#9 ROAD MAP TO GRACE

Sunday
1.  What stands out to you from the above and why?
 
Oh Dee, so sorry you woke up to find your work had disappeared… appreciate your perseverance to push right through that!  Such wise words from Julie and Denise…brought to mind these verses from Psalm 122:1-2,
“I look up to the mountains— does my help come from there?”  My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth!” 
Great reminder of God’s promises…I’m standing on them!!!
 
2.  Read up to “Remember O Lord” in Chapter 8 (A Road Map to Grace) and share what you believe to be the main point.
 
We may have seasons in our lives where suffering may continue and it seems God is silent but ”we must keep praying.”  
 
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As always the highlights stand out to me as I am not always able to read all of them when posted.
I believe the main point in today’s reading is keep praying and keep lamenting. It’s not a quick fix or a solution. It’s a process that is based on trust in God’s goodness and faithfulness.

Sunday:
1.     What stands out to you from the above and why?
Dee, I am excited about our September study! Like the rest here who commented on it, I cannot wait! I am so glad I am in this group of wonderful women who love the Lord as you all do.
Julie’s and Denise’s highlights sure resonate with me. So sad to see and hear what America is becoming and yet so many are still denying God. And so many are still looking to this nation as an idol as Denise said. “…but it is not my Savior.”
My family in the Philippines has always considered me blessed to have had the privilege of coming and living here. But lately, more and more of my family members are asking me, “what is wrong with the American people?”
Another thing that has stood out to me is that there was no resolution mentioned at the end of Chapter 5. But there was a plea for God to “remember” and to “restore” His people to Himself.
2.     Read up to “Remember O Lord” in Chapter 8 (A Road Map to Grace) and share what you believe to be the main point.
Lament “tells you where to look and whom to trust when pain and uncertainty hang in the air you breathe.” This means I need to keep trusting God in the midst of my pain or difficulty.

Monday/Tuesday: Remember Your Promises, O Lord
I have been upheld by the promises of God in the midst of grief. I have clung to the promise that He will be a husband to the widow, a father to the fatherless, that He will provide for me as He does the lilies of the field, that one day there will be a perfect new heaven and a perfect new earth, and that there will be no more sin, or death, or grief. All these sustain me, and indeed, He has demonstrated His faithfulness to His promises.
   3. Read the section “Remember O Lord.”
         A. Pastor Mark, on page 143 of the hard copy, gives four examples from Scripture of God’s “remembering” His people, His promises. What are they? – God remembered Noah after the flood, Genesis 8.1; God promises to never destroy mankind in a flood again, Genesis 9.15-16; He remembered his promises that was made Abraham, Isaac Jacob when they sinned with the golden calf, Deut 9.27; and David reminded God of his promise to him to forget his past transgressions Ps 25.6-7
        B. What specific promises do you cling to when God is silent? – When I’m struggling, and feel alone, I remember the promise that God is faithful to always be with me. This helps me get through the pain with the hope God is with me. 
        C. Pastor Mark says rehearsing pain has a purpose. What is it? – It helps us to bring to the forefront the promises of God and to remind Him of his word. We cry out for him to take action.
        D. List some of the pain rehearsed in Lamentations 5:2-18 –  They no longer have an inheritance, it’s been turned over to aliens and their homes to foreigners. They have to now buy water to drink and there is now a cost to their wood they need. They are tired and worn out from their pursuers.
        E.. What else stands out to you from this section? – I like the reminder that it is ok to not run from the shame we caused to ourselves when we have done wrong. Lamenting embraces it so we can move through it and come to God with a repentive heart.

I hope I’m included in next week’s study.
 

SUNDAY
1. Two things stood out to me: First, Dee, you have piqued my interest and I’m anxious to hear what’s in store for September. 😉  Second,  I agree with what you wrote about, “Remember” – that it is a request for God to remember His promises and to keep them.” I also think  God calls us to “remember” what He has done for us, to remember His faithfulness to us. So we call on God to remember & keep His promises AND  God calls on us to remember His promises and how He has kept them, how He has been faithful. Both of these “keeps us keeping on when He is silent.”

  3. B. What specific promises do you cling to when God is silent?
Hebrews 13:5  For He Himself has said, I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.
This promise of His presence at all moments and in every circumstance is the truth-reassurance that I often need to reorient my thinking and my emotions.

I found these words by C.H. Spurgeon that speak to the original meaning of this word  never .

  We turn at once, with great pleasure, to the wonderful words of our text, “He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” I have no doubt you are aware that our translation does not convey the whole force of the original, and that it would hardly be possible in English to give the full weight of the Greek. We might render it, “He hath said, I will never, never leave thee; I will never, never, never forsake thee;” for, though that would be not a literal, but rather a free rendering, yet, as there are five negatives in the Greek, we do not know how to give their force in any other way. Two negatives nullify each other in our language; but here, in the Greek, they intensify the meaning following one after another, as I suppose David’s five stones out of the brook would have done if the first had not been enough to make the giant reel. The verse we sung just now is a very good rendering of the original—

“‘The soul that on Jesus hath lean’d for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavour to shake,</em<em
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.’”
 

