In his book, Emotionally Health Spirituality, the author, Peter Scazzero, talks about inevitable pain and difficult times that all followers of Christ (and arguably all humans) go through at some point in their lives. He calls it “the Wall–or, as the ancients called it, “the dark night of the soul.” I refer to it as the “wilderness”. (see my blog post, “Pressing on – continued.”) Going through the wall is part of our growth of our relationship with God. The bad news is that we may go through the wall or wander in the wilderness more than once.
After reading about this, I reflected on couple of times in my life, where I thought I was in the wilderness. As I look back, it seems that each successive time was harder than the last. Or maybe they weren’t necessarily harder, but my memory and the healing over time make the older experiences feel less difficult or at least less emotionally raw.
On tv and in the movies, characters go through a hard time, and in the end, they see the reason for those hard times. I don’t think that happens too often in real life that we have that much clarity. But that is not to say that we don’t learn and grow from our wilderness experiences.
All this got me thinking, and then seemingly on an unrelated way I was reminded of something I wrote back in 2009, that helps me as I go through the “dark night of the soul.” I previously posted this as “Psalm 62 Sovereign Love,” but is bears repeating as I continue to preach to myself.
One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong, and that you, O Lord, are loving. Surely you will reward each person according to what he has done. Psalm 62:11&12 (NIV)
Our God is both a sovereign God and a God of love.
In his sovereignty and might, God has made all things, he sustains all things, and he is in control of all things. There is nothing that happens that surprises God. There is never a time when God says, “Oh didn’t see that coming.” No, there are no surprises for God.
There is no power beyond his control. Nations war with each other and man does unspeakable inhumanity to their fellow man, but God is still in control. There is no power of nature that is beyond his control. No earthquake, hurricane, tornado, flood, or tusumni whose power can match the might of God. Mother Nature is not in control; the God of heaven and earth rules all things on heaven and earth. Personal tragedies happen to each of us and we wonder why. But all of these things happen only because God says they can.
But, He is also a God of amazing love. His love cannot be measured. There is no end to the depth, height, or width of his live. His love is not bound by space or time. His love is not limited to the English language or our western culture. There is nothing we can do to escape his love. Michael Card has said He cannot love us more and he will not love us less. That is because God’s love simply knows no bounds.
And both his sovereignty and love are equally important and comforting to his people. We can never emphasize his power and forget his love; and we cannot emphasize his love and forget his power. Both are equally important.
If God is only a sovereign God of power and might but not a God of boundless love, then the acts of power or restraint are arbitrary and capricious. What sense can we make of natural and manmade disasters and our personal grief? He becomes an arbitrary and capricious despot.
If God is only a God of love and not a sovereign God then he has no control over what happens. He loves us, but we are at the whim of something or someone else. God would be helpless to demonstrate his boundless love. Without his sovereignty, he is a helpless and hopeless romantic.
But he is both a God of ultimate sovereignty and boundless love and with both of these things we can be confident of the future and have comfort in the times of our distress. We can find comfort in our deepest pain because we know and feel his boundless love and know that God is in control even when it hurts beyond words. He is the God of all comfort because his love is boundless and all things are within his control.
I don’t know why some things happen to some people and not others. I will never be able to explain the pain we have endured. There are times when we don’t understand the pain, but eventually the pain subsides. We don’t have any more explanation for it, but it doesn’t hurt as much, and we no longer ask the question of why. But, in our darkest hours, in the midst of our deepest grief, we can know that he is in control and that he is molding us into the people he wants us to be. There is no need for any other source of comfort beyond that.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 (NIV)
being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6 (NIV)
Added bonus – here is John Piper’s take on these “Two Infinitely Strong and Tender Truths. https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/two-infinitely-strong-and-tender-truths
A Long Intentional Walk 