paper ebenezers

Since an Experiencing God class with Don about half my life ago, I am fascinated with the idea of the ebenezer: a monument built to remind us of God's faithfulness.

I've never really thought about building a physical monument, but I think about ebenezers frequently when I write.

Then today I ran across this reflection on journaling (in a post about Christmas gift ideas). Read through the post (it's short!) and be encouraged to begin (or continue) your own spiritual journal.

May we each use or lives (and pens, pencils, and keyboards) to build monuments of God's faithfulness.

your life is hidden with Christ in God

Colossians 3:1-17 (ESV)

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

no te quejes

[Today's blog post will be written in Spanish, because I just don't have the right words in English.

Just kidding.]

I've been listening to a worship CD that has a song with the line "we rest in Your unfailing love."

It hit me with a thud while I was playing it again today, because all morning I'd been mulling the question from Ecclesiastes 7:10, "Why were the former days better than these?" (I did not inquire wisely concerning this), comparing my now to other times that seem to have been more exciting or interesting. My spirit was complaining.

In Spanish there's a word that I think describes that complaining attitude pretty well: quejar.

Quejar can mean to complain or cry out in pain, or just to be annoyed or bothered, or to protest something that seems wrong, or even to legally complain against someone. It's often used as a reflexive verb, so that you're literally making yourself do this whatever-it-is. To say "no te quejes" to someone could mean, depending on the context, anything from "stop your whining!" to "don't worry, it's all going to be all right."

Anybody who's busy quejandose is definitely not in a state of rest. Whether the quejas are inspired by pain, annoyance, or injustice, they just can't co-exist with peace and rest.

And that's what I heard coming from the words in the song:

No te quejes. Rest.

Your Father's love is steadfast, faithful, never ending. He knows when you cry out in pain. He offers forgiveness for your offenses and commands you to forgive those who offend you. He sees and knows the injustice your heart protests and He will not tarry to set things straight. He is faithful Who promised. No te quejes.

I know this truth of His unfailing love. How -- instead of exhibiting complaint and doubt -- can my life come to exhibit my faith in that truth?

(Here's some good reading for more about what His unfailing love is all about.)

remember

This Sunday is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.

Here is a link to an organization called Open Doors USA that talks about what the day of prayer is and what Christians in the USA can do to help.

when movies matter

One Tuesday last spring, I had to make an early morning grocery run and ended up in the checkout line right behind a young, ringless, tired-looking girl buying a pregnancy test.

Knowing the statistics for abortion in this country, it would've been naive not to wonder if -- depending on the revelation of the contents of that box -- an abortion was in her future.

I thought of saying something to her, but no words came. And no words came when I got home and tried to make sense of my thoughts in writing.

Now I know what I wish I had written.

I wish I had written this movie:



I wouldn't call it a pro-life movie so much as a pro-love movie (by love I mean "charity," like the KJV Paul and Jonathan Edwards).

Made me think about how the fruit of the Spirit can be worked out -- not hypothetically or ideally, but in our real-life interactions with the people around us -- even when life's realities are ugly and hard to accept.

One commentator on a blog I read said, "This is what Christian film should be." I think he's right.

Encouragement From the Life of John Newton

I was blessed with a copy of The Roots of Endurance this past weekend. Not to be delayed with any prefatory or introductory material, I quickly opened to the section on John Newton and read about the fruit of God's grace in the life of a sailor/slave-trader turned pastor/hymn writer.

God's grace poured out on Newton produced in him a genuine love for others that effected in him "habitual tenderness." Piper quotes Newton's own words in describing the life of a believer:

"He believes and feels his own weakness and unworthiness, and lives upon the grace and pardoning love of his Lord. This gives him an habitual tenderness and gentleness of spirit. Humble under a sense of much forgiveness to himself, he finds it easy to forgive others."

