Something funny I noticed this morning, while looking at some of my recent blog posts, is that many of my writings can be associated with times when I went through difficulties or hardships. It is no coincidence that it’s when I feel most intensely and suffer most harshly that I also dwell on God’s word remarkably deeply. What a wonderful God we have who meets us so closely in our misery and anguish!

Recently, as I’ve been reflecting on my sins and shortcomings, one area that has stuck out to me is that I have not always been cognizant of my disposition towards harbouring resentment and bitterness. I am sure that those who are close to me have noticed it in the way that I’ve grumbled or complained, but I’ve never quite thought of myself as a retaliatory or vengeance-driven person. But as I ponder more and more, I don’t think that’s true—I’m really good at remembering wrongs others have done to me, and sometimes I will even conflate several wrongdoings so that I’d have a case against them! Not only do I have reason to be angry, but sometimes I find reason to be angry.

This is actually really hard to admit because, as I’ve shared before, I often feel justified in my anger. But how many times have I held past frustrations in my heart toward family or friends so I would have reason to be angry? Maybe more times than I’ve realized. And how many times should I have just forgiven previous infringements that I grasp so tightly to? Maybe more times than I’ve confessed.

Oh Lord, how deeply this sin runs in my wretched soul. I do not do what I want and do what I do not want to…

Yet, how good is God’s grace that he remembers us in our bitterness! God sees us in our difficulties and hardships and bitterness and frustrations and does not forget us. What a paradox, that it is in those very moments of sorrow that we encounter God most intimately. What absurdity, that it is in Jesus’ suffering on the cross that salvation is found.

Mara

In Ruth 1, we read the story of Elimelech and his wife Naomi. Due to a famine in Bethlehem of Judah, Elimelech, his wife Naomi, and their two sons sojourn in the land of Moab in search of food. However, the situation quickly goes south. Shortly after, Elimelech passes away, and Naomi is left with her two sons. While her two sons take wives, it is not long after, about 10 years, that both of her sons also pass away, and she is left with her two daughters-in-law.

1 In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. ² The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. ³ But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. ⁴ These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years, ⁵ and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.

Ruth 1:1-5

These three women are left with nothing. No means of provision, no family to rely on, and nowhere left to go. Naomi, knowing this, encourages her two daughters-in-law to return to the land of Moab and to find new husbands so that they can be cared for and protected. For what can Naomi offer them? Even if she were to give birth to new sons, would the women wait until they are grown?

⁶ Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the Lord had visited his people and given them food. ⁷ So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. ⁸ But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. ⁹ The Lord grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. ¹⁰ And they said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” ¹¹ But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? ¹² Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, ¹³ would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me.”

Ruth 1:6-13

One of the daughters-in-law, Orpah, heeds Naomi’s advice and returns to the land of Moab. Ruth, on the other hand, clings to Naomi.

¹⁶ But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. ¹⁷ Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.”

Ruth 1:16-17

Having set this scene, Naomi renames herself in her return to Bethlehem:

²⁰ She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. ²¹ I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?”

Ruth 1:20-21

Rather than being called Naomi, meaning “pleasant,” she has opted to be called Mara, meaning bitter. Naomi, having lost everything, is bitter. And understandably so! She has no husband, no sons, no family, no means of provision, no means of protection! She is left with nothing!

Everything she had has been taken away. She is bitter. And understandably so.

However, this is not the first place that the name Mara appears in the scriptures.

Marah

In Exodus 15, after the Israelites escape the clutches of Pharaoh, passing through the Red Sea, they encounter a body of water whose water is too bitter to drink.

²² Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. ²³ When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah. ²⁴ And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?”

Exodus 15: 22-23

This body of water? They name it Marah. Bitter.

The people of Israel are thirsty—they’re complaining. It is not just the water that is bitter. It’s God’s people. The people of God are bitter. I’m sure at this point, some of the people were already being asked to return to Egypt, “at least we had water to drink there.” While the scriptures never explicitly say so, it wouldn’t be that surprising at all.

But what does God do? He hears the people’s complaint, and in their cries, God turns the bitter water sweet.

²⁵ And he cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.

Exodus 15:22

In the people’s bitterness, God provides for them. He sees their need and brokenness, and in that moment, He provides a fix. But this is only part of the story of God’s provision, because He provides more abundantly than they could possibly imagine. Only a couple of verses later, they encounter Elim, a beautiful oasis with an abundance of both water and shade.

²⁷ Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there by the water.

Exodus 15:27

But how the people’s hearts are quick to return to bitterness. It is only a few days later that the people again return to their grumbling. This time it’s not water but food! Now they are hungry. Oh, how it would’ve been better to be alive in captivity than left to die in the wilderness.

16 They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. ² And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, ³ and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

Exodus 16:1-3

But again, what does God do? He does not leave them in their bitterness but rather shows them the character of His provision:

⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not

Exodus 16:4

He gives them this kind of divine bread, Manna, that His people would not be left hungry. Who could’ve imagined such a great mercy that God would make it rain bread from the sky for His people to eat? I certainly couldn’t have. I’m sure the Israelites didn’t either.

Isn’t this incredible? That God would hear the cries of His people in their thirst and hunger, in their hardship and suffering, in their bitterness and acknowledge them? These people who are so wicked and undeserving—our God hears them. And He listens. And He provides. What an absurdity that it is in their wickedness that the kindness of God is revealed.

Manna

There is great irony in the fact that Elimelech, a Jew whose name means “my God is king,” would leave behind the very promised land of God that was given to his people. And how ironic, that he would leave Bethlehem, “the house of bread,” to search for bread elsewhere. Perhaps the bitterness Naomi experienced was more self-imposed than she thought.

But as we read in these stories, there is a great reminder that it is precisely in our bitterness that God meets us so closely. Because, as we read through the story of the waters of Marah in Exodus and God’s abundant provision, there is a great foreshadowing that God will not leave Naomi or Mara in her bitterness.

Through the book of Ruth, God provides Boaz, a kinsman redeemer, who eventually takes over the estate of the deceased Elimelech, the role of husband of Ruth, and becomes the provider and protector of Naomi’s previously defunct household.

⁸ So when the redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself,” he drew off his sandal. ⁹ Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and to Mahlon. ¹⁰ Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place. You are witnesses this day.

Ruth 4:8-10

In that, Naomi also finally receives her long-awaited grandchild:

¹³ So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son. ¹⁴ Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel! ¹⁵ He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” ¹⁶ Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse. ¹⁷ And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

Ruth 4:13-17

The once-bitter woman is now considered blessed. But as we read in the story of the waters of Marah, the blessings that God gives are often more abundant than we initially comprehend. In the final verses of Ruth, we are provided with this Genealogy:

¹⁸ Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron, ¹⁹ Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Amminadab, ²⁰ Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, ²¹ Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, ²² Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.

Ruth 4:18-22

The once-defunct household now has the privilege of being the very lineage from which the great King David would descend! If the provision of Boaz for her and Ruth is equated to the bitter waters being made sweet, then the provision of Elim is to be equated with this blessing of being the lineage for this very great king!

But wait, there’s one more thing missing: what about the Manna? In Matthew 1, we read the Genealogy of Jesus Christ, and this passage is nearly identical to the one we read in Ruth:

³ and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, ⁴ and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, ⁵ and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, ⁶ and Jesse the father of David the king.

Matthew 1:3-6a

The same lineage for Naomi’s defunct family is the same lineage for the great king David is the same lineage for the Messiah, Jesus Christ!

How fitting that the divine bread of heaven concludes the story of Marah in Exodus, while the bread of life concludes the story of Mara in Ruth. How fitting it is that the bread of life came from the house of bread. Truly, God does not abandon us in our bitterness. Rather, He meets us there.

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

John 6:35

The people of Israel hungered and thirsted—yet those who follow Jesus shall have neither. In our bitterness, we often hunger and thirst for righteousness and reconciliation—And again, scripture tells us that we shall be satisfied:

⁶ “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Matthew 5:6

Through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, all these things and more are fulfilled. Our bitterness is washed away and hope in its place.

Thank you that we have a God who sees us in our bitterness.

Thank you that we have a God who meets us in our bitterness.

Thank you that we have a God who provides abundantly in our bitterness.

Stay cool,

Jason

One thing that sometimes surprises people is that underneath all my constant laughter and jesting, I am actually a bit of an emotional person. I experience my emotions very strongly, which means sometimes certain feelings or thoughts will linger for quite a while before fading away. The result of that is that sometimes feelings like pride, anger, or yearning hold me captive more tightly than I’d like.

The other day, I was joking to my friend that if she were an Inside Out character, she’d be Joy. Her response was “you’d be Anger.” How unfortunately correct.

The irony in all of this is that, despite how much I despise being angry, as it makes me feel absolutely miserable, often I just feel helpless in the face of my weakness. It is as Paul states: “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate” (Romans 7:15). How helpless am I that I fall prey to my inner sentiments!

And it is not just anger I am prone to, but pride. For those who have known me, my skirmish with pride has been long-standing. How many times have I been knocked from my pedestal only to realize that I’ve built yet another one, only a few millimetres lessened? How many times have I yearned for a result, gotten what I wanted, found the result undesirable, and simply shifted the fixation of my desires onto something else, yet was still left wanting? I’ve grumbled and made so many complaints that it wouldn’t be worth the time tallying them all.

And yet, despite my repeated shortcomings, God remains repeatedly gracious.

Recently, I’ve been listening to a podcast by Tim Mackie on the Book of Jonah, and in my listening, two things have been made abundantly clear: the weight of my sin and the absolute graciousness of God. So, as I explore the book of Jonah today, I will do so through the lens of my own recent shortcomings and reflections. That I am not just a “victim” of my emotions, but at times, an active conspirator and accomplice of the sin it brings.

When we look at the character Jonah, there is simply no way around it: he is not a good guy. He is selfish, arrogant, blunt, angry, and has no concern for what God wants to do with him. It’s not until he’s thrown off a boat and stranded in the belly of a giant fish that he repents for his misdeeds. He is an awful person and a lousy prophet. He lets his emotions and his feelings do the talking, and the irony is that the person who suffers the greatest from his sin is himself. Sound familiar to another person you were just reading about?

A great travesty would be to read the Book of Jonah and think that it has nothing to do with us. It is the story of a selfish, rebellious, and insufferable person who claims to follow God. It has everything to do with us. It has everything to do with me.

As I reflect on my own shortcomings in light of Jonah’s failures, I pray that by God’s grace, you, dear reader, would also see the places in your life where you frequently fall short.

PRIDE

Pride is the excessive belief in one’s own accomplishments or worthiness, and oh boy is Jonah full of it.

1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, ² “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” ³ But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

Jonah 1:1-3

How many people, when confronted by their boss, parent, or authority figure, to perform a task for them, would just say “no” without explanation? Not only does Jonah do that to God here (who is all three of those), he tops it off by taking a boat in the opposite direction of where God commands him to go.

It’s the equivalent of your parent telling you to go home, intentionally keeping your location on, and actively going in the other direction. It’s absolutely ludicrous and gives us deep insight into Jonah’s character. And we’re only on verse 3!

How absolutely enormous must Jonah’s ego be that he ought to think that he can not only reject God’s command but also actively disobey in the face of God? Who does this guy think he is?

As we keep reading, there is an irony in that while Jonah, the prophet of God, is blatantly unrepentant, every man and beast, from the Gentile king to the very cows of the field, are ready to turn from their evil.

