Courage in the Waiting

The railway car jostled and groaned as it raced down the track.  A man sat in the darkness listening to the moans and shrills of fear that surrounded him. Packed like cattle he could feel his wife and children pressing beside him. Though the Siberian air was frigid the man knew that was not the reason for the trembling he felt resonating from his family. "What's going to happen to us?," someone close by asked. The question hung frozen in the air. No one knew but one thing was certain, life would never be the same. As a pastor the man had tried to prepare his congregation for a day they all hoped would never come. He had watched members of his congregation reject their faith in the heat of persecution and others disappear one by one as their faith was discovered and "dealt with." He knew full well that his pastoral ministry would be costly but he could have never prepared himself for this moment. As he prayed silently the train screamed to a halting stop. Voices. Dogs. More fear. Blinding light pierced the darkness as the car door rolled open and troops began shouting orders. Men to the left, women and children to the right. MOVE! The man moved along obediently never losing sight of his family. His wife and children clung to each other as he made eye contact with the woman he loved. She was a woman of strength who had stood beside him faithfully through much hardship. God's Word was her anchor and he had no doubt she would remain firm in the coming storm. A guard whipped the man's mind back to the present as he barked, "Are you a teacher of the Bible and a Christian?" The man's eyes never left his wife. "Yes I am," he responded. The guard raised a pistol to his face. His wife screamed. Earthly life ended.

While few historical family stories exist from my paternal ancestry, this is a rare exception.* My great-great uncle was transported with his family to a Siberian concentration camp where he was promptly executed for his faith to the horror of his watching family. His wife and children would starve to death months later.

As Christian liberties once again speed toward extinction I think often of this story. How many of today's female professing believers are truly so rooted and grounded in their faith that they would know how to answer their children's questions after such an experience? How many of them would remain steadfast in their profession after watching their children die in their arms of starvation? How many of today's church going women would know the answer to the whispers of Satan, "Did God really say....? If He is so good then why are you enslaved in a camp with a dead child in your arms?"

How do you confidently say that you are experiencing, "The goodness of the Lord in the land of the living"? How could such a horrific moment be good in any sense?

"The land of the living" is a statement that is only made in the Old Testament but with each occurrence of this phrase a different attribute of God is revealed. As discussed previously in this series, Psalm 27:13 is a reference to Exodus 33&34 in which the depths of God's mercy and forgiveness flow from His goodness. Ezekiel 26:20 pointed ahead to the beauty and splendor that will be experienced when our good God establishes the New Jerusalem. Let us now briefly look at three other ways that the goodness of the Lord brings courage while we live in this land.

Goodness through His Faithful Presence

"You have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling; I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living." ~ Psalm 116:8

Over and over we find that our hope for today, our answer as to how God can be good, is anchored in His deliverance of our souls from the death of sin and our hope of a glorious resurrection. But what I would like to focus on from this specific verse is the presence of God. The believer must never fear abandonment regardless of what her circumstances may seem to say. Here the psalmist not only reflects a deliverance of soul, but also the constant presence of the Lord no matter where the author may walk. The Lord is ever present. In the moments where our eyes seem blind He is present guiding our every step. When tears flood our vision and we seem forsaken, He is present with arms of comfort. When our world crashes around us we still are able to see the goodness of the Lord as He remains constant beside us, never leaving even for a moment.

Goodness in His Provision & Protection

"I cry to you, O Lord; I say, 'You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living."

~ Psalm 142:5

It is interesting how humans have a tendency to interpret God's Word as material. We would find it hard to call God our refuge and portion if we were actively being beat by soldiers and watching our children die. But this is a beautiful answer to the question of God's goodness in the midst of earthly suffering. There will be occasions in our lives during which it will seem as though we are being attacked from every side without protection. We may be physically misused and lose every earthly belonging, yet God shows His goodness through this as He uses the circumstances to press us into Him. There was a time not long ago where I wrestled against God's refuge. From my perspective it seemed as though He had been dangling a carrot in front of me and each time I had it in my grasp He would yank it away. I determined that I didn't want His kind of refuge or provision and I began to run. I truly believed that anything would be better than Him. Ironically, I didn't run far before I found that everything outside of Him was worthless. Life had no meaning. My soul was parched and longing for Him and every attack was impossible to fight off. I became absolutely nothing without Him. It was in this place that I learned more of God's goodness in the present. The refuge He offered was not necessarily physical, but a spiritual place of rest. The portion He offers is not necessarily food or belongings, but a secure inheritance and identity. How do we know that God is good even when my circumstances say He is not? We know because He continues to give us meaning and purpose while giving us victory over sin, strength for the battle, and grace for every moment.

Goodness in His Transforming Power

"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers."

~ Romans 8:28-29

 

Finally, the truth of our present reality is that no matter how difficult our trials may be they are specifically designed by God as good. He is not watching with bated breath wondering what will happen and how to enact His plan B. He is not running behind Satan picking up the messy pieces and trying to somehow make something good out of them. Rather, those trials and that mess are a part of His plan to make us more like His Son. As we walk with Him, run to Him for rest and find our ultimate satisfaction in Him, He molds and shapes us into a stunning image. I have at times been guilty of thinking, "Really?? My life is falling apart and I'm supposed to feel hope because You are making me more like Christ?! I'd rather not." Somehow this passage has almost become trivial non- sense in the midst of crushing agony. This trivialization comes when we do not understand the gravity of our sinful flesh or we do not understand the incomprehensible beauty of Christ's purity. It is even a possibility that a bit of both are at play. As I think back to my ancestors a curious bit of logic nags at my mind. In the end they all died. What was the point of that courage or transformation when they ended up the same way as everyone else? The answer is God's glory. No one will ever have any idea what kind of impact was made for God's glory through their faith. Who knows what men were strengthened to give their lives for their faith through the examples that they saw die before them. We will never know what women were bolstered to cling to Christ because another wasn't willing to quit in her faith. Generations later their testimony of reliance on Christ and faithful discipleship has helped me to better understand God's goodness in the present, suffering land of the living. I pray that God's goodness in their life, which is the same goodness in yours, will go forward to impact your life for His glory as well.

 

My friends, there is such hope in the land of the living. We have been brought from death to eternal life, given everything we need to wait Christ's coming with courage, and we confidently hope in a glorious future. I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage... (Ps 27:13-14 NASB)."

 

Sisters, He is good. There is hope. Wait for the Lord.



*The main facts of this story are accurate and have been handed down verbally and creative details have been added for the sake of communicating the story.