FIRST, GREAT NEWS!!! Art Mealer’s book: THE SERVANT COMMUNITY: Experiencing the Promise of Ekklesia is published and available at Amazon.com. Anyone interested in house church and a Biblical approach to community and gathering should read and enjoy this work. Here is a link.
The Servant Community
The latest theatrical piece I have been doing is a bit ugly. It centers around a man who is a likeable sort. But, in his later years he is struggling with his choices in life, the results or those choices, and the investments he has made by those choices. And, mostly he is highly frustrated by, in the end, the hand (a card game term) dealt him by life…and in his mind by God. Needless to say he is not enamored with divine intervention or the concept of free will.
I have not much to say here, but that we can all end up frustrated and sour if we are unhappy and unsatisfied when we finally realize, discover, that He is God and we are not. And we discover, realize, that we are not Lord, despite our valiant efforts and desire to be. And, we also discover that God, although He is sovereign, is not pulling our strings to control us like a puppet. He has created us in His own image, giving us a degree of the sovereignty in His nature and character, which we call free will. He will not force us into, or to do, anything. He will draw us toward Himself and try to love us into the right choices. When we screw up He does not throw up His hands in dismay and give up, writing us off as hopeless. He is not surprised by our wrong choices. As omniscient, He cannot be surprised. He will, sometimes, discipline us as a good Father does His own children. But, that discipline is not punitive or punishment. It is loving and corrective, protective and for our instruction, and for our good.
You can shake your fist at Him and cry “Give me a break!”or “Why can’t I ever get a break”.. Why can’t I be Lord”…”Why can’t anything ever be easy”…”Why can’t anything go right?” Or, you can look for His hand and the fullness of His love to you in Christ even in the midst of whatever it is, and wherever you are.
I could go through a litany of scripture regarding God’s purpose for our good. But, instead let me post a Prayer and a Declaration from the Psalms that point our attitudes toward Him when frustrated or in despair. When all have forsaken us, rest assured He has not!
[Psalm 27:1-14 NASB95] 1 [A Psalm] of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread? 2 When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh, My adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell. 3 Though a host encamp against me, My heart will not fear; Though war arise against me, In [spite of] this I shall be confident. 4 One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD And to meditate in His temple. 5 For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; In the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock. 6 And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me, And I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD. 7 Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice, And be gracious to me and answer me. 8 [When You said,] “Seek My face,” my heart said to You, “Your face, O LORD, I shall seek.” 9 Do not hide Your face from me, Do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; Do not abandon me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation! 10 For my father and my mother have forsaken me, But the LORD will take me up. 11 Teach me Your way, O LORD, And lead me in a level path Because of my foes. 12 Do not deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries, For false witnesses have risen against me, And such as breathe out violence. 13 [I would have despaired] unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living. 14 Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.
[Psalm 139:1-11, 13-18 NASB95] 1 For the choir director. A Psalm of David. O LORD, You have searched me and known [me.] 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. 3 You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, You know it all. 5 You have enclosed me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. 6 [Such] knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is [too] high, I cannot attain to it. 7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night,” … 13 For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. 14 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, [And] skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; 16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained [for me,] When as yet there was not one of them. 17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You.
Here are a few other … proof texts…for consideration.
To a church under persecution Paul wrote
[Philippians 2:13 NASB95] 13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for [His] good pleasure.
And Peter …
[1Peter 4:19 NASB95] 19 Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.
[2Timothy 2:8-13 NASB95] 8 Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel, 9 for which I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal; but the word of God is not imprisoned. 10 For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus [and] with [it] eternal glory. 11 It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him; 12 If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us; 13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself
Take a look at Lamentations 3.
Or, consider 2 Corinthians 4
[2Corinthians 4:7-10, 16-18 NKJV] 7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. 8 [We are] hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; [we are] perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed– 10 always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. … 16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward [man] is being renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding [and] eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen [are] temporary, but the things which are not seen [are] eternal.
Truly…..If God is for us who can be against us?