Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.
Matthew 8:23-26
The disciples experienced a frightening circumstance. And they reacted with panic and fear – “we are perishing!”. But wait a minute. Were they really dying? Did any of them die? No. They were judging their situation by their senses – not by their faith.
The disciples forgot Who was in the boat with them. If Jesus is in the boat, and Jesus is God, and Jesus loves me – what do I need to be afraid of?
“Why are you fearful?”. What was Jesus saying to them with this question? He was reminding them of the same thing that John would later write about – that if they were mature in their understanding of Who God is and how much He loved them – their fear would have been removed.
In other words, a perfect (mature) love would have cast out this fear:
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
I John 4:18
If our love for God is mature and His love in us is mature, all fear is gone.
This post is an excerpt from my book, Big Things: Major Lessons from the Minor Prophets. The COVID-19 situation is a tragedy, in varying ways, and I thought this chapter would be helpful during this time.
I am also making the entire book available free to download on Amazon until March 31st. If you do grab it for free, and you read it, I only ask that you leave an honest review on Amazon. Thanks. -Marc
From March to October in 1915, the areas of Palestine and Syria were hit with a massive invasion of locust. The locust ate everything in their path, devastating crops and creating severe issues with the food supply in the region.
Historian Zachary J. Foster said “the attack diminished the 1915 winter harvest (wheat and barley) by 10-15 per cent, and completely wrecked the 1915 summer and autumn harvests (fruits and vegetables), in ranges varying from 60 to 100 per cent, depending on the crop.”
It was the most destructive natural disaster to hit the region in decades, and one of the worst plague-like occurrences in modern history. As a result of the crops being reduced to nothing, the price of food skyrocketed. On April 25, the New York Times published an article describing the inflation as a result of the locust attack. “Flour costs $15 a sack. Potatoes are six times the ordinary price. Sugar and petroleum are unprocurable and money has ceased to circulate.”
The plague of 1915, it can be said, was of biblical proportions. But even though it brought great devastation and financial hardship, in the book of Joel we have an account of a locust plague of even greater impact.
The word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel. 2 Hear this, you elders, And give ear, all you inhabitants of the land! Has anything like this happened in your days, Or even in the days of your fathers? 3 Tell your children about it, Let your children tell their children, And their children another generation. 4 What the chewing locust left, the swarming locust has eaten; What the swarming locust left, the crawling locust has eaten; And what the crawling locust left, the consuming locust has eaten. 5 Awake, you drunkards, and weep; And wail, all you drinkers of wine, Because of the new wine, For it has been cut off from your mouth. 6 For a nation has come up against My land, Strong, and without number; His teeth are the teeth of a lion, And he has the fangs of a fierce lion. 7 He has laid waste My vine, And ruined My fig tree; He has stripped it bare and thrown it away; Its branches are made white. Joel 1:1-7
A tragedy upon tragedies. In times of a national tragedy such as this there is pain, suffering, sickness, death, chaos. But then, after the dust is settled, the question: why? We can and often do find ourselves asking this question even today: “why does God allow natural disasters to occur?”
One author said it like this: “if God is good and God is powerful, then does He lack the goodness or does He lack the power to stop disasters?” We must think about this question. We cannot shrug it off and use the “His ways are not our ways” card.
Jesus addressed this very question. During His ministry, there had been some recent tragic events in the area in which He lived and ministered. On one occasion, Jewish worshippers who were in the process of sacrificing to God were attacked and killed by Roman soldiers. In another instance, a tower fell and killed eighteen people who were inside or around it. Jesus comments on both of these tragedies and then makes an interesting, unexpected connection:
There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? 3 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”
Luke 13:1-5
What is Jesus’ point? What He is saying is that in reality, we all deserve destruction, we all deserve God’s wrath, we all deserve punishment. The fact is that for those of us on whom tragedy doesn’t fall today, the only reason is because God is gracious in sparing us and delivering us from it. The real question, the proper question to ask in the face of tragedy is not “why did this happen to them?” but instead “why didn’t this happen to me?” Do you see the difference? We live in an entitled culture. We are bred to believe that we have a right to the best of everything. And that bleeds over into us questioning when bad things happen, as if God owes us some debt of protection, and when He fails to do so in our estimation we are incensed. How could He let this happen? We had a deal!
