What is God Up To?

 

Many people in Western Canada are disappointed with the 2021 federal election results. It feels like our beloved country is racing toward the edge of a cliff. I wonder what God is up to. The bible is clear that God is in control of who leads the nations. What could he possibly have in mind for us? Sometimes it doesn’t feel like his plans are all that good. I do not know the answer to these musings. But I DO know one thing: the Church must rise up and live as citizens of heaven and ambassadors for Christ. We must stop putting our hope in the government and put it solidly on God!

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm.” (Psalm 20:7–8, NIV84)

Could it be that the Church has become too comfortable and set in her ways? Could it be that God wants to rock her boat a little, so she takes note of what is really important and who is really in charge?

On the morning after the election as I sat with the Lord and expressed my disappointment, there was more than just the election derailing my joy. I opened my Bible to the reading for the day. Psalm 100.

“A psalm of thanksgiving.

Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!

Worship the Lord with gladness.

Come before him, singing with joy.

Acknowledge that the Lord is God!

He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise.

Give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the Lord is good.

His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.” (Psalm 100, NLT)

We have so many reasons to be glad and so many things to be grateful for.

I would love a better world for our grandkids to grow up in. That statement begs another question. What is a better world? Better than what? God’s love and faithfulness will be just as real, accessible, and plentiful to them as it is and has been for me. What could be better than that?

I am not living in denial of the difficult times we have been launched into. The world is becoming increasingly dark and hopeless, and not a little uncomfortable.

I get that the world is rattled. But why is the Church rattled? We have not lost one iota of freedom. We have been bought with the precious blood of Jesus. He then turned around and set us free. No one can take that freedom away from us! Ever!! When we cry out that we need to fight for freedom so our kids and grandkids can experience the same kind of freedom we have experienced for the last 75 + years, are we perhaps crying out for comfort? Maybe we have lost sight of the only One who can truly set us free.

Our country has been a place of relative peace and safety for so many years that I think we have come to think we deserve it and that that is normal. Have we perhaps misplaced our hope and trust? Are we depending on our government to create a safe and secure place for us to live? For so many years our choice of vocation has gone unchallenged, our healthcare has had a fairly smooth ride, our Judeo-Christian values have been upheld. Could it be that we have taken them for granted? Now we are on unstable ground. We’ve never had to make the kind of choices we are faced with now, along with the consequences they bring. Consequences are not comfortable. It seems there are no good choices left. This is so different than it used to be.

I totally understand when the people of the world caterwaul about what the government is doing because that’s all they know. But Church, we live in a different realm. This is not our home.

“I have told you all this so that you may have peace* in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”” (John 16:33, NLT) [emphasis mine]

*1515 εἰρήνη [eirene /i·ray·nay/] the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is. James Strong, Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon (Woodside Bible Fellowship, 1995). [emphasis mine]

Let’s put that phrase in there: “I have told you all this so that you may be tranquil…content with your earthly lot, whatsoever sort that is…” It’s bound to get difficult in this world. But in the middle of the struggle, we can have the kind of peace that is totally foreign to the world around us. When is the last time I felt truly content in my circumstances? To be honest my contentment sort of waxes and wanes, depending on the day (more brutally honest, depending on which attitude I am choosing).

We are just coming off of a 10-day quarantine that messed with my plans. Because my husband tested positive for Covid-19 we could not go to the family wedding where we would be able to see my siblings for the first time since our mom passed away. On top of that, our daughter and her husband could not come and stay with us (a visit we had long been planning for). I wasn’t exactly a bundle of contentment and tranquility. What right did the government have to tell me I could not leave my premises? What right did they have to tell my daughter she could not come near my husband and me? Yet we chose to submit to the regulations. I cried. I got angry. I read my Bible even if I didn’t feel like it. As my focus switched from ‘poor me’ to ‘God Almighty is amazing’, I felt my countenance switch little by little.

I’ve written on the topic of endurance before, but it bears repeating, even if only for my sake. Endurance is one of the best gifts we can give to our children and grandchildren. Endurance does not gloss over struggles and pain but is able to stand up in it; to withstand the storm.

“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.” (James 1:2–4, NLT)

“So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.” (1 Peter 1:6–7, NLT)

If we try to remove all the struggles from the path of our children, how will they ever learn endurance? How will they learn to choose contentment in their earthly lot? When those in our sphere of influence watch us, what do they see? I must demonstrate to my kids and their kids what endurance looks like; I must disciple them in such a manner that they too will endure.

If we allow the government to steal our hope and security, the watching world will not want what we have. But if we can live out the truth of the above verses, we will be demonstrating that there is One who is greater than the rulers of this world; there is One who is truly trustworthy.

So, what is God up to? I believe he is trying to get the Church’s attention back onto himself; back to what really matters. Let go of your expectations and comfort and lean into what he is calling you to: greater intimacy with him, being a beacon of hope to a rattled world, endurance.

“The children of your people will live in security. Their children’s children will thrive in your presence.”” (Psalm 102:28, NLT)