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“Well Done!”

On March 22, 1996, Mom stepped into the arms of her precious Savior, enjoying His loving embrace. I had seen her the previous night but it was unlike any time before. Instead of feeling her warm and loving embrace, seeing that precious smile and hearing her gentle voice speaking words of love and grace, she lay there almost lifeless—a shell of her former self. She had finished her mission and she was getting ready to stand before her Master. She had one leg of the journey left to take. What was awaiting her was a glorious sight and the gracious sound of her Savior saying, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful. Enter into the joy of thy Lord.” She had “fought the good fight,” she had “finished [her] course,” she had “kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).

This answer comes from the parable of the talents in Matthew 25. The message gives us a great challenge to consider as we consider ourselves. As I meditate upon these words in light of the memorial of my mother’s passing I ask the question, “What does ‘well done’ mean?” As the master commended his servant with these words, he described his servant by saying that he was “good and faithful.” In this passage, the word “good” speaks of being beneficial, profitable and useful. The word “faithful” speaks of being trustworthy. The master commends his servant for being “good” because of his usefulness, being profitable to the cause of his master. He also was commended for being “faithful” as he showed himself to be trustworthy in obedience to his master’s commands. Following this phrase, “good and faithful,” the master says, “Thou hast been faithful over a few things.” The “few things” are the “five talents” that he had been given the responsibility of. This servant had proved that he was faithful and could be trusted to execute the commands his master had given him. He simply did was his master would have done if he had done it himself.

The next question that comes to my mind is, “Am I being a ‘good and faithful servant’?”

Thinking back on mom’s life I see a “good and faithful servant.” She was a “good and faithful” wife who sacrificially loved my dad. They were a great team, working together to be “good and faithful” in their God-given responsibilities. Mom was a “good and faithful” mother, raising us children with sacrificial love often putting our needs in front of her own. We knew that we were loved.

Alongside my father, she was also a “good and faithful” missionary, advancing the cause of her Master, Jesus Christ, as they took the Gospel to the Banwaon (ban-wa-own) people located in the mountains of Mindanao, Philippines. These people had never heard of Jesus Christ until dad and mom stepped out in obedience to God’s call for them to go and take His most precious Word—the message of the hope of eternal life—to a group of people living in fearful bondage. They practiced animism, worshipping the evil spirits and sacrificing animals to them. Now, these same people are free, living with great joy instead of great fear. They also, enjoy a relationship with Jesus as they seek to live as “good and faithful” servants advancing the cause of their new Master Jesus.

Mom was also “good and faithful” as she taught these people how to read and write in their own language, which up to that point had been an unwritten language. Today, they can read the very Word of God and soon will have their own copy of the New Testament in their own language thanks to the tireless efforts of Albert and Lynne, other “good and faithful” servants of the Lord and others before them.

One of our prayer cards

As I look back on Mom’s life, I am grateful to God! He gave me the privilege of being raised and cared for by my parents—these “good and faithful” servants of God. I realize that, with these words, Mom sounds like a saint who never did anything wrong. The truth is, she was a just like us flawed souls making mistakes and needing to trust God at every turn. During her last couple of years of her life, she would lay in bed weakened by cancer and I would quietly go into her room and kneel down beside her bed. In these moments she would often say, “I’m just a dumb sheep.” This wasn’t a statement of discouragement but the reality of someone who knew that there were more areas of their life that needed to be addressed. She knew that she had flaws. She knew that she had so much to learn. But she also knew her Shepherd. She knew that He loved and cared for her. She knew the reality of His love as her Good Shepherd carried her “through the valley of the shadow of death” (Psalm 23:4), knowing there was something beyond the suffering she was enduring as He was carrying her “through” this valley. Because of this truth, she was able to rest in Him—she “feared no evil”—because she knew her Shepherd was ever-present carrying her “through,” providentially orchestrating the details of her trial, her pain, her suffering. She knew “Who” her Shepherd was! She knew that He gave His life for her in the greatest demonstration of love as He paid the penalty for her sins (Romans 5:8). He was not only her Shepherd but also her Savior.

