Tag Archives: 2 Corinthians 15

When you feel like… rubbish

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Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord: O Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. If you, O Lord, kept a record of wrongs, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared.

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning…

(Ps 130.1-6)

Answer me quickly, O Lord; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me or I will be like those who go down to the pit. Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.

(Ps 143.7-9)

…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 about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

(2 Cor 12.9)

The enemy of God’s children dearly loves to bring them down, to distract and convince them that God doesn’t really mean what he says, and can’t be trusted.. I have to remind myself of this regularly, especially when, after a recent blog post in which I chose to firmly assert the deeply accepting and affirming love of my heavenly Father, I find myself assailed and overwhelmed by feelings of inadequacy, failure and a very strong desire to give up…

I know that our feelings don’t tell the whole story, but, for myself, I find they dominate the narrative very loudly, and it can be hard to live in a godly way with them. The current wave of negativity has become quite overwhelming, and I am having to force myself to find external things to focus on. I am thankful for duties and commitments which require me to listen and engage with others and ignore the internal noise.  I pray and trust that the season will pass soon, but just now, I need to be honest with my Father since only he really sees and understands me, and with him I can share my distress confidently, knowing I am held in love and cherished. The psalms give us a wonderful template for such lamentation, and remind us that God has always invited his precious children to cast their cares upon him – what a blessing!

Father, your child is feeling so fed up of herself and all the ways she falls short of perfection – how ridiculous that sounds, but you understand! She sees wise, learned, godly people, full of grace, serene and confident in you, steady in counsel and always joyful in service… and she sees herself, so far from these things in spite of her years, your grace and the teaching and example of so many saints. Is it alright that she is not ‘that kind of christian’? Remind her of your faithfulness, your mercy and your tender love which delights in her – even when she cannot delight in what you have made her.

Father, your child is appalled by her own indifference and lack of motivation to apply herself to learning, to the disciplines of growing faith, to the business of working in your harvest field. She sees others labouring with energy, praying with passion, and she is ashamed at her own lack of belief in the possibility of changed lives, of kingdom-building. Remind her of your power, which IS at work all around us all the time, whether we see it or not, and of your purpose which will be fulfilled.

Father, your child sees the years ahead and cringes away from the prospect of ageing, of life-narrowing. It all looks so grim and miserable, and she has no appetite for living victoriously in the face of such challenges. She is ashamed of such negativity, ashamed that her story seems always to be that of the fearful pilgrim, expecting the worst, and stepping out so reluctantly. Remind her that you have always been faithful, and that it is your strength which is her security. Remind her that the weakest vessels display your power and grace most marvellously, and that she need not be ashamed or depressed at the prospect of being such a vessel!

Answer me quickly, O Lord; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me or I will be like those who go down to the pit. Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.

Tell me again..please?

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Therefore, I will always remind you about these things – even though you already know them and are standing firm in the truth you have been taught. And it is only right that I should keep on reminding you as long as I live….For we were not making up clever stories when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We saw his majestic splendour with our own eyes….because of that experience, we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets.

I want you to remember what the holy prophets said long ago and what our Lord and Saviour commanded through your apostles.

(2 Peter 1.12,16,19 &3.2)

Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the good news I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. It is this good news that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you…I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the scriptures said.

(1 Corinthians 15. 1,3&4)

 Our world in these early years of the twenty-first century is driven by rapid change – population growth; expanding economies; transforming technologies. We in the prosperous and stable European nations enjoy an unprecedented standard of living and are swept along in the current of constant innovation which drives our economies and personal lives. Every few years, we replace appliances, cars and pieces of furniture, and obsolescence is built in to much of what we use,  we accept it cannot last for long. We are increasingly driven by novelty, the lure of the new and different. It was ever thus, humanity is easily bored, but the pace of change today is breath-taking.

Do we sometimes fall into the trap of thinking about faith in this way, as if there ought to be some innovations by now, some new and exciting insights and teaching which will render much of our tradition obsolete? Well, perhaps there is a case for arguing that much which is traditional is no longer helpful, but actually obscures the gospel, and it could therefore be set aside. But, there is a foundation of truth upon which our faith must rest if it is to have any validity at all, and that foundation remains today as it was when the apostles wrote about it two thousand years ago..

We believe in a God who became human, lived a perfect life, died the death of a sinner, and was raised to new life, ascending into heaven where all those who accept his death in their place will also be received. It can be reduced to the simplest of statements, as the children’s hymn puts it, “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the bible tells me so..”

There is sufficient profound theology behind this truth to occupy the greatest minds; and yet it is clear enough to be understood and embraced by the youngest and simplest of us. And it does not change…this is what we believe, and without this, we are astray upon a sea of conjecture, tossed by fashionable philosophies, driven by ruthless atheists, and without any real grounds for hope. It is this truth which we need, more than anything else, to give us courage to face life, to face ourselves in all our weakness, failure and malice.

Jesus loves me – therefore I am of worth, I have value in God’s eyes and can hold my head high no matter what others say of me; Jesus loves me – and his death has dealt with all my sins, the past, present and future, I am forgiven and the burden of guilt has no weight for me: Jesus loves me – I want to live in a way that honours him and recognises that my life is no longer my own to waste; Jesus loves me – and that love is for all who will receive it, therefore I have good news to share with my world!

This old story, of Jesus and his love, is what I need to receive afresh every day of my life. It is as basic to my existence as the food I eat and the air I breathe. Without this story, I have no hope, and am at the mercy of my own sin, the wiles of the devil, and the power of evil in the world.

Praise God, in his infinite wisdom, that his great story of redemption is complete, that nothing need be added by all the cleverness of humanity to make it effective. There is no need to look for new versions of the good news of Jesus; the old story, the unchanging story, is never obsolete, always effective, and the only sure foundation of faith. Alleluia, and Amen!