Standing Strong

Strength for Today
and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Paul, an apostle of Christ, by the will of God …
to the saints … blessed with spiritual blessings …
even as he chose us … destined us …
according to the purpose of his will …
Ephesians 1:1-5

I want to tell you about the picture on the cover. But first let’s revisit some questions that we’ve all heard -- and perhaps asked. You can almost feel the pain in them.
Where is God? Where was God when …? Why does God allow …? What am I going to do about this mess? Existential questions that won’t go away and don’t answer easily. They are universal, natural, and very important.
And, of course, whole libraries are written to grapple with them. The Ephesian letter certainly can. So, before digging deeper, let’s linger there. Paul has entered upon his very difficult ministries “by the will of God.” The “saints” who have responded to the call of Christ have done so because “he chose them” for it – “destined them” for a new hope – engaged them in the often costly “purposes of his will.”
There are other, quite wonderful, words in those opening lines – but for real people, in real human struggles, these admissions still may not be the best way to start a letter of strength and hope. Wait. God stands behind all of this? He put us here? He chose us for this? And it’s a “blessing?” Are you entirely sure?
Two working assumptions.
First, I have read and re-read the scriptures, and I’m convinced that our Lord is not the author of our troubles. Nor is he the servant of our desires.
In a broken and sin-scarred world the tragedies, traumas, and evils are a given. Yet, somehow – in a wisdom beyond our understanding – the over-arching purposes and sovereign will of God can absorb the blows. He will bring the best out of the worst, and equip vulnerable believers to face the evils with both strength and hope.
Now that is encouraging, while not yet answering all the persistent questions. And to complicate matters, Paul’s opening lines are laced with that confusing divine sovereignty. All the crises he faced were “by the will” of God? The saints who are misunderstood, persecuted, and still so humanly fallible were “chosen” for those difficulties. We are “destined” for the challenges they would face this side of heaven?
True, many rich blessing are coming, but in the real world, this is not going to be easy material. So, where is the force that generates strength and causes us to “stand strong?”
Now the second assumption. Hope. This will not answer every question, or put every mind at ease. But, I have found it in every paragraph of the letter.
The Lord who has called Paul and “chosen the saints” has allowed us the storms and stresses of life in order to partner with us, and grow us toward a strength that sustains, overcomes, and “blesses” with “spiritual blessings.” He is crafting our strength and our hope as he stands with us.
The storms may be personal tragedies or daily struggles. They may take the form of internal sins, or community dysfunctions, or world-shaking evils. They may be private weaknesses and temptations, or health challenges, or relationship breakages.
In a thousand ways, the winds of life will beat against us. And in it all we long to know that we are not alone – that life can be anchored – that putting down spiritual roots can meet the storm, nourish our lives, and stand us up stronger.
And, now, about that picture. They say that the strongest trees are the ones from up the hill – the ones on the high places, unsheltered, standing in the most punishing winds, reaching for the warming sun yet vulnerable to the rains and the storms.
They are the ones that grow strong against the unforgiving forces of nature. Their fibers are knit more tightly together from the stresses and bendings. Their lives become the “hard woods” that stand up to the harshest abuse.
That tree became a friend that day – and I snapped its picture to remember and share. High in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, it stood alone, literally growing from solid rock -- healthy and reaching for the sun.
Trees less challenged -- less stressed -- may grow tall and look appealing in a more hospitable garden, but they will not be the ones we count on for our axe handles and baseball bats. It is the storm that deepens the roots, strengthens the branches, and equips the tree to bend, flex, and live resiliently.
The Lord who offers us strength and hope, has also committed to stand with us. In the midst of stress or struggle or confusion, he offers the promise of his abiding presence and assurance of his overcoming Spirit.
This side of heaven, we will not fully answer the great existential questions. But like Paul, and like those saints who preceded us, we will stand firm. We will bend in the storms, sink our roots deeply, and grow stronger as we face them together.