Jon Bloom's Blog, page 50

How to Humbly Give and Receive Correction

Because we struggle so much with pride, correction can be difficult to give graciously and difficult to receive graciously.

That’s one reason to be very thankful for Exodus 18. God is so kind to have Jethro and Moses give us a clinic on what humble correction looks like on both sides.

The Context

At this point in the story, Jethro, Moses’s father-in-law, had escorted Moses’s wife (his daughter) and two boys to rejoin the wild wilderness adventure and heard first hand all the amazing things that God had done for Israel through Moses. Jethro burst into praise and proclaimed God’s supremacy (verses 10–11).

Then Jethro observed his son-in-law at work. Moses was clearly an extraordinary prophet, leader and judge. But there was a problem. Moses spent his whole day judging one dispute after another. Pending cases were backing up. Jethro could feel the mounting frustration and draining fatigue.

Here’s where the clinic begins.

Corrector: Ask Clarifying Questions

When Moses finally took a break, Jethro asked him a clarifying question: “Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?” (verse 14).

Asking this question was wise and kind. Jethro didn’t jump to a conclusion based on his own perspective. He asked first.

This gave Moses a chance to explain what he was doing and why (verses 15–16): The LORD instructed Moses regarding the law, and Moses’s job was to teach the people and help them apply it to their particular situations. That explanation was helpful.

Corrector: Be Graciously Frank

Understanding this, Jethro said to Moses, “What you are doing is not good. You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone” (verses 17–18).

Jethro was frank: “what you are doing is not good.” No beating around the bush. But Jethro was also gracious. Defective systems can undermine the best mission. His goal was to lift a burden, not tear down intentions.

Corrector: Undergird, Don’t Undermine

Notice that Jethro’s critique wasn’t ad hominem. He didn’t say, “Moses, you’re a lousy leader. It shouldn’t take an administrative genius to see that your system doesn’t scale. Do you think you’re qualified to lead two million people?”

No. Jethro’s goal wasn’t to undermine Moses leadership but undergird him. He observed a problem, sought to understand it, identified the core weakness, and offered a helpful solution (verses 19–23). Jethro aimed to increase the effectiveness of Moses’s time use and the meeting of people’s needs.

Correctee: No Prideful Deflections

Now note Moses’s remarkably humble response: “So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said” (Exodus 18:24).

Moses didn’t bristle defensively at Jethro. He didn’t brush him off as an outsider who didn’t understand the organization. He didn’t try to save face by lying that he’d been thinking about doing that very thing himself. And he didn’t pull spiritual rank on Jethro by reminding him who of the two of them heard directly from God more.

No. Moses gratefully received and immediately implemented Jethro’s counsel.

Correctee: In Correction Listen for God’s Direction

Even though Moses frequently received immediate verbal direction from God, he was not narrow in his understanding of how God speaks and directs. Since God ruled everything he could just as easily direct him through a father-in-law as from a cloud.

If God used Jethro’s correction to direct Moses to greater effectiveness, how much more should we be humbly listening for God’s direction in the correction of those he sends to us?

Correctee: Correction Is a Gift, and Not Only For You

Jethro’s correction wasn’t just God’s provision for Moses, it was also God’s provision for the needs of thousands of people. When God brings correction to us through the loving observation of someone else, it’s a gift, but not only for us. It’s often for many others as well. If we pridefully resist correction, we are likely plugging up a channel of grace to others. There’s more at stake in our humility than we realize.

Summary

So to sum up the lessons from the Exodus 18 Correction Clinic:

When giving correction:

Ask clarifying questions to gain a more accurate understanding. Don’t assume.
Be graciously frank. Don’t hint or over-qualify. Just say what you see with the humility that you might not be seeing perfectly.
Undergird, don’t undermine. Construct, don’t destruct. Be a strength by helping to find a solution that pursues the good of everyone involved.

When receiving correction:

No prideful deflections. If the correction is needed, humbly receive it.
Listen for God’s direction. God likes to lead us in ways that cultivate our humility.
Correction is a gift, and not only for you. Your correction may also be someone else’s provision.

Correction is a form of the Lord’s discipline. And Proverbs 12:1 says, “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.” May the Lord help us to love knowledge today.

Recent posts from Jon Bloom:

God’s Bright Design for Your Bitter Providences

Hope for the Battle with Intractable Weakness

Six Benefits of Ordinary Daily Devotions

God’s Bright Design for Your Bitter Providences

This is the will of God, your sanctification. (1 Thessalonians 4:3)

“God Moves in a Mysterious Way”

God tells us everything we need to know to live godly lives (2 Peter 1:3). But sometimes we wonder.

