Providence and the Sovereignty of God

…Genesis 39:19Now when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke to him, saying, “This is what your slave did to me,” his anger burned. 20So Joseph’s master took him and put him into the jail, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; and he was there in the jail. 21But the LORD was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer.

Today we return to the writing of Jay Adams at The Journal of Nouthetic Studies. To help explain the first sentence below, I should point out that Jay is writing primarily to people who do Christian counseling, but given that this is Christianity 201 and not 101, I am assuming we have some readers who are involved in Christian leadership. If not, you might find yourself giving help and counsel to someone anyway, and there are some good free articles on the blog about what to do and what not to do, as well as counseling courses where you pay for materials.

Click the title to read at source (I’ve underlined one particular section):

Providential Care

In my opinion, unless a counselor is well aware of how God works for the good of His children, and is able to communicate something of those facts to counselees in times of distress, he will be a pretty sorry counselor.

I like what Chrysostom had to say about the providential care God showed for Joseph in the house of Pharaoh. He points out that Joseph was really in a far worse prison when living in Pharaoh’s household near a wild, lascivious woman than when he was jailed. He sees the imprisonment as blessed relief! Of course, he also goes through Joseph’s entire life to show how, at every turn, step by step, ordering each event, God was working out everything for His ends and Joseph’s good.

Providence, as we have previously noted, is God at work in His world doing those things in both general history and personal histories to achieve goals that, at the time when He is in the process of effecting them, may seem only puzzling or even tragic. That is because we lack the comprehensive knowledge that He possesses. Yet, all the while, nothing is actually meaningless, haphazard or unplanned. The tragic automobile accident in which one life is taken and another spared, was really no accident. It was but one element in the working out of God’s benevolent purpose to every believer that it involved.

But to believe in providence, one must also believe that God is in charge; that He is sovereign over all things and all creatures. If He were not, there could be no providential ordering of events according to a plan that was moving forward toward gracious outcomes for His own. Yet, perhaps in order to preserve some sort of unbiblical freedom for men, some foolishly deny this sovereign sway of God over His creation. In their world, man is the maverick, a loose cannon on board ship. But whenever this is postulated it turns out that man becomes more than he really is, and God less than He actually is. He turns out to be a god foreign to Scripture, and man is jacked up until he become a creature foreign to our experience.

Providence, to put it simply, is the true God doing what He pleases. And, praise Him, the thing to remember is that pleases Him to bless His people!

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For those of you who would like to learn more about Jay’s approach, here’s another short article that also appeared this week. Again, you might want to click through and then look around the rest of the blog.

There are Times . . .

. . . When counselors may become so overwhelmed by a counselee’s situation that, along with Job’s wife, they want to say something like, ”Curse God and die!” (Job 2:9).

In such circumstances, what must they do?

Answer:  remember the many words of Scripture that make no such allowance for such bad advice (for instance, 1 Corinthians 10:13).

Now, I know that frustration because of both the counselee’s response and the problems to which he is responding badly is common. It is easy, therefore, for you (as a counselor) to conclude that you are simply “not up to it.” And, in many respects, you aren’t—you can’t seem to figure out what God would have you advise and do in a particular instance. But there are several things you can do rather than utter some sort of exasperated advice. Let me list them:

1. You may seek further information about, or details concerning those aspects of the problem that seem fuzzy, puzzling, or unclear.
2. You may pray and ask the counselee to pray that you will become further enlightened in the biblical advice that you don’t have at the moment.
3. You may consult (by permission from the counselee) with another counselor—or bring him into the next counseling session.
4. You may find a clue to where you have taken a wrong (unbiblical) turn in counseling by consulting your notes. You do take notes, don’t you?
5. A check on past homework given—and how well it was followed—may help.
6. More time out of session for praying, searching Scripture, and thinking about the counselee’s problem may help.
7. Check out the fifty failure factors in the Christian Counselor’s New Testament/Proverbs to see if any of these apply.