⁶ The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. ⁷ And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, ⁸ but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. ⁹ Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”

Jonah 3:6-9

As that develops, Jonah’s massive ego, in the form of his condescending attitude towards the people of Ninveh, is revealed:

10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. 4 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.

Jonah 3:10-4:2

Jonah is angry that God spares the people. Not only does he believe he knows better than God, but his adamancy for the Ninevites to be struck down reveals his perceived sense of moral superiority and self-righteousness. These people deserve to be struck down.

For those unfamiliar with the story, the Lord then appoints a plant to be grown and to give Jonah shade. Jonah is temporarily pleased by this until God sends a worm to destroy the plant the following morning. Jonah, once again, is furious. God responds to Jonah:

¹⁰ And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. ¹¹ And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”

Jonah 4:10-11

God’s message to Jonah is quite clear: despite what Jonah believes about his own righteousness, he is not so blameless, innocent, or justified as he ought to think. Jonah, the same guy who refused to listen to God’s initial command to go to Nineveh, is surprisingly not a good person. He is relentlessly arrogant, and his ego is through the roof. He’s ready to obliterate a city of 120,000 people, yet shows great concern for a plant that gave him shade for a couple of hours at best. Again, who does this guy think he is?

And then directing the question back to myself: who do I think I am?

Who do I think I am that I am so quick to reject the commands of God, think highly of myself, and believe that I am worthy of praise?

One thing that God has been reminding me lately is that I really am not as incredible as I ought to think. God has been gracious to me, yes, but in that there is no reason for me to boast. For every success that I hold, I contribute nothing to the ministry that God has given me but my weaknesses. For every person I’ve looked down upon, thought less of, or even regarded condescendingly, what separates them from me? Do we not share similar sufferings? Hardships? Desires? Have I not just been fortunate to be given the circumstances that I have? Do I not yearn for the things they do? To be seen, acknowledged, and regarded? Certainly, I do. And certainly, my good fortunes give me no right to put myself above another.

I find that the more deeply we spend getting to know the Lord’s people, the less room there is for pride.

There is one dear sister whom I serve alongside whom I have high regard for. She is not flashy in her service, not fiery in her speech, nor has she received as much practical support as I have in the growing of her faith. And yet, she serves with such humility and faithfulness that I could only wish to emulate her. For all my study of scripture and for all the gifts that God graciously bestowed upon me, I am still as sinful and arrogant as I am. What good is it that the Lord bestows me five talents, yet I struggle to reproduce three more? Yet, by the grace of God, this sister has received three talents and made five out of them. Perhaps she is more righteous than I.

Gracious God, thank you for the incredible people you’ve put to serve alongside me. Please grant me a humble and gentle heart that would serve your kingdom and people well. Amen.

ANGER

If there is one word to describe Jonah in chapter 4. It’s angry.

He’s angry about God being gracious; he’s angry that God made him come all the way here; he’s angry about the plant; and he’s angry enough to die!

 ⁹ But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.”

Jonah 4:9

And the tragedy is, I know exactly how Jonah feels. And I’m sure most of you do as well. How can we respond with anything but anger when we see the injustices of the world before us and the injustices we have to face?

Injustices like… when someone cuts us off in traffic! Or…when someone cuts us in line! Or…when the washing machine doesn’t um…Are these really injustices?

Maybe not grand ones. But who here is going to pretend they have never gotten irrationally angry at someone who has done them a minor injustice? I certainly am not. And that is assuredly the problem with our anger at times—not that injustice has not been committed, but that the severity with which revenge is desired is not always proportionate. We always believe that our anger is justified, even when it is not.

And that is Jonah’s problem as well.

Because of his inability to lay aside his pride and realize that he is not so much different from those whom he wishes God would destroy, he believes that his anger is justified. This happens not only for the destruction of the people, but also for the destruction of the plant.

This same justification is often the reason we hold onto our anger and refuse to forgive.

Recently, I had an argument with my mom. I needed something, was having trouble finding it, and was really upset over it. My mom had moved it a few days ago without telling me, and now, since I was in a rush, I got really frustrated, really quickly. We ended up getting into an argument, which escalated the situation, and I headed out that evening without it being resolved. I was livid. But it was fine, right? Because I was justified in my anger.

The irony of it all is that evening, our youth group hosted a program, inviting and urging the parents to be involved in their children’s faith. How hypocritical of me. That I was willing to plead for others’ families to be intentional with one another, yet struggle to reconcile with mine. Some lousy prophet I am.

And therein lies the problem when we base our anger on whether or not we feel justified in doing so. Justification gives us an excuse to be angry and stay angry. But justification does not necessarily allow for reconciliation. Justification does not always result in a proportionate amount of justice. Justification does not allow me to see that my mom, in her moving of what I was looking for, did not intend it to be an injustice at all.

Being justified gives us reason to be angry. But being justified does not always lead to what is best for us. How many times do we lash out in anger, knowing it will only escalate the problem? Or how often do we hold onto grudges, only harming ourselves in the process? Holding anger in our hearts is as if we drink poison, yet expect others to die.

It is as the Lord speaks to Jonah in the story, “Do you do well to be angry?” The irony of it all is that no, he does not. Jonah has nothing to gain from his anger. Truly, he is the only one suffering from the poison he drinks. Yet, he remains angry. Yet, he remains miserable. Being right does not guarantee what we think it does.

Gracious Father, please grant me a heart of peace that would desire reconciliation and peace over justified anger. I am so often complicit with the frustrations of my soul and fall prey to wanting to get back at those who have wronged me. Help me not drink the poison of being justified. Amen.

YEARNING

Yearning is the feeling when people tell you that there are other fish in the sea, but your fish got taken, and now you don’t even want to fish anymore.

Yearning is the feeling that you could have a garden of a hundred different kinds of flowers, but still find it lacking because your favourite kind isn’t there.

It is the intense feeling we get when we desire or long for something which we cannot have. We yearn for what we do not have, and while it is not necessarily bad, if we do so too strongly without contentment, there is great room for sin. It is all too easy to become fixated, or tunnel-visioned, when we obsess too deeply over what we want without considering that it may not be what is best for us.

Take the case of Jonah, for example. At his core, his pride and anger drive him into a deep desire for justice. He yearns for the judgment on the Ninevites and utterly wishes for their destruction. He wants to see God enact punishment. Jonah simply cannot consider another way.

But the lie the enemy often deceives us with is that the fulfillment of our desires is what will bring us peace. How rarely so is that the case! How often is it the case that God fulfills the desires of our hearts, yet we simply redirect our grumbling elsewhere!

The people of Israel asked for freedom from slavery, and it was granted. Then they complained about the lack of water. This, too, was granted, only for them to complain about a lack of food! This, too, was granted, only for them to complain about a lack of meat! And so God gave them over to the desires of the heart. But not without punishing them for their excessive complaint (Numbers 11).

And so when I read the story of Jonah, I am not so convinced that if Jonah really did receive the Judgment on Ninevah that he so desired, his yearning would be quenched. I am so certain that Jonah, in his desire for justice, would only want more blood.

I find that I am not so different from Jonah nor the Israelites in this respect. I often find myself nitpicking, complaining, and grumbling over a vast number of things. Yet, I could not even tell you how many of these concerns were ever addressed, as I always end up finding more criticisms. True contentment will never be found in receiving what we yearn for.

I am certain that even if I had all that I wished, I would still find more to be discontented with.

Heavenly Father, please grant me a heart of contentment, that I would not yearn over what I cannot have but find joy in what you have given. Amen.

THE CROSS

For Jonah, the end of chapter 4 is the last we hear of him. While God confronts Jonah’s pride, anger, and yearning for justice, we, the readers, never find out what happens.

¹⁰ And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. ¹¹ And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”

Jonah 4:10-11

And while this is the end of Jonah’s story, it certainly is only the beginning of ours. Jonah’s story points to a greater story: the cross.

Jesus’ story is one of a Jonah who obeys:

• Jonah flees from the call of God (Jonah 1:3); Jesus embraces it (Matthew 4:13-17)
• Jonah causes the storm of God (Jonah 1:4) ; Jesus calms it (Mark 4:35-41)
• Jonah is thrown into the sea by the hands of innocent men to save them (Jonah 1:15-16); Jesus, an innocent man, is thrown into death by the hands of sinful men to save them (Luke 24:7)
• Jonah is in the whale for 3 days & nights, only to be rescued by God (John 1:17); Jesus was dead for 3 days & nights, to be the rescue from God (Matthew 12:40)
• Jonah preaches a message of repentance to the people of Nineveh (Jonah 3:4-5); Jesus is the message of repentance for a Gentile people (Acts 11:18)
• Jonah does not understand the compassion of God and is angry (Jonah 4:1-3); Jesus is the compassion of God that we find forgiveness in (John 3:16)

Jesus did what Jonah failed to do: love His enemies. Love us.

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8

For that reason, Christ has given us reason to redirect our pride, anger, and yearning. He does not necessarily remove our emotions, but He teaches us what to do with them.

Rather than looking down on others, Jesus teaches us to serve and humble ourselves (Philippians 2:5-11), knowing we have our own shortcomings.

Rather than harbouring anger, Jesus teaches us to forgive as we have been forgiven (Matthew 6:14-15), leaving justice to him.

Rather than living discontentedly, Jesus teaches us that our satisfaction is in Him (John 14:6), that we should desire His way rather than our way.

I still feel emotions very strongly. And I will probably continue to do so. For all my reflecting and knowledge of scripture, I will inevitably fall short. Again. And again. And again. Yet despite my repeated shortcomings, I serve a God who is repeatedly gracious. And how grateful I am for such a thing! I pray for the strength to rule over how I feel, so that I will not fall into sin. I pray that my emotions would actually reveal my sin, that in my pride and anger and yearning, I would see the shortcomings in my heart.

Jonah is such a paradoxical character—he’s a supposed prophet of God, yet he’s arrogant, blunt, angry, and a lousy prophet to boot. He’s a selfish, rebellious, and insufferable person who claims to follow God. A hypocrite in many respects. Yet, I’m not too different from him. For every sin that Jonah commits, I could come up with a hundred scenarios of me doing something similar.

While there is much sin to grieve, there is even more grace to rejoice over. Thanks be to God for the gift of His son Jesus Christ.

Stay cool,

Jason

One area that I have always struggled with in my walk with God is a lack of faith. 

I have the ability to memorize scripture, make endless biblical connections, teach, lead, and disciple others, recite the gospel, share the gospel, and all sorts of other “spiritual” things. But believing that God can and will do what I need Him to do for me to make it through the next day and the next? That’s hard. 

In fact, I sometimes envy those who have a simpler understanding of the faith but can trust & love God so wholeheartedly. Blessed are the pure in heart, scripture says, for they shall see God (Matthew 5:8). In fact, sometimes it feels as if though knowing more complexities of the faith can be burdensome—everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required (Luke 12:48). Ignorance, in such a sense, truly is bliss. 

And so when I read stories in scripture of seemingly unremarkable people with great faith, I am amazed. Amazed that people who are seemingly so overlooked by the world are commended by Jesus for their great faith. So often I find myself reading their stories, praying that I would have faith like them—so desperate for Christ, so confident in both Jesus’ power and their own weakness that they are willing to go before Jesus and beg before Him so shamelessly. 