The unexpected, unexplained twists and turns our lives take create all kinds of apparent uncertainties for us. And the profound pain we endure can be so perplexing. There is so much God doesn’t tell us — so much we think we would really like to know.

But as Deuteronomy 29:29 says, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever.”

This means that as creatures we must learn to live contentedly with what God intends to be mysterious to us and grab hold of the revealed things with everything we have.

“Deep in Unfathomable Mines”

The secrets God keeps from us are a greater mercy to us than we likely realize. We often forget just how thin is the sliver of reality we see and information we can contain at any given time. Humans are not equipped to handle what the Bible calls “the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:17).

When we want God to start giving us some answers, we need the Bible to help us get our heads out of the claustrophobic confines of our private worlds and into the galactic greatness of what God is allowing us to be a part of. We need to remember that we’re dealing with God here.

God is a person for whom time, space, and matter present no limitations. He has dimensions accessible to him that we know nothing about. He is Trinitarian in his essence (Matthew 28:19). He holds tens (maybe hundreds) of billions of galaxies together by the word of his power (Hebrews 1:3). He has created and governs every throne, dominion, ruler or authority (Colossians 1:16) and every being that is invisible to us, whether angel (Romans 8:38) or demon (Luke 4:41). He is orchestrating all of human history (Acts 17:26) with its multiple billions of complex individuals past, present, and future — of which each of us is only one — and multiple trillions of interweaving causes and effects — of which each of us only experiences a relative handful. And he’s working all of these things toward a point when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:10–11).

And we wonder why we struggle to understand what God is doing in our difficult circumstances.

“He Treasures Up His Bright Designs”

God is doing ten thousand things in our circumstances! That’s likely a significant underestimate.

We would fall on our faces in awe-filled worship if we saw the chain reaction for our eternal good (Romans 8:28) and that of other present and future believers that God is engineering in just one seemingly random occurrence (Proverbs 16:33) that today might be the source of our grumbling because of the grief it is causing us. Now think of a lifetime’s worth.

God doesn’t explicitly promise this, but I tend to think that one of the glories and joys of the age to come will be God’s unveiling of the bright, extensive designs of his bitter providences in this age and the grace upon grace upon grace that they unleashed while we, not knowing, simply held on to Proverbs 3:5 with all our might.

“His Purposes Will Ripen Fast”

But what God does explicitly promise is that every moment and level of suffering we experience as we live by faith (Romans 1:17) “is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17).

That thing that you don’t want, that you’re weary of, that you plead with God to remove (and might remove at some point unless he says otherwise [2 Corinthians 12:9]) is preparing you for glory.

God’s will for you is your sanctification (1 Thessalonians 4:3). He wants you to share his holiness (Hebrews 12:10). And the kindness of God in pursuing this for you is incomprehensively wonderful because without his holiness you will have no real and lasting happiness. Only in his presence is fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11) and only the pure in heart will see him (Matthew 5:8).

You want him to make you holy. You really do. Whatever it takes.

“Ye Fearful Saints Fresh Courage Take”

The God who governs the visible and invisible worlds knows what he is doing in your life. The God who was brutally murdered on a Roman cross knows what it’s like to suffer and how to redeem it. Specifically how he will bring good out of your trials may be mysterious to you now, but that he will bring good out of them is not a mystery. It’s a promise.

And this is where you get to participate with God in your sanctification! You get to act the miracle. You work out your salvation (Philippians 2:12) by believing the promises God makes to you (John 6:29).

And as you believe God’s promises you will bear the “peaceful fruit of righteousness” (Hebrews 12:11), which are the attitudes and actions of those who live by faith in the Son of God (Galatians 2:20). Behavior always follows belief. So your belief will result in faith-filled obedience to God (Romans 1:5) and produce various kinds of faith-fueled works for God (2 Thessalonians 1:11).

The secret things are the Lord’s for a very good reason. Trust him with the mystery. But the revealed things are yours and they are glorious. Believe them and one day you’ll share God’s holiness and all the forevermore pleasures he has prepared for you (Psalm 16:11).

Each of the headers in bold are lines from William Cowper’s beloved hymn, “God Moves In a Mysterious Way.” Acting the Miracle: God’s Work and Ours in the Mystery of Sanctification, edited by John Piper and David Mathis, with contributions from Kevin DeYoung, Ed Welch, Jarvis Williams, and Russell Moore, is now available in softcover and a free PDF.

