Day 31: Grace for the Struggling

This post is part of a 31-day series.



Thanks for joining me for 31 Days!

Today's post is simply a recap and summary of what I've attempted to communicate this month.  May we all be encouraged in the good pursuit!

INTRODUCTION (Day 1)


I.  The Problem

     1.  Causes (Day 2, Day 3)

     2.  Sad vs. hopeless (Day 4, Day 5)

     3.  Thinking (Day 6, Day 7)

          a.  Guilt (Day 8)

          b.  Fear
      
               i.  Doing wrong (Day 9)

               ii.  Humiliation (Day 10)

               iii.  Unpleasantness (Day 11)

               iv.  Jitters (Day 12)


II.  The Gospel

     1.  Fear (Day 13)

     2.  Surrender (Day 14)


III.  The Fight

     1.  God with us (Day 15, Day 16, Day 17, Day 18)

     2.  Why do I suffer?

          a.  Humility (Day 19)

          b.  Change (Day 20)

          c.  More of God (Day 21)

          d.  Loving others (Day 22)

          e.  Effective witness (Day 23)

     3.  Joy in sorrow (Day 24, Day 25, Day 26)

     4.  How to fight (Day 27, Day 28, Day 29, Day 30)


CONCLUSION (Day 31)
               

Day 30: Saying Thank You When You're Not Thankful

This post is part of a 31-day series.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Philippians 4:6

It takes only a rudimentary understanding of Christian theology to realize that we can make supplication to God for our requests.  Very small children can learn that our Father hears our prayers when we ask for things.

So, even when we are mired in darkness or frantic with fear, we usually remember to cry out for help.

The more profound part of this verse is in two words:  "with thanksgiving."

Pained souls don't naturally exclaim with thankfulness.  But this is what God calls us to do.  When we can give God thanks in the midst of desperate requests, then we have gained a large measure of victory in our circumstances.

Thank you for hearing my prayers.

Thank you for your mercy toward me. 

Thank you for never leaving me.  

Thank you that you are working even now, in this fearful place, through this circumstance, for my good.

Thank you that your promises are sure, though my feelings may lie.

Thank you that one day all will see your victory over sin and darkness and death.

Next:  Grace for the Struggling

Day 29: Truth

This post is part of a 31-day series.

Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy.

Though I fall I will rise;

Though I dwell in darkness, the LORD is a light for me...

He will bring me out into the light.

Micah 7:8-9

Way back on Day 4, I said that sadness isn't a sin; unbelief is a sin.

When it feels like the powers of darkness are rejoicing over me, do I still believe that one day--even if not until the last day--He will raise me into the light?  When I live in darkness, is the unseen Lord still my light?

On Day 13 I pointed out that fear is not inherently wrong.  Again, unbelief is the problem.

When I am afraid,

I will put my trust in You.

Psalm 56:3

God tells us what to do when we're afraid, and therein lies the test of faith.

But what if you struggle to believe, to trust, to see any light?  What if you weary of the fear and darkness?

I waited patiently for the LORD.

Psalm 40:1

How long did the psalmist wait?  

Well, it's not waiting if it doesn't take a long time.  Patience isn't required for a momentary pause.  

In other words, God understands that we sometimes feel oppressed by darkness, that we are afraid, and that relief seems so far away.

It's right there in His Word.  

But it's also there in His Word that He is trustworthy and He will certainly lift His people up.

We can acknowledge our feelings and our difficulty while still affirming belief in God's promises.


Next:  Saying Thank You When You're Not Thankful

  

Day 28: Preach

This post is part of a 31-day series.

Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself?

Martin Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Depression

What do you hear when you listen to yourself?  

Is worry telling you that God is mean to you?  That He is indifferent to you?  That He is unwilling or unable to help you?


If your loved ones told you they care deeply for you and will certainly help you, would you disbelieve them?  Does worry tell you that God is even less trustworthy than your friends?


What is your worry telling you about what you believe?   

Stop listening to yourself and start talking to yourself.  Recite the truth to yourself.


God's love.  


God's love is unfailing, forever faithful, stronger than many waters.  It is sovereign, irrevocable.  His love is tender, fierce, jealous, and protective.  It is all-encompassing, forgiving, and providing.  It does not change with the wind of circumstance.


Salvation.


Romans 8:29-30:  "Those whom He foreknew, He also predestined...and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified."  God has saved me because of His eternal love set upon me.  It was His idea, His work, and He will bring His salvation to completion.


Status of my sin.


My sin has been completely washed away by the efficacy of Christ's blood.  He has removed it as into the deepest ocean, as far as east from west.  When God looks at me, He sees only Christ's perfect record, whose righteousness has been imputed to me.  The ultimate power of sin in my life has been broken.


Positional truths.


My position before God, because of Christ, is:  Forgiven.  Clean.  Child of the King.  Victor.  Child of light.  Beloved.  Safe and secure.  


Let us fight against the lies of our worry and depression with life-giving truths.  Let us repeat them until truth drowns out the clamor of lies.


Next:  Truth

Day 27: Sow to the Spirit

This post is part of a 31-day series.

So my response to the person who has to deal with feelings of anxiety every day is to say: that's more or less normal. The issue is how you deal with them.

- John Piper

In a 3-minute sound clip, pastor John Piper addresses the question:  Is joy in God to be waited for or pursued?


His answer:  both.

Truly, spiritual joy is an unearned gift from a sovereign God.


And yet, God has given us means of grace by which we can "sow to the Spirit" (Galatians 6:8).


These means of grace include common-sense steps (like adequate sleep and relaxation techniques), as well as the spiritual disciplines (prayer, worship, Bible study, fellowship with the saints, to name a few).


So, Piper says, "Do the kinds of things you can do to put yourself in the way of joy."


Listen to the full interview here.


Next:  Preach

Day 26: Joy That Defies the Gestapo

This post is part of a 31-day series.



Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German pastor driven underground by the Nazi regime in the 1930s.  For his continued faithfulness to the Bible and his opposition to the Nazis, he was eventually arrested, imprisoned and executed.

Despite horrible circumstances, Bonhoeffer fought for joy in himself and others.  The following is an excerpt from his final letter to other embattled, weary, and frightened pastors.

A sort of joy exists that knows nothing at all of the heart’s pain, anguish, and dread; it does not last; it can only numb a person for the moment. The joy of God has gone through the poverty of the manger and the agony of the cross; that is why it is invincible, irrefutable. It does not deny the anguish, when it is there, but finds God in the midst of it, in fact precisely there; it does not deny grave sin but finds forgiveness precisely in this way; it looks death straight in the eye, but it finds life precisely within it. 

Next:  Sow to the Spirit

Day 25: Joy in Sorrow

This post is part of a 31-day series.

"...sorrowful yet always rejoicing."

2 Corinthians 6:10

Now what on earth does that mean, "sorrowful yet rejoicing"?

John Piper addresses this question in his article "Is There Good Anxiety?"  He basically explains it using the paradigm of a narrow lens versus a broad lens.  We may be sorrowful about this narrow circumstance; yet joyful over the whole panorama of eternity.

“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace.  In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

John 16:33

Next:  Joy That Defies the Gestapo