Here is a simple lesson from Psalm 77: If you find yourself lacking faith in a day of difficulty, remember and rehearse what God has done.

This is what the psalmist does here really. He finds himself in a day of trouble, questioning whether or not the Lord will grant favor to His people. Questions assail him: Has God forgotten us? Will He act for us? Is He done being compassionate? Doubts naturally arise.

But then the psalmist resolves to base his appeal on “the years of the Most High.” He recalls the fact that the Lord is from everlasting and that His track record is one most certainly worth reviewing. In short, he resolves to remember the deeds of the Lord and in turn, to rehearse them to himself.

The first half of the psalm consists of the questioning God’s faithfulness. The second half of the psalm consists of the rehearsal of God’s faithfulness. In response to the first half, come doubts. In response to the second, comes faith. A determination to set our minds on the mighty acts of God–with a central focus of all that He has accomplished for us through Christ–goes a long way to fighting the fight of faith. Indeed, it is not overstating the case to say that remembering and rehearsing the mighty deeds of the Lord is a primary way to fight the fight of way. Isn’t this why we daily read the Scriptures? Is this why we must continually rehearse God’s promises in prayer? Isn’t this why we must consistently gather together to exhort one another daily as long as it is called today so that none of us may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin? Sure, there are more than one reason for all these things, but a remembrance and rehearsal of the Lord’s faithfulness at least can be called central or foundational.

Because of sin, we are by nature a very dull people. Our memories fade rapidity and need continual reminders, or else faith will fade and doubts will arise. If we are to be a people of perseverance, we must be a people diligent to remember and rehearse. Everyday. Every moment, til’ death do us part.

“Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Oftentimes we are pleading to the Lord for the removal of some weakness or hardship or persecution or calamity. We cannot understand why we continue to struggle as we do. The same circumstances arise to humble us, to show us our need, to bring us low. And God will not remove them.

Are we content to realize that the Lord might not want to remove them? That He has a wise and loving purpose for whatever it is we want to be removed? Can we find rest in the reality that the Lord wants us to be weak? That He wants us to see our need for Him continually? That He loves us enough to never let us grow too independent? That He will do whatever it takes to make us grow in a humble reliance upon Him?

Paul learned the secret of embracing all that revealed his weakness, because he valued the power of Christ more than present comfort. Indeed, he learned the power of being content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. He went so far to make them the things in which he boasted. Why? Because he knew that they were all worth it if he could but walk humbly with Christ.

If these various difficulties were the means to the power of God resting upon Paul, why are we apt to think that the Lord wants us to comfortably cruise along in the Christian life? Why are we inclined to believe that we somehow do not need these difficulties? Our standard is much too low. Our goal too here-and-now.

How much do we want the power or Christ to rest upon us? To that degree we will welcome difficulty. To that degree we will boast and embrace all that exposes our weakness and leads us to throw ourselves upon the mercy seat of Christ.

What is it that you are struggling with today? If the Lord will not remove, maybe He means for it to be embraced as a sweet means of humbling you and revealing His power.

O Lord, make us want You more than we want comfort and ease. Make us long for your power to rest upon us and to, in turn, embrace whatever the means might be for your power to be perfected in us. For the sake of your name, O Lord, hear us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

So zealous was Paul for Jesus Christ and his gospel that he was willing to suffer and die. Paul was indeed a man of vision. A man of passion. A man of resolve. And he was so captivated by the gospel of the kingdom that he was willing to lay down his very life for it. He did not account his life as any value, nor as precious to himself, if only he could be faithful with his charge.

When reading such verses, we are wise to humbly reflect upon our commitment to this gospel. Sure, it will not look the same as it did for the Apostle Paul, but every one of us needs that resolve, that passion, that fire for the good news of Jesus Christ. We need to embrace suffering more and to seek comfort less. To be so captivated with a vision to making Jesus known that all our own comforts and pushed to the background and relegated to positions of relative unimportance.

To reach such a state, much prayer and study is needed. We are wise to cry out to the Lord to captivate our hearts with the truth of His Word, with the reality of His kingdom, so that we might truly seek first His kingdom no matter the cost.

v. 15 “The word of the Lord came to me: ‘Son of man, behold, I am about tot ake the delight of your eyes away from you at a stroke; yet you shall not mourn or weep, nor shall your tears run down. Sigh, but not aloud; make no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban, and put your shoes on your feet; do not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.’ So I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died. And on the next morning I did as I was commanded.”

The context is that of Ezekiel prophesying to the people about the destruction of Jerusalem. In essence, the Lord uses the death of Ezekiel’s wife and his subsequent response to show to the people how they ought to respond to the destruction of Jerusalem (the delight of their eyes).

We can’t be sure how old Ezekiel and his wife were or what was her particular condition. Was she taken in a moment when she was apparently in good health? Or had she been sick? Whatever the case, there is still in this experience of the prophet Ezekiel the blatant reminder that our lives and the lives of those we love rest in the sovereign will of God.