Recent posts from Jon Bloom:

Hope for the Battle with Intractable Weakness

Six Benefits of Ordinary Daily Devotions

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/lay-aside-the-weight-of-prideful-comparison

Hope for the Battle with Intractable Weakness

We all have sin-infected weaknesses that are intractable. They are deeply woven into the fabric of who we are and are frequently exacerbated by our sinful responses to them.

Inherent weaknesses are different from indwelling sin. Indwelling sin is evil that is waging war against God in our very members (Romans 7:21–23). Inherent weaknesses are our bodily experience of God’s curse of futility that is affecting all of creation (Romans 8:20). Sin is moral corruption resulting in real guilt. Weakness is a constitutional corruption — a disease or disorder or disability — resulting in sometimes anguishing struggle.

When we’re young, we tend to underestimate our weaknesses. We think they’ll change when our situation changes. Or we believe they will simply fade away as we get older. Or we assume our future mature selves will muster the discipline to conquer them. Or surely the Spirit will come with healing power and give us victory.

We battle our weaknesses every day for years. And years. And at some point, often in middle age, we find ourselves bewildered. Our old enemy is not vanquished. We thought sanctification was supposed to be progressive. Where’s the progress? Will this never end?

To all of us who find ourselves weary, let this precious and very great promise (2 Peter 1:4) wash over us today and revive our hope:

I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6)

A Good Work

This thing that you are wrestling with, this protracted struggle that can be so frustrating and painful, is being used by God to accomplish a good work. It is building faith by making you desperate to mine the promises of God for hope. Thus it is building hope in a reality that you do not yet see (Romans 8:24–25). And it is building love for the Lord’s appearing (2 Timothy 4:8), for when that day comes “we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).

Completion

On the cross, when our justification was accomplished, Jesus declared, “It is finished” (John 19:30). Someday he will say the same thing about our sanctification. His single offering “perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14). Jesus will bring it to completion. Yes, there will be an end.

At the Day of Christ Jesus

God is merciful to us in Philippians 1:6. He tells when to expect the process to be completed: “at the day of Christ Jesus.” We must not have an over-realized eschatology when it comes to our sanctification. Now we groan inwardly (Romans 8:23). We are supposed to. That’s part of the plan. Our struggle is meant to point us to the day of Christ Jesus when we will experience “the redemption of our bodies.”

Redemption is coming. Your weakness and “the fiery trial [that has come] upon you to test you” (1 Peter 4:12) is not intended to shame or condemn you. It is there to teach you faith, hope, love and anticipation. God will provide for all of your needs now (Philippians 4:19), and you will find “at the day of Christ Jesus” that every anguishing faith battle prepared for you “a weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17).

For more on sanctification, see Desiring God’s newly available Acting the Miracle: God’s Work and Ours in the Mystery of Sanctification, which includes contributions from John Piper, Kevin DeYoung, Ed Welch, David Mathis, Jarvis Williams, and Russell Moore. The full PDF is now available.

Six Benefits of Ordinary Daily Devotions

Private devotions aren’t magic. We know that (for the most part).

But still, we can be tempted to think that if we just figure out the secret formula — the right mixture of Bible meditation and prayer — we will experience euphoric moments of rapturous communion with the Lord. And if that doesn’t happen, our formula must be wrong.

The danger of this misconception is that it can produce chronic disappointment and discouragement. Cynicism sets in and we give up or whip through them to alleviate guilt because devotions don’t seem to work for us.

Our longing for intimate communion with God is God-given. It’s a good thing to desire, ask for, and pursue. The Spirit does give us wonderful occasional tastes. And this longing will be satisfied to overflowing some day (Psalm 16:11).

But God has other purposes for us in the discipline of daily Bible meditation and prayer. Here are a few:

Soul Exercise (1 Corinthians 9:24, Romans 15:4): We exercise our bodies to increase strength, endurance, promote general health, and keep unnecessary weight off. Devotions are like exercise for our souls. They force our attention off of self-indulgent distractions and pursuits and on to God’s purposes and promises. If we neglect this exercise our souls will go to pot.

Soul Shaping (Romans 12:2): The body will generally take the shape of how we exercise it. Running shapes one way, weight training shapes another way. The same is true for the soul. It will conform to how we exercise (or don’t exercise) it. This is why changing your exercise routine can be helpful. Read through the Bible one year, camp in a book and memorize it another year, take a few months to meditate on and pray through texts related to an area of special concern, etc.

Bible Copiousness (Psalm 119:11, Psalm 119:97, Proverbs 23:12): A thorough, repeated, soaking in the Bible over the course of years increases our overall Biblical knowledge, providing fuel for the fire of worship and increasing our ability to draw from all parts of the Bible in applying God’s wisdom to life.