Newton, captivated by God's love for him, was willingly and joyfully bound to love all with whom he came in contact. Newton said, "Whoever...has tasted of the love of Christ, and has known, by his own experience, the need and the worth of redemption, is enabled, Yea, he is constrained, to love his fellow creatures. He loves them at first sight." It was said about him, "Mr. Newton could live no longer than he could love."

Piper tells stories of lives impacted by the kindness and tenderness displayed in Newton's life (if you want to read the short biographical account, stop by the church and I'll loan you the book). One man, who at first made fun of Newton, gave testimony of the impact of Newton's habitual kindness saying, "His discourse so comforted and edified me, that my heart, being by this means relieved from its burden, became susceptible of affection for him." That man was led not only to have affection for Newton, but experienced the kindness of our God and Savior and later served as pastor to the church where Newton pastored before moving London. Newton's tenderness led people to experience the grace of God for themselves.

May Newton's life and words call us to action this week:
1. Let's know much of God's love (stay in His word and in prayer);
2. Let's display the tenderness of our kind King in our interaction with others.

May God use us to show His kindness, tenderness, love and grace to those around us this week!

On Secret Atheism

Psalm 14:1 says, "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God.' They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who understand, who seek after God."

In 1682, Stephen Charnock wrote a series of Discourses on the Existence and Attributes of God. His words are still relevant. He begins by noticing from Psalm 14 that evil practices flow directly from disbelief, and that the man who says there is no God smothers in himself those things that call for belief in the Divine.

Sometimes its easy to notice the outright atheism that declares boldly "there is no God," while ignoring behavior that points to disbelief in my life. Charnock says, "Yet there is something of a secret atheism in all, which is the fountain of the evil practices in their lives, not an utter disowning of the being of a God, but a denial or doubting of some of the rights of his nature."

The life of faith is not simply believing that God exists, but believing what the Bible says about God's nature and living in light of that revelation. God's word tells us He has made a way for sinners to made right, by faith we throw ourselves on His grace and ask for forgiveness because of what Christ has done. God's word also tells us that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). What is the response of faith? Check out 2 Corinthians 7:1 (maybe read 2 Corinthians 6:16-18 for context).

Reading Charnock's thoughts I have been encouraged take three measures against what Charnock calls the "atheistic bubblings" within a man's heart:
1. to know God; to know His nature well,
2. to notice areas where my behavior points to unbelief - behaving in a way that shows I don't really believe what the Bible says about who God is (for example, if I believe God is pure, insists on purity, and knows my thoughts, my thoughts should be pure),
3. and to fight that disbelief by reading more about who God is in His word then asking the Spirit to help me live in light of that revelation.

food for your worldview

Yesterday I finished the last in a sermon series by John Piper called Spectacular Sins and Their Global Purpose in the Glory of Christ.

I know that everybody is busy and that it is hard to find the time to listen to a one-hour sermon (much less seven one-hour sermons), but I think that this series would help each of us to deal with questions and doubts that we encounter both in our own minds and as we share Christ with others.

Two things that I especially appreciated about this series were (1) the continual assurance that God is bigger than any bad things that happen in the world, and that He has the final say so that His purpose ALWAYS prevails, and (2) the holistic picture of God's redemptive plan from creation to eternity; this plugged in very well with our study of the Old Testament in Sunday school.

All seven sermons are great, but here are three in particular that helped me:

The Pride of Babel and the Praise of Christ

Genesis 11:1-9
Answers questions about God's plan in creating many tongues, tribes, and nations.

Read | Listen | Watch | Download

Excerpts: Listen | Watch

Download: Audio | Audio Excerpt | Video | Video Excerpt

Download: Audio | Audio Excerpt | Video | Video Excerpt

The Sinful Origin of the Son of David

1 Samuel 12:1-25
If Israel sinned in asking for a king, how come there were already prophesies of the Redeemer coming through a kingly line?

