Bagels, Burdens and Bruises.

(By Diego Cuartas)

It is interesting the kind of subjects we end up entertaining around breakfast times. As my wife and I were enjoying our bagels the other morning, we were faced with the fact that we are all vulnerable in many ways. Not only do we experience our own brokenness but there is also a reality we face when we move towards others who bring their own vulnerabilities. In a way a principle that is always at work in relationships is that we are impacted by what others bring with them. We are not inmune to other people’s brokenness. And some times in our effort to help we also run the risk of being bruised.

Thankfully, God knows this and is so willing to provide us with grace so that we can help bear the burdens of others as well as address our own. I am encouraged by the promise God offers us in Isaiah 58:9-10:

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
    with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
    and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
    and your night will become like the noonday.

Did you hear the strong tone of this promise? If I spend myself in behalf of other people’s vulnerabilities my light will increase. More and more and more light will increase in my life! So grace is given to us when we get close to others in their place of need. By God’s grace darkness will have to flee!

Here is another one. In Psalm 73:23-24 the writer evidences a confidence in God’s guidance and counsel in spite the negative predicament he finds himself in.

“Yet I am always with you;
    you hold me by my right hand.
 You guide me with your counsel,
    and afterward you will take me into glory.”

So we have the presence of God with us, His guidance and counsel plus a promise for His light to increase in our lives as we spend ourselves in the vulnerabilities of others.

But there is one more thing God offers to us in grace. He offers us a warning. Yes, warnings from God are a form of grace. Interesting, in the book of Galatians, the apostle Paul warns those seeking to help others by stating that they too may face personal temptations in the process of helping (6:1).

So the antidote to any fears or dangers we experience as we get close to other people’s vulnerabilities is to trust God’s grace. He has a record that shows His ability and commitment to help those in need. Consider Psalm 147:

Praise the Lord!
For it is good to sing praises to our God;
    for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.
2 The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
    he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
3 He heals the brokenhearted
    and binds up their wounds.
4 He determines the number of the stars;
    he gives to all of them their names.
5 Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
    his understanding is beyond measure.
6 The Lord lifts up the humble;
    he casts the wicked to the ground.

May He continue giving us courage to get close to those we would rather avoid as we trust Him to provide us with what we need to help others and honor Him.

In Dealing with Sin

(By Diego Cuartas)

I think it is important that we look at our personal sin in a way that we consider the Gospel and its benefits. Two initial thoughts come together in my mind about this:

1. If I don't look at my sin through the lenses of the gospel I will be tempted or prone to rely on a false gospel to deal with my sin. A false gospel can be a person, an experience, or a specific resource whether cognitive or material. The goal here is to come under the benefits of the Gospel rather than pursuing a strategy that could give me a sense of "righteousness" apart from Christ and what He has secured on my behalf (Ro 10:3-4, 2 Cor 5:21, Gal 2:21, Phil 3:9, Titus 3:5, 1 Pe 2:24, 2 Pe 1:1). One danger in dealing with our sin is to put ourselves again under the curse of the law (Gal 3:10) or the curse of trusting our own flesh (Jer 17). Either approach will place us under bondage.

2. It is important that I seek the grace of God for my life in my sin so that I don't look for grace substitutes else where (Gal 2:21, 1 Cor 1:4, Titus 2:11, 1 Pe 5:5). What we lose when we seek grace substitutes includes things like true repentance, personal growth, true humility, and the experience of what Jesus provides to us through specific grace.

When dealing with our sin, we should consider looking at few important things:

My reaction to my sin, my responsibility to others, and my response to God. These three groups are important because sin does not happen in a vacuum, sin happens in the context of God--as my reference point to any holiness and righteousness--others--as the ones impacted by my actions--and me--as the one where sin originated at.

Here are a few questions to process our own sin:

1. how am I dealing with my sin and it's impact in my own life?

2. what grace is God providing me? what promises can I lean on for the future?

