No Games, Just Grace
Our sin will find us out. There will be no sighs of relief that we escaped the condemnation due us for our transgressions. Our sin that we tried so hard to hide throughout our lives will be laid bare. And there will be no defense that can be made. We stand guilty, our sin exposed. Yet God paints for us another scenario, one where there are no games, only grace.
Then the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.’ (Luke 2:10–11, NKJV)
His past had come home to roost. After years of philandering, the now elderly man sat in the dock awaiting the verdict. His barrister had done his best but nothing was certain until the jury had rendered its verdict, nothing except the reality that he was indeed guilty of rape as charged.
The movie had built to a climax. Flashbacks gave the viewers inside knowledge of how it had all unfolded, and it had been just as the woman on the stand had described the event from twenty years earlier. But would she be believed? Was the Crown’s case compelling and unequivocal enough to elicit a guilty verdict?
It was not. The jury foreman was instructed to answer two questions. One, had they reached a unanimous verdict? Yes. Two, was the verdict guilty or not guilty? Not guilty. The man in dock collapsed in on himself like a giant sinkhole, unable to sustain his weight, his shoulders heaving with sobs of relief.
The accused and his legal team had played the game well.
That cannot be the case for you, or for me, or for anyone who stands before the tribunal of the living God. Our sin will find us out. There will be no sighs of relief that we escaped the condemnation due us for our transgressions.
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The Glorious Return of Christ
At the great day of the Lord’s return all misunderstanding will be removed, the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. At that day the angels who cease not day and night to cry, “Holy Holy Holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory,” will continue signing as they shout his praise. The fulness of the prophecy will be revealed when the whole “earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.”
When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory.
Matthew 25:31
Several years ago, my family was at the Rocky Mountain National Park. One clear night, we drove on a road that climbed to more than 10,000 feet above sea level. There we parked our car, turned off the lights, got out, and looked up. The words of Psalm 19:1 have rarely been so evident, “The Heavens declare the glory of God.” The sight was breathtaking. The stars were without number. The shooting stars were passing by every thirty seconds. The Milky Way was as recognizable as the moon. Why was it so magnificent to behold the heavens? Because they were declaring the glory of God.
While the heavens declare the glory of God, the heavens are not themselves the glory of God. Scripture testifies that God’s glory is above the Heavens (Psalm 57). The Creator’s glory is greater than the glory of the creation He made. The heavens declare God’s glory because they were made by the glorious God. God in His infinite mercy and wisdom did not stop with the declaration of His glory in His creation but He went further and revealed His glory in His Son Jesus Christ.
Christ, the eternal Son of God is far above all creation for He is the brightness of [God’s] glory, and the express image of His person (Heb. 1:3). In Christ Jesus all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily and in the person of Christ, God’s glory is exalted!
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When Prayer Makes Anxiety Worse
What makes His peace special isn’t that a simple prayer zaps all our problems immediately; it is that we can know the One who transcends it all, and we can call Him our sovereign and loving Father. We can trust that He often allows life’s situations to draw us to Himself and grow us more like Christ. Our emotions are not slaves to our circumstances, rather Christ set them free to enjoy heavenly peace and joy now no matter what. This is peace the world longs for, peace God longs to give, and peace that is ours in Christ.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7).
Year after year, search data on major Bible websites show Philippians 4:6–7 to be one of the most popular passages in Scripture, and with good reason: it shows us God’s proven path from anxiety to peace.
Unfortunately, our desperate hearts easily get off-track seeking a remedy for our stress. We treat this precious passage as a talisman, missing the true meaning and path to peace. A recent situation of mine illustrates this.
As I thought through my stressful situation practically, my anxiety worsened. The same thing happened when I tried to fix my attention on something else—anxiety would boomerang back around in no time.
Then Philippians 4:6-7 came to mind. Prayer is the answer!
So I knelt down to pray.
My prayer started out fine, but soon I felt like I was trapped in a hot car, breathing the same air over and over again. Each line of my prayer gasped for breath and brought a deeper longing for fresh air. Prayer made my anxiety worse.
What happened? Was God’s promise in Philippians 4:6–7 a sham?
As I reflected on this troubling episode, I realized that God’s promise wasn’t a sham but rather I had it all wrong.
A pity party will not lead you to peace.
My anxiety-driven prayer didn’t make things better. That’s because God doesn’t promise any type of prayer to be the silver-bullet anxiety stopper. He prescribes supplication with thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6). A heart lacking gratitude will not encounter the peace of God.
I soon realized my lack. My lame attempts to thank God were not from the heart but were always preceded with a “but,” as if to say, “God, I thank you for this, but you owe me.” Sidestepping true thanksgiving leads to a cocktail of other sins, including self-centered grumbling, cynicism, coveting the situations of others, entitlement, and ultimately unbelief. These are all the opposite of thankfulness.
My self-centered pity party lamented my situation always instead of rejoicing in the Lord always (Philippians 4:4). We are to pray with thanksgiving “in everything” (Philippians 4:6).
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Six Steps to Offering Specific and Practical Help to a Family Living with Disability
Each church will have a unique approach to gathering a care team to support a family in need. In some cases, life groups or community groups will “adopt” a family. Other churches may already have an existing care ministry that can assemble a team. If your church already has teams in place to deliver meals or provide rides, consider coordinating support with them. The information gathered from the point person will help determine the size of the support team and if members need specific skills.
Sometimes, the best “disability ministry” isn’t done on Sunday at church, but in the home of a family living with disability.
When a baby is born, an unexpected illness strikes, or a death in the family occurs, churches are good about providing meals, helping with household chores, and providing emotional support. But caring for a person with a disability is not a single moment in time! There is not always a crisis point that clearly calls for a response. The support needs of a family affected by disability are usually invisible to those looking from the outside, causing families to feel isolated and overwhelmed.
It can be very difficult for families to ask for help when there is nothing in particular, but everything in general, that is causing stress or stretching margins. Asking a family to figure out one or two things that would be helpful adds even more stress. “Let me know if there’s anything we can do” is therefore unlikely to get a response. For more insight into these needs read, How to Support a Family Living with Disability as a Church.
So how do we proactively offer specific, practical help? By following these six steps.
Step 1: Appoint a Point Person
Choose someone the family trusts to be the primary point of communication with the family. Sharing needs and asking for help is an intimate thing for many people. Having a single trusted person the family can talk to streamlines communication and avoids confusion.
A point person can often recognize needs that the family may not see, express, or believe are worth mentioning.
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