Better Than Expected
Once upon a time, someone I didn’t know contacted me for information about our church. He said he was thinking about visiting—”But,” he warned me, “don’t get your hopes up.” Well, he ended up stopping by and apparently found us to be better than expected, for he has been with us ever since. He too has exceeded my expectations in every way (which wasn’t too difficult since I heeded the prophetical warning and got my hopes down as low as humanly possible).
One of Satan’s tricks to keep us from believing the gospel is to lie about what it’s really like to be a Christian. “Sure, you can be forgiven and have eternal life, but then you’ll have to live the…(insert scary music)…Christian life.” How lamely he paints it, how goodie-goodie and boring it must be, how agonizing to leave behind our sinful pleasures and submit to that grumpy God in the sky. But oh how our expectations were exceeded when we tasted and saw that the Lord is good!
He plays the same trick on us after we become believers. “Don’t get your hopes up too much about God’s new creation in the life to come,” he says. And so we focus on the here and now, we fear what’s to come, and we lose sight of the mind-blowing realities that await us in Christ. Let’s clap back by getting our hopes up as high as we can about the good things God has in store for all who hope in him. Not to worry, they will be way better than ever expected.
God’s Toys
At the end of the day, we’re all kids. That’s how we feel inside, like the little boy or girl we once were. Compared to the ancestors of old, we are mere children indeed, dying at ages when their life spans were just beginning to blossom.
In any case, God stoops down to our level to teach us his wisdom. Often he does so by using earthly imagery to picture spiritual and heavenly realities. Saint Augustine put it like this:
The divine Scriptures are in the habit of making something like children’s toys out of things that occur in creation, by which to entice our sickly gaze and get us step by step to seek as best we can the things that are above…
Let’s enjoy the simple and earthen images with which the Scriptures are rich, allowing ourselves to be led by them to the greater realities which they embody. Let’s enjoy all created things in a manner that they may lead us to God’s throne.
Wisdom Wears a Smile
Who is like the wise? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man’s wisdom makes his face shine, and the hardness of his face is changed.
Ecclesiastes 8:1
Man’s ability to understand was pictured by the ancients (20th century cartoonists) as the cerebral light bulb. If the Bible was comics, the bulb floating above Solomon’s head would be 1000 watts, for God had turnt it all the way up.
He enjoyed the experience many times and describes it brilliantly, as quoted above. When we finally understand something that has been troubling or eluding us, our hardened scowl of confusion is eased and lifted by the lightness of comprehension.
Though we may hide it well on our faces, none can hide the furrowed brow of the soul. If we wish to find ourselves in a lighter frame of spirit, Solomon points the way: wisdom. We have but to ask, and we, like he, will have our generous share from God.
We may be haunted by unpleasant facts, but God’s gift of wisdom arranges all facts so we can read the greater fact or meaning in every thing, which is undoubtedly the glory of God in Christ for our good.
Simply Put
Long ago we wanted to be wise. That’s how the serpent got our parents in the Garden. Ever since, we have prided ourselves on what we know.
The Wise God-Man changes this. Fools become truly wise by simple faith in him. Christian truth does demand deep thinking at times, and many parts of Scripture are difficult to understand. But the psalmist reminds us who does the real orb-pondering:
How great are your works, O LORD! Your thoughts are very deep!
Psalm 92:5
At the end of the day, being a Christian means that God’s got us. His thoughts are very deep so ours don’t have to be. We don’t need to figure everything out anymore because the divine mind is brimming with plots and schemes for our good. What a relief! We’re free to serve him in simple faith and obedience right where we are.
The Best Company
Friends make life fun. With a good friend by our side, difficult things become easier. Imagine school without friends! Even good things would lose a good deal of their goodness if we couldn’t share them: things like meals, movies, music, mountains, and even a little mischief. Good friends just make life great.
Thoughts of our friends can comfort us when we feel alone. David cheered himself by thinking of his friends when he was alone in the wilderness, being hunted by the very opposite of friends. Psalm 142 preserves his prayer, which he ends on this note of hope:
The righteous will surround me, for you will deal bountifully with me.
Simply put, there is no blessing like the blessing of good friends who love God. May we all find ourselves surrounded by them.
A Thing in Season
He has made everything beautiful in its time.
What makes something beautiful is not only itself, but its setting. The wise man Solomon ponders this truth in Ecclesiastes 3. Just as a word in season is enhanced with power and effect, so too are all the events of life, each in their time. “For everything there is a season” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). The poetic list which follows this verse is worth our study and meditation. Let us adapt to each situation in life and allow ourselves the freedom of the appropriate response. Even as one of our own poets has said,
My actions are one with the seasons.
Old Trees, New Leaves
Psalm 92 is a banger. It’s unique in the Psalter, being the only Psalm dedicated explicitly to the holy day of rest. It’s a good one for reclining upon the Lord’s bosom. Among other nuggets of heavenly wisdom, the psalmist drops this gem about the righteous in verse 14:
They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green…
An old, seasoned Christian is a formidable creature to behold. While our bodies may be weakening, our spiritual vibrancy shines through. Let those of us who are not yet aged take heed to this wisdom and get planted alongside the flourishing trees of God’s people. As one of our own poets has said,
As long as the love and the trust is there, we’re gonna grow, like a plant.
The Reformed Doctrine of the Now
It was said of Michael Jordan that the real secret to his success was that he lived fully in the present moment. Now was all there was for him. Behold, a more Enlightened One than MJ has spoken the wisdom, “Tomorrow will worry about itself.” And the reason it can do so is precisely because God rules all moments at once, even the tomorrow we fear. He’s already there, waiting for us (as it were) with plenty of grace to help. So let’s leave it to him and immerse in today.
Why Is God Doing This to Me?
We think God disciplines us because he is mad at us. When he rebukes us, perhaps taking something away or frustrating a plan, we think he is saying, “You’ve had your fun, now you’re done.” That makes sense to us because that’s how we are. But he is different:
My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.
-Proverbs 3:11–12
In reality, our tender Heavenly Father is training us not to go in the ways of sin that will bring much worse upon us. It is his way of getting our attention. So when it happens, let’s learn the lesson well and thank him for it.
For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.
-Psalm 84:11
The Reformed Doctrine of Pleasant Words
Since God rules all things, his word is supreme. As supreme, that word is not only powerful, but utterly delightful. It is pleasant to the human soul (though it is offensive to our sin and terrifying to God’s enemies). But the believer understands the pleasures of God’s word. Our dear brother Solomon had the privilege of enjoying this pleasure as he pondered and penned the very words:
The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.
-Ecclesiastes 12:10
If God’s word was not pleasant it would not be God’s word, for he is the source of all pleasure. Let’s steward our taste for God’s word and treasure it always, for truth, and for enjoyment. As the catechism says, our chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. For now, we do this mainly through the sweet, sweet delights of Scripture.