He gives life and He takes life. Is it not in His power to do what He desires with what belongs to Him? Does not the potter have the right to mold and fashion the clay according to His own desire? On the surface, it may seem kind of harsh for the Lord to take Ezekiel’s wife and to command him to respond without grieving, simply to be a clear picture to those he prophesied to. But this surface perspective fails to take into account God’s place as God.

My life is in His hands. He can do with me as He wills. So also the lives of my wife and children and friends and possessions. They are not ultimately mine, but His. I am a mere steward. And all these things are safe from my grip only as I hold them loosely and humbly entrust them to the Lord.

I need to be reminded of this more or less everyday. I am not my own by creation. I am not my own by redemption. I have been bought with a price. The Lord may do what seems good to Him…all the time. With whoever He pleases to do it. This is a humbling reality, but one that, when embraced, is more precious than life.

“And your zeal has stirred up most of them.”

In this instance, Paul is talking about the zeal of Corinthians to give to the needs to the saints as a means towards stirring up the people of Macedonia to do the same. Yet the principle itself stands no matter the context. Godly zeal is a great blessing to the church. Both in the individual and a local body.

If you look carefully at the religious landscape, it seems quite clear that the Lord often burdens great leaders with a particular topic or doctrine. Some sort of focus that they are jealous for. Better yet, zealous for. Oftentimes that leader is a pastor of a particular local church. And around that leader develops a local church that is zealous for that same particular topic or focus or doctrine. The various aspects associated with that one emphasis are fleshed out within that congregation. Books might be written. Websites developed. Conferences held. Ministries began. Other churches planted. On and on we could go.

And through it all, the zeal of that particular leader and that local church stirs up many others.

In this instance, the Corinthian church was zealous to give. And as their zeal to give was made known, other churches caught onto the same. Ask yourself: what are you zealous for? What are you stirring up other with? Or ask your church: what are we as a congregation zealous for? What particular contribution are we making to the Church?

Everyone wants to be well-rounded. And that is good enough. But it is almost inevitable that a particular local church (and a particular local leader(s)) will have a particular contribution to make to the body of Christ. And it seems good to embrace that. To recognize your limits (even while aiming to become more well-rounded) and to make that particular contribution with all your heart. Don’t be ashamed to stir up many others through your holy zeal.

“Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 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.”

After stating that the Israelites’ disobedience to the Lord was written down for our instruction and warning, Paul writes the verses quoted above. Take note (at least) a few things.

First, note that we must continually beware of falling. Not only that, but we must beware of falling in response to some normal, run-of-the-mill temptation. Nothing fancy is needed to bring us down. We need only to relax our mindset for a bit and we will soon find ourselves on a slippery slope. If we think we stand firm, we must continually take heed, lest we fall.

Second, we must believe the promise found in verse 13. God is faithful and He will not us be tempted beyond our ability, but with the temptation, He will also provide the way of escape, that we may be able to endure it. Do we believe this? Really, when push comes to shove, do we believe it? When things aren’t going our way, is our first response to believe that we have the power to remain at peace and to face whatever the circumstances with joy? I hope so, because that is reality.

Maybe over half the battle against sin is won by the sheer belief that we have the ability to win the battle. If one goes into war believing that the enemy is too strong for him, he is bound to lose. But if he goes into war understanding and believing that he can win the battle, his chances naturally rise (a great deal nonetheless). As it relates to the believer at war against his own sin, if one understands and believes that the Lord is on his side, that the power of the Holy Spirit is within him, and that the Lord has promised to so order his circumstances that by His grace one can face anything, his chances of victory are virtually assured.

Do you realize today, believer, that you have the spiritual resources to face whatever the Lord might bring your way. Beware of exalting the power of sin over the power of the Holy Spirit! So you didn’t get a great night’s rest, huh? The Holy Spirit is bigger and stronger than that. So things haven’t gone your way today and you are wiped out. Well, weariness is still no excuse for sin, because God is faithful. The Holy Spirit is yours and the circumstances you face right now have been ordered by a wise and faithful Creator who promises to give you no more than you can handle with His strength. Oh, let us meditate upon such truth until we believe it. And let us do so everyday.

What a joy it is to know that we have the resources to face whatever the Lord ordains for us! What victory is ours through Christ Jesus. Let us rejoice and let us believe.

“Be still, and know that I am God,
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”

It is important to note that this verse was not spoken in a vacuum, but in the midst of a psalm full of action, judgment, wars, struggle, promises, and joy. This should serve as both a very comforting and challenging reality.

It is comforting because this is where we live. We live in the midst of struggle and difficulty and uncertainty. So it is comforting to know that the call to be still and know that He is God is not negated by all our surrounding circumstance. To the contrary, the call to be still is needed all the more because of the vast uncertainty and difficulty that characterizes each of our lives. No matter your trial, the Lord still calls you to be still and know that He is God. To rest in the fact that He will be exalted among the nations, indeed, over all the earth.

