Devotional Archives - Scribewalker

Suffering

By Dave Walker | December 5, 2022 | Comments 0 Comment

Quote from God in the ICU: Chapter three

“With a numb sense of unreality, we caught the flight to Cape Town the following morning. I identified my dead brother and then, with Erica (his pregnant wife of just three months), my grieving parents and my sister, we buried him.

For three weeks I thought that I would tear apart from grief as waves of agonising sadness gripped my heart. Then that was replaced by a cold anger against God. I had always regarded Him as loving and caring. He could have stopped this happening. Didn’t He hold the whole world in His hands? Is that how He treated His creation?”

———— o ————

” Psalm 22:1 “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?”

The question of reconciling suffering with a good God is one that has occupied the minds and words of philosophers for aeons.

My reaction to the death of my brother was merely the echo of a cry that has reverberated through the ages. I did not doubt the existence of God, as many who suffer have done, but I questioned His nature.

Have you done the same? It’s a natural response. After all, from a human perspective, what would we think of someone who had the chance to rescue us from a tragedy, yet stood by and watched it unfold?

Yet, think back to your childhood. Were there times when you thought your parent was unfeeling, harsh, and unfair? But now, through the wisdom of the intervening years, does that parent still seem so cruel? Gauged against the rest of their track record with you, is it consistent with the way they treated you? I remember bawling uncontrollably when my parents would not let me go to a boxing tournament (I loved my boxing as a ten-year-old) because I had been invited to an outing with family. Today, I look with amusement on that incident and realise I learned a valuable lesson. Family comes first. It’s a trivial example, but I can tell you, at the time, my feelings towards my mother were about as vehement as they were towards God when my brother was killed.

One of the problems is that we live with a world view that says all suffering is bad and should be avoided at all costs. In fact, think of the technical advances that have been made through the ages. Aren’t they nearly all designed to make our lives more comfortable?

There is no doubt that God’s ultimate purpose is for us to live in a world where there is no suffering. In Isaiah 51:11 God says, “Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee.” Jesus demonstrated the heart of God when He walked this earth and relieved suffering wherever He went.

However, the time for that has not yet come. Jesus suffered at the hands of evil men, and we also might suffer because of the evil that lurks in a fallen world.

We are living in a war zone. We are on a collision course with the world and those under the control of the “ruler of the kingdom of the air”. (Eph. 2:2) In 1 Peter 4:12,13 we read,

“Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you.

Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.”

Therefore, we will suffer, as Jesus, our Commander in Chief suffered.

Yet, if we let Him, God will walk beside us through the storm, and will often use our suffering.

Looking back, I can see God used the death of my brother to shake me out of my complacency about God. I no longer took Him for granted, living a prayerless life and just assuming He would always be there for me in my independence.

There are two reactions we can take to tragedy. We can walk away from God, or we can hurry towards Him. I chose to walk away — into years in a wilderness of disillusionment.

Further scripture readings:

Isaiah 50:10
John 16:20
Psalm 27:13,14

For discussion:

Have you suffered a tragedy in your life? If so, how did you respond? How did that make you feel?
Psalm 34:18 says, “The Lord is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Have you experienced that?
When others are broken-hearted, can you come alongside them as Jesus does with you?

A Sense of Destiny

By Dave Walker | September 23, 2021 | Comments 0 Comment

(these posts are companion posts to the book God in the ICU)

Chapter One: A Sense of Destiny.

Psalm139: 15,16 “My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of the came to be.”

Quote from God in the ICU: “When I was old enough to understand, and heard them recall the story, (of my miraculous survival) it engendered in me a sense of destiny. God had spared me for a purpose.”

In the retirement complex in which I now live, I have two good friends who live vastly different lives. Dave is lean and bright eyed with an infectious enthusiasm that shines from his bearded face. His zeal for life is contagious. When we pop around spontaneously for a visit, he and his equally dynamic wife Katie greet us with delight, but often they’re away on some adventure, or helping out at the church or with friends in need. One day a friend of theirs, whose wife was away, mentioned that the thing he hated most about his wife being absent was the fact he had to make his own bed in the morning. Dave and Katie knocked on his door at an early hour. When their sleepy friend opened up, they bounced into his house and announced, “We’ve come to make your bed!”

My other friend keeps to himself. He is affable and responds with grace and a sense of humour when we pop over. Yet he’s content to sit by himself day after day in front of the TV. He seems prepared to live out the rest of his days this way, not wanting to die, but without any zest for life.

What is the difference in these friends? Dave and Katie have a sense of destiny. They realise God has a plan for them, and fulfilling that as best they can is energising and life-giving.

Chosen by God

Our sense of destiny starts with an understanding of who we are. It was as I heard the story of how I had miraculously survived a severe malaria illness that should have killed me as a small baby, that I sensed I’d been spared by God for a purpose .

What about you? Do you know, deep in your heart that you have been chosen by God for something especially designed for you? No matter the circumstances of your birth or upbringing, you are important to God, and here for a reason.

God says, in Ephesians 2:10, “We are God’s workmanship (poema — from which the word poem comes — a work of art) created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God has prepared in advance for us to do.”

Sometimes, as I describe in God in the ICU, you might be aware of what that purpose is from early on. At other times it is more difficult. May I suggest a few things that will help?

Finding your destiny

Firstly, as you seek to find it, be other-centred. Jesus has been called “A Man for others.” His plan for you will be in line with His character. So, whether you have a passion for entrepreneurship, for public speaking, for art or engineering — whatever it is, check out how it can be used to benefit others and show them the love of Christ. Let that motivate you. My dream as a doctor was fuelled by pictures of myself at the bedside of the sick, bringing healing to them.
Secondly, follow your passion. God has made each of us uniquely, with our own aspirations. Psalm 37:4 has a double meaning when it says, “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” It could mean that what you desire, He will give to you, but I wonder whether it is truer to say, as you delight in Him, He will put the desires in your heart that He wishes you to have to fulfill your destiny.
Thirdly, follow your giftings. God equips us for our destiny. I’m writing this with some reservation, because I know of many people who were terrified to speak in public, but, in following God’s calling, became eloquent and pursuasive. However, that, for the most part, was not their main calling but enhanced their vocation as God equipped them when they stepped out in obediance.
Lastly, what doors does God seem to be opening for you? Are you aware of them? Is He shutting doors and opening others?

Whether you feel it or not, you have been hand-picked by God for a purpose. There’s nothing more life-giving than walking into that.

Further Bible reading:

1 Corinthians 7:17 Philippians 2:1-4 1 Peter 2:9-10