In contrast, the prophet Joel, and indeed the other biblical prophets, understood the simple fact that God is God and we are not. We are sinful, and God is Holy. We are foolish, and God is wise. We are limited in understanding, God is all knowing. We are weak, God is the Almighty. We are the created. He is the Creator. Those who would question God’s motives or His love or purposes have neither as high and holy a view of Him nor an accurate estimation of the gravity of their own sin, as do the prophets.
So what is the purpose of tragedy? What is the purpose of the tower falling and killing eighteen people? What is the purpose of the locust plague in the book of Joel? What is the purpose of a typhoon coming and destroying everything in it’s path? What is the reason for a terrorist bombing at a hotel?
To answer that, we look at the text. The prophet Joel sees this locust plague as a warning from God of the greater destruction that is coming. In chapter two, Joel begins to prophesy about the end of time, about the battle of Armageddon, about the Second Coming of Christ when all the nations will be judged. He warns of this great and terrible day of the Lord that is coming. He is warning the people about all of this, using the locust plague as a stepping off point, in order that they would repent and turn back to God.
The goal of the book of Joel is to call the people to repentance. In Joel’s view, the purpose of the natural disaster is to get the people’s attention, and cause them to repent and seek God. The truth is that God is not punishing us unmercifully through tragedies. He is warning us mercifully of impending doom and calling us to repent.
Most people after a disaster have a “the sun will come out tomorrow” attitude. We “band together” and notice the good in our neighbors helping each other out. And those are good attitudes to have, but that is not the prophet’s view. It’s interesting as you move through the book, Joel argues that things will only get worse, not better. He sees this locust swarm disaster as a warning to wake up because of the greater destruction that is coming.
I remember very vividly sitting in my biology 105 class as a freshman college student, waiting on that day’s lecture to begin. I remember our professor walking in and stating “someone has attacked the Pentagon, the University is closing, you should go home now”. The frankness, the matter-of-factness, the gravity of his tone struck me more than the words. I knew that this distinguished, learned man had never seen or heard anything like this before. This was no ordinary event, not even an ordinary tragedy. September 11th would never again be just another day. As I look back on that grave tragedy, I ask the question “why?”. Why would God allow this to happen? It’s a valid question. And it has a valid answer.
Here’s the summary of this whole chapter, and really a summation of the entire prophecy of Joel: the natural disasters and tragedies that befall us now are loving warnings from a loving God about the destruction that is coming, with the intention that man might repent and turn to Christ.
In chapter two, Joel describes the “Day of the Lord”, or the end of time. Blow the trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; For the day of the LORD is coming, For it is at hand: 2 A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness, Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains. A people come, great and strong, The like of whom has never been; Nor will there ever be any such after them, Even for many successive generations. 3 A fire devours before them, And behind them a flame burns; The land is like the Garden of Eden before them, And behind them a desolate wilderness; Surely nothing shall escape them. 4 Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; And like swift steeds, so they run. 5 With a noise like chariots Over mountaintops they leap, Like the noise of a flaming fire that devours the stubble, Like a strong people set in battle array. 6 Before them the people writhe in pain; All faces are drained of color. 7 They run like mighty men, They climb the wall like men of war; Every one marches in formation, And they do not break ranks. 8 They do not push one another; Every one marches in his own column. Though they lunge between the weapons, They are not cut down. 9 They run to and fro in the city, They run on the wall; They climb into the houses, They enter at the windows like a thief. 10 The earth quakes before them, The heavens tremble; The sun and moon grow dark, And the stars diminish their brightness. 11 The LORD gives voice before His army, For His camp is very great; For strong is the One who executes His word. For the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; Who can endure it?
Joel 2:1-11
The Word of God is so beautiful. You can see the imagery here that God is using to help the people understand the seriousness and importance of the situation. They have just been through a terrible plague of locusts, and now God is warning them that an even greater destruction is coming, with a real army and a real war. And He is using imagery they would now relate too. He is using the opportunity of the locust tragedy to point people to the even greater tragedy that will come for some: dying apart from Him.