Fight Training (Ephesians 6:10–17): Marines undergo rigorous training in order to so ingrain their weapons knowledge that when suddenly faced with the chaos of combat they instinctively know how to handle their weapons. Similarly, daily handling and using the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17) makes us more skilled spiritual warriors.

Sight Training (2 Corinthians 5:7, 2 Corinthians 4:18): Jesus really does want us to see and savor him. Savoring comes through seeing. But only the eyes of faith see him. “Blind faith” is a contradiction, at least biblically. Faith is not blind. Unbelief is blind (John 9:38–41). Faith is seeing a reality that physical eyes can’t see and believing it (1 Peter 1:8). And “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). So if we’re going to savor Jesus, we must see him in the word he speaks. Faith is a gift (Ephesians 2:8). And like most of God’s gifts, they are intended to be cultivated. Daily devotions are an important way to train our faith-eyes to see the glory of Jesus in his word and training our emotions to respond to what our faith-eyes see. Keep looking for glory. Jesus will give you Emmaus moments (Luke 24:31–32).

Delight Cultivation (Psalm 37:3–4, James 4:8, Psalm 130:5): When a couple falls in love there are hormonal fireworks. But when married they must cultivate delight in one another. It is the consistent, persistent, faithful, intentional, affectionate pursuit of one another during better and worse, richer and poorer, sickness and health that cultivates a capacity for delight in each other far deeper and richer than the fireworks phase. Similarly, devotions are one of the ways we cultivate delight in God. Many days it may seem mundane. But we will be surprised at the cumulative power they have to deepen our love for and awareness of him.

There are many more benefits. You could certainly add to this list. But the bottom line is this: don’t give up on daily devotions. Don’t whip through them. Don’t let them get crowded out by other demands.

Brick upon brick a building is built. Lesson upon lesson a degree is earned. Stroke upon stroke a painting is created. Your devotions may have seemed ordinary today, but God is making something extraordinary through it. Press on. Don’t short-change the process.

Recent posts from Jon Bloom:

Lay Aside the Weight of Prideful Comparison

The Impoverishing Power of Financial Prosperity

You Can Take Heart in Uncertainty

Lay Aside the Weight of Prideful Comparison

By the grace of God I am what I am. (1 Corinthians 15:10)

God made you to be you.

You have the body God gave you — with all its genetic capacities and limitations (Psalm 139:13). You were born at the time and place he determined (Acts 17:26).

And if you’re a Christian, he has called you out of darkness into light (Ephesians 5:8). God considers you a necessary part of Christ’s body, the Church (1 Corinthians 12:27), and he has given you particular gifts to use for the sake of this body — along with a measured amount of grace for using them (Romans 12:6).

Battling Comparison

That means the life that you have is a sacred calling (1 Corinthians 7:17). By the grace of God, you are what you are (1 Corinthians 15:10).

It also means that the lives others have are sacred callings by the grace of God. And some of those saints have received sacred callings resulting in greater levels of gifting and prominence than yours.

And this means that you and I frequently must battle against comparing ourselves with others.

Hijacked by Pride

Comparison is not inherently sinful. In fact, the Bible wants us to be “imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Hebrews 6:12). Imitation requires comparison.

But if we are not vigilant and ruthlessly pursuing humility, pride will hijack comparison. Pride wants glory for the self and sees others not as necessary parts of Christ’s body carrying out sacred callings, but as threats to self-glory. When pride rules comparison, jealousy and selfish ambition result (James 3:16).

A Weight to Lay Aside

We can tell this is happening in us when we look at others and don’t see the grace of God, but reflections of our own inferiority. We don’t see them as windows into God’s glory, but as mirrors into which we are asking, “Who’s the fairest one of all?” — and we know it’s not us.

The resulting discouragement becomes like an iron ball on our spiritual leg making it very hard to run. Which means prideful comparison is a weight we must lay aside (Hebrews 12:1).

How do we do that?

Name the Craving

When you feel that familiar discouragement — that faith-depleting, courage-sapping self-pity that tells you that you’re a loser — don’t be passive. Pride and Satan are conspiring to abort your race. It’s war.

It might feel like a general discouragement, but there’s something specific you’re believing that’s giving life to this discouragement. Develop the habit of asking your soul questions. “Why are you cast down, O my soul?” (Psalm 42:5). Make yourself put it into words. Be specific (don’t just accept “I don’t do anything well”). Name what it is that you crave.

Repent

As soon as you recognize a desire for self-glory, repent. Lay it aside. It’s an idolatrous, God-belittling, joy-destroying sin. Call it what it is, and God will forgive you (1 John 1:9) and give you grace (James 4:6).

