How Much Longer?

I’ve spent years asking God to allow me to become a mother. Whether through conception or adoption, the request has always been the same:

God, I'm ready to be a mom.

I’ve prayed those prayers so many times that, In the deepest valleys, it sometimes feels like God isn’t even listening.

Maybe David was feeling the same way about his prayers when he wrote Psalm 13:

“How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
   How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I take counsel in my soul
   and have sorrow in my heart all the day?”
Psalm 13:1-2

David felt forgotten and abandoned. He was filled with sorrow because it seemed like God was ignoring him in his distress. David's enemies were hunting him down, and he was begging God to deliver him:

"Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
    light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
lest my enemy say, 'I have prevailed over him,'
    lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken."
Psalm 13:3-4

David was fearing for his very life. Perhaps he wrote this psalm when he was fleeing Saul or his son Absalom. Regardless, David had a deep longing for safety and victory. David's desire for good to triumph over evil was a righteous one, yet, his prayers had yet to be answered. He wondered if God had forgotten him. How much longer was it going to take for God to answer?

That’s a feeling I can relate to as I continue to wait for motherhood after four years of praying for children. I know that my desire to be a parent is a good one, so as my prayers remain unanswered,  I sometimes worry that God isn't listening, or has forgotten me. I wonder how much longer it will be before i welcome a child into my home and heart.

You may not have experienced infertility, but you might have another prayer that you have been waiting on God to answer. Maybe you’re hoping for a healed body or a restored relationship. Perhaps you're asking for financial provision or for the salvation of a loved one. Like David, you may find yourself asking: God, have you forgotten about me? Are you even listening?  How much longer do I have to wait?

But David's Psalm doesn't end with anxiety and doubt. Though he is filled with sorrow and fear, David is reassured by meditating on God's love, salvation, and abundant provision:

“But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
   my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord,
   because he has dealt bountifully with me.”
Psalm 13:5-6

In these final verses, David reminded himself of what he already knew of God's character. The remembrance of God's goodness renewed his faith and filled him with joy, even though his prayer was not yet answered.

In the same way, we must meditate on our Creator. We must preach the Gospel to ourselves and fill our hearts with God's word, our faith and joy will return, even when our prayers remain unanswered. 

Our Father in Heaven is merciful, gracious, slow to anger, and overflowing with steadfast love and faithfulness (Exodus 34:6). God's power and righteousness are beyond what we can even fathom, yet still, Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf gives us access to a richly intimate relationship with him. If these realities deeply penetrate our hearts and minds, we will grow to trust him more and have confidence that God’s provision is perfect, even when it seems painfully slow. We may still wonder how much longer until our prayers are answered, but, like David, we will rejoice because we know that we are loved, saved, and abundantly provided for, even as we wait for God.

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Respond

How do you keep the knowledge of God's love, salvation, and provision fresh in your mind and heart throughout your day? How does it impact your attitude toward God and the things you pray for?

 

The Privilege of Knowing and Being Known by God

Have you ever reflected on what it means for us to have a relationship with God? Do you ever stop and think how amazing it is that the Infinite God would not only permit, but actively pursue, intimacy with finite, sinful humanity?

I've been thinking about this idea a lot recently. It first came up during a discussion in my women's Bible study on the book of Galatians. Even though the idea of knowing and being known by God isn’t necessarily a major point in Galatians, it's stuck with me ever since that discussion. I’ve been turning this idea over in my mind, contemplating what it means and how it should impact my thoughts and actions.

Context in Galatians

“Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified . . . for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.” Galatians 2:16, 21

In Paul’s letter to the church in Galatia, the apostle makes a passionate plea to the Galatians to remember that their justification is by faith alone. False teachers were misleading them to believe that they were obligated to follow the Law of Moses to be righteous. Paul’s letter reminds them that, to sinful humans, the standard of perfection that the Law demands is impossible, so it can only bring condemnation. Our righteousness can only come as a gift through faith in Christ.   When Christ died in our place, he gave all believers the gift of God’s own righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21) and that that gift is perfect and permanent. If we needed to do good works to be righteous, then the Cross would be meaningless.

“Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?” Galatians 4:8-9

By giving us His righteousness, Christ has opened the door for us to have an intimate relationship with God. We are given the remarkable privilege of knowing God and being known by Him, so why would we want to enslave ourselves to striving to attain justification through works?