I could make the argument that God capitalizes on every tragedy that befalls us. His purpose, His desire, is repentance. The reason for the locust, the reason for the Prophet Joel being called, the reason indeed for the Bible being written is that God desires our repentance. After September 11th, churches were filled to the brim with people for months. People were seeking answers, and running to God. God used that tragedy as an opportunity to remind people of the Truth.
Not only can God use national tragedies, but He can and does use personal tragedies as well. Cancer is perhaps the worst word you can hear a doctor say. Some of you reading this have heard that word uttered concerning yourself, a spouse, a parent, a child, a loved one. Though it can be a terrible time of uncertainty, the battle with cancer many times turns into a time of reflection and Truth-seeking. It is a time where people focus on the important things in life and “cut the clutter”. Relationships come into focus as being as vitally important as they truly are, including our relationship with Christ.
God uses personal tragic situations to reach out to individual hearts. He uses community tragedies to speak to communities and call them back to Himself through the avenue of repentance.
IÂ am a stranger in the earth; Do not hide Your commandments from me.[1] Psalm 119:19
Stranger in this verse means foreigner. A foreigner is obviously out of place – everything is foreign to them and they are foreign to everything around them.
A helpful thing for foreigners in any country is a guidebook. I have many guidebooks about the Philippines. I have tried to learn as much as I can about the culture as a missionary. I would even say that some of the knowledge is necessary just to survive.
In Psalm 119, David acknowledges that he is a foreigner on planet earth, and he needs a guidebook – instructions, rules, laws – so that he can live effectively. As Christians, we know the this world is not our home!
As Christians, we know that this world is not our home!Â
As you grow in your faith, one of the first things that happens is that things that you cared about before, you don’t care about anymore: maybe the music that you listened too, maybe the places you would go before, maybe the people you would spend time with.
They become foreign to you.
One of my favorite songs is “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus” and the lyrics say this:
Turn your eyes upon Jesus Look full in his wonderful face And the things of earth will grow strangely dim In the light of His glory and grace
If you are maturing as a believer, you understand that you cannot make it in this world without the strength of God’s Word!
Without His guidance, you would be unable to live your life here on this earth – a foreigner longing for home.Â
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23:4
The valley is this verse represents a low place – a place of difficulty, of struggle, of trials. The Bible has much to say about trials in the Christian’s experience. James chapter 1, 1 Peter chapter 1, and other places describe that the Christian life comes packaged with trials, struggles, and difficulties.Â
The truth is that sometimes the Shepherd leads us into valleys.Â
But why? Why does the Good Shepherd lead us through valleys?
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing James 1:2-4
Answer: because it is the best path for me! He uses trials to make me perfect and complete.Â
God only leads me where He knows I need to go – He does not waste one single trip!
To really have this make sense and come together, pay close attention to the word shadow. Can a shadow hurt you? Of course not. We know that! But can a shadow frighten you? Come on be honest. How many of us have been scared of a little ol’ shadow before?
The point is that there may the appearance for a moment of something that can seemingly harm us, but ultimately, finally, whatever is happening in the valley cannot really touch us.
It’s a widely circulated idea that as a leader you should “only do what only you can do”. In other words, focus on your calling and ignore other (potentially good) opportunities.
If lived out as a general rule, this idea has merit. It creates and maintains focus in our highest priorities, those pertaining to our calling.
Saying “no” to most things helps you say “yes” to the things you were made for.
But if adhered to rigidly, this idea becomes unbiblical quickly. It prevents me from serving in the moment. It prevents me from participating in Divine opportunities. It prevents me from following the Holy Spirit’s direction.
Sometimes I’m the “only” one God has asked, even though there are others who are more qualified.
And that qualifies me. It’s my opportunity.
There is a balance to find here.
Jesus made breakfast for the disciples on the beach. Clearly, others would have been qualified to start the fire. He took the opportunity to serve. (John 21:9).
I should do what only I can do (my calling) , and many times a little more (my opportunities).
