randy@crosstalk.org

www.crosstalk.org

Its time to deal with the "S" word. This topic is one of the most
despised subjects in the Church. Its not sin and its not sex because
those are too easy. I want to talk about a different "S" word.
Suffering. Earlier I suggested that I would offer deep truth for a
shallow world. Well the world already knows about suffering.
It seems to me that it’s the Church that can’t figure out what to do
with it.

We modern Charismatics tend to avoid pain. In fact,
we see most negative experiences as some kind of curse from
Hell. Therefore, we deal with everything in spiritual terms.
If one of us loses our house, we presume the Devil stole it and
swear that "Ole Slewfoot" is lurking behind every trial fixin’ to
put poverty all over us. Well, I lost a house one time and the devil
didn’t have anything to do with it. It hurt like Hell, but Hell doesn’t
control my life. God is my master, my protector, my deliverer, and
also my redeemer. He told me how to avoid most of the problems
that I’ve brought upon myself. I just didn’t believe Him enough to
obey Him. I can’t blame anybody but me. The fact is I signed a
personal guarantee. I became what the Bible calls a surety.
Proverbs says, "One who hates being surety is secure" (Proverbs 11:15).

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the opposite is
also true. If you become a surety or a guarantor in modern
language, you lose your security. Guess what, I owned a beautiful,
paid for, delightful home on the lake in a prosperous subdivision.
I had run a successful business for many years to obtain that lovely
family home. When I ventured out "in faith" to get a business loan for
a new corporation, I made a mistake. Apparently, I wanted the loan
more than I wanted to obey the Word of God. When that business
folded and it couldn’t pay off its business loans my banker had every
right under heaven to come and take my home to satisfy the debts of
that business. Stupid me, I should have obeyed the Word of God and
not become a surety for that company. Obviously, the company
shouldn’t have gotten the loan in the first place; it was a bad risk.
I cannot blame the Devil. He didn’t sign the papers. I prayed day
and night, but I still lost the home. God did not fail. I
did. (Marvin Gaye)

Moses reminds us that we should only ascribe "greatness unto
our God. He is the Rock, his ways are judgment: a God of truth and
without iniquity, just and right is he" (Deuteronomy 32:3-4). I am
satisfied with the description of God found in 1st John, "God is light,
and in him is no darkness at all." I mean to tell you I am satisfied with
God’s will no matter what happens. Not just when I get my way.

Actually, failure has had a much more profound impact on my life
than any of the wonderful successes that God has granted. Failure
is painful, but it isn’t terminal. The effects hurt for a long time, but
not forever. Bless God, I lost my castle, not my salvation. I lost
some prestige, but not God’s comfort. But He is the king and He
gets the throne. The good news is that we get Him and He gets us.
I don’t know what He wants with us, but I’m satisfied knowing that
"He will keep the feet of his saints." That picture of God’s keeping
power is found in Hannah’s prophetic song in 1st Samuel chapter 2.
She sweetly, and divinely informs us that "they that stumble are
girded with strength." Praise God. It is true. And it is also true
what she said about God’s awesome power. "The Lord killeth, and
maketh alive: he bringeth low, and lifteth up." I am satisfied that
He is able to "keep the feet of his saints" (1st Samuel 2:4a, 6-7, 9a).
Bless His holy name, "The steps of a good man are ordered by the
Lord and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be
utterly cast down, for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand"
(Psalm 37:23-24).

You can watch a dozen programs on "How-to"
nail down success. I know a little about success, but apparently, so
does every other preacher. I want to teach you about adversity, because
it’s easy to shout the victory on the good days. Do it! Bless God.
Shout the victory and testify of God’s goodness. His mercy endureth
forever. This story has a happy ending that I’ll discuss later, and you
can be sure that God’s promises are true. He does keep the feet of
His saints. But sometimes, those feet should press the brake instead
of the gas pedal. We travel God’s road, and God puts speed bumps in
His road to warn His children of danger, or sudden turns, which He
has planned. Don’t ignore them! They’re our guide, when we aren’t
sensitive enough to God’s still, small voice. Praise God for the bumps.
Count it all joy. Rejoice in tribulation. Pray without ceasing, but
don’t demand your way. Trust God and let Him protect you.

Sometimes God puts tailor-made speed bumps in your path, just so
you don’t pass the toll booths, or worse, drive off a mountain, or hit
a true catastrophic snare in the road. Sometimes those bumps are
big ones because you have been sitting on your butt so long you’ve
developed paddle pads. Each of my 6 kids has tried to shove some
kind of padding in their pants at one time or another to offset the
effects of a forthcoming swat. My wife & I laughed at each of their
cute little attempts to ease the pain. Of course we then insist that they
remove the padding, or suffer the consequences of compensating
velocity. Thwapp! Their clever inventions just don’t work against
the Father’s devices. Still, everyone of them has tried and failed.
They instinctively pass on their bad ideas to their younger siblings
to see if anyone will ever get away with the plan. They never do,
and they always look so foolish with extra underwear and towels
padding their trousers. Saints, sometimes we look pretty foolish too,
and our padding fails just as bad. The speed bumps that God puts in
the road have a purpose. The bigger the bump, the greater the danger
to avoid, or the slower we should move to insure we learn the lesson.
The really big bumps force us to slow to a stop, or get jolted loose
from our comfort. The bumps aren’t bad, unless you ignore them.
If you get too comfortable in your cushy car, complete with padded
seats, and super cushy -- extra cost -- luxury enhanced -- air-ride
shock absorbers, you could get to the bumps ands not even realize
you were supposed to slow down until it is too late. If you
mechanically compensate for the speed bumps, instead of slowing
down to heed their warning, God’s warning system malfunctions and
His children will be unprotected. God installed the bumps for our
protection. We should embrace them for what they are. Part of the
plan of our loving heavenly Father.

Sadly, some modern Christian theories seem to teach us how to obtain
air-ride shock absorbers and travel the comfortable roads. They often
teach us how to inflate our shocks to supernatural levels so that we
don’t experience God’s speed bumps of life. Some have determined
that the road less-traveled, is also less convenient and full of so many
bumps that God couldn’t possibly have designed such a dangerous
road with so many curves. The road seems uncomfortable after grace,
unnecessary after Calvary, and unwanted after memorizing all of the
prosperity promises of the Bible. We prefer to learn how to have faith
to get translated over the bumps. Forget it folks. The bumps were
installed by the maker for our own safety. Don’t blame the devil. Satan
doesn’t put bumps in God’s road. The best he can do is dig pitfalls and
lay snares for the foolish. The devil’s snares aren’t the same thing as
God’s bumps. You see, the difference is that one of them is supposed
to be avoided, the other is supposed to be experienced. Spiritual
maturity helps us know how to embrace the bumps and see the snares
. One of them helps us, the other hurts us. I guess the only real similarity
is that unless we’re completely ignorant, we can learn something from
both of them. Adversity doesn’t equate to a lack of faith. What you do
with it determines your faithfulness. "If thou faint in the day of adversity
thy strength is small" (Proverbs 24:10).

Copyright 2005 by Randy Weiss, Ph.D.