Tough times a sign of God's imminence
 Hugh Josephs looks at those times when things are tough and God seems displeased with us, or just out of reach.
If Jesus is God, then He's got to be great enough to have some reasons to let you go through things you don't understand.” Tim Keller; Christian apologist and author
Ever been through an inexplicably tough time as a Christian? I have. Often. Who hasn't?…
For me, what can make such 'dark nights of the soul' so much more acidic is the nagging suspicion that my ‘stuff’ indicates that God is displeased with me, somehow absent, not fully present or is (just as unsettling) out of reach. All of which, if I’m not careful, threatens to render my attempts at devotion ridiculous, just as Job’s valiant grasp to his integrity seemed to his wife.
Then there’s that thing where your prayers appear to bounce off the ceiling, or you’re under such strain that your tongue seems to stick to the roof of your mouth when you’re trying to dredge up enough faith to pray.
Sure, Jesus made it very clear that He will never leave us nor forsake us. I’ve heard that many times. I’m sure you have, too. And it’s a truth that’s often very reassuring. Even so, there can still be a niggly, itchy, toxic perspective that can hang in the air like a bad smell getting right up our noses: that God, though with us, is somehow not quite for us after all – particularly when we need Him most…
This is compounded by the lack of peace such times all too often carry in their wake.
What's the inference? That if God were fully present, or if we were 'right' with Him and hadn't pushed Him away somehow, we would be blessed, at peace and delivered from whatever our thing is at the time. Because when God is fully present, there are no tears, right?!
And our conclusion? If we just get more of God, or draw closer to Him, our problems will melt away. Or worse, that God is somehow displeased with us, disciplines us harshly, or is punishing us.
So how might you and I deflect this tortuous assault on faithfulness – God and ours – once and for all? Here's something that might help: what if our tough times don't point to God's absence, but His imminence?
Counter intuitive, right? Maybe. Let me explain…
Darkness trying its best to keep out of earshot
A contemporary songwriter penned a lyric about God that ventured to suggest that "He wraps Himself in light; darkness tries to hide and trembles at His voice". This suggests that we are surrounded by an unseen topography, shaking and quivering under the weight of God's increasing presence. So much so, that His very words unsettle it.
Now the apostle Paul makes it clear that the things we see are made up of things unseen. Science confirms this. So we believe that invisible phenomena such as energy, force, lift, heat, pressure and more, affect matter in ways that we can see, feel and measure.
So what if God’s imminence kicks up such a fuss in a very real but unseen realm that it leaves us mortals trying to catch our balance in the tremors? Maybe the Father’s pursuit of His people brings Him closer and closer, sparking a sequence of events in an unseen reality that has its ripples in the pitch and yaw of life that we can experience as upheaval, chaos and calamity.
This could suggest then that perhaps our plights are not about us at all per se and has little to do with what we may or may not have done wrong, but more about what we’re doing right...
If we look carefully, we find this big idea of order foreshadowed by chaos is all over the Book!
Bigger stories trumping smaller ones
Take Joseph. My namesake. Promoted to Prime Minister, Egypt’s second most powerful man. Not only saves an empire but surrounding nations as well.
His back story is littered with such jealousy, rejection, accusation, injustice, isolation and frustrated dreams that it would make most believers wilt like... well, dreamy wheat in an inclement east wind.
Joseph's vindication and deliverance, lifted high on the back of 13 long years of malignant trials and tribulations, was more – so, so much more – about God fathering nations than it was about forming character in a spoilt child.
Then there was the Exodus. Just before God did a new thing with a people that weren't a people, everything kicked off with 11 terrifying judgments on the Egyptians and widespread catastrophe. The result? Miraculously, a nation emerges from which, all nations of the earth are ultimately blessed.
In every Biblical story, there are meta-narratives at play.
How about the Crucifixion? Darkness. Earth tremors. The dead strolling about. When? Just before the Kingdom comes, God's will is done and the sacrificial Lamb is resurrected, splitting history in two.
And I could go on, as the Bible has many more examples to offer us just like these.
Kindness, not aloofness
So can I invite you to consider this with me; that perhaps our most perplexing tests, trials and tribulations (mine, yours and others) have nothing at all to do with celestial indifference and more to do with God pressing in to our world to help us help Him establish something new.
Isaiah puts it this way: God's looking less for casual bystanders and more for friends who "come" and "contend together" with Him to help bring order, balance and harmony.
Which is why any upheaval and turmoil we experience may simply be a sign of God’s imminence, His nearness, and less about His transcendence. And more, so, so much more, about His unmerited favour toward us and those nearby.
We all want our world and our lives to run a little smoother, right? “Be the Change”, political slogans exhort. (Good point, probably…) Well, some scientists of the soul insist that lasting change happens best when our emotions are involved. And our tests can often draw out some very raw ones.
Therefore, let’s take heart when our hearts are tempted to fail and keep our heads when we're tempted to lose them. God is for us, not against us. When strange fire comes, let’s resist the temptation to give it permission to singe our confidence in the unswerving grip of a faithful Father, or twist our gaze inwards on ourselves.
Because whatever's kicking off may have more to do with bigger narratives than our own. And we're going to need all our wits to pay heed to how best to co-operate with God in establishing His kingly rule here on earth in some small way.
Which has more to do with gardening than it does with some kind of cosmic crusade. Which is another of the Book’s big ideas I love exploring. But I'll have to try and tackle that one some other time...
Hugh Josephs is a regular columnist for our sister website Network Ipswich and is part of the Christian community in the town. The views carried here are those of the author, not of Network Norwich and Norfolk, and are intended to stimulate constructive debate between website users. We welcome your thoughts and comments, posted below, upon the ideas expressed here. |
