Notes of Faith April 8, 2024
Few things highlight the uniqueness of the Christian faith more than the dichotomies we frequently encounter when reading the word.
Psalm 30:11
You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness.
Mourning and dancing are not words you would normally find in close proximity to one another when talking about life experiences.
Psalm 30:5
For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.
Anger and favor, weeping and joy, all being found together in one sentence is a rather significant anomaly. Yet, these seemingly contradictory statements are at the very heart of what it means to be a Christian. The ultimate of these is in relation to Jesus Himself when it is said of Him:
Hebrews 12:2
Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
There was a joy that was greater than the shame Jesus despised when He was hung naked on a cross made from a tree. That joy was saving our perishing souls by His shed blood. With Him as our ultimate example, we can see the legitimacy of these opposing terms being paired together so frequently. There are joys awaiting us that far exceed the pains and sorrows in this life.
Psalm 16:11
You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Someday we will be in His presence forevermore and only joy and pleasure will be our experience. If we consider this when times of difficulty come, it will keep us on the path of life in our thinking. Often times our minds and emotions want to take us on a different path, one of doubt and seemingly endless despair. The enemy is more than happy to exploit these moments.
We live in intimidating times when wars and rumors of wars abound, economic struggles are a constant, truth and facts have been replaced with lies and fables, as we see the “whole world lying under the sway of the wicked one” (1 John 5:19). Add to that, the earth is quaking, plagues and famine are looming, and all these things could lead to forgetting where we are going.
Another of the monuments of contrasting experiences is a reminder by the Lord Himself regarding this life:
John 16:33
“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
Jesus is not telling us that we will be present in the Great Tribulation, as some erringly propose, but rather that the life we now live in the flesh by faith in the Son of God will be peppered with affliction, troubles, anguish, persecution, and burdens. In fact, the word translated “tribulation” can also be rendered as any of the struggles on that list. Yet, Jesus says, when they come, be of good cheer for they have all been overcome.
It is easy to get distracted during perilous or troublesome times. It takes a conscious decision to remember where we are going and who has made our future of joy and pleasures possible, if we want to ensure we don’t let them control us. We live in perilous times and yet are reminded frequently that we can trust the Lord at all times, peace is ours to enjoy, and we can be of good cheer because we know where we’re going.
Psalm 121:1-3
I will lift up my eyes to the hills— from whence comes my help? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber.
It has been said: A single uplook can change your whole outlook. So keep your eyes on the prize and focus on the One who made the hills, the One who is our help, the maker of heaven and earth!
Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus,
Pastor Dale