To the Finish!

One of the "Auntie-isms" my great aunt shared when I went to work with her was of an occurrence that seemed to show up on a regular basis. "Strange as it might be," Auntie said, "when I minister about something, whatever the topic, more likely than not I will find myself challenged in that area right after ministering about it--sometimes even just as soon as I cross the threshold of the church!"

If, for example, she had ministered on forgiveness, something would pop up that called for her to walk in forgiveness. If she ministered on healing, more likely than not some affliction would make its way to her body. If she ministered on the importance of daily Bible reading or prayer, things would crop up to keep her from those disciplines. You get the picture.

It seems that this seems to be part of our enemy's MO--part of his modus operandi. You teach something so he says, "Nya, ha, ha! You think you believe that, do you? Well, we'll just see about that! I'll give you what-for and then we'll see what you believe!"

Isn't that what he did to Eve? First, he enticed her to look at the fruit of which she shouldn't partake, and then he slyly planted seeds of doubt about God's real intentions behind His commands. It worked with Eve, and, unfortunately, more often than we care to admit, it works with us. Doubt, confusion--and there we go wandering away from God's path just like old Adam and Eve.

This is one of those weeks when that particular truism of Auntie's has come to pass.

Last week's blog was about hanging on to God when life gets messy--because just around the bend, a change, a good change, is coming. So what happens? This week life got messy.

Through our decades of walking with the Lord we, despite our sometimes-slowness in picking up on spiritual things, have figured out why Paul said, "Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run that, that ye may obtain" (1 Corinthians 9:24). He felt compelled to say that because one of the devil's goals is to discourage and deviate believers from their walk with the Lord. Many, many believers, thank God, walk their entire lives with the Lord. Then there are others ...

There are others who let the cares of work once they enter the work force get in the way of coming to church. There are those who, once they have children, begin to miss church more ... and more ... and more ... until their presence in church becomes a distant memory. I am not "judging", simply reiterating that what God says always has purpose. There is a reason why Paul admonishes believers with "not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together" (Hebrews 10:25). Going to church is not what saves you, but it will strengthen you. It is beautiful to see a new believer all fervent in his spiritual walk. But the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Will fervent love of the Lord last till the end of life, till his course is finished?

Through the decades both Dennis and I have grieved over believers who have fallen away from their walk with the Lord. In most of those sad examples we have seen a pattern of forsaking the assembly (church) or yielding to lusts, usually of a sexual or addictive nature. It seems that those two weaknesses yield debilitating faith that causes stumbling. But no matter what we have seen in the past, it never fails to blow us away when someone totally unexpected deviates from the path of Life.

We can't give details. Didn't David, he who was a man after God's own heart, in reference to the death of Saul and Jonathon, say, "Publish it not in Gath" (2 Samuel 1:20)? Gath was the home of Goliath, the giant felled by the hand of God through the hand of the young David. The older, mature David realized the folly of announcing the death of Israel's king and king's son to unbelievers. It would not glorify God. In doing this, he left us a good principle to live by. Degrading news that does not glorify God should not be spoken about publicly.

So details are not important. The devastating reality is that someone we love, someone we have known for decades, someone who walked the walk with honor and integrity for years and years, has begun to live a life that does not glorify God. Of course we still love our friend. Of course we still pray for our friend. Of course we have made ourselves available to the family for anything we can to do to help. But that does not take away the heavy grief in our hearts. We wake up in the watches of the night, our hearts heavy within us. We go through the motions of life, we eat, we talk, we smile, all the while our bruised and battered hearts beat with a sad, doleful pounding, broken and bleeding.

But--not to worry! God is still God. This is not the end of the story! We--and our friend--will get through this. We will continue to pray for our friend to hang on to God till he gets to that bend of promise, that bend that heralds a change for good. We will not give in to despair. God is faithful. And if our friend can just hang on, the situation in his life will get better.

And in the meantime I treasure another of Auntie's words to live by. "Sometimes," she said, "it shakes us to the core to see a Christian stumble and fall. If that can happen to them, strong Christians that they were, what will happen to us? What hope do we have to remain strong and faithful to the Lord? That's when we hang on to Psalm 91:7--'A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.'' Others might fall, but if we keep our eyes on the Lord, we do not have to fear--we will not fall!"

Auntie was 95 when she went home to be with the Lord. In all those years she kept her eyes on Jesus and did not fall though she, too, saw her share of Christians she respected fall by the wayside. We thank God that she had as her testimony that she finished her course with joy--and left us a living testimony that despite all the pain we see around us, it is possible to finish our course as God intended.

Seeing others stumble is scary, but if we keep our eyes on Jesus, we can follow in Auntie's footsteps, in the footsteps of Jesus.

Yes, life can be hard. Life will at times deal us earth-shattering blows. Life can be unpredictable and scary. But Jesus is sure. Jesus will never fail us.

"Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:1).

"Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2).

"... weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning" (Psalm 30:5).