God’s Word solidifies this reality for us. He has secured His plan of salvation for us. And as Job finally came to see about God, His force is unstoppable as he realized: “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” (Job 42:2) And so our sin, Satan, life circumstances, evil plans, tragedies, trials, nothing will stop God from loving us.

If you are in a season of trial, if you are dragging yourself through the day, these words should bring hope to you. God can and will use even your deepest of trials to reveal Himself to you. However, you have to wait on Him, depend on Him, and trust Him. And God assures you in His Word with His Son’s cross being the guarantee that He can do this because He demonstrated this, He can even use your darkest moments into joy.

Joni Erickson Tada is one living person who reminds me of this reality every time I hear her speak. Some of you know she was paralyzed in a diving accident as a teenager. During a Bible study, she asked the leader this very difficult question: “Steve, was my diving accident, bottom line, God’s will?” In reflecting on this question, Joni came to this astounding, Christ-trusting conclusion:

Sitting there on that late Friday evening, it wasn’t hard for me to draw the parallel in my own life. Maybe the devil’s motive in my tragic diving accident was to shipwreck a young girl’s faith, to make her life be an example of anger and bitterness against God. But it was God’s motive to accomplish His own ends in my life. God’s purposed to turn a headstrong, stubborn, rebellious seventeen-year-old girl into a young woman who, three and a half decades later, is still learning to take grace moment by moment, is still learning to embrace the Lord Jesus Christ in her daily, desperate need. She is still falling in love with the Savior as He escorts her deeper and deeper into the inner sanctum of the fellowship of His sufferings. My quadriplegia is not a jigsaw puzzle that I’m supposed to solve. No, it was not a quick, shocking jolt to get me back on the right track. My paralysis is a long, arduous, delightful adventure into intimacy with my Lord Jesus Christ because He permits what He hates in order to accomplish all that He loves. Christ in me, the hope of glory in my life. (Joni Erickson Tada, “To Know Christ, Now and Forevermore,” The Journal of Biblical Counseling, (Fall 2004), 40.)

Waiting is perhaps one of the most difficult practices of the Christian faith. But may I say it is one of the most important means of obedience to learn as a Christian. It is vital to our faith and every work of God in our lives and in the church is usually preceded by a time of waiting. Why is this so? I like how pastor James Montgomery Boice’s answers this question:

If you are going through a period like that [waiting on God] in your life, when you know what you should do but do not know why you need to do it, or if you are experiencing a delay in God’s dealings with you and it seems that you are stuck in one spot and can’t quite get off it, learn that there is a valuable preparation for future work just in remaining where God has put you. The action will come later. (James Montgomery Boice, Acts, 32)

God is preparing us for something, but waiting is vital to prepare us for that work. God is not a God who controls us for His whim and humor. He is not like the little boy whose malicious delight is in pouring salt on a slug to watch it squirm. God’s call for us to wait always has a purpose for us and that purpose is that He prepares us and protects us in order to follow Him and to trust Him and to delight in Him. Without waiting upon Him, we simply wouldn’t depend on Him and He knows that. He knows that our tendency is to jump headlong into something without Him, like the toddler that pulls his hand from his mother to run between two cars into onrushing traffic. We too pull away from God to move in our timing only to rush into the path of an oncoming car. And as we lay there broken and bruised, we don’t blame ourselves, but instead, we blame God while asking Him, “Why God?”   Or we ask God, “Why did you get me into this mess of a job I can’t stand while my family falls apart,” meanwhile forgetting that I decided the money and power that that job offered was the true reason I took the job in the first place and “seeking after God’s will” was nothing more than a rubber stamp of my already-made decision.