Knowledge puffs up. But love builds up. Lord, give me the humility to look past my knowledge and give me a heart of faith. One that trusts you are in control & loves others well. Lord, give me the same kind of desperate faith that these followers have, knowing that I stand on the shoulders of spiritual giants. 

By the hem of his cloak

In Mark 5, we read about a woman who is healed by the simple act of touching the hem of Jesus’ cloak. 

²⁵ And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, ²⁶ and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. ²⁷ She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. ²⁸ For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” ²⁹ And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. ³⁰ And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” ³¹ And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’” ³² And he looked around to see who had done it. ³³ But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. ³⁴ And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

Mark 5:25-34

We’re told that this unnamed woman had been dealing with an irregular discharge of blood for twelve years! Twelve years! She had tried everything she could to get better, yet to no avail. 

Under the law of Moses, any woman who had an irregular discharge of blood was considered unclean. 

²⁵ “If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, not at the time of her menstrual impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her impurity, all the days of the discharge she shall continue in uncleanness. As in the days of her impurity, she shall be unclean. ²⁶ Every bed on which she lies, all the days of her discharge, shall be to her as the bed of her impurity. And everything on which she sits shall be unclean, as in the uncleanness of her menstrual impurity. ²⁷ And whoever touches these things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening.

Leviticus 15:25-27

To be unclean was to be an outcast. Not only were they themselves unclean, but anyone who touched them would also become unclean. To be unclean meant that one could not participate in temple/tabernacle worship (Leviticus 15:31) and was excluded from the assembly of God’s people (Numbers 19:20). I can only imagine the difficulty & isolation & desperation that she had been facing during those twelve years. 

Thus, when she heard the news that there was a certain man named Jesus who could possibly heal her, she must’ve been absolutely thrilled. When we examine the scripture, the way she reacted was not just a sense of excitement but a sense of certainty. A conviction of hope so strong that she believed that all she had to do was touch the hem of Jesus’ cloak, and that it would bring healing to her. 

So she pushed through the crowd, reached out to touch the edge of his garment, and immediately found healing. Jesus caught hold of her after the act, and what did he do? 

He commended her for her faith. 

“Your faith has made you well; go in peace.”

I have no doubt this woman was desperate. Scripture tells us she suffered for twelve years, under multiple doctors, had spent everything that she had, and still had not found healing. She was likely grasping at straws, at the end of herself, and feeling like there was nowhere left to go. Yet in her despair, we see she did not waver. 

Her faith drove her to seek healing in what others may consider unconventional or even strange. She reaches for His healing, so confident in both Jesus’ power & her own weakness. She is then commended for her faith. The story of an unnamed woman has been written into the very pages of the gospel because of how great her faith was. 

Lord, give me such a faith. That when I am desperate, at the end of myself, and with nowhere left to turn, that I’d still have faith you are able to bring the healing that I seek. That I would push through the crowds, reach out, and even if only to touch a hem of your cloak, find healing. 

Even the dogs eat the crumbs 

In Mark 7, as Jesus walks through the Gentile area of Tyre and Sidon, he encounters a Syrophonecian woman who begs Jesus to heal her demon-possessed daughter. 

²⁴ And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. ²⁵ But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. ²⁶ Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. ²⁷ And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” ²⁸ But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” ²⁹ And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” ³⁰ And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.

Mark 7:24-30

If we are familiar with our text, a Gentile woman asking a Jewish prophet in the area of Tyre and Sidon should ring a bell. In 1 Kings 17, we’re told that the prophet Elijah is commanded to enter the city Zarephath, in the region of Sidon (1 Kings 17:9). There, Elijah performs several miracles such as: providing a limitless jar of flour, a limitless jar of oil (1 Kings 17:14), and later even goes on to raise her son from the dead (17:21-22). 

So when readers encounter this story, what they’re expecting is for Jesus to perform another one of His regularly scheduled healings and be on His way. And I am sure that’s what the woman expected as well. 

But what happens instead? Jesus declines her request. 

This woman was not just in need; she was desperate. We’re told she fell down at His feet and begged for His help. Yet, He declines her, saying that His first priority was to reach the Jewish people (this is more explicitly shown in Matthew 15:24). 

We may sometimes think that faith is just simple obedience & acceptance, yet this woman shows anything but. She challenges Jesus’ assertion with the insistence that even dogs were allowed to eat from the crumbs at the master’s table. Even her, a Gentile, a dog, should be allowed to glean from the crumbs of Jesus’ power.

If Israel means to wrestle with God, then how much more that day did she show she belongs to the true Israel. Someone willing to wrestle with God and hold Him accountable to His very word. Maybe she is not too far off from the same Elijah that held God to His word when he prayed that it would not rain (James 5:17, Deuteronomy 11:13-17). 

Jesus, in response, commends her for her faith and heals her daughter.

²⁸ Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

Matthew 15:28

Once again, what we witness is not a story of a remarkable, storied, and educated scribe of the law who demonstrates exceptional faith. Rather, it is an outcast. A seemingly unremarkable & unnamed Gentile woman who, in her desperation, not only begs Jesus for healing, but refuses to take no for an answer. Her faith drives her refusal to take no for an answer because she knows what Jesus is capable of. It is both her confidence in Jesus’ power and her own weakness that she is able to lay aside her pride even when called a dog. 

Now the story of her great faith has been engraved into the Gospel, demonstrating that even Gentiles are welcomed into this new kingdom of God. 

Lord, give me such a faith. That when in desperation, I would not only be willing to lay my pride aside before you and beg for your salvation but also be willing to wrestle with you when it appears that the answer is no. Give me such a confidence and certainty that whatever I ask is within your capability. Let me live with the spirit of Israel that wrestles with you in faith. 

Son of David, have mercy

In Mark 10, we encounter the story of a blind beggar named Bartimaeus. 

⁴⁶ And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. ⁴⁷ And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁸ And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁹ And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” ⁵⁰ And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. ⁵¹ And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.” ⁵² And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.

Mark 10:46-52

Bartimaeus, like the other two women we’ve looked at, is someone relatively unremarkable by the world’s standards. He’s poor, disadvantaged, and doesn’t seem to be doing too well. But what he lacks in worldly treasures, he makes up for in faith. 

We’re told that when he hears that it is Jesus who is passing by, he yells out:

“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.”

When those who are nearby try to silence him, he continues to cry out all the more:

“Son of David, have mercy on me.“

Bartimaeus is not only adamant, but he knows his scripture. He knows that Jesus is capable of bringing the healing that he seeks. 

The title “Son of David” that Bartimaeus uses demonstrates that he not only knows the promise of the Messiah that God would provide through the lineage of David (2 Samuel 7:12-16) but also believes that Jesus is that Messiah. We’re told in Isaiah that on the day the Messiah comes, the blind will see, the deaf will hear, the lame will leap, and even the mute will speak (Isaiah 35:5). 

While I can’t say with complete certainty that Bartimaeus knew every individual piece of scripture I am quoting here, what I am certain of is that Bartimaeus knew the man in front of him, Jesus of Nazareth, could bring healing. So much so that he continued to beg and shout and cry for Jesus’ help despite the crowd’s insistence on quieting him. In his faith, he cries out in desperation and without shame, because he is so confident that the Jesus in front of him could grant what he wanted to ask. 

Jesus, however, takes notice and calls him over. Bartimaeus throws off his cloak and runs up to Jesus. Jesus asks Bartimaeus a simple question:

“What do you want me to do for you?” 

Bartimaeus makes his request: 

“Rabbi, let me recover my sight.“

And once again, on the basis of the man’s faith, Jesus provides the healing that is asked of Him. We are told that it is his faith that makes him well. Immediately, we’re told that Bartimaeus is healed and follows after Jesus. 

Bartimaeus, like the women in the previous two stories, demonstrates a desperate but great faith. Seemingly with nowhere else to turn, he encounters Jesus. And being so confident in Jesus’ power and his own weakness, he refuses to let this opportunity slip by. He begs and begs, and creates such a scene that others try to quiet him. But he does so because he is so confident that Jesus can do what no one else can do, that to look foolish for a moment will allow him to appear wise for the rest of his life. And to this day, we still read about Bartimaeus’ faith. 

Lord, give me such a faith. That I would cry out with such a desperation and shamelessness for you. That when others try to silence or quiet me, I’d continue to cry for your salvation. Let me have such a certainty that you are capable of doing what no one else can—and because of that, I’d not only beg for your healing, but immediately get up and chase after you. Allow me to follow close by. 

Conclusion

All three of these saints were commended for their desperate, shameless, and great faith. And because of that, their stories have been etched into the very pages of the Gospel. In the same way, the woman at Bethany was commended for her anointing of Jesus, so they shall be remembered for their great faith. 

⁹ And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”

Mark 14:9

Though seemingly unremarkable in the world’s eyes, in my eyes, they are no less than heroes of the faith, for it is not necessarily those who accomplish spectacular deeds that are great in the Kingdom of Heaven, but those who have great faith. 

I pray that in the same way Jesus teaches, that we would pray & ask & make our requests known to Him who is above with a shameless audacity (Luke 11:8), knowing that we have a good and loving father who watches & cares for us. 

Lord, help my unbelief. 

Lord, give me faith such as this.

Lord, give me a desperate faith for you. 

Stay cool,

Jason

Hello all,

Long time no write! If you have not yet guessed, today’s post is about belonging, or the times I’ve felt a lack thereof.

What is actually quite interesting is that for those who know me, I am generally regarded as a pretty sociable person. Some of my friends have even had the pleasure (or distress) of witnessing my self-proclaimed celebrity status when I am recognized by someone I do not know. But what is made up for in recognition does not always translate to a sense of belonging.

I like to think of the idea of belonging as “this is the place where it feels suitable for me to be.” And the reason I’ve chosen the words feels suitable is because sometimes we can be in the correct place but not necessarily have it feel right. It can make sense practically or logically, but still fail to fulfill the desire to belong. And sure, sometimes we can play the role of fitting in from an exterior view, but it does not necessarily take away our interior feeling of unbelonging.

Take my friend’s wedding, for example. He had a table of friends from School A, part of Fellowship A, and a table of friends from School B, part of Fellowship B. I, being part of School A but associated with Fellowship B, meant that I did not really fit into either table. While I had friends at both tables and ended up having a lot of fun where I was placed, a part of me was wondering. I suppose I did not really belong at either table. While I could easily play the role of fitting in at either table, neither was a place I could say was truly suitable.

Another example was at one of my friends’ birthday party. They had devised a seating plan so that everyone sat with people they were most familiar with.

I was one of the exceptions.

I was placed at the corner of the table with some of their friends that the rest of the people in the group didn’t know as well. That’s not to say I knew them super well personally, but I knew them a bit better than the rest of the table did. Once again, while I had fun where I was situated, a part of me wondered again. While I played the role of fitting in where I was, a part of me did not feel like it was the most suitable place for me.

Wanting to belong has always been something I have wrestled with. This is not to say that I was excluded or left out. In fact, I’ve often found people to be very welcoming or inviting; yet, at times, it was out of personal pride or holding back that meant I couldn’t feel welcomed despite others being welcoming. The leading factor that first led me to start attending church and eventually know God was how drawn I was to the community & intimacy I witnessed there and how deeply I desired something like it. It was a lack of it that drove me to some of the most difficult times in my life, and it was the fulfillment of it that initially led me to Christ.

