. If you would like to help with either the preparation of the food or the cleanup, contact Willis Drew at 669-3718. We hope to see you Sunday night.

Your friend,