I too have leapt in front of that car many times. When my wife and I were first married, it dawned on me that I was going to have to care for someone other than me. And we were moving from Boston to Chicago so I could go to school. Neither she nor I had any means of income. So the pressing thought was, “How were we going to survive?”  Well, when we had returned from our honeymoon preparing to move to Chicago, I received a phone call from a pastor who had heard about me through a mutual friend. He asked me to come down and meet with him about a position. Of course, I believed it was from the Lord. I went to that meeting, and accepted the position after a quick discussion with my wife. But frankly speaking, I might have spent 5 minutes in prayer, really a “bless me Lord as I make this decision because it’s the best one and the opportunity has to be from you” type of prayer. No waiting. No seeking Him and His will. No searching and mediating on His Word. No extra counsel from those wiser believers. I simply had a “This has to be from God” mentality.  And as a result of that decision, I ran into the middle of that street flattened on my back from my running ahead. It was the most difficult year of our marriage still to this day. I poorly led my wife. I was impetuous and cocky in ministry. And only by God’s sheer grace, did we leave that church in Chicago well, after persevering through that first year. Waiting on the Lord in prayer means sometimes waiting on choices that can even seem like God opening doors. If it really is the Lord, the doors will be open regardless of ourwaiting. No one has ever missed God’s opportunity for them by spending time in prayer and in His Word seeking His will. No one.

And He never asks us to wait any longer than we should. We should never think that we’ll miss opportunities by waiting on Him. I am not talking about laziness or procrastination or fear which makes us wait. I am talking about intentionally and fervently seeking His will. His timing is perfect. The Ecclesiastes writer makes this so clear for us, especially in chapter 3, where He begins with verse 1: “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.”

Maybe for some of you, this is a season of waiting for you. Are you waiting on a future spouse, on a possible job opportunity, on an acceptance into a school, on an opportunity for reconciliation with a friend? Oh how difficult waiting is. You simply want to take matters into your own hands, don’t you? Well, know that God has not abandoned you during this time. Far from it. He is right by your side, caring for you, preparing you for something far greater. But you need to trust Him and you need to wait in Him and as you do, I know you will be like the psalmist in Psalm 40, declaring to all the world:

I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. 2 He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. 3 He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord.

And so too, the disciples realized they had to wait following Jesus’ ascension and before the coming of the Holy Spirit. Even Peter had to wait and you can imagine how hard it must have been for someone like Peter, impetuous Peter. Peter’s personality was all about action. And can you imagine also how antsy he must have been? After all, he was the one who had denied Jesus. John 21 reveals how Jesus called Peter to account in front of all of the others for his denials. So now everyone had known what Peter had done. In fact, his denials and cowardliness is there for all to see, and trillions of people know Peter’s dirty laundry. Can you imagine how badly Peter must have wanted to “make up” for his denials and prove himself with his action?

And yet, it was Peter who recognized that they had to wait upon Jesus to act. He finally came to recognize that waiting on God was vital to following Christ. And he and the rest of the disciples also realized one critical understanding of waiting on God, an aspect of waiting on Him, that serves us today as we wait on God, the primary means of waiting on God in prayer.

One thing about this text, we rarely see it in the context. And the context is perhaps one of the most sovereign, morose texts in the Bible, the book of Lamentations, especially chapter 3. This is how chapter 3 describes God:

Verse 1
I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of HIS wrath;

Verse 2-3
HE has driven and brought me into darkness without any light; 3 surely against me HE turns his hand again and again the whole day long.

Verse 4
HE has made my flesh and my skin waste away; he has broken my bones; 5

Verse 5
HE has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation;

Verse 6
HE has made me dwell in darkness like the dead of long ago.

Verse 7-11
HE has walled me about so that I cannot escape; HE has made my chains heavy; 8 though I call and cry for help, HE shuts out my prayer; 9 HE has blocked my ways with blocks of stones; HE has made my paths crooked. 10 HE is a bear lying in wait for me, a lion in hiding; 11 HE turned aside my steps and tore me to pieces; HE has made me desolate; 12 HE bent his bow and set me as a target for his arrow.