Knowing God

Although finite beings can never fully grasp an infinite God, we have been generously equipped with everything we need to grow in our knowledge of Him as we become more like Christ.

His Creation: All of creation reveals his magnitude, provision, and ingenuity.

His People: God lovingly created us for interdependence with our fellow Christians! Community with other believers is an opportunity for us to give and receive godly encouragement. We have a holy calling to reflect the image of God in our relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

His Word: This passage sums it up perfectly: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” [2 Timothy 3:16-17] What more could we ask for than to be given everything we need to accomplish the good works God calls us to?

Himself: Prayer gives us direct access to our loving Father. Union with Christ grants all believers unlimited access to the God who desires to be in relationship with us and is never too busy for our prayers.  

Being Known By God

It is amazing that believers are granted the privilege of knowing God, but notice Paul’s words in Galatians 4:9: “now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God.” This is not to deny that believers are able to know God, but to place emphasis on the fact that our relationship with God is based in His initiation through the redeeming work of Christ on the cross.

God knew us before we were even born:

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you” Jeremiah 1:5

He knows us deeply and intimately:

“O Lord, you have searched me and known me!” Psalm 139:1

He sees every bit of our sin, but loved us enough to redeem us through the sacrifice of his own son:

“but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

He chooses us to become a part of his family*:

“Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.” Ephesians 1:4-5

How Do We Respond?

Remembering that we know and are known by God will inspire many feelings about our Creator and ourselves: reverence, faith, humility, and security, among many others. But what should our emotional response to these weighty realities prompt believers to do? To put it simply: it prompts us to obey God by doing good work.s (Remember how 2 Timothy assures us that  God’s Word is perfectly equipping us for those good works?)  Faith without works is dead (James 2:7), not because good works make us righteous. Again, Paul clearly argues throughout Galatians, as well as many of his other epistles. Instead, our acts of obedience to God show that our faith is active and alive.

*I’m not really inclined to divert to a tangential debate on sovereign election vs. free will, but I think the Bible makes it clear that God chooses to have a relationship with us through Christ. Even though this is an area of doctrine that I wrestle with, I am convinced that Biblical passages that declare that God has chosen us are meant to be a blessing and encouragement, not a stumbling block.

For Further Study:

Geoff Ziegler’s Galatians: A 12-Week Study.

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Respond

Meditate on the idea of knowing and being known by God this week. How are you being prompted to act because of the faith that these realities inspire?

Finding Joy in Christ When You Feel Hopeless

Welcome to the Final Day of the 7 Deadly Thoughts series! Today’s topic is Hopeless Thoughts.

Don’t forget to check out the introduction to this series if you missed it!

#7: Hopeless Thoughts

Nothing will ever get better.

When my husband and I got married, we got a beautiful duvet cover for the master bedroom. It was white with blue and green leaf embroidery, and I loved it. As you may have guessed, however, the white didn’t stay that way for long. Over the last few months, I felt like I had to wash that thing every few days just to keep it looking presentable.

So, after nearly five years of stain-fighting, I’ve given up. The battle against constant dinginess is over, and I bought a nice, solid blue comforter. Our master bedroom feels clean and new again!

So often I feel the same way about my heart the way that I felt about my shabby, white duvet cover. My soul feels tarnished and dingy, and nothing I can do seems to make a difference. It seems hopeless to try. I feel stuck in my circumstances, and even worse, my sins.

I give in to anger, fear, and unbelief. I fail to trust, pray, and obey. And no matter how much I scrub at my soul with good works, my attempts to make myself presentable to the Infinitely Holy God always fail. The battle against my heart-dinginess is one I cannot win.

But, praise the Lord, I don’t have to.

"Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." Psalm 51:7

The battle for my holiness has already been won on my behalf. All I have to do is surrender to the one who has washed me clean. His love is great, and his salvation is perfect and permanent:

"For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us." Psalm 103:11-12

When my linens become too dirty and shabby, eventually I have to run to Target and pick out new ones, but God is able to do so much more with my heart, and yours! He does not replace us, because we are never too broken for him to fix. He makes us new! He does not hide our sins like I try to hide dirt with my darker duvet cover. He completely removes our sin so it’s like it was never there at all! He makes our stained, dingy lives clean and new again. Not just temporarily, but forever.

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Respond

How do you pursue God when circumstances and sin leave you feeling hopeless? What scriptures and songs encourage you in the depths?