In the relatively early days following Nick’s death, I understood that I would face a number of temptations—the temptation to sink into unremitting despair, the temptation to descend into self-pity, or the temptation to charge God with wrong. I knew also that God was calling me to carry a deep sorrow for a long time and that I could grow weary of it and then act out in ungodly ways. For that reason I soon found myself writing a kind of manifesto, a declaration that I would read often and hold myself accountable to. I am sharing it today in case others may find it helpful as they are called upon to suffer in their own ways. Perhaps it can give you ideas or words that you can adopt as your own as you attempt to be faithful in even the most difficult of circumstances. (This manifesto is chapter 9 of Seasons of Sorrow.)

By faith I will accept Nick’s death as God’s will, and by faith accept that God’s will is always good. By faith I will be at peace with Providence, and by faith at peace with its every decree. By faith I will praise God in the taking as I did in the giving, and by faith receive from his hand this sorrow as I have so many joys. I will grieve but not grumble, mourn but not murmur, weep but not whine.
Though I will be scarred by Nick’s death, I will not be defined by it. Though it will always be part of my story, it will never become my identity. I will be forever thankful that God gave me a son and never resentful that he called him home. My joy in having loved Nick will be greater than my grief in having lost him. I will not waver in my faith, nor abandon my hope, nor revoke my love. I will not charge God with wrong.
I will receive this trial as a responsibility to steward, not a punishment to endure. I will look for God’s smile in it rather than his frown, listen for his words of blessing rather than his voice of rebuke. This sorrow will not make me angry or bitter, nor cause me to act out in rebellion or indignation. Rather, it will make me kinder and gentler, more patient and loving, more compassionate and sympathetic. It will loose my heart from the things of earth and fix it on the things of heaven. The loss of my son will make me more like God’s Son, my sorrow like the Man of Sorrows.
I will continue to love God and trust him, continue to pursue God and enjoy him, continue to worship God and boast of his many mercies. I will look with longing to the day of Christ’s return and with expectation to the day of resurrection. I will remain steadfast and immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. I will forget what lies behind and strain forward to what lies ahead, always pressing on toward the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. I will lay aside every weight and sin that clings so closely and run with endurance the race that is set before me, looking always to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of my faith. I will remain faithful until I have fought the good fight and finished the race and kept the faith. I will die as I have lived—a follower of Jesus Christ. Then, by grace, I will go to be with Jesus, and go to be with Nick.
This is my manifesto.

The Lord be with you and bless you today.

What If Thoughts Are Evil?
Have you ever been assaulted by thoughts you are sure weren’t your own? That’s the subject of this article.
Growing in Godliness One Step at Time
Scott Hurst: “Richard Sibbes and Malcolm Gladwell run in different circles. For one week, though, I shared a table with them (in book form) for a conversation about the pace of godliness.”
Reformation Week $5 Friday Sale
Today, Ligonier Ministries is celebrating Reformation Week with a special $5 Friday. More than 100 books, DVDs, digital downloads, and more are available for $5 each. Don’t miss this opportunity to save on trusted resources while supplies last. (Sponsored Link)
Time Is Short. Be Patient.
Megan Hill: “On the one hand, the shortness of time ought to make us rightly fear God and seek to obey him. We cannot waste time in impatient unrighteousness, squandering our moments in anger and anxiety, and be found grumbling when the Judge appears. On the other hand, the shortness of time ought to give us courage. One day very soon, our Lord will right all wrongs and judge all injustices.”
Plant a Tree, Have a Baby, Build a House
This article deals with the despair felt by so many people today—and especially young people—when they hear about the state of the world. (On a similar note, a recent newsletter from Suzy Weiss also highlights that despair.)
On reading
There are some good tips here about reading more and reading better.
Fear Not
Kristin says, “when I tell you that I am abiding in Scripture, understand that I have sought comfort elsewhere, and found it lacking. My Maker knows me better than anyone, and is with me in my fear and anguish. The Bible is a living gift, offering truth and healing, correction and comfort; a balm for our sore and wounded souls.”
Flashback: Does Premarital Pregnancy Nullify ‘Unequally Yoked’?
Where sin and ignorance have established deep roots, there will never be easy answers or painless solutions.

The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men. —E.M. Bounds

We make a lot of all the distractions that come with life in the modern, always-on, electronic world. And certainly it can be hard to have minds that remain focused for any significant stretch of time before the next beep, the next buzz, the next little burst of dopamine. Yet we do not need to look far into the annals of church history to find that distraction—and especially the kind of distraction that keeps us from being spiritually minded—has always been a challenge and that God’s people have always had to take action against it.

Centuries ago, John Owen wrote a book about issues like this. The Grace and Duty of Being Spiritually Minded is not one of his better-known works, though perhaps it should be. But there is a legitimate concern when it comes to reading it today: while Owen’s works were never particularly easy to read, the intervening years have made them harder still. Some of his language has become antiquated and many of his illustrations have become opaque. Thankfully, Kris Lundgaard has done us a service by bringing the best of Owen’s old work into modern times in The Devoted Mind. This is the third time Lungaard has done this with Owen’s books, with the others being The Enemy Within and The Glorious Christ (the first two of which have just been reprinted so the trio now has a consistent and contemporary cover design).
This is not a line-by-line paraphrase of the original work as much as it’s a thematic update or modernization. Lundgaard represents the content of the book under three dominant themes or motifs—the devoted mind, the seeking of God’s face, and the Beloved. By devoted he means a mind that has been set apart to the Lord and given over to him and his service. By seeking God’s face he refers to the pursuit of God’s intimate presence and to the sense of closeness or personal knowledge we can have of God in which we experience a deep assurance of his love and acceptance. And by the Beloved he refers to our Triune God—the one who is the object of the devoted mind and the one whose face or presence we most earnestly seek.
The book, then, traces those motifs in order. “This book,” he says “is about what it means to be spiritually minded, how we grow in spiritual mindedness, and what fruit of spiritual mindedness we can expect to enjoy.” Much of the teaching involves three related and progressive acts of devotion—contemplating God with the mind which then leads to an inclination toward him and a satisfaction in him. And to foster that kind of labor—and, make no mistake, there is labor involved—Lundgaard includes an extensive section at the end of each chapter meant to promote reflection and praxis. Those who really wish to grow in their devotion will want to linger on this section for it “isn’t a set of exercises for overachievers; it’s meant to guide the real mind-work and heart-work of consolidating the ideas of the chapter where they must be consolidated: in our prayers and meditations, in our worship and conversation, in our contemplation of God and communion with Christ.”
The purpose of Owen’s book, and therefore the purpose of Lundgaard’s, is to draw our attention to the Beloved—to the triune God. It is to draw our attention to him not so we can admire him from a safe and comfortable distance, but so we can truly draw near to him. That practice, and therefore this book, will take some effort, but it is effort that will be richly rewarded.
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