Yet, that initial fulfillment was only temporary. My yearning for it only persisted as that same community began to change and as people began to leave or move on. To this day, belonging is something that I still desire and yearn for, but also something that has not always been fulfilled. I find that in certain seasons, there is abundant community & a feeling of belonging within arm’s reach. Yet in others, I am left clinging to what I can salvage from yesterday.

For a long time & even now, at times, I have found myself uncertain if the church I am at is where I truly belong. Sometimes I disagree with the theology, sometimes the strategy, sometimes certain philosophies, sometimes the structure, sometimes with certain opinions, sometimes with certain people, and sometimes I just don’t feel like I belong anywhere in particular. It is one of those places that, after many years of wrestling, I can say with certainty that, at least for this season, this is where God desires for me to be. It makes sense practically, it makes sense logically, and it may even be the correct place. Yet, the correct place doesn’t necessarily guarantee it to be a place that feels suitable.

When we look in scripture, we’ll see that this yearning for belonging isn’t just something we may face in this life, but something scripture assures us we will face.

---

Jesus didn’t really belong

The first place that we see this in scripture is in the person of Jesus. He’s one of the three persons of the trinity, was & with God since the foundation of the earth (John 1:1), and is someone who has absolute power & authority, commanding even the wind and the waves (Mark 4:41).

What is this guy doing on earth? And in a human body?

From the very beginning, Jesus did not quite ‘fit in’ as a normal person did. From the account of him teaching as a child in the temple (Luke 2:41-52), it is already clear that He was leagues ahead of everyone else. Let alone being divine.

He was accused of being demon-possessed (John 8:48), questioned by His own family (Mark 3:21), rejected in His hometown (Luke 4:24-30), rejected by His own people (John 1:11), and crucified by them as well (Matthew 27:22-23).

If anyone knew how it felt to be out of place. Jesus probably did.

Hebrews says that we have a high priest who is not unable to empathize with our weaknesses.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Hebrews 4:15

If we ought to think we know what it means to be a place where we don’t feel like we really belong, surely Jesus knows it even better.

Yet what is so striking is that the certainty is that Jesus was undoubtedly in the correct place. Despite the world being so certain that Jesus was in the wrong place, God had situated him exactly where he needed to be in the time that he needed to be (Galatians 4:4) to save humanity from their sin.

If it’s the case that Jesus was to be a place where it may have felt like He wasn’t quite like everyone else, in order that God’s plans would be fulfilled in the way He wants, then why should we think that we are exempt from that calling? To follow Christ is to suffer like Christ. That is what scripture commands us to do:

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.

1 Peter 2:21

In fact, in Jesus’ high priestly prayer, Jesus says this about his disciples:

14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

John 17:14-16

To follow Jesus is to know that our place will not be in this world. We may not feel like we belong at times, but the reality is that we do not. In the same way that I may sometimes feel like I do not belong anywhere at my church, or at a birthday party or wedding, I also do not quite ‘belong’ in this world.

And while it may not feel like we don’t belong, that doesn’t necessarily mean that God doesn’t have us situated in a place where we are able to best serve Him. It happened to Jesus; it will happen to us.

We have citizenship in heaven

Jesus was not the only example of someone who may have felt out of place in scripture.

In Hebrews, regarding Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and Sarah, we’re told that;

¹³ These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. ¹⁴ For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. ¹⁵ If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶ But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

Hebrews 11:13-16

Abel was rejected by his own brother (Genesis 4:8)

Noah was asked to build an ark as a righteous person in a world full of evil (Genesis 6:9-11) and betrayed by his own son (Genesis 9:24-25).

Abraham was called to leave his homeland to go to the land that God called him to (Genesis 12:1).

And while not explicitly mentioned in the passage above,

Joseph was asked to wait in a foreign prison for a crime he did not commit (Genesis 39:19-21). And that was after being sold by his brothers into slavery (Genesis 37:28).

Moses was an Israelite raised in Egypt (Exodus 2:10) whose authority was questioned by his own brother and sister (Numbers 12)

Ruth was a Moabite (Ruth 1:4), an enemy of the Israelites, whom God called to join His salvation plan (Matthew 1:5).

Hebrews tells us that all these people, and more, through faith though commended, did not receive what was promised (Hebrews 11:39).

To feel left out of place in a place where we don’t feel like we belong is not just a hypothetical of scripture but a reality of being a follower of God.

In a world where physical rewards are treasured, we’re told to pursue spiritual ones (Matthew 6:19-21)

In a world where you yourself are the most important, we’re told to place others above ourselves (Philippians 2:3-8)

In a world where the Gospel is foolishness, we’re told that for us, it is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18)

The Gospel not only changes the way we view the world, but it changes us. It changes us in a way where our values, our priorities, and our very selves are attuned to the things of God. So much so that we are considered ‘born again’ (2 Corinthians 5:17). Our citizenship is no longer of this country & of this world, but in heaven—God has given us a place to belong.

²⁰ But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

Philippians 3:20-21

Yes, while on earth we may indeed feel out of place or feel like we don’t quite belong—but to be a follower of Christ is to feel out of place. To be a follower of Christ is to feel like we don’t quite belong.

When I look back at the wedding I was invited to with this lens, it is a privilege to be the kind of person who can be placed anywhere and still fit in.

When I look back at the birthday party I was invited to with this lens, it is a privilege to be the kind of person whom others can get to know easily.

When I look back on the years I’ve spent at my church with this lens, it is a privilege to serve all the different kinds of people over the years, despite differing views in theology and strategy and philosophies and structure and varying opinions and on people, even while feeling like I didn’t quite belong.

It is a privilege to be given the gifts that God has given us and to be able to use them in a way that glorifies Him. It may not be places where I feel that I am most suitable, but they are places where God has placed and used me correctly in order that I may rely on and know Him deeper.

Stay cool,

Jason

Hello everyone,

Happy Easter weekend! It has been a while since I have written, but I recently finished the Book of Job and thought its concept of a mediator to be profound. No better time to get back into it than on this sombre day before the resurrection of our Lord.

To begin this post, I want to start with a story from my university days. At the time, I was serving on my university fellowship. I had just been assigned to work with another one of our leaders to host a social. The social was supposed to be an open-mic coffee house. The plan was to have a microphone on a stage with members of our group being able to freely share thoughts of gratitude or anything that God had been teaching them. However, there was just one problem.

There was no coffee.

I don’t remember all the details. Maybe there was tea? What I do remember was my co-leader and I arguing a few hours before the event.

“How can you have a coffee house without coffee?”

In my mind, the coffee wasn’t a big deal. It was the fellowship we hoped to gain in the sharing that mattered.

In my co-leader’s mind, coffee at a coffee house was absolutely essential. How misleading would it be to advertise a coffee house without coffee??

I remember refusing to admit I was wrong, refusing to see the other side, and refusing to comply with what was ultimately a 20-minute request to get some instant coffee from our local metro. I remember the situation escalating to such a degree that the other party started shedding tears, yet I refused to budge. It got to a point where I just refused to speak to them any further.

Thinking back on this moment, what in the world was I thinking? All this over a few cups of coffee??

In that moment of frustration and in my refusal to cooperate, a mentor of mine approached me. His concern was not with the coffee but the hardiness of my heart and refusal to work with my sister. Was the coffee so important that I should contend with my sister in such a way that I refused to speak to her?

Evidently no. But I learned two big lessons that day.

The first was learning to set aside my pride and communicating to solve conflicts. You can’t resolve conflict by avoiding it.

The second was acknowledging the depth of my sinful nature and my need for a mediator.

That day, my mentor happened to be the mediator that was needed. In my refusal to cooperate and refusal to speak, somebody had to act as the middleman so that negotiation could be done between the two opposing parties. He allowed us to communicate with one another in a way that was not possible before.

In the Book of Job. We’ll see this same concept of a mediator (or arbiter, as the ESV calls it) appear. In Job’s suffering, he cries out for someone to plead his case before God. In Job 9, we see him acknowledge this difficult reality:

For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him,
    that we should come to trial together.
There is no arbiter between us,
    who might lay his hand on us both.
Let him take his rod away from me,
    and let not dread of him terrify me.
Then I would speak without fear of him,
    for I am not so in myself.

Job 9:32-35

How is Job, a mere man, supposed to bring his case before an almighty and all-powerful God?

Despite Job’s righteous stature (Job 1:1), he had been allowed to face excruciating hardship—His fortunes plundered (Job 1:13-15), his flock killed (Job 1:16-17), his children dead (Job 1:18-19), his health gone (Job 2:7-8), and to top it all off, his friends insisting that all of these terrible things happening were his fault.

The righteous are rewarded and the evil are punished, his friends would say; therefore, Job must have done evil.

“Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished?
    Where were the upright ever destroyed?
As I have observed, those who plow evil
    and those who sow trouble reap it.

Job 4:7-8

While Job is able to insist and plead his innocence before his friends, how is he to do so with God? How can a mere mortal, like Job, contend with God?

“Even today my complaint is bitter;
    his hand is heavy in spite of my groaning.
If only I knew where to find him;
    if only I could go to his dwelling!
I would state my case before him
    and fill my mouth with arguments.
I would find out what he would answer me,
    and consider what he would say to me.
Would he vigorously oppose me?
    No, he would not press charges against me.
There the upright can establish their innocence before him,
    and there I would be delivered forever from my judge.

Job 23:2-7

The harsh reality of it is that he cannot.

Job, in his limited power and understanding, cannot even begin to fathom the plans that God has in store, much less contend with Him. And so in his suffering, he pleads for a mediator. Somebody in heaven who can contest the case of Job like a lawyer would for the accused.

“O earth, cover not my blood,
    and let my cry find no resting place.
Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven,
    and he who testifies for me is on high.
My friends scorn me;
    my eye pours out tears to God,
that he would argue the case of a man with God,
    as a son of man does with his neighbor.

Job 16:18-21

Job is forced to acknowledge his need for a mediator before God.

If Job, a righteous man, is forced to confront this truth. How much more mediation do I, a sinner who is willing to contend with my sister to the point of tears over a few cups of coffee, need before a holy and righteous God?

The answer is a lot of it.

So much of it that God Himself had to come down as the person of Jesus and die on my behalf for such a mediation to occur.

Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.

Hebrews 9:15

Because of this, there is no longer a need for me to contend with God and have to plead my case the way that Job does. Jesus has already pleaded my case. In His sacrifice on the cross, He has taken on my sin on my behalf and now sits at the right hand of the Father, advocating and interceding for me.

Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

Romans 8:34

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

1 John 2:1

There is no longer a requirement for me to do good deeds in order to earn the approval of God.

There is no longer a requirement for me to justify myself before God.

There is no longer a requirement for me to appeal to God whether I deserve blessing or punishment on the basis of my righteousness.

Because by faith, I have inherited the approval of God, my justification before God, and my righteousness before God.

and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—

Philippians 3:9

This is the gospel we have been given and the good news we have to rejoice in! Yes, tonight we wait in anticipation of Christ’s resurrection, but tomorrow we will rejoice because he will be risen. In Him, our sin is wiped away and our consciences are made clean. In Him, we are freed from the bondage and slavery of our own brokenness. In Him, death is defeated and made no more.

In Him, we have the mediator of a new covenant who contends on our behalf. One who mediates for us not only with the Living God but also with our fellow man.

