This morning’s sermon continued to look at the life of Abraham, looking at Genesis 22 where Abraham’s faith is tested. Like it or not, trials and testings are an inevitable part of our walk with God. They are not necessarily a sign of God’s displeasure or His anger against us; they are part of His refining process. James 1:2-4 TNIV reminds us to look at trials as gifts from God which refine our characters and refine our faith (see also 1 Peter 1:7 TNIV.)

We might wish life was a bed of roses (to quote Christopher Marlowe’s romantic poem ‘The Passionate Shepherd to his love’), but it rarely is! We live in a fallen world of sin and temptation, but we also need to remember that nothing happens to us without God’s knowledge and permission.

Genesis 22:1-19 TNIV has much to teach us about how to respond to trials and testings. We see here that:

1. God was the initiator of the trial. That is sometimes hard to understand and it’s necessary to understand that testing is not the same as temptation (see James 1:14-15 TNIV). It’s also necessary to dwell on God’s benevolent kindness and loving nature so that we do not view Him with wrong eyes as the source of all trouble. Nonetheless, we see that Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Spirit of God to be tested (Matt 4:1-11 TNIV), so we should also expect to face trials and testings. At those times, we need to remember that whatever comes our way has been filtered through God’s loving purposes. Even when we have to undergo discipline and rebuking, God does this out of love and for our good: “God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness” (Hebrews 12:10 TNIV) Testing is not a sign of God’s displeasure or anger, but a sign that He is at work in our lives. We must also remember and lean on God’s promise: “God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted [or tested] beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted [or tested], he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” (1 Cor 10:13-14 TNIV)

2. What God does and says doesn’t always make sense to us! Killing the son of promise for whom he’d waited such a long time can’t have made sense to Abraham! Hebrews 11:17-19 TNIV offers us some insights into Abraham’s thought process at this time. He was confident God could even raise Isaac from the dead if necessary! God’s ways and thoughts are beyond our understanding (see Rom 11:33 TNIV), but we can trust Him even when we don’t understand.

3. Abraham’s response was obedience to God; that needs to be our response too. Even when we can’t see how God can work good from the circumstances, even when we can’t understand what God is doing in our lives, we can obey.

‘Trust and obey
For there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus
But to trust and obey.’ (Traditional hymn)

4. Abraham received new revelation of God through his obedience. He discovered in that place that God is Jehovah-Jireh – the Lord our Provider. That God, the God who provides, is our God too. For we must always remember:

God has provided a lamb
He was offered up in your place
What Abraham was asked to do, he’s done
He’s offered his only son.’ (‘God Will Provide A Lamb’, Michael Card)
‘God Will Provide A Lamb’, Michael Card

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor 12:9 TNIV)

Quite often we face situations which we feel are beyond us: beyond our strength, beyond our understanding and beyond our capacity to continue. One of the greatest things about knowing God is coming to understand that actually, there is no situation beyond His strength, His understanding and perseverance and therefore, because we dwell in Him and His Spirit lives in us, there is no situation beyond us, for His grace is sufficient for us. Knowing God is ‘more than enough’ for us is liberating and strengthening. Our vision of God always needs to be expanded, because He is more than able to carry us, keep us, guide us and leave us.

“Our Father, Creator, You hold our hearts together.
There’s no one higher than You.
Redeemer, Defender, our great and mighty Saviour
There’s no one higher than You.

There’s no one like You, Lord.
No one like You.
There is no one higher, no one greater, no one like our God
There is none more able, Christ our Saviour, great and glorious.
There is no one higher than You.” (‘No One Higher’, Aaron Shust)
‘No One Higher’, Aaron Shust

The recent hot and dry weather in the UK has already prompted talk of drought and newspapers tell stories of previous heatwaves (in 2003, for example). It’s so unusual in England to have over a week of uninterrupted sunshine that this makes the news! People are unused to temperatures of 30 degress celsius and more and there is a sense of people wilting in the heat! Gardens are looking thirsty and the sale of water shoots up at such times.

In last night’s prayer meeting, we were praying for God to heal on every level: broken relationships, hurting bodies, troubled minds, crushed emotions. We long to see God heal and bring wholeness to individuals, to churches, to communities, to the nation, to our world. As we were praying, we were reminded not only of our own spiritual thirst but of God’s ability to provide water:

“You, God, are my God; earnestly I seek You; my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.” (Ps 63:1 TNIV). Psalm 143:6 TNIV says “I spread out my hands to You; I thirst for You like a parched land.” This imagery is taken up in Aaron Shust’s new song ‘Satisfy’, which begins:

“In a dry and thirsty land
You are the water,
You are the water.
When I’m on my knees again,
Yours is the power,
Yours is the power.