Verse 13-21
HE drove into my kidneys the arrows of his quiver; 14 I have become the laughingstock of all peoples, the object of their taunts all day long. 15 HE has filled me with bitterness; HE has sated me with wormwood. 16 HE has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes; 17 my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; 18 so I say, “My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the LORD.” 19 Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! 20 My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. 21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:

This is the context for those verses. If there was ever time where it seems God’s steadfast love and faithfulness have come to an end, it is in this context. The writer is writing about the exile of Jerusalem to Babylon. He has probably seen firsthand women and children slaughtered, the king taken captive, his sons wiped out. The walls have been destroyed, the Temple and all of its furnishings wiped out or taken to Babylon. He’s in the throes of sadness and he attributes it all to God’s hand. And yet, his hope is in God’s steadfast love and faithfulness that never end. How does one reconcile the two? It must be because he fully trusts God’s sovereignty, even when suffering comes, and even when judgment comes. Even if he feels God’s hand is against him, like David who puts his trust in God when he is punished for counting his fighting men, the writer knows with a certainty that even God’s anger lasts only a moment. God is faithful and the morning will come and his faithfulness great.

I saw this sign in a Chipotle window in downtown Seattle.  I don’t know if it was that particular Chipotle’s sign or the people dining at that particular table.  I thought it was interesting simply because there was nothing in Seattle at the time that was uniquely Southern Baptist.  The conevention was in Phoenix this year so there was certainly no direct protest of the convention.  I guess someone in Seattle needed to make this statement about the SBC.  It makes me thank God for Mars Hill’s ministry in Seattle.

I had a spiritual dream last night.  I get those every once in a while.  In last night’s dream, my family and I were at this house that was obviously filled with vampire-like demons.  And even though I knew this house was filled with demons, I decided to lead my family in there any way, knowing that my God was far stronger than any of these demons could ever be.  Once we were inside, these demons locked us in and began giving my kids snacks to eat.  I gathered up all of the snacks and threw them away, knowing their scheme, that to consume the snacks would turn the kids into demons.  I began calling out the name of Jesus and then did all I could to escape with my family.  Somehow we were able to get away.  But once away from the house, I realized that Jack had consumed one of the snacks.  And that’s when I woke up.

When I awoke, I had some awful back pain.  I have a feeling that I was so tense during the dream that my back stiffened up while sleeping.  And as disturbing as the dream was, what was most haunting was not the demons, but my pride.  I don’t know why I entered a house filled with demons when I didn’t have to do such a thing.  It wasn’t faith that led me there, but pride.  My attitude reminded me of the story of the seven sons of Sceva in Acts 19:

And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. 13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” 14 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. 15 But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” 16 And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. 18 Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. 19 And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.

The name of the Lord is not some magical formula or good luck charm to be utilized to ward off evil spirits.  Demons fear God, not some lackey who tries to wield God’s power with empty pride.  There are certainly times to fight.  After all, this is a spiritual war (Ephesians 6:10f.).  But there are also times to run.  And sometimes, it is better to run so that no one will consume demonic cookies.

I was reading this article in the Vancouver Sun regarding the Vancouver Stanley Cup Riots.  The author raised an interesting question: “What separates heroes from hooligans in a mob?”  When the city was under assault, most actively participated in raucus and destructive behavior, often carried away with a mob mentality.  But there were those few, the exceptions to the rule, that stood their ground even at cost of their own safety.  So why is it that some will destroy and some will protect?

Paul Suedfeld, professor emeritus of psychology at the University of British Columbia, gave this assessment:

I suspect some of the people were just so angry and disgusted at the mob’s behaviour that they needed to step in and individuate themselves from the crowd.  What they’re used to doing in their daily life, when they’re under stress, they’re more likely to do that again rather than something they’re not used to.

I would imagine that there is some truth in Dr. Suefeld’s assessment.  But this seems to be only a surface level analysis.  Some were “used to doing in their daily life” moral acts because that is how they were reared in their families.  But placed in similar environments as those hooligans who ransacked Vancouver, isn’t it possible that even those heroes would have been hooligans too?  May I posit then that every person is just as capable of even the most despicable acts under certain conditions?  Paul reminds us in Romans 3:10-11: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God.”  At the core, there are no heroes, only hooligans.  We needed someone outside of us to save us, a true hero.