Read | Listen | Watch | Download

Excerpts: Listen | Watch

Download: Audio | Audio Excerpt | Video | Video Excerpt

Judas Iscariot, the Suicide of Satan, and the Salvation of the World

Luke 22:1-6
Who was in charge at Jesus' betrayal?

Read | Listen | Watch | Download

Excerpts: Listen | Watch

further up and further in

Tonight I received a wonderful gift.

An old legal writing professor of mine gave me 40 minutes of phone time brimming with her wisdom, experience, and encouragement for a class I teach. Some of the things that she mentioned made me want to shout "Yes! I am not the only person to have experienced that!" And some of the advice she gave answered questions that I hadn't even thought to ask.

As we talked, I thought about two things. First, we share a kinship from being on the same path. And, second, she has a lot of wisdom from being further along.

The most valuable part of our phone conversation, though, is that we're not only on the same path of legal-writing-professor-hood. My old professor and I are both on the path of being a disciple of Christ.

We talked about doing all to the glory of God, and what that means when you teach part time and don't feel like you can give each project the attention perfection would require. She told me about how she came to realize that her stress in grading assignments wasn't inappropriate to bring up for prayer by her friends at church. She encouraged me to pray over my workload, realizing that my responsibilities are a stewardship before God.

We share a kinship from being on the same path. And she has a lot of wisdom from being further along.

The blessing I received in my professor's gift shouldn't have come as a surprise. God built Christian community this way. Part of what my professor was doing tonight was fulfilling a Titus 2 role of teaching a younger woman how to walk -- in the midst of real-life problems -- on the path of discipleship. Part of what she was doing was imparting some of the counsel and wisdom Solomon talked so much about in Proverbs. Part of what she was doing was being a mentor, like Paul was to Timothy -- pointing out the things that are trustworthy in a world where there are so many choices.

Tonight I received a gift. But my professor wasn't the giver. She was the channel. My gift came from my Father, Who gives every good and perfect gift.

Are you putting yourself in a position to receive this gift? Are you "plugged in" with someone who is walking the same path as you, but is further along?

Your parents may be a good start. And in your area of study, or in your chosen career, do you have a mentor who would be willing to share experiences with you? Someone you can call with question, or whose life stories you can glean for experience of God's direction and faithfulness?

If not, these are some things to pray for. And, if so, these are precious gifts that call for songs of thanksgiving.

truth, eclipses, and the long haul

Here's a message to 20-somethings from Randy Alcorn:

only hope

What do you hope for?

What do you hope in?

Which hopes define you, so that you know you would find fulfillment if they were realized, and bitter disappointment if they weren't?

HOPE is a huge concept in a small word.

Hope is the mindset of faith (Heb. 11:13-16), the theme song of creation (Rom. 8:18-30), the antidote to depression (Ps. 42:11), a trademark of Christian character (Rom. 5:1-5), the source of Christian boldness (2 Cor. 3).

Christ is our hope. His sacrifice is our hope of salvation, and His righteousness is our hope of righteousness.

But is He our only hope?

So often I place my hope in something less than the promises of Christ. Make my own plans and let my happiness rise or fall on them. Trust my own "righteousness" to gain me favor in the eyes of God. Hope in heaven, rest, release from problems on the earth -- instead of hoping in Christ.

These things I do in blindness -- blindness to the truth that there is no hope apart from the hope of Christ. The fulfillment of all my lesser "hopes" would still be death and damnation apart from the hope of Christ.

Is He your only hope?

What if we prayed for each other like this?

A few days ago I was reading the first part of Ephesians (1:15-23) and ran into Paul's prayer outline for the Ephesian church. It's beautiful!

For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints,

• I do not cease to give thanks for you,
  
• remembering you in my prayers,
  
• that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened,that you may know
  
• - what is the hope to which he has called you,
  
• - what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and
• - what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe,

• according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

What would happen if we really prayed for each other this way? Would we be as inclined to treat each other rudely, unkindly, to gossip or backstab? To be just plain lazy or careless or disinterested in our Christian friendships?

