Reflecting on Our First 28 Years

Elizabeth:  When we married, we were both working and I moved in to the apartment where Garry lived. We went to the same church already.

We expected to always work for the same companies, live in the same area, attend the same church--at least until we retired.

But God had other plans.

Garry:  At that time I had just returned to commuting on the train from the western suburbs where we lived to downtown Chicago to my relocated office.  Elizabeth caught a ride with co-workers to her office in the suburbs.

Elizabeth:  The day before our fourth wedding anniversary (March 24, 1993) Garry came home and asked me to sit down.  So I did.

Garry:  That day my boss told me that a major project I had been involved in had been cancelled and that I would be laid off before the end of the year.

Elizabeth:  That turn of events was a real surprise.  I had assumptions regarding Garry's job which had just proved false.  And we could not make it for long on just my income.  The second shock that year was the unexpected death of my dad less than a month after Garry cleared out his desk at his office.

Garry:  Providentially my company paid me four months of severance money, beginning in September 1993.  And they also had me do several free-lance projects for them.  All that helped bridge the income gap for us.

Elizabeth:  The day before our fifth wedding anniversary (March 24, 1994) we moved in with a family from the church we were attending.  They had recently finished renovating their home and had enough room for us and our remaining belongings.  There was even room for Garry to set up an office.

Garry:  We stayed with our friends and their young children for four months until I secured a job with the Grace to You media ministries in Southern California (just north of Los Angeles).

Elizabeth:  I had never been one of those who craved to live in California.  It held no appeal.  And I had never heard a Grace to You broadcast, so I didn't know John MacArthur, the pastor who is its main teacher.  Garry had brought a new book by him home, which I read to see what kind of theology he held--I quickly saw that his views were very solid.  My parents had done their best to teach my sister and me to be Bereans.

Garry:  I worked as a publications editor with Grace to You from 1994-2013, at which time they gave me the opportunity to  retire and join in with a church plant a good friend from Grace to You had been invited to lead in the Cincinnati area (we actually moved to a suburb of Cincinnati--Florence, Kentucky, right across the Ohio River).

Elizabeth:  And so, after close to 19 years in California, we ended up moving back to the greater Midwest (July 2013) and being closer to family and some friends.  It was a blessing that we did.  Garry's dad had passed away while we lived in California, and it was a challenge to get to Iowa before he died, and to spend some time with Garry's mom and other family members before returning to California.  Not much more than a year after we moved to Kentucky Garry's mom became ill and passed away in just months.  We are glad for the time we got to spend with her and that we could be closer by to help in her final weeks.  (It has also been a blessing to be able to visit Elizabeth's mom and sister more often in South Dakota and assist them in some important matters.)

After thinking Illinois would be our "forever" home, and then California, I no longer think of Kentucky as our "forever" home, either.  Home is wherever it pleases God to put us.

Pertinent Scripture passages for us are the following:

James 4:13-15:  Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there and make a profit"--yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring.  What is your life?  For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.  Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live, and also do this or that."  (ESV)

Psalm 46:1-3:  God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear though the earth give way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling,  Selah. (ESV)

No One Can Make Any Forward Progress by Looking Back All the Time

If you walk or attempt to walk forward while your attention is toward where you were, rather than where you are headed, you will encounter more obstacles by not noticing them. You would have been able to notice them had your attention been forward rather than backward.

Second-guessing and dwelling on yesterday is something not advised by Scripture.

Yes, we can learn from our mistakes; we have to learn from them, not ignore them.

But Paul wrote, "Forgetting what lies behind, I press toward the mark of the prize for the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."

We are to forget the good and the bad and the ugly, not to make our home among them.

We can't go forward unless we are facing in a forward direction.

Yes, sometimes--perhaps often--we have to face up to the bad choices we made--choices we did not foresee the consequences of--but once we have repented and received forgiveness, we must go on from there.

In a class on organization, one point clearly made was that we need to plan ahead, set goals. No one can plan ahead if they insist on looking back, wallowing in regrets, etc. God calls us to learn from our mistakes--even from our sins--and move on from them--forward.

Sometimes "forward" will mean drawing up a variety of plans, depending on how God has things worked out for us.

Sometimes choices in the past will cancel out an option, at least for a while. So? God is still and always sovereign in that also. His will for His children will never be thwarted.

"Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet, but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:13-14; NASB).

Anger

The first place anger seems to rear its ugly head is in Genesis 4. Most know the story of Cain and Abel, the first sons born to Adam and Eve. Abel's offering was accepted by God and Cain's wasn't. God warned Cain, but Cain didn't respond well. He couldn't get revenge on God, but Abel was another matter. Abel joined Cain in a field, and Cain murdered him. That's what anger can lead to.

God is characterized many times as slow to anger, as well as gracious and compassionate, abounding in lovingkindness and truth. Slow to anger does not mean He will not judge. As Nahum 1:3 makes clear: "The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and the LORD will by no means leave the guilty unpunished."

Those who respond in anger will find these passages directed to them:

Psalm 37:8: "Cease from anger and forsake wrath; do not fret; it leads only to evildoing."

Proverbs 14:29: "He who is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who is quick-tempered exalts folly."

Proverbs 15:18: "A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but the slow to anger calms a dispute."

Proverbs 16:32: "He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city."

Proverbs 19:11: "A man's discretion makes him slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook a transgression."

James 1:19-20: "This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God."

In Matthew 5:21-22, Jesus tells His listeners, "You have heard that the ancients were told, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER,' and 'Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell."

How can we respond when we are the subject of someone else's anger? Here are some passages to use in those times:

Romans 12:14-21: "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of  the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never pay back evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, as far as depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, 'VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,' says the Lord, 'BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD.' Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

Ephesians 4:31: "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice."

How can we? Hebrews 12 includes these instructions: "For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.... Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled." (verses 3, 14-15).

Jesus is both our example and our source of strength in this, as in all other difficulties we face in this life.

We need to plead with the Holy Spirit to enable us to be like Christ when we suffer for doing what is right.

"For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in His steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth. When He was reviled, He did not revile in  return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but continued entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly" (1 Peter 2:21-23).

The Place of Good Works in the Life of a Christian

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul makes it clear that our salvation is altogether of God's mercy, love, and grace: "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved--and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (2:4-10; ESV).

Our pastor taught through Paul's letter to Titus several years ago. One expression which got my attention is that of good works. These are not saving works; that has been accomplished once for all by the perfect life and sacrificial death of Jesus Christ.

Good works: Titus 2:13-14--"waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession, who are zealous for good deeds" (ESV).

Good works: Titus 3:8--"The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people" (ESV).

Good works: Titus 3:14--"And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful" (ESV).

What might these good works include? It depends on how the Lord has gifted each one of us, but they are all important to the full functioning of the body to the glory of God.

See Paul's letter to the Romans, chapter 12:

"For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to thing more highly of himself than he ought to thing, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them" (vv. 3-6a; ESV).

But there are commands to all, whatever gifts we might have:

"Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own estimation. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.' To the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by doing so you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:9-21; ESV).

And of course these positives and negatives from 1 Corinthians 13:4-7:

"Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" (ESV).

Lord, grant me the gracious power by your Holy Spirit to so love and to so serve that those who see my good works might glorify the Father who is in heaven, as the Lord says in Matthew 5:16. Amen.