And so, Paul tells us about the only true hero who has walked this earth:

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. (Romans 3:21-25)

Also, as an observer of flowers, especially in order to take pictures, I had to really stop and look and think as I passed the various flowers. And then it dawned on me how quickly I can pass by much of life without stopping, thinking, praying, and digesting what is before me. It has been said that Jonathan Edwards would often take strolls around town simply to think and pray. When he would come up with an idea, he would pin a small piece of white cloth to himself to remind himself of the idea. When he would return, he would be covered with these small pieces, which would have been quite a sight for Sarah or his children to see.

But Edwards had the right idea. Walking and exploring and observing and thinking and meditating are a means of grace that I know I need to learn and follow. After all, it is God’s Word that teaches us continually to be still before Him: “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.” (Psalm 37:7) So in the busyness of each day, I know I need stillness too. I believe we could all use a little stillness.

Here are the pics I took from the Gardens:

I know Sovereign Grace has its critics [i.e. all of the anti-Sovereign Grace blogs].  I know it has its flaws.  I know it has hurt people in different ways.  And I think Sovereign Grace would be the first to admit that its leadership struggles with sin and is on the road to sanctification.  But there is one thing that I have seen in Sovereign Grace that I have rarely seen in other churches and denominations, a desire to try to grow in the gospel and to admit wrongs (even though sometimes it could take a while) and seek reconciliation.  Every person, church, movement, denomiinatyion has its flaws.  But not every person, church, movement, denoination will attempt to seek reconicliation.  I have seen this personally in the church and in SGM.

So I am thankful for our visit to Crossway yesterday.  I know it was in God’s sovereign providence for me and for my church as well.  I hope that the longer I am a pastor, the more I realize I must be a child of God first before anything else.

So it was a blessing to see this past Sunday at Crossway Community Church, a young women sitting in front of me who obviously had Downs.  I stood there as Pat Szebel led us in singing, “Jesus Messiah.”  And I couldn’t help but be so blessed by this young woman.  She had her hands raised as far as she could raise them, obviously worshipping the same Lord and King.  I don’t know what was going on in her heart, but I knew at the very least, that this young woman wanted to praise the Lord.  And it reminded me once again that God is to be praised not because of circumstances, but because of who He is.

One day she will not have Downs.  Her body, if she is in Christ, will be perfected.  But until that day, she will praise the Lord with Downs.  And her praise with her imperfect body will be more beautiful to the Lord than the model on the catwalk in Milan or the glamorous beauty queen.

Ok, I had this long entry typed up, but accidentally deleted it all. So here is my short summary of what I had originally typed…

Yesterday, we went to Granville Island in the center of Vancouver. In order to get there, we had to take this Sky Train (Vancouver’s BART), then the Aquabus, which is a small little boat to the island. When we disembarked, we made our way to the Public Market which is quite similar to Boston’s Quincy Market. We strolled the shops and the parks and then headed back to our hotel to meet up with Shua’s long time friend’s Janice and her family.

What a blessing it was to see Janice and Peter. They live on a farm about 24 blocks from the border crossing. And boy, talk about a kids’ paradise. Farms are meant for kids. To be able to explore vasts amounts of land with dogs who roam free is quite exhilarating. It made me want to live in a farm, almost.

Yet, of all the opportunities we have had thus far on this trip, I am really looking forward to visiting Crossway Church (the Sovereign Grace church in Surrey). I could see how easy it would be to forgo church on vacation. One can get so caught up with the sights, with the new tastes, with the new experiences. Church could easily become an inconvenience, IF it is something that is not exciting in itself. But can there be anything more exciting than to worship with believers in a different context?

I am looking forward to singing together, listening to a good message on the gospel, meeting new brothers and sisters, learning from another church on welcoming newcomers, children’s ministry, congregational care. That’s pretty exciting for me. I don’t believe I feel this way because I am a pastor. I feel this way because I am a Christian. I just happen to love to worship God with other people and I am privileged to do so.

When I consider that many Christians around the world cannot worship at a church because of persecution, it should be all the more a joy and privilege to consider doing so when on vacation. So we loo forward to rejoicing with fellow saints we have never met before, knowing that one day we will rejoice with the same fellow saints eternally.