Bits from The Problem of Pain

I've been reading The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis, and I wanted to share a few things with you from that:

Confession:

As we've been hearing, we must confess our sin. But when we confess, we tend to detach ourselves from the sin. I know I do: "Ok, now I've confessed, and everybody knows, and everybody's forgiven me--and guess what, a lot of other people have been doing it too! So now, as long as I change, I'm all good." When we repent and confess, God covers our guilt, but we can't pretend that it never happened. We shouldn't dwell in guilt, but where we would have seen guilt, we can't see nothing. We have to see God's righteousness and his forgiveness.

The will:

Many of us are realizing that we have to give things up. Some of these things were sinful, but many of them were just things that were too distracting for us, or weren't in God's plan for us. I thought this quote was really applicable:

"In order to submit the will to God, we must have a will and that will must have objects. Christian renunciation does not mean stoic "Apathy," but a readiness to prefer God to inferior ends which are in themselves lawful. Hence the Perfect Man brought to Gethsemane a will, and a strong will, to escape suffering and death if such escape were compatible with the Father's will, combined with a perfect readiness for obedience if it were not."

 When we give things up we usually aren't going to stop desiring them; if we did, there would be no sacrifice. But we have to be willing to do God's will anyways. (By the way, this doesn't mean that we should feed these desires, even the lawful ones, if we know they aren't God's will--why would we just make it harder on ourselves?)

Goodness does not equal kindness:

Lewis observes that today's society tends to equate goodness with kindness, or mercy. Thus, almost any other sin is treated as ok (if not theoretically, at least practically). Lust, laziness, cheating, whatever, are fine--as long as they doesn't hurt anyone. This was an important insight for me because I've struggled with just that thought--"Well, it doesn't hurt anyone, so what's the big deal? I mean, of course a Christian shouldn't do it, but does it really matter for an unbeliever?" At least two things are wrong with this:

1. God's law is always right and true. We shouldn't condone any sin--even ones that aren't inherently cruel. God hates laziness just as much as he does cruelty; he hates hypocrisy as much as he does meanness. 

2. "...Plato rightly taught that virtue is one. You cannot be kind unless you have all the other virtues. If, being cowardly, conceited and slothful, you have never yet done a fellow creature great mischief, that is only because your neighbour's welfare has not yet happened to conflict with your safety, self-approval, or ease." 

We still may not be able to convince a non-Christian that these other things are just as evil as cruelty, but we at least don't have to approve of it--including indirectly. In a book by George MacDonald, a mysterious, old princess who represents God tells a boy who has seen her "'something not to do...If you should hear anyone speak about me, never to laugh or make fun of me.'

'Oh, ma'am!' exclaimed Curdie, shocked that she should think such a request needful. 

'Stop, stop,' she went on. 'People hereabout sometimes tell very odd and in fact ridiculous stories of an old woman who watches what is going on, and occasionally interferes. They mean me, though what they say is often great nonsense. Now what I want of you is not to laugh, or side with them in any way; because they will take that to mean you don't believe there is any such person a bit more than they do. Now that would not be the case -- would it Curdie?'"

I've been convicted that I have done this very thing--and it's even easier to do when it comes to sin. When classmates tell me how they cheated in some class last semester, I probably don't have to rebuke them, but I certainly should not laugh. 

(P.S. If you need something to read, these are both great books! The one by MacDonald is The Princess and Curdie, sequel to The Princess and the Goblin. I'm almost positive our church library has the Problem of Pain (with the other church books) as well as The Princess and the Goblin/Curdie (in the school YA section, last time I checked), and I have them as well. Just to warn you, both books have some things that we wouldn't agree with, so you have to read critically, but they are still chalk full of very helpful things as well!) :)

Peace, Peace

From our reading this morning in Isaiah 57...


:2 "Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death."

:10 "[But you wicked people], you were wearied by all your ways, but you would not say, 'It is hopeless.' You found renewal of your strength and so you did not faint."

:11 "Whom have you so dreaded and feared that you have been false to me...?"

:12 "I will expose your righteousness and your works, and they will not benefit you."

:17 "I was enraged by his sinful greed; I punished him, and hid my face in anger, yet he kept on in his willful ways."


If we are looking for true rest and peace, it will not be found in anything on earth. True peace comes from walking uprightly--and, even then, we may only find real rest in death! Life on earth is not promised to be perfect or smooth sailing. Things won't go perfectly our way, but God has His reasons--and, in the middle of it all, He promises rest.

I want to share with you the warning I found in verse 10 though...when we see our wicked ways, and we get tired of them, it is not enough. These wicked people found strength that they didn't know they had and continued on in their muck. God calls us to get out of the muck!! He calls us to live for Him. Have you confessed 80% of sin? Someone recently told me that they had confessed a sin in part, but thought that the elders got 'the general gist of it' and 'there's no need to go into all the specifics'. I pressed my friend as to whether or not they thought that was real confession--and then they told me that if they confessed every detail, it would hurt the other person involved. Girls, is that what we're doing when we confess? Making excuses, trying to make sin sound better, not wanting to let go of everything? That's why some confession is not enough! We will never get out of the muck if we only confess part of it! Comparing it to the analogy of when we are saved, our eyes are opened to a room full of manure--what if the lights were still dimmed? We might be able to shovel out most of the manure, but it is only with full light that we will be able to see all and, with the grace of God, clean the whole room! Do not fall into the trap of partial confession--Satan will renew your strength to sin more!

In verse 11, my train of thought continues. Who is it that we are so scared of that we do not turn to Christ? Who is it that causes us to be false to Him? Are you scared that if you confess to being deceitful, your parents won't trust you or let you do anything? Are you scared that if you confess to sexual immorality, you may lose your boyfriend? Are you scared that if you confess to cheating at school, your friends won't look at you as intelligent? Are you scared that if you confess to not truly being a Christian, your friends will look down on you? There are so many things I have been scared of in the past. So many people I knew I would disappoint and hurt if I confessed certain sins. Two things I have learned though--imperfect people love and forgive. God, who is perfect, loves even more and forgives any sin we truly confess and repent of. Isn't that amazing??

Speaking of being scared, verse 12 is a harsh warning. God promises to expose our 'righteousness' and 'works'--but when He does, it will not benefit us! Think about it, ladies--think about all the works we've done. Will they ultimately be for His glory? Think about our righteousness--how righteous are we? Are we striving toward holiness? If God came today, and saw our pretension and superficiality, would He be content with that as righteousness? Would He look at all our works that were done to get praise or the attention of that guy or to look better, and say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant"? His standards are sooo much higher than ours!

:17 Sinful greed...willful ways. What are we greedy for? More worldliness? Have we submitted or are we continuing to walk in our willful ways? He promises to punish and hide His face--trust me, we don't want either one!

:21 "There is no peace...for the wicked". If you have no peace, pray to God and seek His mercy!!

Burnt Offerings

Hey girls,

In our reading the other day we read "I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing."

It made me think of 2 things:

1. Our offerings have to cost us something. Confession is difficult, yes, but not really costly. Maybe our reputation or people's view of us, but obedience is what really makes is hurt. You have to say no when you want to say yes, to die to self, to take up the cross. Wow. That makes confession look almost easy.
2. They have to burn. I keep thinking about putting things up on the altar, but we can't just set them there and walk off. That makes it way too easy to come back and try to sneak things back off. We have to burn them, cut off all contact, make a clean break, replace them with something new, leaving nothing of the old. That's painful.

Praise God he gives grace! I was talking to Mrs. Perry the other day, and we would be so lost, so exhausted and unable if it weren't for the power of the Holy Spirit. But to get that: disciplined, holy life.