Category Archives: Life’s disappointments

In the Face of Suffering

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Most of today’s news reports included breaking details of the Boston bombings. One interview I heard featured a psychologist named Jeff Greenberg whose specialty is studying people who’ve been forced (by events) to face their own mortality. It might be a terminal disease or something like the 9/11 attacks… or the bombs at Monday’s Boston Marathon.

This morning he said, “When these things happen, it reminds you of the fragility of life, and that death is something that can happen very suddenly and unexpectedly.”

Boston Marathon bomb

He detailed specific, predictable thought patterns people have as they try to cope with what just happened. One of the first things everybody thinks is, “How vulnerable am I?” This goes for those in the Boston area as well as the rest of us who’ve been following them on national news.

Immediately after the question about vulnerability, Mr. Greenberg says we move into firm mental denial: “Most likely I’m safe.”

We might begin blanketing our heightened concerns with a new level of attempted control: locking our doors more carefully, driving with greater care, avoiding crowds, gathering supplies for emergencies. By putting safety measures in place, we’re trying to make sure nothing unexpected gets to us. We think, “Because I’m proactive, I’ll always be safe.”

In the light of day and with intelligent thought, however, we know this isn’t true. None of us are immune to adversity.

This morning I also heard the story of two brothers and their friend, a trio of pals waiting together near the marathon finish line. After the explosions, the brothers had each lost one leg, and their friend had lost both. Their anguish must have been crushing, and the agonies ahead for all three of them can’t even be estimated.

Yet as the newscaster reported, once these young men were in the hospital, they were far more concerned about the welfare of each other than themselves. During the weeks and months to come, they’ll be cheering each other on while trying to share the burdens of their buddies, rejoicing together at every recovery milestone. Their futures will be different from their pasts, but the prognosis for all three is bright, partly because they have each other.

God wants to partner that same way with every person injured during the bombings. He offers himself as encourager, sustainer, leader, and friend. His desire is to “stick closer than a brother.” (Proverbs 18:24) Not one of those injured on Monday needs to suffer through recovery alone after an offer like that.

Honoring the victimsJeff Greenberg described how people become newly sensitive to their belief systems whenever they “look death in the face.” Monday’s bombings are another reminder, he says, that death is coming, and there’s no way around it.

Because of that, isn’t this the perfect time to say yes to God?

“After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” (1 Peter 5:10)

Anytime, Anywhere, and Always

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AslanMost of us have read The Chronicles of Narnia series written by C.S.Lewis. Although the major players in these fantasies are 4 sibling children, the real star is a male lion named Aslan.

My favorite line from the books is a 5-word statement that recurs throughout the series: “Aslan is on the move.”

In the storyline, once the big lion has begun to move, all kinds of impressive things begin happening, positive things that defy logic and bring delightful consequences. The lion has supernatural power over everything from relationships to the weather, and the children learn to put their fear of him aside and trust him.

Aslan dies.

When they discover that Aslan’s enemies have bound him and tortured him, they hide in the bushes, frightened and in deep distress over his suffering. As he is killed, their grief escalates, but the next day they realize their beloved Aslan has come back to life! Their joy knows no bounds.

In the Lewis allegory, Aslan parallels the character of Christ, who sacrificed his own life for another motivated purely by love. Once resurrected, the lion is again “on the move,” and eventually his good conquers all evil.

When I hear that statement, “Aslan is on the move,” I think of the way God answers prayer. Let’s say that back in 1986 I begin to pray for someone I dearly love, to commit her life to Christ.

Many years pass as I pray, and my friend evidences no changes in her beliefs or behaviors. She has zero interest in spiritual things. Eventually, as lack of an answer discourages me, my prayers for her wane, and by 2002, I table that particular request altogether. “I guess it’s not meant to be,” I think.

Then, in 2006, taking me by surprise, my friend begins asking questions about the Bible, suddenly interested in what Scripture has to say. I think, “Aslan is on the move!” I might even speak that sentence out loud thinking, “God has finally decided to answer my prayers of 20 years ago!”

In reality, he began to move way back in 1986 with the first voicing of my very first prayer about my friend. Though I didn’t see any outward evidence of change, he began creatively shaping circumstances, rearranging the details of that woman’s life, and bringing along situations that would challenge her toward faith.

In the Narnia story, Aslan’s arch-enemy is a witch who tries to work her magic on him, but his response is profound: “There is a magic deeper still the Witch does not know.”

Trust

Of course Christ’s power has nothing to do with magic and everything to do with him being God Almighty, but the principle is the same: with his unmatched supremacy he can overcome evil with good anywhere, anytime, and always.

And incredibly, he often begins the process by responding to our prayers.

“I am the Alpha and Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Revelation 1:8)  

Dream a Little Dream

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Some of us have had our dreams come true, and many have had dreams that haven’t. A few of those unrealized dreams have been secrets, hopes we quietly nurtured without telling anyone. When it became clear those dreams had died, we suffered in silence, since no one knew.

Other dashed dreams are shared with others because they can’t be hidden: a pink slip at work, an abandoned home, a soldier without a limb, a divorced couple. Yet nothing discourages us from dreaming.

Sometimes it’s hard to tell if our dreams are coming or going. Maybe they’re doing both. As Pastor Colin Smith says, “The home where you live is yours for a time. The work that you do is yours for a time. The people you love are yours for a time. One day, your home will be lived in by others. One day, your work will be continued by others. One day, your money will belong to others.”

Dreams.

Even in our dreaming we need to remember that old adage, “The only constant is change.” Nurturing dreams is probably a good thing, though, as long as we keep them in a proper perspective. Do we absolutely have to have a dream fulfilled before we can be happy? Or do we hold it lightly and tell the Lord, “It’s really up to you.” And then, after a dream comes true but eventually goes through a change, do we erupt in anger?

Some of us have dreamed of future scenarios that, had we been given them, might have been our undoing. Looking backwards, we see that and are thankful God prevented them from coming true.

So how are we to dream with wisdom? I think the only sure-fire way is to do it through questions. Questions addressed to God:

“My heart desires such-and-such, Lord, but is this something you want for me?” Or, “All I can think about is x-y-z, but if you want me to fill my mind with something other than that, would you please let me know what it is?” Or, “I’ve earmarked my bank account for this-or-that, but did you have a different idea for that money?”

I believe God is honored when we ask him questions, as long as we open our “ears to hear” his responses and then heed them. I also believe he will definitely respond, which is where dreaming-wisdom comes in. If one of our dreams is realized because God is behind it, we can be sure it’ll be every bit as satisfying as we’d hoped. But if it’s something we want that he doesn’t think is good for us, we can be sure the uphill battle we fight to make it happen won’t deliver the pleasure-pay-off we thought it would.

“God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.” (Ephesians 3:20, The Message)