Some time ago I heard a poem by Linda Ellis called “The Dash,” which speaks of the little line between the dates of our birth and death. This little “dash” represents our life and how we are living it. She writes, “For it matters not, how much we own, the cars…the house…the cash. What matters is how we live and love and how we spend our dash.”

During the 19 years that I had the privilege of knowing Mom, I can honestly say that she spent her “dash” well. She was a “good and faithful servant” who sought no glory for herself but glory for her Savior—her Master Jesus Christ. The “proof is in the pudding” as they say. Her fingerprints of memories, of how she touched the lives of others, remind us of how she “lived and loved and how she spent her dash.” We give testimony of her tenderness, her grace, and love and most importantly how much she loved her Savior and wanted others to know His love as well.

Mom was “good and faithful” because she was useful to her Master. She was trustworthy with the responsibilities that He had given her. She was profitable to the cause of Christ.

God has called His followers to be “salt” and “light” in the world (Matthew 5:13-14). The Bible tells us that He “works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). His “good pleasure” for each of us is to be good image-bearers reflecting His light to the world in which we live.

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”—Matthew 5:16

God desires to use those who are receptive to His working in them to influence others to respond in kind. God has placed within each of our lives those whose fingerprints remind and encourage us to look outside ourselves seeking to show kindness, blessing others.

“And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted [compassionate], forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”—Ephesians 4:32

With this thought in mind, my reflections turn inward asking, “Father, can I look forward to hearing, ‘Well done: thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful’? Am I living a life that points people to Christ and His love? Do others see me living and loving and spending my dash to Your glory? Am I being “good and faithful” in my service to You?”

How about you? How are you spending your dash? Are you seeking to live a life of God-honoring praise? When you stand before your Maker, will you hear the words, “Well done: thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord?”

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Embrace the Trial – Part 6

We are talking about the process of embracing our trials. In part one we discussed the “poem challenge”. In part two we sought to understand the “Why” question and why it is the unproductive question. In part three and part four, we considered God’s character—“what God is like” and “what God knows is best.” In part five we sought to understand the struggle of the ongoing trial. Here in part 6 we come to the topic of contentment in the trial.

Understanding Contentment – “Embracing God’s Sufficiency

Recently, I was in the process of preparing a Sunday morning message when I found myself struggling with being content.

In the midst of my current trial, as I battle with a number of health concerns, my three-year old accidently poked me in the eye and scratched my cornea. I found this painful and discouraging, but I also found myself on the wrong end of discontentment. This incident coincided with a busy week with a tight schedule and no room for distractions, let alone poor eyesight and additional visits to doctors and waiting rooms.

Looking back on the timing of things I see the wisdom of God. In my eyes this was absolutely the worst timing possible, but in God’s infinite and perfect wisdom He knew I would gain the most from having this personal object lesson to pave the way for change. I also see God’s humor as it made me the object lesson for the message I was preparing. A few weeks prior to this, the Lord had laid on my heart His will for our church to study Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi. In the fourth chapter of he writes,

“I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”—Philippians 4:11b

I contemplated on the setting where these words were written and my heart was struck with rebuke. I know that the trial the Apostle Paul endured was far greater than my own, yet saw how he surrendered to God’s way and submitted to God’s wisdom and understanding. How did he do this? How could he write these words with such honesty without even a hint of underlying sarcasm or bitterness? Instead there is obvious peace and joy.

As I meditated upon this passage, a simple outline rose to the surface which explains Paul’s contentment. It begins with the premise that I can be content in any circumstance no matter what (v. 11). It is then followed by two simple yet profound promises which speak of God’s sufficiency regarding His strength (v. 13) and His supply (v. 19). The reality of profoundly obvious truths in Scripture is that unfortunately they are often practically obscure in our lives.

Often what appears so simple and clear on the pages of God’s Word and even in our minds remains hidden in our lives.

