difficult
Does God Really Care?
By Linda Rex
June 20, 2021, PROPER 7—These past few weeks I have been faced with one of those household problems that is highly stress-inducing and frustrating. The situation was overwhelming, and I struggled to see any solution to it apart from God’s intervention. In the midst of my distress, though, as I paused to seek God’s face, I discovered once again the reality of God’s presence and provision, and saw that God is present and real and guiding me by his Spirit, leading me in the direction I need to go.
The reality is that every one of us at some point will face a Goliath that we cannot defeat. Remember the story of Goliath? The ancient Israelites gathered against the Philistines for battle, and Goliath came forth as a champion, mocking their God and daring them to send someone to fight him on behalf of their army.
Think about the Israelite army who for so many days faced an enemy they thought they could not defeat. There was no giant champion in their army that could face up to Goliath and win. The question that hung in the air is the one which we so often face in these types of situations—does God really care? Is he even aware of all we’re going through? Doesn’t he realize how desperate the situation is?
How like God to bring David to the battle lines that day on an errand for his father—this young man who was merely a shepherd, and hardly able to fight any man, much less a giant mountain of a man like Goliath (1 Sam. 17). The substantial difference between Goliath and David did not necessarily lie in their size or ability, though. It lay in the source of their strength and their motivation.
Goliath based his ability to win this conflict on his size and military prowess, his disdain for the Israelite’s God, and his intimidating manner. David based his certainty of victory on the God whose name was being insulted by the Philistine, and on his past experience with that God of being delivered from impossible situations—fighting a bear and a lion. David trusted his God and embraced this challenge in faith that God would again bring about a great deliverance for the sake of his great name and his covenant people.
Faith, in midst of this epic event, was the deciding factor. What David did that day was use the talents God had given—his ability to use rocks and a sling—to accomplish what he believed God wanted done. He went courageously forth, did his part, and God did the rest. The giant fell, and the Philistines were routed, and David became an important part of Israel’s history. He became a symbol of a coming king who would ultimately defeat all of Israel’s enemies and usher in the messianic kingdom—that person we know today as Jesus Christ.
This brings to mind the story of Job. He lost all his children, all his belongings, and then lost his health. He began to lose faith that God really cared about what was going on in his life in the midst of the suffering he was experiencing. As Job wrestled with all these thoughts, God reminded him who his Deliverer was and that God was not ignorant of what he was going through. Job needed to be reminded that the One who was caring for him in the midst of his difficulties was the same One who created all things and sustained them (Job 38:1–11).
One time, when Jesus and his disciples went across the sea of Galilee, a great wind began to blow, to the extent that the boats were beginning to fill with water. Jesus, being exhausted from a long day of teaching and preaching, was asleep in the stern. In fear of their lives, the disciples woke him up and said to him, “Don’t you care that we are perishing?” All they could see was the intensity of the storm and the possibility that they might, at any moment, drown in the sea.
What they needed to be doing, though, was remembering who was with them in the boat. Apparently, they did not yet grasp the significance of who their teacher, Jesus, was. They did not understand that the One who made the sea and the wind was present with them in that moment—a person who could, merely by his word, calm the storm (Psalm 107:1–3, 23–32). They were not trusting that he loved them and was still looking out for them, and that he would keep them safe in the storm. All they could see was that he was a tired man, asleep on a cushion, while they were facing death by drowning.
When the disciples finally woke Jesus up, he simply said to the wind, “Hush, be still.” And the sea became calm. The Word of God in human flesh spoke a word and it was. How shocking this must have been to them! But what Jesus was seeking in that moment wasn’t fear. He was seeking faith. They needed to asked the question they were faced with—who was this man who could speak and the forces of nature obeyed? They needed to put their faith in this One who was God in human flesh, the Lord of all, Jesus Christ.
We will face difficulties in this life. We will face insurmountable challenges when we participate with Jesus in his mission of sharing the good news (2 Corinthians 6:1–10). We might even come to the place where we will face the loss of all that matters most to us. What will we do in those moments? Where will we place our faith?
We need to turn away from our circumstances, our concerns, and our difficulties, and turn towards the One who is Lord of all—Jesus Christ. Our faith needs to be, not in our ability to resolve every situation and prevent every calamity, but in the One who already knows every possibility and need only speak the word and his purpose will come to pass. We need to trust that God does care, that he does love us, and is concerned about us. Even though things may be difficult at times, and maybe even life-threatening, God is still present and active by his Spirit. Our trust is in him, and he will deliver, in his own time and way.
Perhaps, at this moment, you are in the midst of a difficult circumstance that seems beyond your ability to resolve. Now is a good time to pause and reflect on the God who loves you so much that he came to be a part of your human experience, allowing himself to suffer on your behalf. Jesus, even now, remembers how stressful and painful life can be at times, and is, right now, actively at work sustaining, encouraging, and guiding you by his Spirit. He offers you his implicit faith in the Father, reminding you to trust in him, and to believe that God does care, even when your circumstances may tell you otherwise. Offer up to him what you are able to do. Then trust him to do what only he can do—be with you in the storm, guiding and protecting you, and to calm your storm with a word, when the time is right.
Heavenly Father, thank you for reminding us again how much you love us, and that you are well aware of all we are going through. Grant us the grace to trust you in the midst of every situation, keeping our eyes on you, knowing that you will save and deliver and bring us safely home to you, through Jesus our Lord, and by your Spirit. Amen.