3. what wisdom do I need in dealing with how my sin has impacted others?

4. where is obedience being hindered? how can I grow in repentance and faith?

5. how is my knowledge and love for God increasing? how is my identity being shaped by my experience of God and His revelation? what provisions can I count on in God?

My hope is that we can grow in dealing with our sin without missing the Gospel or the Grace God can only provide for each one of us. I am convinced that grace is not a generic reality--it is specific and it is more than capable to address the details and needs of our real time moments.

For further reflection: 2 Peter 1:3-4

" His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires."

“What is Man that You are Mindful of Him, and the Son of Man that You care for Him?” (Psalm 8:4)

(By Diego Cuartas)

The path began this way: On October 27 I wrote in my journal, “With digestive issues, a muscle in my left arm hurting and eyes that seem weak these days I am reminded of how fragile we are–like the grass flower that is here today but gone tomorrow.” Then on October 30 I recorded the thoughts found in Psalm 8:4, “What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” This same day a few things unfolded that eventually formed the diagnosis of a Bell’s palsy case. While having breakfast I noticed my tongue was somewhat strange, it felt numb on one side. I dismissed it after suspecting that I might have burnt my tongue the day before during dinner without realizing it. By 11:30am the numbness had moved down toward my chin and then up toward my right side cheek. By noon I was feeling muscles around and above my right eye acting strangely. The symptoms intensified but remained in the same locations. After taking the necessary steps to seek counsel on what to do, I was referred by my doctor to go to the emergency room. I was reluctant to go but thought it would be better to do so. Four hours later I was diagnosed and treatment had begun. I could not believe how quickly something like that could develop and impose a series of limitations on my normal functions. If you had asked me in the first days that follow to hold water in my mouth while standing in front of you, I guarantee you an unsolicited splashing would have been experienced immediately. Half of my mouth would not close! I won’t burden you with details, but I noticed that my life was placed in a situation where thoughts were being filter through these key thoughts: “Am I really fragile?” and “Is God mindfully caring about my situation?”

For the last three weeks I have been the recipient of underserved grace. As the days progressed and the uncertainty of how soon recovery would take place, I was reminded of these truths God had so kindly revealed to me before I became sick. One thing I notice is that when God speaks to me, He is being merciful in that He is delivering something I need on that moment or day. But He is also orienting me for the future. The reality is I don’t see further than 12 inches beyond my next step. How gracious of God to speak to me three things that He knew I was going to need within hours. What He spoke to me through His Word became an anchor for my soul during the 21 days of this struggle. I must admit that as I write this blog I am still experiencing a remaining 3-5% limitation due to the condition. I am thankful and doing very well. The recovery has been incremental and felt daily. Here are the three things that God used to hold me while my body was adjusting to the abnormalities:

• Humans are fragile
• I am mindful of those I have created
• I care about them

This is not how I heard these statements. The way I heard them was more personal than that. It sounded more like this:

• Diego, you are fragile; this is who you really are
• Diego, I am mindful of you
• Diego I care about you

Another observation I make is that there are times when God speaks in some general terms, and there are other times when God speaks more personally. His voice was sustenance to my soul. And in the moments when other voices were introduced into my situation, it was very helpful to anchor my soul in God’s words.

God does accomplish a lot of things in our lives through hardships, but one thing that I am learning is that hearing God speak and orient me created a space for my soul and mind to glean other fruit God had prepared for me to receive. First, he created space for me to embrace a more humble approach to life—this was emphasized to me daily as I recognized that I could not do things the same way I was used to due to the limitations produced by my new condition. Second, he reoriented my soul to consider being more merciful toward others who are undergoing their own version of suffering or the limitations they involuntarily experience today.

So, we really don’t know how much there is for us tomorrow in what God speaks to us today. Perhaps we would listen more attentively. Perhaps we would cherish His voice as the voice of One who loves us. One who whispers into our ears, “I am mindful of you and I care for you”.