Never hesitate (very long) to admit you are stumped. But make it clear that God isn’t—be sure he understands that the insufficiency is yours alone. But insist that there is a proper biblical answer. And it may not be the one either you or the counselee likes.

But one thing must be clear: God isn’t stumped!

Dealing with People Compassionately Without Compromising Convictions

 

“…For the Son of Man came to find and restore the lost.” (Luke 19:10 MSG)

Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. (Col. 4:5,6 NIV)

Wounds inflicted by the correction of a friend prove he is faithful… (Prov. 27:6a, The Voice)

The slap of a friend can be trusted to help you… (Prov 27:6a NCV)

Rather, let our lives lovingly express truth [in all things, speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly].(Eph. 4:15 Amplified Bible)

I recently finished reading the book, Compassion Without Compromise: How the Gospel Frees Us to Love Our Gay Friends Without Losing the Truth. This book deals with what is now a really tough issue facing the church at large, and takes several different approaches to this topic while at the same time revealing the vast number of situational challenges that we are either going to face, or have already faced.

I looked for a section of the book that had more general application to us devotionally and came up with this short excerpt:

 

…As you seek to exercise compassion without compromise, we encourage you to keep two key principles in mind:  mission and true love.

Mission – Jesus came to seek and save lost people, and he has sent us out with that same mission.  We can never forget this.  He did not call us to a “bumper sticker” mission where we are content to advertise our convictions without ever entering into the sometimes messy world of relationships.  When we are facing a tough choice, one essential question should be, “Will this help or hurt my  call to witness to this person’s life?”

True Love – The “true love” concept is at the heart of living out a life of compassion without compromise.  In our day, people often act as if love and truth are at odds.  Sometimes, people do live that way.

Let’s face it.  There are “truth” people, who dispense facts without any hint of love.  Truth people are like guys who use a sledgehammer for every conceivable household task that includes hammering something.  They might be trying to drive a stake into the ground to stabilize a sapling (good application), or a small nail into the wall to hang a picture (bad application).  In the extreme, truth people do things like question the eternal salvation of a friend’s grandmother while visiting the friend in the funeral home.  Or respond to a gay co-worker’s wedding invitation by saying, “God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.”  Truth people need to grow in true love.

Then there are “love” people, who refuse ever to speak a hard truth if they feel it might hurt someone’s feelings.  They are like an overindulgent, willfully blind parent who refuses to believe that “my little Johnny” would ever hurt another person, despite a track record of terrorizing his classmates, or like a doctor who would refuse to give someone a hard diagnosis if the treatment might inconvenience the patient.

A “true love” person understands that trying to sustain love without truth is like trying to breathe underwater.  We are not showing anyone love when we encourage them to live out of touch with reality.  At the same time, acknowledging the truth that it is potentially dangerous to dive below the surface does not prevent us from jumping in to save someone we love!  Love drives us forward.  Truth helps us chart a safe course toward the destination.

Ultimately, we believe it is important to understand ourselves, our strengths, and our weaknesses.  Where are we tempted to compromise?  Is it easier for us to shortchange love or to soft-pedal truth?  A wise witness will understand these contours of their personality.  They will want to stay balanced as they move forward in mission.

pp. 126-127

Putting It On The Altar

This is probably one of the most extreme examples of wrenching something out of context from an entirely different type of online source, and a much longer series of articles;  but I hope a few of you will pursue this and check out the ministry of George Hartwell, especially if you’re hurting or currently ministering to someone who is hurting.  I first met George last month when he was taking a few days apart from his schedule to do some writing and studying in a kind of informal rural retreat.   The article is from the website, HealMyLife.com.  George is a Christian counsellor in Toronto, Canada.

A Multi-Purpose Prayer of Release

“Put it on the Altar” is versatile: a prayer of release, a prayer of commitment, and an act of worship. It is a prayerful way to release stress.  Any work can be put on the altar: the week’s work, a life’s work, one’s ministry, and one’s investment in a person.  By doing so you are making it clear that this work has been done “as unto the Lord.” Putting one’s work on the altar frees one from concern of what people think and concern about the results of your effort. So it clears your heart from the fear of man and your mind from lingering on the project.

