November 17, 2014

Cliff’s Edge

Until the August evening in 1979 when I became a believer in Jesus, I knew a little more than nothing about Christianity, but not much more. And the little I did know, as it turned out, was wrong. I’m not sure where the idea germinated, but I had stretched from childhood to adulthood thinking that Christians were always happy and never had problems because, well, Jesus took take care of them and gave them peace all the time.

It wasn’t long after that August evening before both reality and the Scriptures “control-alt-deleted” me out of these false notions. I love Jesus, He has given me a better life than I deserve, and I cling to all His promises. But as I have seen for myself and for others who also love and seek to obey the Lord, life is hardly problem-free, always happy, and full of peace. At times just being alive can feel like a vise choking the existence out of your soul, whether covered or not in Christ’s righteousness.

Which is why this one text is so powerful, so prescient. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus used nature—birds, grass, lilies—as object lessons about God’s love and care. Lest we become Pollyannaish about what this world holds, even with the assurance of God’s love and care that Jesus was revealing, He then says: “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matt. 6:34).

Each day has enough trouble of its own. Jesus didn’t say what day. He didn’t have to—any day will do. Whether B.C. or A.D., Monday or Sunday—leap year included—according to Jesus, every day has enough “evil” (KJV) for itself alone. Why worry about tomorrow when today is full of evil? Tomorrow will have enough of its own.

The Greek word translated “trouble,” kakia, comes with extremely negative meanings: malignity, ill will, wickedness, depravity, trouble; and it does so in a host of other Greek writings besides the New Testament. No wonder, then, that we shouldn’t be surprised when malignity, ill will, wickedness, and depraved trouble come. With each day having “enough” kakia, the question isn’t why evil has happened to us today, but why it hasn’t. How have we escaped evil, even for a day, when, according to our Lord, each day has enough of it? The answer can only be God’s goodness, nothing else.

Yes, God feeds the birds; yes, the lilies “do not labor or spin(Matt. 6:28); yes, God knows that we need food and clothing. But God’s existence, and even His love—as revealed in everything from feeding the birds to dying on the cross—are no guarantee that life is sweet. Life isn’t. It can be hard, bitter, and unfair. And the Bible, from one end to the other, testifies to just how hard, bitter, and unfair it is. Thus Jesus’ admonition helps us remember (not that we’re apt to forget) that we live in a fallen world, a malignant, ill-willed, wicked, and depraved world whose days, sunset to sunset, without exception, are filled with kakia.

And it’s precisely because of this evil that we have to cling to Bible promises such as this: “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you’ ” (Heb. 13:5). And this: “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Rom. 8:31, 32). And these: Romans 8:38, 39; Isaiah 65:17; Romans 8:1, 2; Isaiah 41:10; 2 Corinthians 1:2-4; John 14:27; Ephesians 3:16-19; 2 Corinthians 4:16-18; Philippians 4:19; 1 Thessalonians 4:16.

Yes, each day has enough trouble of its own. But Jesus on the cross—where He took upon Himself all the kakia of every day—should prove to us that His love and His grace are more than sufficient to enable us, amid the evil, to endure, even unto the end.

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