• In what experiences of your life are you feeling alone? Perhaps forsaken?
• Whose or what voice influences your heart the most?
• What kind of things is God providing space for you through your present hardships?

May God share His heart with you too.

An Old Phrase or A Misinterpreted Truth

(By Diego Cuartas)

Recently someone asked me what my thoughts were concerning a common phrase we often use in our Christian circles. The phrase: “God will not give you more than what you can bear”. This is not exactly what the Apostle Paul said to the Corinthians more than 2,000 years ago, but the phrase is rooted in the first letter he wrote to them. Paul said: “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it” (10:13, NAS).

If I were to go by human experience, I would have to emphatically say that God does allow me to experience realities that honestly go beyond myself. I have often found those realities unmanageable or out of my control for the most part. And so in that sense they are more than what I can bear or handle. So, this common phrase is one that deserves careful thought or it has the risk of having the same misunderstood popularity as the phrase “God helps those who help themselves”--if it hasn't already. My hope is that you would be inspired to do diligent study of the truth expressed through the Apostle Paul and arrive to more concise, biblical conclusions rather than be left to lean on a common phrase that may represent a misinterpreted truth. Can I give you another motivator? The truth Paul is expressing in 1 Corinthians 10:13 is one we need to apply to our lives as a sail is to a boat on a daily basis. It is a truth that can set the direction of your heart as you face testing or temptation.

First observation: the word used in the beginning of verse 13, peirasmos, denotes testing or temptation.  What Paul has in mind is not only temptation but different testing we experience in life. The testing or temptation is described as what is “common to man,” so in this sense it would not be appropriate to believe that what we may be facing is somehow the result of being singled out by God—others are experiencing similar testing or temptation.

Second observation: this truth is given to us in the context of a warning against testing Christ through our responses to testing or temptation. Through the example of how Israel, the people of God, tested him, we are warned about not doing the same thing. The warning is followed by an exhortation to examine ourselves regarding how we stand before our present difficulties. Paul desires for us to hold on to the fact that God will be faithful to help us in our time of need. Though testing and temptation are common to man, your experience or suffering in it is not generic, it requires specific grace only God can offer to you.

Third observation: there is an illustration elsewhere from Paul's life that shows that we are indeed tested or tempted, at times, beyond our abilities. In 2 Corinthians 1:8 Paul reported: “we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself.” Notice that Paul very clearly states that the pressures he and others were facing were “far beyond [their] ability to endure” and that experience led them to despair.

My conclusion, contrary to the old phrase or misinterpreted truth, is that this verse is not saying that you will only experience testing or temptation within your abilities to handle. Ready for the encouraging news? I believe what this verse is saying is that the reason you will not be tested or tempted beyond your abilities is because God promises to provide you with the way to escape or the grace to be able to bear patiently what you are facing. And somewhere in between, as John Calvin believed, God “sets limits to the temptation” (Calvin's Commentary on the Bible, studylight.org).  What is happening here is that the emphasis is on God's grace made available to you, not how much you are able to bear.

Friend, at times you will, like Paul, celebrate the fact that you have been rescued from difficult times or given the way out to escape as it was reported in 2 Timothy 3:10-11. At other times, like in the case of slaves who believed in Christ, the Apostle Peter would encourage them and commend them because they were bearing up “under the pain of unjust suffering because they [were] conscious of God” (1 Peter 2:19). The point is whether you are being rescued or given the help to endure, God will be faithful to you in your situation.

A few further truths/questions to meditate on...

You will be tested.(2 Timothy 3:12)
You will learn to decrease as you trust in God in the midst of tests and temptations. (2 Corinthians 1:9)
God will deliver, you can hope in Him. (2 Corinthians 1:10)
Sowing through prayer you and others will reap a harvest of thanksgiving. (2 Corinthians 1:11)

In what ways are you being stretch beyond your abilities?
How is God helping you escape testing/temptation in your life?
How is God helping you endure testing/temptation in your life?