To the sister whom I quarrelled with that day—thank you for your grace, patience and forgiveness.

To the brother who acted as the mediator between us that day—thank you for your patience, understanding, and for showing me not only what it looks like to love my neighbor well, but for illustrating what it means for Christ to be my mediator, my arbiter, and my advocate.

To the God who grants wisdom and opens my eyes to such things—thank you for your grace, mercy, patience, forgiveness, and love. Thank you for shaping me into the person I am today.

May grace and peace come to all those who are reading this. For tomorrow, we rejoice and celebrate the coming of our Lord.

Stay cool,

Jason

Hello all,

For today’s post, I wanted to start with a story.

A couple of months ago, while on a drive home, I was told that my cousin had passed away. I wasn’t super close with them and hadn’t seen them for a few years but the suddenness caught me a bit off guard. I was told it came out of nowhere—they were in class one day and gone the next. At the time, we weren’t even completely sure what happened—it was just a phone call from the police station. I wasn’t sure how I felt at the time. Today, I’m still not exactly sure. Should I be feeling a deeper sense of grief? Is it wrong that I don’t? I’m not sure what an appropriate way to respond to death is. Should I feel guilt for not having known them better or should I feel guilt for not feeling more guilt? This cousin was the same age as me as well. 24 years old.

Was that enough time to live a fulfilling life?

The one thing, however, that stood out to me was how fickle it all seemed. You’re here one day and gone the next. That’s life. You aren’t sure when your last day is, the only thing you’re certain of is today. And even then, there’s no guarantee you’d make it through that. All in all, mortality can sometimes feel like a curse—is this all I can do? Control? Live for? To be aware of one’s mortality can be a dreadful thing. Or could it also be a comforting thing?

Is it worth considering that the idea of mortality can be freeing? If this is all I can control and do and live for, maybe it’s a good thing—I do not have to bear the weight of the world’s responsibilities on my shoulders. This is not to say we should embrace death in order to absolve ourselves of responsibilities as that seems ungenuine. But knowing a God who watches over the world so I do not have to seems like a reassuring thing.

Today, I want to draw our attention to the following passage:

“O Lord, make me know my end
    and what is the measure of my days;
    let me know how fleeting I am!
Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths,
    and my lifetime is as nothing before you.
Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah
    Surely a man goes about as a shadow!
Surely for nothing they are in turmoil;
    man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!

Psalm 39:4-6

To summarize Psalm 39, it is a lamenting of David’s sin and his asking for God’s forgiveness. In the very middle of this Psalm though, we get this interesting request by David.

He asks God to show him the fickleness of life—to show him how fleeting and transient it is. He asks God “Show me my mortality.”

Isn’t that such a strange request? While most of us grieve our mortality and dread reflecting on the brevity of our lives, David asks to be reminded of it. For David, to know one’s mortality is a privilege and a blessing. For David, to understand and see the fickleness of our lives is a good thing. In his lament, failure, and in his cry for help, David asks God to remind him of his need for Him.

“And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?
    My hope is in you.
Deliver me from all my transgressions.
    Do not make me the scorn of the fool!

Psalm 39:7-8

And so what I am potentially suggesting here is that despite our aversion and fear with regard to our mortality, it is possible that a healthy acceptance and acknowledgment of it can bring us into deeper communion with God. Maybe the curse of mortality is just as much a blessing—for what greater blessing can we receive than for our hearts to be driven closer to He who has created us?

So That I’d Know How Great You Are

Lord, show me my mortality so that I’d know how great you are.

One thing that the acknowledgement of our mortality does is that it drives into us the majesty and greatness of God.

While 100 years of living may seem like I still have a ways to go as a 24-year-old, in God’s eyes, every human life is but a moment’s notice. For a God who has been around since the beginning of time, we are but a vapour in his eyes.

yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

James 4:14

We can barely comprehend today from yesterday and yesterday from the day before. Oh, how short-sighted we are! Yet, there is a God above who sees and rules and establishes all things. He has been there since the beginning of time and will be until the end of it.

In our eyes, he is more powerful and majestic and grand than we could ever imagine! Who can imagine what it’s like to live for 1000 years? 10,000 years? Even more than that?

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:

“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
Dress for action like a man;
    I will question you, and you make it known to me.

“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
    Tell me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
    Or who stretched the line upon it?
On what were its bases sunk,
    or who laid its cornerstone,
when the morning stars sang together
    and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

Job 38:1-7

The answer is we cannot.

Then Job answered the Lord and said:

“Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you?
    I lay my hand on my mouth.

Job 40:3-4

And yet, God cares for each and every one of us. As the psalmist says:

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
    and the son of man that you care for him?

Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
    and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
    you have put all things under his feet,
all sheep and oxen,
    and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
    whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

Psalm 8:3-8

Despite our seemingly insignificant stature in light of God’s majesty and greatness, he cares for us still. The chasm between my brevity to God’s longevity is so grand that they cannot even be compared! Yet, the creator of the universe still loves and sees me still. How comforting and freeing is that?

When the day comes that I lay down in my grave and depart from this world, the God of the universe will continue to watch over all the things I care for. Are there any better hands to leave it to than the creator of the world who cares for even the most minuscule in his creation?

So That I’d Not Live Aimlessly

Lord, show me my mortality so that I’d not live aimlessly.

Another aspect of mortality is it makes us realize the brevity of our lives. We only have a hundred years to live. Most likely less. What you will do with yours? Will you let it go to waste?

The book of Ecclesiastes touches on this topic—if there is nothing at the end of these fleeting lives we live, then there is nothing better to do than to eat, drink, and be merry. Why? For tomorrow we die.

And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 8:15

But if the meaningfulness of our lives is predicated on how we live and what we do before God then the acknowledgement of our mortality should be a wake-up call.

The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

If we truly believe that to live for God is what we are called to do, then our mortality should signal a need for urgency. We only have a hundred years, most likely less, to accomplish all that we’d like to on this earth.

If our lives can truly be taken from us at a moment’s notice, is it not of even graver importance that we live each day as if it’s our last? Not through the blatant disregard for our safety but rather through a mindful and intentional pursuit of living in holiness.

Take the parable of the talents, for example, though it is in regard to the return of Christ. I do not believe the lesson gained is any less applicable:

“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Matthew 25:14-30

If tomorrow is our last day on earth, whether by our departure or Christ’s return, what we will have to show for it? Do we live for God without abandon? Or do we disqualify ourselves?

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Therefore, rather than run aimlessly, let us run with intention, let us run in a way that honors all that we are called to do and be. Rather than store up the things that fade away, let us store up treasures that last.

When the day comes that I lay down in my grave and depart from this world, I will meet God face-to-face for the first time. What kind of life will I present to Him? One wasted on worldly pleasures? Or one that has been sacrificed to him daily for the betterment of His kingdom?

So That I’d Know My Need For You

Lord, show me my mortality so that I’d know my need for you.

The final thing that the acknowledgement of our mortality will do is help us see our need for God.

The matter of this is simple. As humans, we are weak. Our bodies are weak, our minds are weak, our hearts are weak, and our spirits are weak. We are simply powerless to save ourselves. We hunger and we thirst and we strive for survival yet each one of us comes to the very same end.

We are powerless to our sin and we are powerless to the death that it brings. For the wages of sin is death—and we are helpless against it.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:23

At least on our own.

For the one who acknowledges their mortality, the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that the immortal God has reached down from the heavens to provide salvation for the mortal man. What we could not do on our own has been done by God on our behalf.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16

This very message of the Gospel is that God can provide the solution to the very mortality that man is so afraid of. In fact, it is in our weakness and brokenness that God reveals himself ever the more:

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

2 Corinthians 12:9

He provides for us. Our physical needs, our spiritual needs, our emotional needs, our social needs, and our familial needs. The only thing he asks of us is to seek Him first.

And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Matthew 6:28-33

And so once again, confronted with our mortality, the realization of our need for God should be multiplied by ten maybe even ten thousandfold. For if alone we can barely sustain ourselves aside from the food, water, and shelter that God provides, how much more hopeless are we in the face of death?

When the day comes that I lay down in my grave and depart from this world, will I have done so acknowledging the savior who has rescued me? Will I have lived a life seeking His goodness and embracing my weakness such that his power is exemplified through me? Do I believe with all my heart, soul, strength, and mind that Jesus Christ is the one who rescues man from his mortality?

Closing

As we approach this New Year with another year behind us, we may catch ourselves thinking that we have one less year. One less year to live, one less year with loved ones, one less year to do the things we love. But maybe it doesn’t have to be a bad thing. To be able to have things and people we love and to have mortality to grieve over, isn’t that a beautiful thing? To be reminded that our lives are not our own and that these things we love are not our own but watched over by another, isn’t that freeing? To submit these things to and draw ever so closer to the God who oversees all things, is that not comforting?

Yes, life is fickle. Yet is that not all the more reason to make it count? For there is no greater joy than to know and be with our creator. Therefore, let us live meaningfully in worship, with intention, and seek after the God who breaks the power of sin and death.

For a day in your courts is better
    than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
    than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

Psalm 84:10

Stay cool,
Jason

Hello all,

Today I wanted to write on the topic of humility. It’s a topic we’ve been exploring at church during our Sunday school and it’s a topic I feel that I myself may need a reminder of for myself as well (because it’s better that I humble myself than have God do it 😩😩).

Unsurprisingly, pride is something I struggled with heavily when I first started really taking my faith seriously for the first time. I would often look down upon others and feel as if they did not have the same desire to follow or know God as I did. I remember during the summer of my 1st year at university, during a summer discipleship group, I brought up the question “who is your favourite prophet?” for an icebreaker.

(clearly, I was going through the Old Testament prophets at the time)

One of the girls in the group said that their favourite prophet was Paul. I remember being somewhat amused, whispering to my discipler at the time, ‘Paul’s not even a prophet.’ He chuckled, shook his head, and told me ‘Hey, be nice.’ (Sorry Vic).

Not only was I wrong in the notion that Paul is indeed a prophet (the Parallels between Paul’s story and the prophets are no coincidence) but I was also wrong in the way that I looked down on my sister and harboured arrogance in my heart. (she told me to inform you all that she’s read through all the prophets now).

In my pride and my frustration, I found myself resonating with the prophet Elijah. I, like Elijah, felt as if I was one of the only few people (in my fellowship) genuinely seeking after God.

He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.”

1 Kings 9:10

‘I am the only one left,’ exclaimed Elijah. A statement which exposed both the arrogance in his heart and how little he knew. God would respond to him:

Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

1 Kings 19:18

‘Elijah…over 7000 still follow me.’

Don’t get me wrong. Elijah was a faithful man. He sought after God’s heart, battled ferociously against idolatry, and prayed so earnestly that he not only stopped the rain in Israel for 3.5 years, holding God accountable to his covenant, but was also the one whose prayers made it rain again (James 5:17-18).

However, Elijah was but a man. And he wrestled with his own shortcomings and sin. Elijah was a faithful man. But if he is the one we aspire to emulate, I’m afraid we’ve lost sight of what our true hope is. Some follow Paul, some Apollos, and maybe even some Elijah. But is Christ divided? Were any of these men crucified for us? Were any of us baptized under any of them? Do we not follow Christ and imitate Christ and aspire to be like Christ?

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Philippians 2:3-8

Jesus Christ would come down to earth and show us that true strength is not found in power and boldness. Rather, it is found in servanthood and humility.