This was clearly the case, as I meditated upon this passage and was struck by how practically obscure these truths were, right at that moment in my life. With this realization I bowed my head in repentance. Then knowing God’s forgiveness, I smiled seeing God’s perfect timing, bringing me into a head-on collision with the details of my life and these truths that were so absolutely necessary to confront them and bring my heart to rest. The encouragement came as these truths began the twelve-inch journey from my head to my heart where they found a resting place and where my heart found the much-needed contentment even though the circumstances had yet to change.

Paul begins with a premise that on the outset is bold and daring. He says, “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” It is a statement that, at first, comes across as “too good to be true” or may be only something that is for the “elite Christians” like Paul. But after further consideration and drawing in the promises that follow I see that this premise statement is meant for me—it is meant to be one of the statements of my life. It is meant for each of us “ordinary Christians.” God desires that my heart would rest content “in whatsoever state I am.”

Before we consider the promise, keep in mind that Paul’s statement isn’t a lesson that just came naturally to him but was one that he “learned” by experience. It was through trial after trial as he “learned” to rest in the stabilizing truths of God that he was able to, with a clear conscience and genuineness of heart, speak these words that, most often, seem to defy reality.

Now consider the promises, as pillars of truth, upon which the house of contentment is built. The foundation of these pillars is the sufficiency of God. Paul writes,

“Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God.”—2 Corinthians 3:5

The key to contentment begins first with a proper understanding of our inadequacy. Until we find ourselves to be lacking in our own ability to sufficiently deal with every detail of life we will never look outside ourselves and look to God. It is through the trials of life that God brings us to the end of ourselves—to the end of the façade of our own sufficiency and sovereignty as we turn to Him in dependent trust finding Him to be sovereign over all things and sufficient for our every need.

The first promise of God’s sufficiency from Paul deals with God’s powerlearning to rest in the strength of God.

“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”—Philippians 4:13

This verse gives us both the strength and the source of contentment, which is the Power that comes from within—the indwelling Holy Spirit Who enables the believer to do all that the Lord calls upon him to do and go through.

“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure”—Philippians 2:13

It is God working in us giving us the desire to do His “good pleasure” but also empowering us as well.

“And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work”—2 Corinthians 9:8

This is the grace of God at work in our lives as we humble ourselves before Him, for “God giveth grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5).

Learning to rest in this truth of the sufficiency of God’s strength for every situation of life is vital to our contentment in life. When the temptation to give in to sin is seemingly greater than your strength to fight, run to Christ and remember that He has promised that His strength will be sufficient. Remember the promise that “I can do ALL things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Whatever state you find yourself in, trust Him to be sufficient to carry you through. Remember,

“Faithful is He that calleth you who will also do it.”—1 Thessalonians 5:24

The truth is that I can be content in every circumstance because God’s strength is more than enough. His strength is sufficient for me to stand fast against the temptation of discontentment and trust His providence to be right and best.

The second promise of God’s sufficiency from Paul deals with God’s provisionlearning to rest in the supply of God.

“But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”—Philippians 4:19

In this verse we see the supply of contentment. I find it interesting to consider our American definition of the word, “need” as defined by how we use it. Quite often we use the word “need” where we should be using the word “want” instead. God has not promised to supply our wants but our genuine needs or those things that He defines as necessary. Once He stops providing it, it is no longer necessary.

It is important to keep in mind that our needs come in positive and negative qualities. The positive side of our needs are those things that God provides that we are lacking such as financial or health needs. On the negative side we see those things that are painful which God uses to teach us wonderful truths but also help us to deal with specific sin.

The truth is that I can be content in every circumstance because God’s supply is more than enough. His supply is sufficient to help me rest in His providence and stand fast against the temptation to doubt that I have what I need or that God will fail to provide it in His perfect time.

In summary: Biblical contentment becomes a reality in the believer’s life when we become humbly dependent upon the Lord for both His strength, to endure our trials, and His supply for our every need. Biblical contentment is learning to thank God for our troubles while we are still in them.

 “So, embrace the trial, My dear child, My best is what you’ll see,
Beyond the suffering you feel, My Son they soon shall see.”