Feed Your Weary Soul Nourishing Promises

Pride-fueled jealousy and selfish ambition leave the soul empty and tired. But the promises of God believed immediately produce the energy of hope. Eat promises like these:

Jesus chose you and appointed you: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you” (John 15:16).

God will equip you — “with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ” (Hebrews 13:21).

God will always provide sufficient grace for you: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (1 Corinthians 12:9).

God sees and rewards faithful, obscure labors for him: “Your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matthew 6:6).

God assesses the heart, not outward impressiveness: “The Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).

God will complete the work he began in you: “I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).

Jesus will always be with you: “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

Serve in the Strength God Supplies

Get back in the faith race! Carry on with your serving! Don’t be immobilized by less than pure motives. Nothing you do this side of glory will be perfectly pure. Everything is sanctified by the work of Jesus. Serve in the strength that God supplies (1 Peter 4:11), according to the grace he’s given to you (Romans 12:6), in the sacred calling he has on your life (1 Corinthians 7:17).

Let’s resolve again today to lay aside the weight of prideful comparison, doing “nothing from selfish ambition or conceit” (Philippians 2:3), but in humble faith, remaining “steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord [our] labor is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58).

More from Jon Bloom’s “Lay Aside the Weight” series:

Lay Aside the Weight of Fragmented Focus

Lay Aside the Weight of “Not Feeling Like It”

Lay Aside the Weight of Self-Preoccupation

Lay Aside the Weight of Sluggishness

Lay Aside the Weight of Fear

Lay Aside the Weight of Doubt

Lay Aside Every Weight

The Impoverishing Power of Financial Prosperity

The story of the rich young man in Mark 10 has a chilling message: earthly prosperity can make people spiritually destitute.

“Teacher! Teacher, please wait!”

Jesus and his disciples were just leaving town. They turned and saw a young man hurrying toward them. His clothes, carriage, elocution all communicated “aristocrat.” But his face was distressed and there was urgency in his voice. The disciples assumed someone else needed healing or deliverance.

The man dropped to his knees in front of Jesus and blurted out, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Unusual. Not many wealthy people were so earnest about such things. The disciples looked back at Jesus. Still trying to figure this out themselves, they were eager for his answer.

He looked intensely at the young man for a moment. Then he said, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.” Not the expected reply. The disciples were getting used to this but the man just looked confused.

Jesus let his comment sink in for a bit. Then he said, “You know the commandments: Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.” At the time the disciples didn’t think much of it, but later they discussed the commandments that Jesus didn’t mention, like “You shall have no other gods before me.” Another lesson: even what Jesus doesn’t say means something.

The man replied, “Teacher,” leaving off “good” this time, “all these things I have kept from my youth.” Remarkable. Most people desperate to talk to Jesus were either sick, demonized, or sinners looking for forgiveness. Why was a pious young man so troubled about his soul?

Jesus paused again and his face began to radiate affection. The disciples anticipated a word of commendation or comfort. But what came out of Jesus’s mouth was, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

All eyes moved back to the young man. They watched blood and hope drain out of his face. His head drooped and he stared at the ground. He hoped he wouldn’t get sick in front of everyone.

The man was devastated. He had known something was wrong but he hadn’t been able to put his finger on it. Most folks who knew him thought he was a good boy and told him that his wealth was God’s blessing. But he hadn’t been able to shake this nagging sense of guilt, even with all the rituals. He had hoped Jesus would give him the answer. But he wasn’t prepared for this answer. However, he now knew why his soul was troubled. All it took was a clear choice between two treasures: God or wealth. There, on his knees in the dirt before Jesus, he realized which treasure he loved more. And it wasn’t God.

He slowly got up and without making eye contact again walked away burdened.

Jesus watched him. Quiet murmuring began. Then he said, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God.” The hush was tense. Then Jesus looked at them. His eyes were pained and he said, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

The disciples gave each other unsettled glances. Each of them was suddenly very aware of idolatrous cravings in his own heart. One of them said, almost under his breath, “Then who can be saved?” It did not escape Jesus’s ear. With unexpected joy he said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” And he set off down the road.

According to Jesus, earthly prosperity is extraordinarily dangerous. It makes it humanly impossible to enter God’s kingdom. It’s fool’s gold. But its power is so blinding that when Jesus held out real treasure to this man in exchange for the counterfeit, he wouldn’t trade. And what he did was choose poverty over incalculable eternal wealth.

Idols are not to be messed with. They are to be destroyed. If financial security is an idol for us, Jesus will call us, in some way, to abandon it.

