God is faithful?
The last several weeks have been a whirlwind. I have been in Liberia for nearly five weeks trying to get my son home. We started this adoption in December of 2017, we were matched with our son in September of 2019, and here I am in March of 2021, stuck in Liberia trying to get him home. As the old saying goes, “we are so close, yet so far away.”
Since I arrived in Liberia, there have been moments where I was overwhelmed with joy, moments of anger, and moments of sorrow. I continually find myself coming back to the question, is God faithful? When I ask myself that question, I find myself wanting to say…no. Why? Because MY plans are not working out like I would want them to. I am in Liberia with my new son, my wife is somewhere over the Atlantic on the way home, and my other two precious kids are at home. My family has been split in two, some 8000 miles apart. I cannot even begin to tell you the amount of money I would pay to have my family in one place as a family of five for the first time.
Please don’t hear me questioning God’s faithfulness; that is not what I am doing. But I am acknowledging that my own brokenness leads me to have a misconstrued idea of what His faithfulness looks like. I firmly believe in the sovereignty of God. Nothing happens outside of His sovereignty. With that, I have been working to decipher what God is teaching me through this. What God is teaching my new son, what He is teaching our family. Here are a few truths He has reminded me of during this difficult month.
God’s faithfulness does not point to our prosperity on earth; it points to the cross.
The prosperity gospel that says follow God and you will be prosperous in this life is dangerous and directly opposed to God’s inerrant Word. Why is it dangerous? Well, for one, what does one do when he or she faces suffering? How does the prosperity gospel answer that? To be clear, it doesn’t. The prosperity gospel is not the gospel at all, and it is void of hope.
In my role as missions pastor at the Glade Church, I have been blessed with the opportunity to do ministry with people all around the world. My ministry with them has had a significant impact on my own life. I have sat across the table from men and women who lost everything to war, physical possessions, family, you name it, gone. I remember my first trip to Athens’ Greece. It was the first time I ever interacted with someone who did not grow up with access to a Bible. I was overwhelmed by their stories. They did not ignore a Bible that had been given to them, they had not heard the gospel and ignored it, they could not go down the road and buy a Bible, they did not even know what a Bible was. When they came to Greece, they were introduced to the Bible for the first time. Wow, we have no concept of what that is like in the United States, none. Listening to one individual’s story, I heard no bitterness or anger. The world would say they had every right to be angry. They lost everything! However, what did they exude? JOY! In fact, they verbalized to me that the “worst thing that ever happened to them was the best thing that ever happened to them.” Why would losing everything but the shirt on your back be the best thing that ever happened to someone? As a result of their situation, they fled to Greece and were introduced to God’s Word and the hope of Jesus Christ. The best thing that could ever happen to anyone.
God’s faithfulness is not dependent on our comfort in this life; His faithfulness is portrayed by His grace.
From my experience around the world, I think this truth is hard for us as Americans to understand. We live very comfortable lives. More than a third of the world population lives on less than 2 USD per day. The vast majority of Americans find themselves in the top 10% of the world as it relates to wealth.
His faithfulness does not point to the American dream. It points to suffering for His name’s sake. Something I have been reading regularly of late is Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon. On one of our more challenging days here in Africa, the text pointed me to 2 Corinthians 12:9, which states, “my grace is sufficient for thee.” What a simple and profound statement of truth. His grace is sufficient. We need nothing else. There is nothing wrong with being comfortable or prosperous on earth, but may we not fall in love with those things. May we remember that this is not our home. May we instead fall in love with His grace.
“So with the Spirit’s work: if it were not on many occasions surrounded with tempestuous waters, we should not know that it was true and strong; if the winds did not blow upon it, we should not know how firm and secure it was. The master-works of God are those men who stand in the midst of difficulties, stedfast, unmoveable —He who would glorify his God must set his account upon meeting with many trials. No man can be illustrious before the Lord unless his conflicts be many. If then, yours be a much-tried path, rejoice in it, because you will the better show forth the all-sufficient grace of God. As for his failing you, never dream of it—hate the thought. The God who has been sufficient until now, should be trusted to the end.”
— Charles Spurgeon
God’s faithfulness does not mean our plans will work out; it means He has conquered death.
What I know to be true is that when things are going to plan, we are quick to shout; God is faithful! But what about when they don’t? How do we respond? How do you respond? I have been particularly convicted these last several days. I have been quick to anger instead of slow to anger. My wife was in the room when we received the news that it could take six more weeks to get our son home. A literal thirty seconds later, we got word that my grandfather passed. Fifteen minutes after getting word that my grandfather died, we got hit with a major medical bill that we did not expect. I felt like I just went five rounds with Mike Tyson. Obviously, I lost. I am a runner, not a boxer. My reaction was filled with anger and with tears. Part of me wanted to crawl into a hole and weep, and the other part of me wanted to obliterate a punching bag.
My dear friend Phillip Hardy read my adoption update and sent me some sound biblical encouragement, which I needed. Phillip has played a significant role in my life, specifically over the past couple of years. He pointed me to Psalms 42 and 43, which focuses on the downcast soul. It reminded me of what my response is to be when MY plans don’t work out. When I question what is happening. One commentary he sent me put it like this:
“The mind feeding itself on divine truth, dwelling on the promises of God, recalling his endless mercies and unchanging love, turning its eyes upon Jesus—that mind is walking the pathway of renewal.”
In the midst of difficulty, it’s okay to question, it’s okay to search. When you do, you will find His endless mercies.
May He be glorified in our understanding and subsequent living out of these truths.