When the battle weakens me
You will be my victory.
You supply my every need,
You supply my every need.” (‘Satisfy’, Aaron Shust)

The answer to our thirst can only be met in God. Jesus said, ‘“Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.’ (John 7:37-39 TNIV) Our prayer is for God to fill us with rivers of living water, to refresh our weary souls, to give us all that we need.

“So fill us with Your rest,
And fill us with Your Spirit,
And fill us with Your love.
Only You can satisfy.
So fill us with Your rest,
And fill us with Your Spirit,
And fill us with Your love.
Only You can satisfy.
Only You can satisfy.

I find everything I need in You.
I find everything I need in You.
I find everything I need,
Jesus, only You can satisfy.
I find everything I need in You.
I find everything I need in You.
I find everything I need,
Jesus, only You can satisfy.” (‘Satisfy’, Aaron Shust)
‘Satisfy’, Aaron Shust

The title of Aaron Shust’s new album ‘Morning Rises’ is taken from a line in the song ‘God of Brilliant Lights’:

“The God of brilliant lights is shining down over us.
Breaking through the darkness
Covering all the earth
Ooh, His love is like an ocean,
Ooh, forever overflowing,
The God of brilliant lights is shining over us.
Like the morning rises
God, Your light is shining.” (‘God of Brilliant Lights’, Aaron Shust & Scott Cash)

The idea, however, is rooted in Scripture:
“Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.” (Hosea 6:3 TNIV)

“And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.” (Luke 1:76-79 TNIV)

Sometimes it’s very easy to dwell on the circumstances around us and to feel overwhelmed by them. It’s always good, however, to dwell on the hope that we have in Christ and to remember that ‘weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.’ (Ps 30:5) We can’t change our circumstances necessarily, but we can choose our response: “Regardless of the circumstances, the response that is necessary is praise. It’s life-giving to us when we choose to praise.” (quote by Aaron Shust in the All About Worship interview.)

The 2001 film ‘The One’ features a sheriff’s deputy who fights an alternate universe version of himself who grows stronger with each alternate self he kills. YuLaw (Jet Li), once an officer of the “Multiverse Authority” (MVA) that polices interdimensional travel (via detecting wormholes), seeks to hunt down all variations of himself in alternate universes. By killing all of his other selves (becoming the last version), and absorbing their life energies, he believes he will become a godlike being called “The One”. YuLaw is briefly captured by MVA agents Rodecker (Delroy Lindo) and Funsch (Jason Statham), only to escape from captivity during the trial sentencing him to life in a penal colony.

The Aaron Shust song ‘The One’ has no reference to the film of the same name! The song is talking about the eternal God who reigns and who holds us safe in His hands. Sometimes it’s hard to see what He is doing or to follow Him, but there is tremendous security in knowing God.

“The day is dark and I can’t see
The path I’m on or what’s in front of me,
But I will stand
On this I know
You will never let me go.

Though the world shall fade away
And the sky may even fall
You are strong enough to save.
You’re the One who holds
Every heart that is afraid.
You hear our desperate call.
You are strong enough to save.
You’re the One who holds it all.
You hold it all. (‘The One’, Aaron Shust)
‘The One’, Aaron Shust

A new album from a much-loved singer/songwriter always evokes that response in me. ‘Oh, joy!’ What truths will be uncovered, clothed in new words, melded into new melodies? What sustenance will come from new songs? What light will be shone on Scripture? What allusions will there be to old hymns and other favourites? If you’ve never been upheld through music, never had light shone in the darkness through the fusion of lyrics and melody, never been picked up from despair, never had fire shot through your soul through music, you may well read this post with a sense of bewilderment. But for anyone who has been encouraged by songs and who has felt their power, you will understand only too well what I am talking about.

Aaron Shust’s new album ‘Morning Rises’ was released today. I always enjoy his music, but also I find him to be an authentic person, facing difficult situations (two of his sons have been seriously ill) with faith and courage. He also has a great sense of humour and reminds me of Mark’s zany ideas at times (if you listen to the interview below, not only does he talk with all seriousness about how God has healed his youngest son, who has Down’s Syndrome, of deafness, but creates worship songs from the most bizarre Bible verses you can imagine – I personally really like ‘Send the bears!’)
Radio interview with Aaron Shust

You can listen to some of the album’s new songs through the links below:
“I will trust in only You
For You will bring the victory
All Your promises are true
It doesn’t matter what I see.” (Deliver Me’, Aaron Shust)
‘Deliver Me’, Aaron Shust

“He won’t abandon
He won’t deceive
He won’t desert us
He won’t ever leave
He’ll never forsake us
He won’t ever run
He’ll never reject us
The faithful One.” (‘Mighty Fortress’, Aaron Shust)
‘Mighty Fortress’, Aaron Shust

“In a dry and thirsty land
You are the Water, You are the Water
When I’m on my knees again
Yours is the power, Yours is the power
When the battle weakens me,
You will be my victory.
You supply my every need, You supply my every need.”
‘Satisfy’, Aaron Shust