Wednesday 
 
4. How has the knowledge of God’s sovereignty and character helped you when you don’t understand what is going on? Be specific if possible.
 
Watching those various clips of Bananza reminds that tv just isn’t what it used to be and just how immoral our country has become!
S)ove(r)eign…reigns over…Yes, He does!  This truth became very real when we lost our son, it became real when our home was destroyed in Florence and as a child in Africa having to leave our home several times because of political unrest, it was expressed by my parents and other missionaries.  It is an attribute of God that has brought me much healing, peace and hope!!

      A. Pastor Mark, on page 143 of the hard copy, gives four examples from Scripture of God’s “remembering” His people, His promises. What are they? 1. After the judgment of the flood, “God remembered Noah”. 2. After the flood, God said He would remember His covenant. 3. When the Israelites sinned with the golden calf, Moses asked God to be merciful by remembering His covenant to His forefathers. 4. David asks God to remember His mercy. 
 B. What specific promises do you cling to when God is silent? That God will never leave me nor forsake me. That I am His, and He is mine. That He chose me before the foundations of the world. 
        C. Pastor Mark says rehearsing pain has a purpose. What is it? That it sets the context for asking God to remember His promises to us based on God’s character. We can’t actively live in denial and ask and plead with God to move, heal, and give us mercy and grace. 
        D. List some of the pain rehearsed in Lamentations 5:2-18 “We have become orphans, fatherless, our mothers like widows, Our pursuers are at our necks; we are weary; we are given no rest, there is none to deliver us from their hand, women are raped in Zion, our dancing has turned to mourning.
        E.. What else stands out to you from this section? What stand out to me from the section in the book, well, it makes me want to hold a Lament service. For what’s happening in Kenosha WI. To start with the black man who lost his life, but also for all the violence after that point. Right down to what’s happening in my own small town in WI. The fear and violence in reaction to it. I am concerned though that despite my desire to pray and Lament for all the loss, starting with Jacob Blake, but also recognizing the pain and destruction that happened in the after math that it would be politicized. 

Wednesday: But You, O Lord Reign Forever
4. How has the knowledge of God’s sovereignty and character helped you when you don’t understand what is going on? Be specific if possible. – What helps me the most is that I know and can rely on God. He is in control of me, my family and friends and the whole world He created. This world only exists because of him. I may still struggle with things that happen, I may still question and cry out, but if I focus on His goodness, His love and remember that nothing happens without his letting it, I know I will be ok. The things of this world are not for me to worry about. I need to do my part of course, I can’t just sit back and expect others to do what I’m called ot do, I need to live my life to the fullest of how God’s Word says I should. He’s got the Whole World in HIS HANDS.
5. Read “But You O Lord Reign Forever” and share what stands out to you. – What stood out to me was “God is in control. Every event in life moves toward the fulfillment of the plane he ordained. He reigns forever…God called Jeremiah to be a prophet BEFORE HE WAS BORN. (Jer. 1.5)”  There is so much comfort in these lines. I am where God wants me to be at this moment in time. So I have to believe that my ending will be exactly as He planned it from my birth. I may not know what that is, but if he is in control of everything, every event in life, my life, than I have to trust Him that he knows what is best for me. Thank you Lord for always being with me.

1.     3. How has the knowledge of God’s sovereignty and character helped you when you don’t understand what is going on? Be specific if possible.
I look back at all the recent deaths of my family members and can see God’s gracious hand in all of the grief and pain that accompanied them. I cry whenever I think of my Mom and my sister and miss them so much. Then I start thinking of my Dad, and my parents-in-law. I have to speak to my soul reminding it that God has our times in His hand and when His purposes for us in this earth is accomplished, He will call us home. And that will happen in His perfect time and according to His faithful goodness.
1.     4. Read “But You O Lord Reign Forever” and share what stands out to you.
God is sovereign over everything including our pain.
Walking with someone whose storyline appears to be cruel…God is still in control, even through loss.
Trusting the God who wrote the rest of the story beyond chapter 5 (or the chapter of your life)
God ordained (reigned over) Jesus’ crucifixion.
Sylvia’s story
We are told the redemptive story so we can find our way through the darkest moments of our lives.
Look for opportunities to remind yourself of God’s sovereignty.
 