And what about God's answers? Wouldn't it be amazing to see Him work out these things in each other's lives?

Thrilled

I am currently reading Knowing God, by J.I. Packer. I've been blessed and challenged by Packer's thoughts as He reminds me that knowing God is more than just knowing about God but involves: "First, listening to God's Word and receiving it as the Holy Spirit interprets it, in application to oneself; second, noting God's nature and character, as his Word and works reveal it; third, accepting his invitations and doing what he commands; fourth, recognizing and rejoicing in the love that he has shown in thus approaching you and drawing you into this divine fellowship." (37)

I pray that we would all grow in our knowledge of God. Not just that we would know more things about Him and the Bible, but that we would know Him through experience. That we would be familiar with the work of the Holy Spirit as He applies His Word to our hearts. That we would be moved to joyful action by His invitations and commands. That we would be full of joy as we see Him conforming us more to the image of His son by pouring His grace out on us.

May we all discover just how right Packer was when he said, "Knowing God is a relationship calculated to thrill a person's heart." (36)

Does knowing God thrill your heart?

I pray knowing God will thrill you today.

when "go" means "go"

This from John Piper. Click the link to read more:

Answers to Objections to Going into Missions

When I spoke at Missions in the Main Hall Sunday night, I tried to give a biblical response to possible obstacles that are in the way for some people that may keep them from moving forward toward missions. My prayer is that God would use these responses to call more of you to go. Here are eight objections and a biblical response.

judge not the Lord by feeble sense

When I am in a season of sadness or of spiritual heaviness, I sometimes think about William Cowper.

Cowper was plagued all his life by long bouts of deep, deep depression. And it never got all that much better. Like John Piper said in his biography of Cowper (definitely listen to it if you can!), "No happy ending."

But the product of Cowper's life is an amazing legacy of hymns and poetry that are, ironically, infused with a hope he never seemed fully to grasp. Every time we sing "There Is A Fountain" and the words "Redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die!" we are singing something out of Cowper's heart.

The truth of God was stronger than Cowper's depression. And the power and sovereignty of God equipped Him to sing more glory to God through that depression than he would've been able to without it.

This comforts me. God's purpose isn't always that His children be happy, as the world defines it. Often the times it seems like He's abandoned us are the times that He is calling us closer into fellowship with Himself.

And there we find the truest happiness there is.

Maybe Cowper said it best:

God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never-failing skill
He treasures up His bright designs,
And works His sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take,
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan his work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.

William Cowper, "God Moves In A Mysterious Way"

being the Devil's bellows

[Wednesday's post is late this week . . .]

“Don’t be the Devil’s bellows any longer to blow up the fires of strife. Leave off setting people by the ears. If you do not cut off a bit of your tongues, at least season them with the salt of grace. Praise God more and blame neighbors less. Any goose can cackle; any fly can find out a sore place; any empty barrel can give forth sound; any brier can tear a man’s flesh. No flies will go down your throat if you keep your mouth shut and no evil speaking will come up. Think much, but say little; be quick at work and slow at talk; and above all, ask the great Lord to set a watch over your lips.”

—Charles Spurgeon

Gossip is poison.

The Bible is bursting with admonitions to watch the tongue, shut the lips, stop the mouth. But, despite the warnings, in the church we often treat gossip as a "small" or inconsequential sin. Sometimes we use even church gatherings as an opportunity to spread gossip.

Gossip has been defined as "idle talk or rumor, esp. about the personal or private affairs of others."

Reading through Titus 2 it's apparent that self-control and tongue-control are pretty big priorities.

Sober, reverent, temperate, loving, patient men who are sound in faith don't have room in their lives for idle talk or rumors.

Neither do women who are reverent, temperate, not slanderers, and teachers of good things.

Or women who are loving, discreet, chaste, minding their own homes, and practicing goodness and obedience.