A person can be put on the altar. It is a prayerful way to release stress. By doing so you are making it clear that you don’t control this person. You have taken your hands off and put them in God’s hands. Putting a person or relationship on the altar should bring a sense of freedom and release. We were made for freedom and when one person clings or controls neither is free.

You can put your heart on the altar with the meaning of putting it into God’s care. This is a good idea. It is especially good when we are heart broken. When we let God hold our broken heart He keeps if from becoming hard. In His care our heart can love again.

Putting on the altar the things that we want to control can free us from tension and anxiety. It we are pushing to control, striving to manage, wound up about things it is not good for our health. Letting go of wanting to control is a way of relaxing. The theme of letting go of our drive to over control as a way of reducing stress is fully explained in “the Power of Letting Go” by Patricia Carrington (1999).

Mental over control can dampen the spontaneous enthusiasm, creativity and wisdom our heart and spirit. When we learn to live more from heart and spirit and less from our head we enter a zone of excellence that the Bible calls “the rest” or “life in the Spirit.” Using more secular language, Timothy Gallwey explores this interesting theme of getting out of mental over control in his books which include “The Inner Game of Tennis”, ‘The Inner Game of Golf” and “The Inner Game of Work.”

You can put your plans (goals, vision, mission, programs) on the altar to surrender them to God and find God’s will for you. To find out if God is calling you to some project surrender the project to God by putting it on the altar. When you picture putting something on the altar the message at the heart level is about taking your hands off, letting and stepping back. God’s response, or non-response, can indicate whether God is in it. God may confirm with the still small inner voice, by an increase in inner joy and enthusiasm, by inner peace about moving ahead, with a clearer vision and creative ideas coming forth. With God’s confirmation and the sense of God’s wind in your sails you can move ahead with confidence and with the sense that you are in partnership with God.

Sometimes pleasing people is a stronger force in our life than pleasing God. That means we fear men more than God. This means that man’s thinking can control us. In fact, others have become our God. We are in idolatry. It could be liberating to put these others that we fear on the altar. Sacrifice them and their approval to God. Let God do a work in your heart. Be free of the fear of man. Be free to serve God alone.

“Put it on the Altar” Prayer of Release

The following steps are instructions for a healing encounter with God through a prayer of release – a let go and let God kind of prayer. Adapt the outline to your purposes as seems appropriate.

You start when you have identified what it is that you want to put on the altar.

Choose some image to represent what you are putting on the altar. For example, your physical heart represents your love and the center and source of your life.

Tell God what you are doing. For example, “Take my heart, loving Father as I put it on your altar. I put my broken heart in your care.”

Picture the altar and the action as you put what represents your concern on the altar.

Stay attentive to this drama as it unfolds. As you put it on the altar what happens? What else do you see and hear? At the end of this symbolic inner action notice how you feel.

You can enter into a dialogue with God. For example if you have trouble letting go you may want to ask God if it is in His hands now. For example: “Heavenly Father, do you have my heart in your hands?” Listen for His answer.

When something significant happens, when something encouraging is heard in a prayer encounter, you will usually have a good feeling inside. It is important to soak in this good feeling, this encouragement and comfort. Take time to receive. Be still and let this feeling soak in. Let your heart feel good.

Let you heart be thankful. Let your spirit rejoice. Thank God. If your putting something on the altar represents a meaningful release and loss then it is health if you are experiencing some grief. See the next topic on Grief and Comfort.

(Optional extension) Ask yourself what implication this has for your life. How does this change your life? How would your life be different now?

Picture how things can be different in your life. What is one thing that would be different? Imagine how that would be. How does that change feel?

Thank God for how this went, for how you feel, and for this can change your life.

Make notes: write down a record of what happened, how you felt and what God said and review this later for discernment and encouragement.