Biblical Humility

Toward the scorners he is scornful, but to the humble he gives favor.

Proverbs 3:34

To get an idea of what Biblical humility looks like, let’s start with what it is not. If you haven’t guessed it by now, humility’s greatest opposition is pride. Humility brings us down while pride props us up. Humility tells us to think less of ourselves while pride tells us to make a name for ourselves. The first explicit example of this occurs in Gen 11 with the building of the Tower of Babel:

And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.”

Genesis 11:3-4

Humans, in their desire to be like God and make a name for themselves, decide that they’d like to build a tower that will reach the heavens. While God does eventually intervene, scattering the people across the earth anyway and confusing their languages, this story serves as an illustration of God’s opposition towards pride. The people, in their desire to ‘be like God,’ fail to acknowledge who God is.

Biblical humility then, in contrast, can be understood as recognising our need for God. While pride says I will overrule or ‘be like God,’ humility acknowledges our position in light of who God is. If He really is the creator of the universe and all that is within it, the one who gives us the very breath of our lives, and the one who composes the stories of our lives, does He not deserve our every praise? Are we not at His mercy and deeply reliant on all that He does? Without Him, are we not dead in our sin and powerless to save ourselves?

Indeed, we are.

In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, He starts with this:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:3

‘Blessed are those who are poor in spirit.’ What does that mean?

To be poor in spirit means to recognize our own spiritual poverty. To know how lowly and incapable we are due to our condition of sin. We are unable to save ourselves from our own brokenness. We fight, we quarrel, we kill to get what we want. If it was not for God reaching down from the heavens and dragging us out from our very graves, we would be nothing but dry and lifeless bones. If in our hearts we truly comprehend this reality, that without God’s grace, there is nothing on which we can stand and claim merit, then there should be no room for pride in our hearts.

This poorness in spirit or ‘humility’ should not only transform the way we see ourselves in light of God but also how we see others. Before we head to the next section, I want to go through two quick stories. The first is from the Bible. The second is from my life.

In Luke 18:10-14, we find the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. The parable is quite simple really. Two men go up to the temple to pray. The first man, the Pharisee prays to God, thanking him and saying how he is so grateful that he is ‘not like other men who are sinners,’ pointing out the tax collector while listing out his pious acts. The tax collector, on the other hand, dares not to even look up to the sky. Rather, he beats his chest and cries out to God in prayer saying, ‘Be merciful to me, a sinner.’ Which of these two men exemplified being poor in spirit?

Another familiar text comes from Luke 15:11-32, the story of the prodigal son. If you’re unfamiliar with this story, it is a tale of two sons. The first son takes his share of his future inheritance from his father, goes off on his own, pretty much abandons the family business and goes on to waste it all partying. The second son, on the other hand, stays behind working on the family farm. When a famine ravages the country, the first son is forced to return home penniless with a plan beg for his father’s forgiveness. The father, however, not only forgives his son but welcomes him with open arms and arranges a feast to celebrate his return. The second son, seeing this, is enraged:

But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”

Luke 15:28-32

This was a passage that we studied in one of my small groups during university. I remember one of the follow-up questions to this text was ‘Which son do you feel like you relate to more?’ One of the people in my group answered, ‘I feel like I’m kind of like the older son because I’ve always kind of grown up in church and have been faithful.’ And that response is something that has stuck with me to this day.

Because when you first take a look at this story, it’s easy to assume that the first son is bad and the second son is good. One squandered his inheritance while the other stood faithfully by his family’s side. While both of those things are true, the reality of it is that neither of these sons is faultless. While the first son’s sin against his father is more obvious in appearance, the second son’s belief that he is indeed better than his brother as if he had somehow earned the right to his inheritance and sonship in a way where his brother did not…which of these two brothers exemplified being poor in spirit?

But What If I’m…Better?

Okay, you’ve gotten this far. And maybe you’re thinking, ‘But what if I am like the older brother? What if I am more faithful and have done a better job than others? Am I not entitled to be proud of my accomplishments? Do I not have the right to boast about that? Or must I disregard the good I’ve done?’

I believe that if those are the questions we are asking, then it is a possibility that we may not actually and truly understand how little we are actually contributing to the grand scheme of God’s design. Because if we ought to think highly of ourselves, we overstate our individual importance and how much we contribute to the kingdom of God.

Because if the apostle Paul himself says that he has no room to boast, how much less room must we have? In Philippians, Paul says this:

though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ

Philippians 3:4-8

If anyone believes that they have room to boast based on the works they’ve done, Paul has more. A Pharisee of Pharisees, a Hebrew of Hebrews, an apostle of apostles. The same Paul who was called by the Lord Jesus Himself says to us that in light of all the works he has done, he has counted all of it as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ. He has given up everything to acknowledge that his righteousness does not come from his works of the law but from God’s grace.

Again in Ephesians, Paul states

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:8-10

If we truly believe that our salvation and faith are from God and are by God’s grace, then there is nothing we can boast about. Whether I truly am more faithful or knowledgeable or more committed than others, even if it is true, is not something I have done anything to earn, it is solely a gift from God. If Paul the apostle can admit that, then shouldn’t we be able to?

For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

1 Corinthians 15:9-10

Despite the claim that Paul has worked harder than many of the other apostles, Paul reiterates the fact that it was not by his own ability but by the very grace of God that allowed him to be where he was. Sure, many of us work hard for the Kingdom of God but can we really say we’ve worked harder than Paul? Have we been shipwrecked? Imprisoned? Stoned? Flogged? Nearly beaten to death? I’m certain many of us haven’t. If that man does not have the right to boast, how much less of a right do we?

Humility, however, is not simply the absence of boasting but the transformation of how we view ourselves and others in light of the knowledge that we have no right to boast.

If I have no right, does it mean I think I am to think less of myself? By no means, for we know our identity rests on being children of the Living God.

Rather, we place ourselves and our needs below others because of the very fact we are the children of the Living God. Going back to the passage we read at the beginning of this post:

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Philippians 2:3-8

If Jesus Christ Himself had the mindset to humble Himself to the very point of death, even death on a cross, how much more are we to follow in his footsteps? For if the Son of Man did not come to serve but to serve, how much more are we called to become servants to others? If Jesus, God in the flesh, who is better, more faithful, more honourable, and more trustworthy than any other human being can humble Himself and take the form of a servant, then why can’t we?

This perspective shift in relation to how we see others should no longer be with regard to ‘who is better’ but ‘how can I serve?’ And so when that becomes our attitude, we become better listeners, we are more open to being wrong, we are more considerate and gracious to others, and we recognise that we are not above correction.

When we recognise our need for God and when we recognise how much we’re given is simply by God’s grace, it changes how we view others. Even if I am a little more faithful today than the person in front of me, it does not give me any right to boast as without the grace of God, I am just as helpless and lost as they are.

I remember there being one time my friend was telling me a story about how a guy was using his church position in order to impress some girls. While none of the girls were impressed, upon hearing this, I was kind of mad. This guy was supposed to be a Christian and a leader yet he was sort of ‘abusing’ the privilege that he was given. My other friend, however, said to me ‘How about instead of antagonising him, we pray for him? This guy you’re mad at isn’t your enemy but rather a brother who’s lost his way. What he needs isn’t your wrath but someone to direct him back on the right path. If anything, his actions show how deeply he is in the need of the Lord.’

Even if I was a little bit more faithful than him that day, I have no right to boast. Because there have been many days where I have been that guy. Sure, my sin hasn’t necessarily manifested in quite the same way, but how often do I end up finding myself as the person who’s lost their way? How often do I end up finding myself as the person who just needs a bit of a shove in the right direction? How often do I find myself as the person whose actions show how deeply I am in need of the Lord? More often than I’d like to admit.

The Last Shall be First

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:9-11

Therefore.

Because Jesus humbled himself, became a servant, and died on the cross, God has exalted him the name above every name.

While our exaltation likely won’t be as glorious, God makes a similar promise for us: that those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Luke 14:7-11

If you’ve gotten this far and somehow still are unable to grasp the concept of humility and its importance, at least know this: if you do not humble yourself, God will do it for you. Not only that, but the ones whom he exalts will be the ones who humble themselves.

Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,

1 Peter 5:5-6

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

James 4:10

When the two sons of Zebedee requested to be on the left and right hand of Jesus, this is what He would tell them:

Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Matthew 20:20-28

If we want to be great in the kingdom of Heaven, it will not be through power and dominance. But rather, it will be through service and humility. To be great is to be a servant. To be last is to be first. That is the image of strength that Jesus has given us.

There is nothing more humbling than to know that are nothing more than sinners saved by the grace of God. Nothing we do or have done is of our own accord. And so we have no room to boast. Rather, the knowledge of that and the humility that comes with it should transform us, to love others more fully and to see them in the same way that God sees them, as people in need of a saviour.

Stay cool,
Jason

So a few weeks ago, I was having a discussion with some of the youth at our church. We were planning a dating workshop and one question that came up was regarding the biblical stance on dating versus something like an arranged marriage.

Two things here are important to note:

1. While dating is familiar and normal to many of us, this wasn’t always the case. The notion of “dating” understood to most of us is both a very modern and very Western concept. When we take into consideration the marriage rites during biblical times, it is more than likely that most of their marriages were what we would consider “arranged.”
2. However, at the same time, the bible does not necessarily forbid the practice of dating or anything with regards to getting to know a person’s personality, likes and dislikes, and character more extensively prior to marriage.

Rather, the primary concern that the Bible has with finding a significant other is more so related to the God(s) that they follow. If you are a worshipper of YHWH, the bible expects you to marry someone who also worships Him. This can be seen in passages like 1 Cor 7 where Paul advises re-marriage only to a believer (a principle that logically would apply to an initial marriage as well). This principle is not only in the New Testament but is also present in Old Testament passages like Deuteronomy 7:3-4.

A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord.

1 Corinthians 7:39

Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, for they will turn your children away from following me to serve other gods, and the Lord’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you.

Deuteronomy 7:3-4

Thus, while the concept is dating is foreign and far removed from the biblical understanding of relationships and marriage, I would argue that it remains permissible.

Now with regard to which is better? I think most of us would say that if we had the choice of having to commit the rest of our lives to either:

A. A stranger that we had never met

or

B. someone that we had carefully hand-picked, did a background check on, and were certain we’d along with,

we’d go with the latter.

And from a strictly naturalistic perspective of relationships and marriage, you’d be correct. Why not spend your life with someone you were certain that you’d enjoy spending it with? Who would willingly commit themselves to someone they had a chance of disliking or actively disliked?

However, from a strictly biblical perspective, the purpose of marriage is not as simple as whether or not you’re bound to someone you enjoy being with. Rather, as Paul explains in Ephesians, the ultimate goal of marriage is for it to act as an image of Christ and the church. Of the love between God and His people.

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church—

Ephesians 5:21-29

So today, I will take a look at two contrasting marriages. The first will be the closest thing we have to a “dating” relationship in the Bible: the story of Ruth and Boaz. The second will be an “arranged” marriage. The story of Hosea and Gomer.

By analyzing and contrasting these two “polar opposite” marriages, we can see how the image between Christ and the church can be fulfilled in vastly different ways. While some of these fulfilments are “less favorable” than others, it demonstrates how God can ordain and ask us to endure difficult situations in order that He’d be glorified.