If you are in a place where God is asking you to trust and treasure him over money, remember that it is a great mercy. It might feel like a “fiery trial” (1 Peter 4:12) because you’re being asked to die to what you once believed would bring you life. Don’t be surprised “as though something strange were happening to you.” What’s really happening is that Jesus is showing you the path of life (Psalm 16:11). He’s offering you a priceless gift.

God is making a camel pass through a needle’s eye. And all things are possible with him.

Recent posts from Jon Bloom:

You Can Take Heart in Uncertainty

Jesus Has Overcome the World

Lay Aside the Weight of Fragmented Focus

You Can Take Heart in Uncertainty

Uncertainty is a difficult thing to bear. We want to know where the provision is going to come from or if we’re going to die of this disease or how this child is going to turn out or if our job will still be there next month.

But as we see in Luke 9:57–58, Jesus makes it clear that his disciples must be able to bear uncertainty if they are to follow him.

“I will follow you wherever you go.”

I’m sure that whoever made this public declaration to Jesus was sincere. They likely had heard him preach and seen him perform amazing signs and wonders. As Jesus’s fame increased, so did the number of his would-be disciples.

What the person might not have known was that at that moment Jesus was homeless.
Jesus and his cohort were traveling south from Galilee. He had set his face to go to Jerusalem, where his resolute purpose was to die. But to get there he had to travel through Samaria.

Getting the Context

Back then there was a lot of bad blood between Jews and Samaritans. More precisely, Samaritans had the bad blood. They were the result of centuries of intermarriage and religious syncretism between Jews and Israel’s former Gentile conquerors.

Over the centuries the Samaritans had developed their own version of the scriptures and built their own temple on their own mountain. Their beliefs were defective distortions of Jewish orthodoxy. Therefore, the Jews had “no dealings with Samaritans” (John 4:9) and vice versa.

But Jesus had made a bit of a name for himself among the Samaritans. For a Jew, Jesus spoke with and about Samaritans with unprecedented kindness and compassion. In fact, in the town of Sychar he had spoken with a woman of questionable reputation and as a result she and many from that town believed Jesus was the Messiah (John 4:1–42).
Be that as it may, Jesus was turned away from a Samaritan town when he attempted to make lodging arrangements there. If his face was set toward Jerusalem, he wasn’t welcome.

This really ticked off the disciples. The Samaritans weren’t just heretics, they were ingrates. James and John wanted to burn the town off the map.

Things Will Go “Wrong”

But Jesus hadn’t come to judge the world. He had come to save it (John 12:47). So he simply moved on without any place to stay the night.

So when an adoring fan announced his desire to follow him anywhere, Jesus deglamorized things a bit by replying, “Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Luke 9:58).

God doesn’t tell us how that person responded because what’s important is the implied question: can you bear uncertainty? Can you bear not knowing how God is going to provide for your most urgent needs and still trust that he will?

It is a question that Jesus wants all of his disciples to wrestle with. There are simply going to be times when we don’t know where the provision is going to come from. Circumstances will look precarious, sometimes foreboding and threatening. Plans are going to fall through. People are going to disappoint us. They may reject or misunderstand our mission. If these things happened to Jesus, we should not be surprised when they happen to us. And we are not to become angry when they do. Note that Jesus rebuked James and John for their response (Luke 9:55).

You Can Take Heart

Jesus does not want us to be governed by fear at such times. He wants us governed by faith. The reason is that the uncertainty is only apparent uncertainty. Our future and our provision and our ultimate triumph are certain to God. He has all the foreknowledge, power, resources, and desire to turn everything for good for those who love him and are called by him (Romans 8:28).

Apparently uncertain seasons are usually the most powerful God-moments we experience. They often put God on display more than other seasons, demonstrating that God exists and rewards those who seek him (Hebrews 11:6).

So if you are in one of those seasons, take heart. You are likely experiencing what it means to have a God “who acts for those who wait for him” (Isaiah 64:4).

Recent posts from Jon Bloom:

Jesus Has Overcome the World

Lay Aside the Weight of Fragmented Focus

How to Endure Common-to-Man Temptations

Jesus Has Overcome the World

One thing the Bible is not is utopist about life in this world. It gets unfairly criticized for encouraging a pessimism that makes people passive about doing anything to improve things; people who are “too heavenly minded to be any earthly good.”

Of course, that’s a lot of hogwash. History has shown that those who have a hope of heaven are far more likely than their agnostic neighbors to willingly make the personal sacrifices necessary to seriously address the horrors and hopelessness in the world.