Or young men who are sober-minded, doing good works, full of doctrinal integrity, reverent, incorruptible, and sound speech.

It just doesn't work that way.

While all of these characteristics are important for all Christians to practice, Paul didn't address specific characteristics to specific groups on accident. Girls, how hard is it to live out love even when you don't feel like it? To honor our future husbands with the way we live out our relationships now? To be discreet in our speech, our dress, our conduct? To help out in your own house without grumbling? To be good (what a huge concept in such a small word!)? To be obedient to the leaders God has placed in our lives?

This is real, practical advice that hits home.

Guys, I'm sure the correlaries are the same. This is practical advice because it's real -- it challenges us right where we are. And points us to where we know we ought to be.

Let's encourage each other as we head in that direction.

another puritan guest blogger

This post is brought to you by Thomas Brooks, a puritan preacher who lived in the 17th century. I found these twenty "short" sayings from Brooks on the web.

They may not all be short by our standards, but they're certainly worth the read.

1. Let those be thy choicest companions who have made Christ their chief companion.
   
2. The lives of ministers oftentimes convince more strongly than their words; their tongues may persuade, but their lives command.
   
3. Christ choosing solitude for private prayer, doth not only hint to us the danger of distraction and deviation of thoughts in prayer, but how necessary it is for us to choose the most convenient places we can for private prayer. Our own fickleness and Satan's restlessness call upon us to get into such places where we may freely pour out our soul into the bosom of God [Mark 1.35].
   
4. Suffering times are sealing times. The primitive Christians found them so, and the suffering saints in Mary's days found them so. When the furnace is seven times hotter than ordinary, the Spirit of the Lord comes and seals up a man's pardon in his bosom, his peace with God, and his title to heaven. Blessed Bradford looked upon his sufferings as an evidence to him that he was on the right way to heaven.
   
5. It is better to have a sore than a seared conscience.
   
6. God sees us in secret, therefore, let, us seek his face in secret. Though heaven be God's palace, yet it is not his prison.
   
7. God's hearing of our prayers doth not depend upon sanctification, but upon Christ's intercession; not upon what we are in ourselves, but what we are in the Lord Jesus; both our persons and our prayers are acceptable in the beloved [Eph 1.6].
   
8. Christ is the sun, and all the watches of our lives should be set by the dial of his motion.
   
9. An idle life and a holy heart is a contradiction.
   
10. Repentance is a grace, and must have its daily operation, as well as other graces. A true penitent must go on from faith to faith, from strength to strength; he must never stand still or turn back. True repentance is a continued spring, where the waters of godly sorrow are always flowing. 'My sin is ever before me'.
    
11. It was a choice saying of Augustine, 'Every saint is God's temple, and he who carries his temple about him, may go to prayer when he pleaseth'.
    
12. Prayer is nothing but the breathing that out before the Lord, that was first breathed into us by the Spirit of the Lord.
    
13. Those years, months, weeks, days, and hours, that are not filled up with God, with Christ, with grace, and with duty, will certainly be filled up with vanity and folly. The neglect of one day, of one duty, of one hour, would undo us, if we had not an Advocate with the Father.
    
14. You had better be a poor man and a rich Christian, than a rich man and a poor Christian. You had better do anything, bear anything, and be anything rather than be a dwarf in grace.
    
15. Much faith will yield unto us here our heaven, but any faith, if true, will yield us heaven hereafter.
    
16. A man's most glorious actions will at last be found to be but glorious sins, if he hath made himself, and not the glory of God, the end of those actions.
    
17. The two poles could sooner meet, than the love of Christ and the love of the world.
    
18. My sin is ever before me' [Psalm 51.3]. A humble soul sees that he can stay no more from sin, than the heart can from panting, and the pulse from beating. He sees his heart and life to be fuller of sin, than the firmament is of stars; and this keeps him low. He sees that sin is so bred in the bone, that till his bones, as Joseph's, be carried out of the Egypt of this world, it will not out. Though sin and grace were never born together, and though they shall not die together, yet while the believer lives, these two must live together; and this keeps him humble.
    