This verse is challenging because it is not easy to trust the Lord in this way. It is not easy to rest in His sovereign goodness and power in the face of wars and difficulties and uncertainty. We are so apt to take matters into our own hands. To trust in our power to change things. And there might be times when we do need to change things. Yet even then, we are commanded to rest. To be still and know that He is God. To rest satisfied in the fact that no matter the evil or difficulty we face, He is seated on His throne and one day will make everything right.

The command to be still is a command applicable to each and every day. A peace of heart we are all looking for. And this peace can only be found when we entrust ourselves to a wise and faithful Creator, One who is actively seeking for us good and guaranteed to be exalted in and through and above all things. What is your trial today? What is your difficulty? Be still and know that He is God. He will be exalted among the nations. He will be exalted in the earth! Rest satisfied in soul. Cease striving and trust in the Lord.

Clearly this chapter addresses a question the Corinthian Church had for Paul. It also seems clear that there were a group of people who had a better understanding of idols and subsequently, what it really meant to eat meat that was sacrificed to idols. In particular, these people understood that idols really had (have) no existence. They were not real, so that if one ate meat sacrificed to idols, one could do so with a clear conscience, because essentially the meat was sacrificed to no-thing.

Yet there were also people who did not understand this. Because they had former associations with such idol worship, they could not partake of this meat with a clear conscience. And rather than calling on them to simply change their minds and eat accordingly, it is the ones with knowledge that Paul primarily addresses. Of course, in the course of doing so, Paul addresses the weak, but his focus is clearly on those who understand that meat sacrificed to idols is no big deal to eat.

In short, he calls them to love their brothers by restricting their own freedom. He doesn’t tell them to convince their brothers about the meat, that is, to share the knowledge. For Paul understands that this issue is a sensitive one because it deals with former associations and struggles. And such associations and struggles do not die simply by the way of argument. Various factors are involved, so grace must be given.

There is a balance here, I recognize. For in modern-day situations such as these, one must strike a balance between exercising one’s freedom in Christ and helping others to do the same, and being sensitive to the weaknesses of others. Such matters as drinking alcohol or watching certain movies or listening to certain music or hanging out in certain places all can fit into this category. For whether or not we engage (or should engage) in such things depends in large part upon our former associations and our present understanding and maturity. Two well-meaning believers could stand side by side with one another and have different convictions on what place to enter, or what to drink, or what to watch. For they are not filled with the same weaknesses, or experiences, or understandings, or strengths. Wisdom is needed. But even more so, love.

In the end, it is not so much what we know, but what we are willing to do with what we know that counts. If we can fathom all mysteries and yet, fail to think about our brothers and sisters and their spiritual growth, what is our knowledge really worth? We are nothing but puffed up. Love is the path towards blessing. Denying ourselves the opportunity to exercise our own rights for the good of others is certainly the true pathway to joy. Sure, we want others to enjoy the freedom that is theirs in Christ. But more than enjoying the freedom to eat meat sacrificed to idols (or whatever the issue), we want to teach them to enjoy the freedom to deny themselves for the sake of others and the glory of God. This is without doubt the direction in which the Lord wants us to go.

“Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches.”

Paul began this chapter with a focus on whether or not one should marry. Indeed, most of the chapter is about that. But in the middle of this chapter (v. 17-24), he seems to use his words on marriage as an opportunity to teach a more general principle about one’s station and calling in life–and the acceptance of it.

Verse 17 serves as a summary of his thought. In essence, no man should begrudge his respective calling in life, but instead, embrace it as a gift and calling of the Lord. As Paul puts it, we each have an assignment from the Lord. A distinct calling. We are wise to embrace it as such and be on our guard against discontentment with our assignment or calling. In verses 17-24, Paul elaborates a bit on his thought here and, in essence, teaches that wherever one found himself when called by the Lord (in salvation) is probably where one should stay.

He uses the example of slavery. But we could also use the example of any particular line of work. Even though it is true that the Lord might call you out of your line of work, this is not normally the case. Normally, the Lord calls us to remain where we are and in the end, to simply live differently where we are to His glory. To fulfill our assignment or calling in such a way that He is exalted. It is usually wise to remain where we are, but to do so ‘with God’ (v. 24).

This is pretty simple truth, but it should also been pretty freeing truth. Oftentimes, those who seek hard after the Lord wonder if they should go into a more focused ministry or spend more time at the church. Sometimes one might even feel guilty about spending so much time at work and home and so little time at church. The circumstances vary, of course, but the point is that one should not feel guilty about fulfilling His respective assignment or calling in life. Discernment is needed, of course, (as we might be inclined to overwork), but in the end, if you are pursuing faithfulness to your respective station in life, you should be pursuing it with a clear conscience, understanding that you are simply trying to lead the life the Lord has called you to lead.

In the kingdom, there is no truly ‘secular’ work. All is done unto the Lord when it is done in faithfulness to one’s calling, in dependance upon Him, and with a view towards the manifestation of His rule and reign in the word. Such is the call to seek first the kingdom.