And the Bible doesn’t gloss over the horrors. Reading the whole Bible through, we wince a lot. And it is pretty frank about what we can expect during our sojourn on earth:

So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity. (Ecclesiastes 11:8)

There Will Be Darkness

When Jesus walked the earth he was not a bouncy, positive-thinker. He was “a man of sorrows” (Isaiah 53:3). And he promised his followers, “In the world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33).

Life is hard. The days of darkness will be many. And you know what? That’s hopeful.

When we find ourselves experiencing “weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities” (2 Corinthians 12:10), something strange isn’t happening to us (1 Peter 4:12). It is what we must expect living in a creation subjected to futility (Romans 8:20).

But it was subjected to futility in hope — hope “that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Romans 8:21). And yes there is deep groaning as we wait for the completion of our redemption (Romans 8:22–23). But it is a hope-infused groaning, full of anticipation for what is coming.

Remember What He Said

It’s this Spirit-empowered dynamic in the soul that allows us to be both “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing” (2 Corinthians 6:10). We expect sorrow from the world and redemption from our Savior, who will work even our sorrows for ultimate good (Romans 8:28).

So in your days of darkness, Jesus understands (Hebrews 4:15) and wants you to take heart:

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

Recent posts from Jon Bloom:

Lay Aside the Weight of Fragmented Focus

How to Endure Common-to-Man Temptations

How Jesus Exposed the Idol of Self-Glory

Lay Aside the Weight of Fragmented Focus

No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. (2 Timothy 2:4)

The Debilitating Weight of Too Much

If we’re going to successfully run the race of faith with endurance (Hebrews 12:1) and finish our course and the ministry we receive from the Lord Jesus (Acts 20:24), we must learn the martial art of doing less.

I call it a “martial art” because of Paul’s military metaphor in 2 Timothy 2:4. By “doing less” I don’t mean (necessarily) working less hours or doing less intense work. I mean doing fewer things more effectively. Mark Forster is right when he says,

We tend to think unsuccessful people are unsuccessful because they sit around doing nothing. But it’s often for quite the opposite reason: they take on far too much—all sorts of wonderful projects at the same time—and never bring any of them to fruition. (Do It Tomorrow, 18)

A fragmented focus results in our carrying the debilitating weight of doing too much.

Time Is Not the Problem

Doing too much is not a time problem. It’s a distraction problem. When Martha was frazzled with tasks, Jesus said that her “many things” were making her “anxious and troubled.” Only “one thing is necessary” (Luke 10:41–42).

Our days are as long as God designed them to be and we have as many days as God allots to us (Psalm 139:16). Each of us have God-given “gifts that differ according to the grace given to us” (Romans 12:6), as well as weaknesses that God has assigned to us so that Christ’s power may be uniquely shown through us (2 Corinthians 12:9).

That means each of us have God’s supply of time and God’s supply of capacity for God’s call on our lives. What we need is to remain clear on that calling and exercise a faith-empowered ruthlessness to say no to distractions.

So how do we progress in this martial art of laying aside a fragmented focus? I think Romans 12:2 can help us:

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

We Are Conformed to What We Admire

First, remember what conforms us. God designed us to be conformed to whatever it is that we admire — our passions (1 Peter 1:14). When it comes to time, we invest it in things we believe will help us become what we want to be.

Doing too many things can be an indicator that worldly passions are growing and beginning to choke out our passion for God and his kingdom. Any time investment that isn’t helping to conform us to the image of Jesus is conforming us to some kind of worldly image. And it means we have some laying aside to do.

Transformation Occurs Through Concentration

Second, remember that transformation occurs through concentration. We must give focused time to what we want to be transformed into. All our experience bears this out. Concentrated exercise transforms flab into firm muscle. Concentrated practice transforms an untrained skill to a proficient skill.

When it comes to being transformed to the likeness of Christ (Romans 8:29) — sharing his loves and longings—there is no shortcut. Transformation occurs through concentration. We often call it meditation. Our mind is renewed through frequent lingering on, looking at, and listening to Jesus in his Word.

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18)

We pursue Spirit-empowered transformation through prayerful, concentrated contemplation on the person, promises, and mission of Jesus Christ.

Test By Asking “Why?”

Third, test every demand for your attention by asking “why” and other exposing questions. Questions are mental machetes God gives us to slash through the overgrowth of the world’s demands on us. We are not to uncritically take a new obligation on. We must test it against what we want to become. So we must ask obligations questions like Why should I do this? Why now? What is it promising me? What kingdom end will it accomplish? Will it fragment my focus on my primary callings? Why does it feel so emotionally compelling to me?