19. The only way to avoid cannon-shot is to fall down. No such way to be freed from temptation as to keep low.
    
20. The best and sweetest flowers of Paradise God gives to his people when they are upon their knees. Prayer is the gate of heaven, a key to let us in to Paradise.

C/C Camping Trip

Anyone putting those last minute items in their bags for Bass Lake might want to check out this weather forecast. Looks like we might get a chance to meditate on Psalm 29 together.

If you have any questions, call me at the church or on my cell. See you all at the ministry fair tonight, and then again at 4:00am.

-nate

Proverbs 18 and the healthy body

Do we NEED friends?

Has God built us in a way where, if we are not in fellowship with others, we miss out not only on the blessings of human companionship, but somehow shortchange our potential for growth in Him?

When I spend time with my brothers and sisters in the family of Christ, am I looking for a good time? For something for myself? Or am I looking, in some way, to grow together towards Him?

Are my Christian friendships the kind of places where I practice kindness, gentleness, self-control, longsuffering, and forgiveness? Or do I cling to my pride and a false picture of my self-sufficiency and [fool myself into thinking I can] hide my imperfections from others?

Am I more worried about keeping my human "relationships" in tact than about obeying God's direction in His Word?

In the middle of mulling all of these questions, I remembered Proverbs 18:1, "A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; he rages against all wise judgment." That seemed to answer my "do we need friends?" question. But when I looked up this chapter, I saw that it is all -- from start to finish -- a primer on getting along with others.

As always, it's best to read the entire chapter in context, but here are some examples of its wisdom:

v. 2 - A fool has no delight in understanding,
But in expressing his own heart.

v. 8 - The words of a talebearer are like tasty trifles,
And they go down into the inmost body.

v. 19 - A brother offended is harder to win than a strong city,
And contentions are like the bars of a castle.

v. 20 - A man’s stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth;
From the produce of his lips he shall be filled.

v. 21 - Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
And those who love it will eat its fruit.

v. 24 - A man who has friends must himself be friendly,
But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Fruitful friendships don't happen by accident. They take work, humility, patience, and love. But how worth it will it be if we can help each other to know Christ more fully and spur each other to accomplish His kingdom work on this earth!

joy: the real thing

This morning I was thinking about part of Psalm 30:5, "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning."

I have always associated this verse with weeping over someone's sickness, and associated the joy that comes in the morning with a restoration of health. So in my mind a paraphrase would've been something like "you may cry over God's seeming silence for a season, but in the next season He will surely bring you what you ask and make sure you have everything you want to be happy."

But this morning my little paraphrase just wasn't ringing true.

Maybe it had something to do with James 1:2-4:

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

Or with Romans 5:1-5:

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

We are not guaranteed the fulfillment of our requests in prayer.

We are guaranteed suffering.

But we are also guaranteed joy.

This means that the fulfillment of our requests and joy must be two separate things. Joy must be something that can exist side-by-side with suffering. Joy WILL come in the morning. But what will it look like?

The first answer that cropped up in my mind was from Psalm 16:11, "in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore."

He alone is our guarantee of joy. I can watch my loved one's sickness go from bad to worse, and still see joy in the morning -- if I am in His presence.

What a weighty miracle this is.

John Piper describes it one way in Desiring God:

In conversion we find the hidden Treasure of the kingdom of God. We venture all on it. And year after year in the struggles of life, we prove the value of the treasure again and again, and we discover depths of riches we had never known. And so the joy of faith grows. When Christ calls us to a new act of obedience that will cost us some temporal pleasure, we call to mind the surpassing value of following Him, and by faith in His proven worth, we forsake the worldly pleasure. The result? More joy! More faith! Deeper than before. And so we go on from joy to joy and faith to faith.

(Multnomah: 2003, p. 74)