“On that day, when evening came, He said to them, ‘Let us go over to the other side.’ Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him. And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, ‘Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?’ And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Hush, be still.’ And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. And He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? How is it that you have no faith?’ They became very much afraid and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?’” Mark 4:35–41 NASB
An Anxious Heart
by Linda Rex
I’ve notice in the past few weeks as I have been making a transition in my life there is sometimes a sense of underlying anxiety in my heart. This creeps in here and there as I am facing the changes and decisions which come with the closing of one church and the need to move closer to the other.
It is easy to get caught up in the decision-making and the concerns about what to do, how to do it, and when to do it. And to get caught up in it to the place where I become anxious or worried about what to do next, or whether everything is going to be all right. When I feed this anxiety, it can get to the place where I’m afraid it is all going to fall apart and I’m going to be left destitute and on the streets. This isn’t healthy.
This anxiety never presumes God isn’t there in the midst of my problems. But I do believe there is a subtle unbelief which drives it, which says, “I know God is love and all that, but he doesn’t really care about these little details in my life.” It questions God’s heart—does he really love me? Does he really care that I am struggling or that things are getting hard for me? Does he know and understand my heart and my feelings?
We are instructed in the Word of God to take all our anxieties to God and to rest in him. Peter, who wrote this passage, instructs us at the same time to be on our guard, for the evil one seeks out the weak and the stragglers, hoping to find someone to prey upon. This is why it is so dangerous to feed our anxieties rather than casting them upon God.
Focusing on our anxieties rather than turning them over to God keeps us in that place of unbelief where Satan would like us to stay. Staying in unbelief, in not trusting God to care for us and to love us, in believing God’s heart is evil and not good toward us, opens the door for Satan to go to work in our hearts and lives, twisting us into tighter and tighter knots of anxiety, despair and unbelief. We can even get to the place where we stop trusting in God at all because we no longer see God for who he really is, the God who loves us and wants what’s best for us.
The thing is, we sometimes expect God to be a person who only does fun, happy things in our lives. We figure if he’s a good God, then he never allows bad things to happen. Our God-concepts are a little immature, I believe. At least, I find mine often are. I want a god who does everything I want him to do when and how I want it done. And that’s not Who the Triune God is. He is not my flunky who waits on me hand and foot and gives me everything I want when I want it. And my carnal humanity doesn’t like that.
The writers of the New Testament over and over remind us there will be suffering in this life, especially for those who choose to follow Christ. Bad things will and do happen. Life can be quite difficult and painful at times. But none of these things alter Who God is. And none of these things alter God’s love and care for us in the midst of what we are going through in our lives.
What these struggles and difficulties in our life provide are opportunities to trust God. These are opportunities to once again believe the truth about Who God is and how much he loves and cares for us. These are opportunities as we trust and walk with Christ by the Spirit through them for God to form Christ in us, to transform our hearts by faith. These struggles and difficulties become opportunities for God to be glorified by healing, restoring, renewing, or just sustaining us in the midst of them. God loves us through our struggles and pain.
I think this is why Satan looks for people to prey upon when they are at their lowest. He knows when we trust God in the midst of difficulty, struggles, and pain our relationship with God deepens. We end up closer to God than when we began. And we grow in our Christ-likeness. And those are the things the evil one seeks to destroy—relationship, community, love, and the restoration of humanity in the image of God in which he was made.
So as anxiety is creeping around the corners of my mind and heart, I keep turning to Christ. He is the one who holds in my place, and in yours, the perfected peace and trust we need in the midst of all these things which are happening in our lives. We can cast all our anxiety upon God, because God in Christ came and shared in our humanity, and knows and understands all we are going through. God knows our hearts and cares for us. His heart toward us is good.
As we turn to Christ in the midst of all we are going through, God works to perfect us, to restore our true humanity, to strengthen us and plant us with a firm foundation in Jesus Christ. God draws us closer and closer to himself into deeper relationship with him.
And God also works in community to strengthen and help us. God places us within a spiritual community, the body of Christ, so there are others to come alongside and help us through our difficulties, whether through prayer, support, encouragement, or physical help.
One of the greatest blessings for me has been the gift of a new family here in middle Tennessee through the churches I have been blessed to pastor. I am comforted by those who pray for me and my family. And I am encouraged by all those who have offered physical help and support. This reflects the Triune life and love in our humanity, and demonstrates God’s unconditional love in tangible ways in my life. And this also helps to ease the anxiety which is a natural part of our human response to change.
It is good we are learning how to show love to one another in healthier and more tangible ways as the body of Christ. It is through this loving one another in the midst of difficult times we demonstrate the love of God, and enable others to experience a taste of the Triune life and love. May we continue to grow in Christ by the Spirit so others can experience God’s love and grace more and more as time g
oes on.
Abba, thank you for your gracious love and grace. Thank you we can turn to you in all our anxiety and distress, and you care for us and lift us up. Grant us the grace to turn to you and to trust you in the midst of every difficulty, struggle and joy, and to provide support and love to one another as well. We give you praise and thanksgiving for your faithful and abundant love, through Jesus and by your Spirit. Amen.
“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.” 1 Peter 5:6–10 NASB
Our Life in the Trinity 