Senate Chaplain Barry Black opened Day 6 of the Senate Impeachment Trial of President Donald Trump with this prayer:
LET US PRAY. ETERNAL GOD, THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE. UNITE OUR SENATORS IN THEIR STRIVING TO DO YOUR WILL. LORD, YOU HAVE BEEN OUR HELP IN AGES PAST. YOU ARE OUR HOPE FOR THE YEARS TO COME. WE TRUST THE POWER OF YOUR PREVAILING PROVIDENCE TO BREAK THIS IMPEACHMENT TRIAL TO THE CONCLUSION YOU DESIRE. LORD, WE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOUR THOUGHTS ARE NOT OUR THOUGHTS. AND YOUR WAYS ARE NOT OUR WAYS. FOR AS THE HEAVENS ARE HIGHER THAN THE EARTH, SO ARE YOUR THOUGHTS HIGHER THAN OUR THOUGHTS. AND YOUR WAYS HIGHER THAN OUR WAYS. LORD, WE LOVE YOU. EMPOWER OUR SENATORS, RENEW THEIR STRENGTH. WE PRAY IN YOUR DEPENDABLE NAME, AMEN.
In this prayer Chaplain Black uses Biblical language directly from John 14:6, Isaiah 55:8-9, Isaiah 40:31, in addition to quoting a traditional Christian hymn from Isaac Watts, who drew from Psalm 90 for the lyrics. Clearly, a prayer to the God of the Bible was offered in Congress.
My immediate response upon listening to Chaplain Black’s prayer above was one of elation. What a wonderful moment where our country officially, publicly acknowledged the God of the Bible and called for His help in a national arena!
My next response was confusion. How is this possible? How could the same Senators, many of whom repeatedly fight against the expression of Christianity and the Bible in public places, allow such a prayer to happen?
How can prayer be allowed in Congress and not in public schools? It seems incongruous.
The answer, legally, comes from the Supreme Court. In a landmark ruling “Marsh vs Chambers” the Court ruled that “legislative prayer” is a different form and function that other public prayer, serving a more civic duty than a religious one. The Court held that legislative prayer was part of the “fabric of society” and thus admissible.
However, I am still confused.
If it can be ruled by the Supreme Court of the United States that Congressional prayer is acceptable due to its historical role in American society, why cannot the same argument be made for public prayer of all types?
I would call the situation astounding.
Regardless, I think we as believers can take great solace in the fact that there is still a remnant of Truth being proclaimed from the highest national platform, and that Truth expanding even further into the public sphere is not outside the realm of possibility. Be encouraged!
Vision is the ability to see what could be rather than what is.
Most leaders strive to have a clear vision. But where does vision come from? What are the possible sources? Our own heart can produce ideas and dreams, pictures of the future. Other people can give us thoughts and possibilities to contemplate. But if we listen to only ourselves, or to the wrong people, our vision can come from the wrong place and drive us in the wrong direction.
To guard against this danger, our vision source must be God Himself. Specifically, God gives us vision and direction for our life through the Bible:
Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; For they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, Because I keep Your precepts.
Psalm 119:97-100
When God through His Word is your counselor, you are wiser than any of the enemies that are out to destroy you: Satan, sin, evil people with wicked intentions. You are wiser! When God’s Word is with you – meaning you have memorized it – you have the greatest counselor the world has ever known! Your vision will be clear and right!
When you are meditating on it – turning in over in your heart and mind all day – God’s Word makes you wiser than the intelligent, smartest people in the room – the people that should be teaching you! You may be the one with the most dynamic vision, if you are the one meditating faithfully on God’s Word.
And last, when you apply it, God’s Word helps you understand more than those who are older than you (the “ancients”). Yes, we are called to respect our elders, but age does not always equate to being right. Test every advice and counsel against Scripture and be assured of clear vision.
Wisdom and understanding – vision – comes from memorizing, meditating on, and applying God’s Word.
We heard there was ash falling in Manila. As I stepped out onto the porch of our house I was immediately overwhelmed by what I liken to “black snow” falling everywhere. It was covering up the white bannisters, covering my patio umbrella, getting in my hair. Volcanic ash is not really ash per se, it is technically rock and glass – like a course ground coffee all over….well, everything. (I do feel Starbucks may have missed some sort of marketing opportunity here).
My next thought was “surely this is not good to breathe”, and I told my wife we should run to the store and buy some face masks. Upon arriving at the mall, we saw that many others had the same idea, and we were able to buy some of the last remaining masks in the store. Filtering masks are now a hot commodity in Manila, and I’ve learned what N95 means (look it up).
In processing all of these events,I am struck with two thoughts: how small we are and how great God is.
