4-7-25<\/p>\n\n\n
<\/head><\/p>\n\n\nThere is a Bible verse about rain falling on the just and the unjust alike (Matthew 5:5). King Solomon said that time and chance happeneth to all. Jesus says that the sun rises on evil people and the righteous alike, and rain \u2013 or misfortune \u2013 pours down on everyone. These are reality-checks, not notes of resignation. We are to be aware that not everything in life is specific to individuals, rewards or punishments on this side of Eternity, but rather that we must rise above our circumstances (yes, even look beyond blessings). And, importantly, that hope and redemption always are available to all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ultimately, these factors are all components of faith. When we are among the people who love God, accept Christ, and endeavor to do good, yet suffer misfortune, we affirm our humanity when we wonder, even for brief moments, why bad things visit us. Why? Why?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The hard answer is that there is sin in the world, a condition that transcends our righteous efforts, no matter how sanctified some folks might be. It is a world that God created, but that human nature has corrupted. Our charge is to resist evil, to be overcomers. As we travel life\u2019s paths, we realize that God does not tempt us\u2026 but He does test us. This is not to play with us or our emotions; but it is to enrich our spiritual maturity, to strengthen our faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some applications of faith come supernaturally. It is Biblical to not only exercise faith but to pray for faith, for an \u201cincrease of faith,\u201d and to realize that the Holy Spirit was sent partly and specifically to gird our faith. God requires much of us. He has issued commands throughout human history. Jesus shared many lessons and \u201cmarching orders.\u201d But faith <\/em>is the virtual foundation-stone of communication with the Almighty, and receiving blessings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This week I endured some \u201crain falling\u201d in my life. Moving my household goods and a massive collection of rare books, original artwork by famous illustrators and cartoonists, complete runs of many vintage magazines and newspapers to the house I will share with my new wife Mickey, the moving van took a rainy highway exit too fast, rolled over twice, and spilled its contents. Not a stick of my furniture survived, and my archives spilled over the road and wet ground. It was a valuable archive that took a lifetime to assemble (and I am old). Friends try to reassure me \u2013 \u201cit\u2019s only paper\u201d; \u201cinsurance might cover the loss\u201d \u2013 but, signed first editions and such aside, that was my life passing before my eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet what was catastrophic for me pales in comparison, I quickly remember, to life-altering matters I once shared. My late wife Nancy sustained health \u201cchallenges\u201d all her life long: diabetes; celiac disease; five heart attacks; several strokes; cancer; amputations; a heart transplant; a kidney transplant; ultimately Lewy Bodies syndrome, a form of creeping dementia. \u201cThat all must have been hard on you,\u201d friends again said, reaching for sympathy. Are they kidding? Even a spouse cannot fully comprehend such curses. In our case, everything I experienced were mere inconveniences\u2026 especially as I beheld her life of acceptance, optimism, witnessing to others. Faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Where does one find the kind of faith that, like peace, passes understanding?<\/p>\n\n\n\n An underlying message of all God\u2019s instructions \u2013 the bedrock requirement of those who would be children of God \u2013 is that we have faith. Faith in God\u2019s Word; faith in God\u2019s promises; faith in revealed supernatural things. Faith is \u201cthe substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen\u201d (Hebrews 11). If you have never found these characteristics difficult, you need a check-up from the neck-up. It is why we plead for the Holy Spirit\u2019s help in times of emotional need. Can we be so faithful on our own?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember, we are told that to be saved it is as simple in God\u2019s eyes as confessing<\/em> that Jesus is the Son of God and believing <\/em>that God raised Him from the dead. Faith.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I wrote a message some time ago that I had the \u201cBig C,\u201d and many readers thought I meant Cancer. OK, I rattled some cages, but what I meant by the Big C was\u2026 Christ. Faith in Christ does not make us immune from life\u2019s vicissitudes; but it gets us through them, and even triumph over them.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n This week, these truths \u2013 the only, only sane manner by which to endure and triumph over life\u2019s storms \u2013 were brought home to me in ways I have not felt since the crises of my family\u2019s \u201cchallenges,\u201d even more poignant than my archives\u2019 recent calamity. Pastor Loren Larson, of Family Worship Center, Baton Rouge LA, returned to the pulpit after months of coping with brain cancer, cancer throughout his body, attendant disorientation and, naturally, emotional distress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n