by David Wilkerson
A teenage girl confessed to me, “Sir, two years ago my mom and dad were killed in a car crash. They were the best parents a girl could ever have. I’ve wondered how God could allow them to be killed in such a violent way, and for the past two years I’ve held a grudge against Him. Doesn't God protect His own? I can’t pray anymore with real trust in Him, because I believe He failed me. What can I do? I guess you can say I’m mad at the Lord.”
A young couple I know has been harboring resentment against the Lord for nearly ten years. Their beautiful, five-year-old daughter died shortly after being stricken with a brain tumor and they grew bitter. They have stayed in church and go through all the motions, but they no longer believe in the effectiveness of prayer. They are afraid to disown God, afraid to call Him a liar or an unfaithful Father, but they have never forgiven Him for “taking away their only child.”
Almost every Christian at some time in his life has had to face the problem of unanswered prayer. A prayer goes unanswered for weeks and months—even years. An unexpected illness or tragedy claims a loved one. Things happen that have no rhyme or reason and then faith begins to falter. But the Word makes it very clear that a wavering person will never receive anything from God.
Jesus understood this tendency in His children to hold grudges against heaven when mountains are not moved on schedule. He warned Peter not to ask anything when standing in God’s presence lest he be unforgiving in some matter.
“And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any; that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses” (Mark 11:25).
I believe Jesus is saying, “Don’t stand in God’s presence asking for mountains to be removed or for forgiveness of your sins, if you have a secret grudge in your heart against heaven. Get it out! Let the Spirit of forgiveness flow through you. Cry out to your faithful Father. He has not failed. He will answer. He will supply. Submit yourself and ask Him to forgive you for allowing these doubts to spring up.”
Christmas Is For Those Who Hate It Most
(By Matt B. Redmond)
We are now accustomed to hearing how Christmas is difficult for many people. The story of Scrooge and his - ehem - problems with the season is no longer anecdotal. It is now par for the course. Maybe this has always been the case. Maybe the joy of the season has always been a thorn in the side of those who can scarcely imagine joy.
Not too long ago, I heard from one of these people about how difficult Christmas would be because of some heartbreak in their family. There was utter hopelessness and devastation. Christmas would be impossible to enjoy because of the freshness of the pain. It's been a story hard to forget.
I get it. I mean, it makes sense. Christmas is a time in which there is a lot of heavily concentrated family time. The holidays can be tense in even the best of circumstances. Maneuvering through the landmines of various personalities can be hard even if there is no cancer, divorce or empty seat at the table. What makes it the most wonderful time of the year for one is also what makes it the most brutal time of the year for another. My own family has not been immune to this phenomenon.
I'd like to push back against this idea a little. Gently. I think we have it all backwards. We have it sunk deep into our collective cultural consciousness that Christmas is for the happy people. You know, those with idyllic family situations enjoyed around stocking-strewn hearth dreams. Christmas is for healthy people who laugh easily and at all the right times, right? The successful and the beautiful, who live in suburban bliss, can easily enjoy the holidays. They are beaming after watching a Christmas classic curled up on the couch as a family in front of their ginormous flat-screen drinking perfectly mixed hot cocoa. We live and act as if this is who should be enjoying Christmas.
But this is so damnably backwards. Christmas - the great story of the incarnation of the Rescuer - is for everyone, especially those who need a rescue. Jesus was born as a baby to know the pain and sympathize with our weaknesses. Jesus was made to be like us so that in his resurrection we can be made like him; free from the fear of death and the pain of loss. Jesus' first recorded worshippers were not of the beautiful class. They were poor, most-likely ugly shepherds; beat down by life and labor. They had been looked down on over many a nose.
Jesus came for those who look in the mirror and see ugliness. Jesus came for daughters whose fathers never told them they were beautiful. Christmas is for those who go to "wing night" alone. Christmas is for those whose lives have been wrecked by cancer and the thought of another Christmas seems like an impossible dream. Christmas is for those who would be nothing but lonely if not for social media. Christmas is for those whose marriages have careened against the retaining wall and are threatening to flip over the edge. Christmas is for the son, whose father keeps giving him hunting gear when the son wants art materials. Christmas is for smokers who cannot quit even in the face of a death sentence. Christmas is for whores, adulterers and porn stars who long for love in every wrong place. Christmas is for college students who are sitting in the midst of family and already cannot wait to get out for another drink. Christmas is for those who traffic in failed dreams. Christmas is for those who have squandered the family name and fortune - they want 'home' but cannot imagine a gracious reception. Christmas is for parents watching their children's marriage fall into disarray.
Christmas is really about the gospel of grace for those who need it. Because of all that Christ has done on the cross, the manger becomes the most hopeful place in a Universe darkened with hopelessness. In the irony of all ironies, Christmas is for those who will find it the hardest to enjoy. It really is for those who hate it the most.
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