Left to our own devices, despite all of our technology as mankind, we have no way to stop this volcano should it decide to do something worse. No patch, no cap, no military grade stopper that can hold it back. Nothing to stop the earthquakes happening. And, left to my own self, the best thing I could do for my family was a dollar-store face mask.
When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor.
Psalm 8:3
Is there any thing about us that should cause God to be mindful of us? According to David in the Psalm above – no, not really. This volcano reminds me of that. ‘I got nothin’. It is humbling.
Yet God cares for me immensely! David is awestruck by the fact that the same God who created that volcano is the one Who, as he says, “visits” with us. He loves us so, that he visits with us! He came to be with us through His Son, and He is with us through His Spirit and His Word. He calls us His children!
I am reminded that God did not love me because of how great I am, but because of how great He is.
My brethren count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
James 1:2-4
In these opening verses, James addresses the issue of trials that come from outside. He is talking about trials that we “fall into” – meaning they are often unexpected things that we encounter. Literally, the unforeseen events of life that we do not plan for or wish to happen. The picture is a little bit like falling when you step into a hole or stumble over something in the way – no one plans to do that!
The Bible here says “various trials”, meaning this can include many different things. It may include physical trials, financial difficulties, relationship issues, gossip, broken hearts. It can include danger or tragedies that happen. I can’t list them all here, but you get the idea.
Most of the time for us, trials naturally produce a negative attitude – a complaining attitude. Someone does something negative to me and my first thought is “why did You let that happen Lord?”.
But God here describes a very different response. He says we should have joy when we face a new trial. Joy! Not only joy, but God says to count it (or consider or have the opinion about) “all joy”. It means not a little joy mixed with some complaining thrown in on the side. No – all we should have is joy in a trial!
Does that sound kind of ridiculous to anyone? I mean, really God? My child gets sick and I am supposed to be joyful in that situation? I lose my job and I am supposed to have joy in that time in my life? Someone hurts me deeply by something said or done and I am supposed to react with overflowing joy? Really?
The answer is, yes, really. But how? How can we do this as believers? The answer is given as the verse continues….knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience
To know something means to understand it.
As Christians, we must understand that God has a bigger plan for us than what is happening in the moment.
In fact, we must remember that God is doing something good for us in and through that trial.
Trials in our life are really a test that God brings into our life to grow our faith, purify our faith, and mature our faith. Trials have a purpose. Patience makes us “perfect and complete” – exactly what God wants us to be!
A mature faith is a patient faith – a faith that trusts in God no matter what.
What God wants in my life is for me to believe Him no matter the situation. And He brings trials into my life to teach me to have patience and trust Him.
You must learn to see the trials in your life through a biblical lens. These difficulties in your life are not accidents that God is not aware of! God has allowed them to refine you and shape you and sanctify you!
This knowledge is the key to having joy in a trial.
We are rapidly moving away from a literary society to a visual society. Globally, we would rather watch something than read something. The death of newspapers. The rise of Youtube.
What does this mean for the written Word of God? Well, there’s good news and bad news.
The good news is that there is much healthy discussion on visualization in the church these days. Artists like Makoto Fujimura have written extensively on the subject of visual theology. Visual theology, he says, “happens, when we are engaged with scriptures, with fulness of our imaginations”. I agree. It is a good thing when our minds are creatively engaged with Scripture in such a way that they come to life for us.
Indeed, for centuries Christians have portrayed biblical narratives in creative visual ways (think Medieval stained glass to 1960s flannel graph). Kids like to build Bible scenes out of LEGOS. You get the point. This supplementation of the Bible is good, healthy, and God honoring.
The bad news is that as many people are less and less interested in reading, they are less interested in reading the Bible.
They are more drawn to the latest instagram photo with some overlayed words from a Christian pop song that may or may not be theologically correct.
God has given His Word in literary form precisely to engage with our hearts and minds in that way. Why? I don’t know – but that’s what He chose to do.
Are we so naive to think that the god of this world is not using the expanding availability of visual stimulation to influence us away from God’s written Word? We must find balance in this, our visual world, and as believers hold on to the written Word as our primary influence.
Probably weekly we ask a friend “did you see that video?”
What we should be asking is “have you read that passage?”
