knowing God

Larry Crabb in his book Shattered Dreams writes, “Only a few in every generation believe that the weight of knowing God is a blessing heavier (and by that I mean more wonderful) than every other. And those who believe it appear to have developed that conviction only through suffering. Happiness must be stripped away, forcibly, before joy can surface."

I posted that quote on facebook. A friend read it and wrote, "I'm reading that book right now and i can't decide if i love it or want to take it in the backyard and burn it."

My response? "I understand. But now at age 55 and after suffering some very painful losses as a church leader who thought God would bless me because I was apparently doing good for Him, I want more than just a surface, stoic, outwardly supposedly godly resignation to the realities of life. This on page 67 of Crabb's book hit me hard: 'The Western church has become a community of either the victorious or the acceptably broken. Either we speak glowingly of our love for Jesus - usually because the blessings are abundant - or we struggle nobly through hard times, convincing others and sometimes ourselves that we're doing better than we are. With each other we're more proper than real, more appropriate than alive.'"

Another friend weighed in, "When I was in seminary, as a group of us discussed the lives of the faculty and staff who were the most committed to the Lord and His work and displayed the type of joy of which you speak, we noticed EVERY ONE OF THEM had experienced at least one crushing life event that stripped everything away except Jesus. EVERY ONE OF THEM."

Next came a question, "Could you say suffering is a privilege, a way that God uses to call us to deeper intimacy with Him, because, unfortunately, without it we usually don't seek that kind of intimacy with God? What He desires to give us through suffering is worth more than what we lose."

My answer, "I would agree as long as we do not ever think that a person who is not suffering must have the intimacy with God that you describe and as long as we do not ever think that a person who is suffering does not have the intimacy with God that you describe. Some who suffer are intimate with God already (think: Jesus!). Some who don't suffer as much do not have intimacy with God. We simply don't know what God is doing in the lives of those around us. We must fight pride if we aren't suffering and despair if we are. Only God knows what He's about."

Last weekend, Gary Nave offered this insight, "'God is near to the brokenhearted' (Psalm 34:18). Some of us get angry when life doesn't work. We're in pain and we think we're broken. But there is a difference in being in pain and being broken. A person in pain demands things from God. A broken person says, 'I don't need things. I need You, God.' God will strip away things from our lives. Broken people don't turn to Him because He's the only thing left. Broken people turn to Him because He's the best thing left."

At CVC this weekend, we'll study Psalm 73:23-28 and learn more.