What If God Gives You No Bread?

"Give us this day our daily bread." So you prayed today, fully expecting that God would grant you what you need for today. But . . . what if disaster strikes? What if you suddenly learn that you have cancer or that your mother just died from a heart attack? What if your house burns down after being struck by lightning or is burned up in an unstoppable forest fire? The what ifs can be multiplied.

What then? Can you still pray and give thanks as the Apostle instructed in yesterday's post?

. . . give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. - 1Th 5:18 ESV

In ALL circumstances? How is that possible? Surely Job's wife was correct when she advised,

Job by Leon Bonnat, c. 1860

"Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die." - Job 2:9 ESV 

Mrs. Job spoke with deep irony, for her word for curse is used in most other contexts of the Bible as the word for speaking a blessing, e.g.

And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. ... He also said, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant. - Gen 9:1, 26 ESV 

Yeah, right. So when God knocks me down and takes it all away, I'm supposed to say thanks and bless Him? You've got to be kidding! You've already damned me, God! You've taken everything precious away and I will not thank you for that.

What's the lesson for us when we're poor, beaten down, filled with fear, loss and sorrow? How can we give thanks in those circumstances? How indeed?

Job's answer to his wife is most instructive.

But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips. - Job 2:10 ESV

As hard as it may be in that moment, consider again how it is that you even dare to call yourself a child of God. Remember again that you are a member of God's family only by the grace and mercy of God freely displayed in Christ. Remember how you were called to faith, brought out of the certain eternal death we all deserve by the renewing work of the Holy Spirit. Remember that Jesus took you with Him into death and hell and from there to new life. Do not return to that foolishness that says that you deserve to have a perfect and wondrous life in the here and now. Too many name-it-and-claim-it false prophets teach that drivel.

Learn again what Job knew: "Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?"

But why?

Here we turn to Hebrews 12:1-13. Read over carefully the entire chapter several times. Ponder its meaning for you when you face adversity, suffering, sickness and loss. The writer makes several very important points.

• In Christ Jesus we truly are God's children and loved by Him. Already we have eternal life and we shall certainly share with Him in the imminent resurrection and renewal of all things.

• In the meantime we remain in this world, a world filled with dark powers, temptations, idolatry and evil. Our sinful flesh is constantly pulled toward them. 

• We truly need discipline and training in our struggle against sin. Who better to provide such discipline than our heavenly Father? If He were not to discipline us, then we would have to consider ourselves as illegitimate children and not His sons and daughters. 

• As we grow up, we eventually learn to respect our earthly fathers and mothers for their discipline and training. At the time we may not have. It was most painful and not at all pleasant to be denied and forced to do what we did not want to. But later on we learn how important it was that they did care enough to discipline us. 

• So should we not much more be willing to accept the discipline of our Father in heaven, the Father of all those who have gone before us into heaven? 

• Therefore pick up those hands that are clenched or have fallen helplessly at your side. Stop complaining and wobbling on your knees. Stand up, straighten your back. Take a deep breath and let out a prayer of thanks—yes even for this. 

• And then get on with what stands before you. Pull out that noxious "root of bitterness." It is very toxic and can only bring further suffering and sorrow. 

• Before us is the kingdom that cannot be shaken. And beyond this world's dark valley the Father's house awaits. The door is open and your room is already prepared. 

Our Father in heaven . . . give us today our daily bread!

Realism In the New Year

This morning I was perusing my list of favorite websites and came across this article in Religion and Ethics News Weekly: Religious Realism and New Realities | Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly.

In his article Robert W. Lovin suggests that President Obama is a realist about what can and will be accomplished in the realm of internal politics and international relations and wars. Sorry, but I couldn't find any personal information about the author other than that he is the Cary M Maguire Professor of Ethics at Southern Methodist University. I won't comment on his views about Pres. Obama. It was his opening sentences that especially caught my attention:

"One important thing that religion brings to politics is a certain kind of realism about human nature and human possibilities.


"In private life, we all exaggerate our own virtues and expect too much from our own plans. Faith helps us to keep our pride in check, and we can depend on friends and family to do it if our faith falls short."


". . . a certain kind of realism about human nature and human possibilities." How very interesting and how very vague. All that leads me to question what the Bible says about human nature and human possibilities, because as a Lutheran believer I'm not optimistic about human nature. After all, the confession we usually make at the beginning of our worship services goes something like this: "We are by nature sinful and unclean." Whatever does that mean?

Here's a quote from the Lutheran Formula of Concord that I'm currently reading.

"Original sin is not a sin that a person commits; rather it is embedded in the human being's nature, substance, and essence. That means that even if no evil thought ever arose in the heart of the corrupted human being, no idle word were uttered, no evil deed done, nonetheless our nature is corrupted by original sin, which is implanted in us at birth in the sinful seed and which is a source of all other, actual sins, such as evil thoughts, words, and deeds, as it is written, "Out of the heart come evil intentions . . . (Matthew 15:19), and "The inclination of the human heart is evil from youth" (Genesis 8:21)" (Epitome, Article I:21).

Notice the emphasis: embedded, corrupted, implanted at birth, a source of all other sins. Our heart is inclined toward evil. Out of the heart come evil intentions.

Now that ought to make any of us realistic about what can be accomplished whether in politics or business or regular, down to earth daily living.

Of course that's not all there is to this topic. I'll try to add a bit more in future entries. For now, it seems best to temper this year's optimistic expectations with some realism even as we step into it with faith in our Lord's guiding hand.