 

Click this link to learn more about George Hartwell’s counseling ministry

Click this link for a directory of online articles at HealMyLife.com

 

Extreme Makeover — Soul Edition

No specific text today, but you’ve already taken care of that already, right?  I wanted to use this anyway because I really liked what it said.  This is by Murray Wittke who blogs at All The Days of my Life, where it appeared earlier this month under the title Soul Surgery.

They call it medical tourism or vacation makeovers.  This unique sector of the travel industry involves flabby, saggy, and droopy adults being pampered in exotic and sunny destinations while they recover from tummy tucks and surgery to lift and tighten the neck, face, brow, and breasts.  Just imagine with me, a Mediterranean Villa nestled on a hillside with a spectacular view of the ocean and overlooking groves of Orange trees.  There’s a warm breeze blowing and there in your own private garden, on a deck chair beside a pool, you’re relaxing in the sunshine.  Hidden from view no one sees the surgical tape, the black eyes, the puffy face, or the bruises. You simply return from vacation to a chorus of compliments from friends and family about  How good you’re looking!

Recently I’ve had a similar experience, my own vacation makeover, but in a lot colder location.  This winter I’ve spent a total of five weeks away in Fort Saint John at a counseling course undergoing what I can only refer to as Soul Surgery.  I’ve returned looking much the same on the outside but very different on the inside.  I admit there’s still some puffiness around my eyes and my heart feels a bit tender but the surgery went well and I’m healing fast.  I now have a much healthier heart.  From now on my friends and family are going to be seeing a brand new me!

It’s hard to get a man to go to the doctor and I’ll confess I’m one of those men.  In November I went to the first module of a counseling course for my initial two week checkup.  I was aware of a few signs in my life that suggested there might be problems somewhere below the surface, but like many men I did a good job of minimizing their significance.  I’m sure you’ve heard it before or maybe even said it yourself  “Hey don’t worry about me, it doesn’t hurt that much, I’m fine… really!” You know the routine, stiff upper lip, be a man, just suck it up and soldier on, and then get busy helping people with real difficulties.

My visit revealed I was not as healthy as I thought I was.  I actually needed some serious work done in my heart.  I discovered there was painful infection lodged throughout my past.  Through the five weeks of the course I came to clearly see how my reaction to the pain in my heart was negatively affecting my current behavior and relationships.  I was not only living with pain but I was also guilty of unconsciously hurting others.

My surgery began with writing out and then talking about the difficult and painful stories from throughout my life.  I discovered some deep wounds that I’ve carried for many years.  Then with my friends helping me I set to work examining my style of relating to other people.  What I found out was not pleasant.  I had to acknowledge and accept some difficult truths about myself.  I had to honestly face the truth of how in my pain, my negative behavior had hurt others, especially those I love.  I then began the hard work of forgiving others for what was done to me, and the even harder work of forgiving myself.

Shame and sorrow are very real emotions but I came to realize that I could not stay there forever.  In hope I kept moving forward, but I’ve been surprised at how difficult dislodging longstanding infection of the heart can be.  Lastly I committed myself to the task of asking forgiveness from those I have hurt or negatively affected over the years.  This will take some time but it must be done.

I’m thankful for the loving support and encouragement of my fellow travelers, teachers, and counselors.  I’m grateful I have not had to go through Soul Surgery alone.  He who is called Wonderful Counselor has been with me and guided this whole process, and I realize He is not finished with me yet.

If you’ve noticed a bruise on your soul that refuses to heal, or a pain in your heart that won’t go away, or even a pattern of behavior that keeps causing you problems don’t ignore it and don’t keep putting it off, ask for help.  Life can be much better, trust me I know first hand.  I went and had my pain looked at, had the surgery,  and now that I’m feeling much better I’m looking forward to helping others find relief from the pain in their heart.  I like the sound of that, Murray Wittke Soul Surgeon.  Here’s to Healthy Hearts!

~Murray Wittke