I see my personal application of Romans 8:28-31 here. God has a purpose in everything. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[i] have been called according to his purpose.  For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
 

. Read the section “Remember O Lord.”
         A. Pastor Mark, on page 143 of the hard copy, gives four examples from Scripture of God’s “remembering” His people, His promises. What are they? When God remembered Noah; God remembered His covenant He made to Noah [and to us] by His rainbow (TAKE BACK THE RAINBOW!); When God remembered His covenant to  Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when the Hebrew children had made a golden calf to worship; When God remembered David and gave Him mercy.
        B. What specific promises do you cling to when God is silent?  I have always clung to the verses in Isaiah 49:15-16, “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne?  Though she may forget, I will not forget you!  See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.”  Of course, there are many more but this is one I specifically hold dear.
15         C. Pastor Mark says rehearsing pain has a purpose. What is  it?  It sets the context for God to remember and restore.
        D. List some of the pain rehearsed in Lamentations 5:2-18   We must buy the water we must drink; women have been violated in Zion; our inheritance is being taken by strangers; we have become fatherless, our mothers are widows.
E.. What else stands out to you from this section?  A while back I read the book “The Soul of Shame” by Curt Thompson, MD.  Pretty powerful from the view of a Christian psychiatrist and how the enemy uses shame as a great tool against believers…highly recommend it.  Growing up in a legalistic denomination (that I still love and has changed since then), shame was a big part of  the culture.  I was moved by the statements: “Instead of running from the shame of sorrow, lament embraces it.  Lament looks through the fog for the grace of God’s remembrance.”

4. How has the knowledge of God’s sovereignty and character helped you when you don’t understand what is going on? Be specific if possible.  When my severely autistic son was 9, it got to the point where I could no longer keep him safe and he was agitated constantly.  I had to sue the county board of developmental disabilities for services that included living in the community near me in a group home with 3 others.  Such a placement did not exist.  Even his neurologist testified that Caleb needed behavior programming, a controlled environment, and 24/7 staffing, that despite all the interventions we had tried at home, his needs were inherent and the community needed to step him.  The stakes were HIGH!  And the thought of having Caleb live outside of my home so he could be safe, content, and functioning to the best that he could was counter-intuitive to my instinct as a mother…yet, just as Hannah prayed regarding her Samuel, Caleb was lent to the Lord.  I had no idea what the outcome would be and if we would prevail.  I came home from church one Sunday in the middle of all of this, and found a baby sparrow on the ground, below a nest sitting on our neighbor’s window air conditioner.  I got a ladder and put the bird back in the nest.  The parent came and kicked the bird out of the nest.  I called a naturalist in our county park system and told him my situation.  He asked if the baby bird had feathers; I said yes.  He said it probably was time for the bird to leave the nest but not to worry, as the mother’s job was not over.  That her job would be continuing to keep the bird safe, protecting the bird from cats and making sure the bird’s needs were met.  I hung up the phone with tears streaming.  The naturalist had no idea what I was going through, but his words were direct from the Lord.  His peace overwhelmed me, and I no longer fretted about what would happen.  I knew then that despite my pain and fear, Caleb has a great God that loved him more than myself.  After 8 months, we prevailed and won the suit.  Caleb is now 31, lives 10 minutes away with two other housemates, and is safe, content, and functioning to the best of his ability.  This had never happened in the State of Ohio.  I was overwhelmed, and still am 23 years later, at how God was so tenderly mindful in a time that was excruciatingly painful and full of waiting.
5. Read “But You O Lord Reign Forever” and share what stands out to you.  The sentence: “I wouldn’t be writing this book without the death of Sylvia.”  I want to meet her in heaven and tell her the impact her life has had on me through this book.

4. How has the knowledge of God’s sovereignty and character helped you when you don’t understand what is going on? Be specific if possible.
That Bonanza video..whoa. Powerful!  
When my world crumbled last year with news of betrayal I couldn’t bear and then again this month, new information came adding to it-a deeper betrayal made the knife twist and go deeper. I couldn’t understand what was going on and really I still don’t, but I am okay with that now for God moves so mysteriously-often! I wanted justice extended to this person, not mercy and definitely not Grace. Yet that is what He is doing-I don’t understand  it, yet His sovereignty in Love in that while I was a sinner and betrayer of Him He gave His life for me-that is so loud in my heart right now. He chose me before I was born for He could see ahead and knew my whole life story before I did. That amazes me, and strengthens me when I doubt He knows what He is doing for there are easy, comfortable ways out of this, yet He is telling me to stay and it doesn’t make sense-upside down-for I could leave and almost did! I have seen humility and a real turning happening in this person but am proceeding with caution continuing to trust God to help me discern for He is the great discerner of hearts! 

Bonanza ~
Thank you for this clip from Bonanza.    It made me curious so I researched some of the main characters.   I found a wonderful article in Guidepost Magazine about Lorne Greene, the actor portraying the father.    It is entitled The Value of Silence.   It tells a beautiful and intriguing story about Lorne Greene and his father and the value of creative silence.   
Such a valuable parallel to this study on the silence of God and the love of a father.
 
https://www.guideposts.org/friends-and-family/family/guideposts-classics-lorne-greene-on-the-value-of-silence