What is going on?

The book I wrote on spiritual lessons learned while coaching baseball is in its final stages.  I hope that Jesus and Baseball will be out prior to the World Series. While that book is finished up I am working on the next one. What is Going On? Is a book I am now working on that deals with trials, temptation and sin.  A clip from the preface and one of the sections of the book are what follows.

Please send me comments or ideas. I want to help those few people who go through trials and temptations in life! Most of us won’t need a book like this because we live trouble free lives – right.

The past months of pain and suffering, for me, have deepened my resolve in the Lord and increased the compassion of God in my soul. I don’t want to waste my trials so I am going to write out what I have learned so that I remember and possibly help others too.

Clip from Preface

“What is going on?” is written to help us see a little more clearly during those seasons of trials and temptations. I added a section on sin to help with those times when we stumble and fail. When we are in a season of trials or temptation life is like driving in the rain. Everything is a little blurry. You look at the highway with the distraction of the rain and the wiper blades. When you are in a downpour, life is seen in snapshots through the windshield as the wipers push back the rain giving you a glimpse of the road ahead.

Add darkness and a long road trip to your travels and most us know how weary we can become and how anxiety can increase. Life in Christ Jesus has many of these bad weather days. At least a few times we will take some long journeys through severe weather, driving in the dark, wondering what is going on.

Looking Back

"For the LORD your God is a compassionate God; He will not fail you nor destroy you nor forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them. "Indeed, ask now concerning the former days which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and inquire from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything been done like this great thing, or has anything been heard like it? "Has any people heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire, as you have heard it, and survived? "Or has a god tried to go to take for himself a nation from within another nation by trials, by signs and wonders and by war and by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm and by great terrors, as the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? "To you it was shown that you might know that the LORD, He is God; there is no other besides Him. "Out of the heavens He let you hear His voice to discipline you; and on earth He let you see His great fire, and you heard His words from the midst of the fire. "Because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their descendants after them. And He personally brought you from Egypt by His great power, driving out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in and to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is today.

 Deu 4:31-38 NASB

The Nation of Israel had gone through a long period of slavery. Things went well when they first arrived in Egypt, but those days are long gone. The stories and blessings of Joseph have disappeared. Slavery is Israel’s social status. They have suffered for hundreds of years.  For people who have gone through a long trial, the last thing they look for is another trial. But another trial was exactly what God used to set Israel free. Trials are events in our lives that bring about change. Many Biblical commentators convey the idea that the word “trial” does not carry a negative connotation. A “trial” was soothing that God allowed in our lives “to test us” or “to prove” us. Undergoing a time of proving, enduring, and testing is not a bad thing. The trial is not so much about troubles as “proving worth”, “validity” and “accomplishment.” In the passage above, trials were a tool for change, transformation and deliverance. The trial lacks a “good and evil” side. It is the outcome that will be positive or negative. We, who are undergoing trials, make choices which set us down a pathway of resisting God or following Him more closely. The trial was just the tool.

I want to look at passages of Scriptures as “snapshots.” Snapshots will give us insight, cause for reflection and hopefully a greater understanding of God and His ways. Like the pictures in a photo album, or the quick glimpse you get while driving in a thunderstorm, these snapshots do not tell the whole story, but reveal highlights. In this snapshot of God’s activity we observe several things.

• In the trials of our lives, God reminds us of His greatness, compassion and covenant.
• God believes that there is no God like Himself. We are called to see God, not as one God among many, but as a God like no other. This unique, extreme aspect of God sets Him apart.
• God uses trials to change history and individuals. If we are facing trials or those around us are facing trials, change is coming.
• God’s goal in this trial was to “reveal Himself,” “to love His people,” “to choose” and to show society of that choosing.
• Trials may occur among a society or people, but they are personal. And as hard as it may seem, trials are founded in love. God has good intentions.

Looking back upon life’s events is one way we gain understanding. Even when we think we have a good grasp on what is going on, looking back often has insights. We see deeper intentions of the Lord. We discover many insights we missed during the trial. This is true of trials in both our personal life and in world history. The passage above is a time of “looking back.” The nation, in their present condition, is called to remember their past. We often remember the hard times. We tend to struggle to see what good came from those seasons of difficulty. Some of us can put a positive spin on our hard times and laugh. Most of us just go through them and carry on. We may lose sight of any lessons learned or change accomplished through the trials. How many of us have journals full of lessons we have now forgotten and seldom re-read?

God wanted Israel to look again at a past event. He is presenting a time of reflection. In this first snapshot we observe God’s desire to awaken hearts to see His covenant relationship. Israel was reminded that change comes through trials. In looking back, they should see that the goal is an improvement in relationship to God and that love is the foundation.

God has been with His people. At times, God seemed to show up little. In this text we see that God reminded the people, not only of their trials, but of His activity. Millions of people saw God among the fire, heard His voice and experienced the terrors. These trials were birthed “because He loved your fathers.” God loves the offspring of those who have loved Him to a thousand generations. The love of God is still active today. You and I will undergo changes directed by God through trials. Because God loves us and cares for us, He is moving us out of captivity and into freedom in Christ Jesus.

Now would be a great time to reread the passage above.

The divorce of my parents and the destruction of my family was a big trial in my life. During that time I was focused on survival. I was not looking for what lessons might be coming out of this ordeal. I was aware of only my pain.  I think Israel was like that during the turbulent transition out of Egypt. They were looking for the way out, but saw only pain and suffering. In both their case and mine, God led us into the wilderness where He illuminated His plan and ways.  Separation from what we have come to know is often a call to connect with God. In my life, and in theirs, I can now see God’s compassion. God allows harmful events, both personally and in the nations. These trials are a part of God changing the world we know. When your life is filled with pain, suffering and unrest, look to the Lord. We often receive a miracle because we are in need of one. It may only be visible in retrospect, but look for ways that God revealed Himself as provider, guide, helper and care giver.

What big changes have occurred in your life? Can you identify how God used that trial to set you free, to take you to a deeper place in Him? While visiting the past can be painful, when we do so under the direction of the Holy Spirit, we are led into greater freedom.