Disclaimer: this is not meant to serve as advice for anyone in a difficult relationship or marriage. Rather, it is a case of God doing something particular during a specific time and place with specific callings for specific individuals. The primary takeaway is to consider how God may ask us to give up ALL aspects of our lives, which include our relationships and marriages.

Ruth and Boaz

The first marriage we’ll be looking at today and the closest thing we’ll see to a “dating relationship” in the Bible occurs in the book of Ruth. As the title of the book states, it is about the story of Ruth.

Ruth is the story of a widowed Moabite woman. Despite losing her husband to the famine, Ruth vows to remain by the side of her Israelite mother-in-law, Naomi, ensuring Naomi would not be left alone. This is significant because, in that time period, the male was the sole provider. Without a male in their lives, it meant that they would have difficulty surviving. Two though, was better than one.

But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.

Ruth 1:16

Thus, Ruth follows Naomi back to Naomi’s hometown of Bethlehem. It is there we are introduced to Ruth’s future suitor, Boaz. Boaz is a righteous man, following the commandment to allow the poor to glean in his fields (Lev 23:22). Not only that, he provides Ruth protection (Ruth 2:8-9), food and water (Ruth 2:14-16), and even instructs his men to leave extra harvest for her (Ruth 2:15-16).

Naomi hears from Ruth about this righteous man that she met and Naomi informs her that this man is one of their family’s redeemers; under the Mosaic law (Lev 25:25) this meant he had the right and responsibility to buy back the property for any relative who had to sell it off due to difficult circumstances. Additionally, in this case, they would also be responsible for taking in Ruth and Naomi.

Discovering this, Naomi devises a plan to set Ruth and Boaz up. Naomi instructs Ruth to sneak up on Boaz in the middle of the night and has Ruth ask Boaz to redeem her:

“Who are you?” he asked.

“I am your servant Ruth,” she said. “Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a guardian-redeemer of our family.”

Ruth 3:9

Boaz replies that he would like to but it would have to wait another day—there was another redeemer who had higher priority and thus it would have to go through that other person first.

“The Lord bless you, my daughter,” he replied. “This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier: You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor. And now, my daughter, don’t be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All the people of my town know that you are a woman of noble character. Although it is true that I am a guardian-redeemer of our family, there is another who is more closely related than I.

Ruth 3:10-12

In the final chapter of Ruth, we are given the conclusion to the story. While the other redeemer is at first interested in the land and property he could obtain, he is disinterested after hearing he would also have to take in the two women with it as well. The other relative declines the right to redemption, with Boaz redeeming the property and taking Ruth’s hand in marriage.

Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the land from Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the dead man’s widow, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property.”

At this, the guardian-redeemer said, “Then I cannot redeem it because I might endanger my own estate. You redeem it yourself. I cannot do it.”

Ruth 4:5-6

Then Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, “Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelek, Kilion and Mahlon. I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from his hometown. Today you are witnesses!”

Ruth 4:9-10

While not exactly one-to-one in how we’d define a dating relationship, it touches on some of the key principles earlier that clearly distinguish it from an arranged one. Both parties are given the opportunity to know one another prior to marriage and “choose” each other in a sense. They at least knew each other well enough that they could make statements about each other’s character (i.e. Boaz calls Ruth a “worthy woman” in Ruth 4:11).

Based on the epilogue given in Ruth 4:13-17, we’re pretty much told it’s a happy ending. The couple has a child and Naomi once again finds joy. And I am sure this is the kind of marriage many of us envision. To be with someone we know well and get along with. Isn’t God the most glorified when we have a righteous and God-fearing man leading a worthy woman of high character?

Well to some extent it is true. But this does not constitute the whole picture. It simply cannot be the case that the only way God is glorified in a marriage is through a “happy” couple. If we think back to the image of Christ and the Church and God with his chosen people Israel, the image we see is not like the one pictured in Ruth. It is a broken one full of unfaithfulness by God’s beloved.

That is not to say there are no Gospel-centric themes in this book—Boaz’s redemption of Ruth and thus the ‘fixing’ of her and Naomi’s brokenness clearly allude to Jesus’ redemption and ‘fixing’ of his people. However, as we know, despite Jesus’ redemption and fixing of us, it rarely is a one-and-done situation. We continue to sin and fall short.

Now I’m not saying that we don’t want an image of marriage like Ruth’s because two people fulfilling their covenant exactly as intended brings much glory to God. It’s easy to see. But what I am saying is if our ultimate goal of marriage really is to glorify God, then whether we enjoy spending time with the other person really should not be the primary matter at hand. What matters is the love of Christ to his church is adequately displayed. And this is displayed just as well or possibly even better in the love story of Hosea and Gomer.

Hosea and Gomer

Next, I want to take a look at the story of Hosea and Gomer. Hosea’s marriage, in a sense, is an ‘arranged one.’ Although the text does not say he was arranged with a specific person per se, it is arranged in a way where it is ‘arranged’ with someone he does not know particularly well nor is he given a lot of freedom or choice with regards to the type of person they are.

When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.” So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

Hosea 1:2-3

While the text does not go into excruciating detail about how the marriage goes, based on the way the wife is described in the passages above, we could guess that it is a difficult one. And so when we read Hosea 3, the situation we are given seems unsurprising.

The Lord said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.”

So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley. Then I told her, “You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will behave the same way toward you.”

Hosea 3:1-3

Hosea’s wife, Gomer, cheats on him with another man and Hosea must buy her back. He pays the price to redeem her. Now it is easy for us to say that this does not seem like a ‘good marriage.’ I’m sure that Hosea is less than thrilled to be put in such a position. And in that sense, we could argue that because of this, arranged marriages are less than preferable. What if we end up like Hosea? While it seems unlikely that we would be arranged with someone we knew was a serial cheater, it is still within the realm of possibility. And while that does seem far-fetched, the simple instance of it just being someone we don’t particularly get along with seems fairly realistic.

But what is important to note is that the arranger here is not just any mere person, but God himself. If we go back to Chapter 1, we’ll see that he is the one who commands this marriage.

When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.” So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

Hosea 1:2-3

Now, we ask ourselves, why would God command Hosea to go into a difficult marriage? Is that really glorifying to Him? To answer this, we need to circle back to the goal of marriage that Paul states in Ephesians:

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church—

Ephesians 5:21-29

Does setting up Hosea with an unfaithful wife really demonstrate the love between Christ and the church, God and his people?

It does. But we need to understand the whole story.

While Hosea’s wife does act unfaithful, God’s command for Hosea to find an unfaithful wife is not a coincidence. His wife is meant to represent the nation of Israel and their unfaithfulness towards God, worshipping or ‘loving’ foreign idols in his place. Hosea, on the other hand, is given the role of the unconditionally loving ‘redeemer’ in chapter 3. He buys her back for himself.

In the same way, God rescues his people, redeeming Israel from slavery.

In the same way, Jesus rescues his people, redeeming the church from the bondage of sin and death.

While a difficult and imperfect marriage seems counterintuitive to what marriage ought to be, God still uses it, powerfully demonstrating the relationship between Christ and the church in its unwavering love and continuing forgiveness.

Radically Different

Now that we’ve taken a look into both of those two stories, we can circle back to the original question at hand.

Can an arranged marriage really be better than one where you’ve had the chance to adequately filter someone specific out?

The answer is yes— if our goals are aligned with the idea that the primary purpose of marriage is to bring glory to God through the demonstration of the love that takes place between Christ and His church. In fact, one could argue that with such an understanding, learning to love someone who you may not necessarily get along with is actually a good thing. While Hosea’s case is certainly extreme, I’d imagine there are many marriages where couples have disagreements or conflicting perspectives. How can learning to resolve or even overlook some of those disagreements point to Christ and the church?

Therefore, the matter of ‘better’ between the two methods is an insignificant point. Neither is objectively ‘better.’ What is significant is how such a marriage brings glory to God through its role of demonstrating the love between Christ and the church. For some, it may look closer to Hosea and Gomer, albeit hopefully less extreme, of learning to love despite differences. For others, it may be continuing to walk faithfully in the path that they are already on, demonstrating a more ideal view of what we dream for the Christ and church to look like.

While the story of Hosea displays this ultimate form of love in a more particular way, I would think that it is something that not many of us would be able to bear well. As I stated in my disclaimer in the beginning, while this was true for Hosea, I think it would be unwise to apply God’s command to him in every circumstance where we face difficulty in our relationships and even in marriage. The calling he gave Hosea was a specific one given to a specific person during a specific time and specific place. That is not to say God may not give us similar challenges and trials but we should not understate the difficulty and hardship that Hosea was burdened with. I myself would struggle to be in Hosea’s shoes. Though the Bible does not promise anything with regard to this, I’d like to think that God does care for our mental and emotional well-being, especially with regard to our relationships. I would like to believe he takes into consideration our joy to some extent in the marriages he facilitates for us. Despite the somber perspective of this post, there is great joy to be found in marriage. How Hosea was so willing to endure such a thing, I’ll never know.

But I believe his story also serves as a challenge to us. A challenge to consider what things we may be holding back from God for our own benefit. We may be so concerned with our own well-being, that we are afraid to give God the glory he deserves. If today He called you to the same things that he called Hosea, what would you say? Where does your purpose in marriage or relationships lie? If not for God, Where?

Where does your purpose for anything and everything lie? If not for God? Where?

Though these two case studies were radically different, both displayed aspects of God’s love in vastly different ways and to some extent, different degrees. While God may not be calling us to bear the same burden as Hosea did, let us consider the ones he is calling us to, so that we’d be ready and willing to take up whatever lies ahead.

Stay cool,
Jason

Currently, I find myself in a season of waiting. And with all seasons of waiting, there is much uncertainty that comes with it. There are so many things in my life I’d like to see change in and with but the answer that I often find God giving is “not now” or “not yet.”

And what often emerges from that sea of uncertainty is a desire for assurance. Some kind of ‘guarantee.’

But the kind of ‘guarantee’ we are often looking for isn’t the kind of guarantee that God offers. God’s guarantee doesn’t lie in His creation but in the creator.

Our guarantee is not in unlimited food, water, or shelter but in a Father who provides those things. He is faithful to provide—all he asks of us is to have faith. That is not to say he would not provide if we do not, for that would be against his character.

If we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.

2 Timothy 2:13

We asked to trust in that character.

However, the methods which the Lord chooses to provide often act as a testing of our faith. He challenges us to trust him each and every day and remember that is the Lord and only the Lord that provides.

God Provides

While thematically this is plastered all throughout the Bible, the most notable example of it occurs in the book of Exodus. After the Israelites escape Egypt, they are left to wander in the desert. Hungry and thirsty, the Israelites cry out to their leader Moses for food and drink:

And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

Exodus 16:2-3

In response to that, God says that He will make it rain bread from the sky for them to eat. We often take that at face value—but isn’t that crazy?? Not only does the God of the universe hear their cries but he provides for them in a supernatural fashion.

However, this supernatural bread did come with a few terms and conditions.

For starters, they were to only gather as much as they needed each day.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not.

Exodus 16:4

This came with the exception of the sixth day, where they were asked to collect double portions in anticipation of the seventh day, “a solemn day rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord.”

On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.”

Exodus 16:5

he said to them, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning.’”

Exodus 16:23

Under this system, everyone collected as much as they needed. And everyone was provided for without lack.