The goal is becoming adept at this through “constant practice” (Hebrews 5:14) so that most entanglements can be discerned and resisted almost immediately.

When I Don’t Desire Focus

Do fewer things and do them more effectively. Ruthlessly say no to distractions. This sounds wonderful when we feel fragmented.

But the problem is that we are generally more distracted by things we desire than things we don’t. The battle is saying no to distractions when we want to be distracted.

So be prepared. When you resolve to resist “civilian pursuits” your spiritual enemy will lob civilian desire grenades at you. He wants to keep you distracted. He does not want you thinking about deep realities that produce deep desires that result in focused soul-transforming, kingdom-advancing work. So he will encourage you to chase one attractive impulse after another in the hopes of minimizing your impact for good. We must “not [be] ignorant of his designs” (2 Corinthians 2:11). We must expect distractions to glow with deceptive attraction and not be seduced. Ultimately only “one thing is necessary.”

Conclusion

Doing too many things is a debilitating weight that God doesn’t want you to carry in the race of faith. He wants you to lay it aside so you can run with focused faith. His promise to “supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19) includes supplying the time you need to fulfill his call on you.

Lingering with and listening to Jesus will renew our minds, transforming us more into his image and enabling us to discern the focus-fragmenting pressures of the world by testing them with exposing questions. This is the martial art of resisting “civilian pursuits.”

Recent posts from Jon Bloom:

How to Endure Common-to-Man Temptations

How Jesus Exposed the Idol of Self-Glory

Seven Ways to Pray for Your Heart

How to Endure Common-to-Man Temptations

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

“No temptation.” I love that phrase. It covers them all. But the temptations that Paul is talking about specifically in the preceding verses are sexual immorality (1 Corinthians 10:8) and grumbling (1 Corinthians 10:10).

These are not grand temptations like jumping off the temple into angel arms or denying Jesus when threatened with torture. These are “common to man” temptations. These are the temptations you and I will face today. And tomorrow. And the next day. They dog at our heels and whisper in our ears at the slightest glance or inconvenience.

Common to Man Temptations Are the Most Dangerous

And they are the most dangerous temptations we face because they’re aimed at where we are weakest: our profound, pathological fallen selfishness. This is why Satan concentrates most of his efforts on them. They encourage us to nurture a fantasy that the world we perceive is our world. And in this fantasy-world we ought to possess what we desire and things ought to go our way.

The more we indulge this fantasy the more we want it to be true. It feeds and expands our sinful desire-appetites. It increasingly shapes our thinking and behavior. If not resisted and battled vigorously, we will eventually pursue as real an image we created.

This is rank idolatry, which is why Paul makes a connection between these temptations and Israel’s golden calf a few verses earlier (1 Corinthians 10:7). We are not to play with these “common to man” fantasy-idols. They are lethal. They destroy people every day. They “[bring] forth death” (James 1:14–15).

Look for the Escape

So what do we do when we feel like grumbling or when we’re enticed by some lustful indulgence today? We look for the escape. There’s gospel in 1 Corinthians 10:13:

God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape.

God promises to always provide an escape. But what kind of escape does he promise? God’s escape is almost always a promise to trust.

Temptations are promises. The temptation to sinfully grumble is a form of the promise that if you can be your own god and have your own way you will be happy. Grumbling is a form of rebellion against the incompetence of God. The way of escape is trusting promises such as,

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. (Proverbs 3:5–6)

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19)

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

The temptation to indulge in sexual immorality is the promise that a forbidden sexual experience or the selfish use of someone else’s body for your own pleasure regardless of how it affects them will make you happy. The way of escape is trusting promises such as,

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:11)

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. (Matthew 5:8)

For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. (Ephesians 5:5)

Every escape will be slightly different. But it will be there in the form of promises. When temptation hits look for the promises.

Prepare to Not Want Escape

The hardest part about fighting these temptations is that we often don’t feel like we want escape in the moment. Don’t be surprised. Remember. Fighting temptation means trusting promises over perceptions. “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). Follow the promises of truth, not the appetites of error. Joy will come with the former and horrible regret with the latter.

And when we’ve failed and fallen into sin, we are invited to go straight to the cross where our cancelled sin has been paid in full. There, “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

So today, let’s trust that Jesus, “who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15), will provide a way of escape that is more persistent (Hebrews 13:5), far more powerful (1 John 4:4), and far more satisfying (Hebrews 11:25–26) than what our “common to man” temptations are promising.

Recent posts from Jon Bloom:

How Jesus Exposed the Idol of Self-Glory

Seven Ways to Pray for Your Heart

Lay Aside the Weight of “Not Feeling Like It”