And the people of Israel did so. They gathered, some more, some less. But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat.

Exodus 16:17-18

This is not so different from the prayer we pray when we recite the Lord’s prayer. “Give us each day/Give us today our daily bread.”

Give us this day our daily bread

Matthew 6:11

Each day we rely and wait on the Lord to provide. God is a provider and he has shown that he will provide. He provided for the generations before us and he will provide for us as well.

But What if He Doesn’t?

However, the question that often rings over and over in our heads is “But what if he doesn’t?”

It’s the same question that rang in the Israelites’ heads thousands of years ago when they broke the two simple terms and conditions that came with the Manna. You would think that seeing miracle bread fall from the sky would be testimony enough for them to not.

But it wasn’t. And for us, often neither are the many miracles and past provisions that God has done in our lives.

Let’s see how the story of Manna plays out.

But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat. And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over till the morning.” But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them.

Exodus 16:18-20

On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? See! The Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.” So the people rested on the seventh day.

Exodus 16:27-30

Despite having enough for each day that “there was no lack,” some of them still insisted on trying to collect extra for the next day.

Despite having enough after collecting a double portion on the sixth day, some of them still insisted on going out on the seventh day to collect more.

How often do we find ourselves doing this? We worry about scarcity and God’s provision despite his hand of sustenance showing itself upon us time and time again. And so what do we do? We attempt to hoard and collect when we have enough. We attempt to acquire on the days that God tells us to rest.

Do we really trust that God is provider? That he will provide? What is our guarantee in? Is it the provider? Or is it in the provided that we attempt to store up?

From time to time, I find myself referring to this passage from Proverbs below:

Two things I ask of you;
    deny them not to me before I die:
Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
    give me neither poverty nor riches;
    feed me with the food that is needful for me,
lest I be full and deny you
    and say, “Who is the Lord?”
or lest I be poor and steal
    and profane the name of my God.

Proverbs 30:7-9

It is a bout of wisdom but also a prayer—a prayer that I would not forget who my provider is. A prayer that I would remember my guarantees come not from the provided but from the provider. It is the Lord who gives and the Lord who takes away.

Lest I forget the name of the Lord.

He Has and He Will

Two thousand years ago, God brought salvation to this earth and its inhabitants through his son Jesus. And he did it during a time when it seemed all hope was lost. Israel, once again under captivity, desperately sought out the glory of God that had left the temple.

And in their seeking, God Himself came down to redeem them

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

Galatians 4:4-5

Not now or not yet does not necessarily mean not forever but it could mean that God is still waiting for the right moment.

After all, if we can trust God with our eternity, surely we can trust Him with today, tomorrow, and maybe even the day after that.

Instead, he tells us to do this: seek Him first and He will provide.

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Matthew 6:33-34

Seek first the provider and the provision will come.

God challenges us. He challenges us to trust Him each and every day. He challenges us to remember Him each and every day. He challenges us each and every day so that we do not fall victim to trusting in the provision rather than the provider.

give me neither poverty nor riches;
    feed me with the food that is needful for me,
lest I be full and deny you
    and say, “Who is the Lord?”
or lest I be poor and steal
    and profane the name of my God.

Stay cool,
Jason

Some of you may be surprised to hear this but at my core, I am actually a pessimist. Not necessarily at some conscious philosophical level but with regard to the lens through which I view the world, my innate or instinctual response is that things just won’t work out. Whether it’s the world at large, the communities around me, or even just my day-to-day, taking a negative view is just what comes naturally.

While admittedly, I can’t say that it’s a great way to view the world, I also wouldn’t say that it’s entirely a bad one either. A healthy pessimism can help us regulate expectations, keep us prepared, and make even the small victories just a little bit sweeter. Too much pessimism, however, will hold us back—the constant expectation of failure, anxious overpreparation, and a fear of taking risks can lead to a demoralizing way of life.

As a Christian though, I’m expected to have hope. And I do have hope. But it can be difficult to see how hopes of going to heaven or Jesus’ return translate into the everyday. It’s a lot easier to hope for tomorrow than to be optimistic about today.

And because of that, faith can sometimes be hard to come by. It requires a conscious effort in order to remind myself of the promises of God. It is in fact the ‘small’ promises, not the large ones, that I am in need of constant reminders the most. Yes, pessimism can rear its face in big ways, but I find that it is the subtle battles and unconscious reactions that are so deeply ingrained that lead me to forget God’s truth. It’s hard to fight against something that comes from within. But maybe even that in itself is a pessimistic belief.

One prayer I often find myself praying is a passage from the Gospel of Mark. In chapter 9, Jesus encounters a man and his possessed child. After the apostles fail to heal the boy, the man basically asks Jesus, “If you can, then please help us.” Jesus is appalled that he has such little faith and says that “all things are possible for one who believes” (Mark 9:23). The following verse reads this:

Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”

“help my unbelief!”

I often find myself like this man, praying that God would give me greater faith and greater belief. While my pessimism drives me to view the world in a particular way, God’s truths are bigger than my limited vision. While I see in part, He sees the whole.

Jesus has come to bring the good news. For the captive, He proclaims freedom. For the brokenhearted, he proclaims healing. For the pessimist, He proclaims that there is much to be hopeful for. Today, tomorrow, and every day.

A Broken World

A pessimistic take on the world assumes that the world itself is broken. Wars, corruption, injustice, and all kinds of suffering are all just symptoms of that. And we, as individuals, are powerless against it.

Why should the righteous be made to suffer while evil freely prospers? Why is no one held accountable for their wrongdoings while the innocent are punished on their behalf? These were the same questions that the author of Ecclesiastes was asking more than two millennia ago:

There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity.

Ecclesiastes 8:14

If this is all there is, then our lives are all but futile. We labor in vain and live in vain, only to end up in the same place as those who do injustice.

For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity. All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return.

Ecclesiastes 3:19-20

How can I, a mere individual, have any meaningful impact on such a big and broken world? It is all done in vanity.

But what does the Gospel have to say about this?

Two thousand years ago, Jesus came down to earth and started His ministry with just twelve disciples. Their names were Simon (Peter), Andrew, Jacob (Son of Zebedee), John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, Jacob (Son of Alphaeus), Simon, Judas Iscariot, and Judas (the Zealot).

Starting with only eleven of these men (minus Judas Iscariot), Jesus started a movement that brought the Good News not just to the Jews but to all the nations of the world.

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells his parable:

He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

Matthew 13:31-32

He is not afraid to start small! The kingdom of God may start small and it may take time but God’s will will be fulfilled. God will use even the things that the world deems as “insignificant” in order to fulfill His will.

But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are

1 Corinthians 1:27-28

Look no further than Jesus Himself—who took the curse of the cross, something meant for criminals and outcasts, “the despised,” and turned it into salvation for the world. While He intends to return and enact a final judgement tomorrow, He still challenges us to play a role in fixing the world and making it a bit better today.

There is hope for the pessimist. That in a broken world filled with violence, suffering, and injustice, God is already at work fixing it. And he is not afraid to start small either. While His promised final redemption of the world is yet to come, in many ways, it is already here.

A Broken People

A pessimistic take on people assumes that people are inherently broken. People will let you down. Not only that but barring consequence, there is a belief that people will choose whatever is self-serving. Even if it means choosing evil.

In Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan, he describes the lives of humans, without society, as “nasty, brutish, and short.” He believed that without a power to maintain order, each person would use whatever means necessary for one’s preservation. While Hobbes suggested the government as that maintaining force rather than God, I think that his description of the primitive man perfectly encapsulates the kind of imagery I am hoping to demonstrate.

Without something reeling people in, the ends will always justify the means. It can be as small as not paying the bus fare or can go as far as murdering to preserve one’s interests.

But what does the Gospel have to say about this?

While the Christian faith does acknowledge that we are broken people born into a broken world due to the effects of sin, that is neither the good news that Jesus brings nor the whole story.

Yes, people may be inclined to and drawn to sin. Yes, they are imperfect and commit all kinds of evil.

But, in the beginning, God made man in His image (Genesis 1:27), and after, he declared it to be ‘very good’ (Genesis 1:31). Intrinsically, people are hardwired to want to do good. That is why despite living in a predominately secular society, people will still opt to do good things—care for the less fortunate, advocate for the marginalized, and even pay for their bus fares. People still feel guilt when they do wrong. That is a part of us being made in the image of God.

Not only that, but God says that his people will be different. His people will not only desire to good but will do good. They will turn away from evil to do good.

But how will a broken people be able to do good if they are plagued by the same evil that they are so powerless against?

In the book of Ezekiel, God speaks of a new covenant he will make with his people:

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

Ezekiel 36:26-27

He will give His people new hearts and a new Spirit so that they will be able to do His commands and do good. They will no longer be powerless over the sin that binds them.

There is hope for the pessimist. That in a broken world of broken people, God will take some of them, fix them, and send them out to do His good work.

A Broken Person

A pessimistic take on the world and people implies I must have a pessimistic view of myself as well. If I am just another person in a sea of broken people in a broken world, then I am nothing more than another broken person in a sea of broken people in a broken world. My life, just like everyone else’s, is subject to the brokenness that rules over everything.

What that means is that I will fail. I will let people down. I will commit evil acts. I am just as capable of doing all the things I am afraid others might do unto me. Whether I desire to do good is irrelevant, I am limited to the confines of this world. And if this world is broken, I must be too.

And if I am subjected to that then my life must be as well. Am I destined to fail? Not just morally now but relationally, financially, spiritually, socially, physically, mentally, academically, vocationally? And if those things fail then what is left of me? Do I overcome those fears by freeing myself of expectations? If I have no expectations then there is nothing to fear. If I give up hope then no longer can pessimism hold its head over me.

However, with that mindset, does my pessimism rule over me already?

Let’s take a step back and circle back to the age-old question:

But what does the Gospel have to say about this?

The Gospel affirms I am in fact just another broken in a sea of broken people in a broken world. Yes, I am subject to the brokenness of this world.

But I am not powerless against it. In fact, God uses it.

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

2 Corinthians 12:9

Yes, I am destined to fail.

But I am not defined by my failure. I am free from the sin and evil that once bound me.

and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

Romans 6:18

Yes, my pessimism tries to strangle and kill my hope. It tempts me to anticipate the worst and be surprised by the best.

But my hope preserves. Because it is not dependent on a broken person in a broken world but a perfect, loving, unbreakable God who could do more than I could ever imagine:

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us

Ephesians 3:20

Who could’ve imagined that two thousand years ago God would send Jesus down to die for all sins and allow all these promises to eventually come to fruition?

I certainly couldn’t have.

What else can He do?

There is hope for the pessimist. That despite being a broken person in a broken world filled with broken people, pessimism does not get the final say. In my weakness, God’s power is made strong. In my failures, God’s redemption is made all the more clear. In my pessimism, the light of God’s hope shines brighter than ever. He can do more than I can imagine with this world, with its inhabitants, and with me.

Closing

As someone with a pessimistic view of the world, life can sometimes feel demoralizing. It isn’t exactly encouraging to innately think that things just won’t work out.

The Gospel, however, gives me hope. For today, tomorrow, and every day. And each day, I ask God to remind me of that. To give me the faith I so desperately lack. No matter how big I think my pessimism is, God is bigger.

There is hope for the pessimist. And His name is Jesus.

Stay cool,
Jason