We hope everyone enjoyed reading Trusting God by Jerry Bridges with us.  We’re almost ready to announce our next book, so please stay tuned.  In the meantime, here are a couple of interesting articles on reading:

Reading as a Lifetime Vocation

Good Reading: A Conversation with Tony Reinke

By Drew Rogers

We come to these closing chapters of the book and we find that both speak to us as to what we are commanded to do in light of what we have read in all of the preceding chapters. I feel as though we should begin this discussion with a big THERFORE. The foundation that these last chapters are built upon is no less than Gods absolute control over every aspect of the created order and in everything that he has made. Therefore we are to trust Him in all things (chapter 13) and give thanks in all circumstances, (chapter 14) for we have been shown in all that we have read that “if God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31) and “He who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32) and “who can separate us from the love of Christ? the answer not anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35-39). These Gospel truths and all that we have read persuade us to trust and give thanks to Christ who is no stranger to us, for who would trust someone they do not even know, or give thanks in all circumstances, the good as well as the bad, to someone we did not believe had our absolute good in mind. In addition, we should respond to adversity with thanksgiving, worship, humility, forgiveness, prayer, and a heart seeking only God’s Glory.

In Conclusion, these two chapters teach us that our trusting and showing thankfulness is not what comes naturally to us. Rather we only want to trust in ourselves and thank no one. This is our natural inclination, our sinful selves. Yet we have been shown that these are commanded of us to do, we are to trust and give thanks by choice, and I would add not with a reluctant heart but a grateful and dependent heart. yet We have all experienced to some degree that we do not feel like doing these thing when circumstances are not what we expected or seem not to be fair or are unplanned. So what can we do? First do not let your subjective feelings make you slaves to them but rather choose to believe (act of our will) in the objective truths of God’s word (we have been shown many of these truths these past weeks in our reading) and continue to seek all those things that our loving and faithful God has promised us in Christ Jesus through the word in the power of his spirit.

Finally remember that all of God’s commands are possible with God and that God is the decisive factor in making us what we should be. This prayer that is often quoted and attributed to St. Augustine sums up this truth, “Lord command what you will and grant what you command”

I would like to recommend this article in Justin Taylor’s blog; Between two Worlds, it captures the essence of motivation in light of the truth of God’s word: http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2010/05/03/imperatives-indicatives-impossibilities/ or just go to the blog and search imperatives-indicatives.

Questions for further reflection:

1. Do you tend to forget to trust in God when things are going well? Explain

2. Are you more able to trust God and give thanks now then when you began this study?

3. How might you explain to an unbeliever why you choose to trust God?

4. How does Romans 8:28 help us fulfill 1 Thessalonians 5:18?

5. How would you say 2Peter 1:3-4 sums up the power to overcome our natural  inclinations not to trust and not to give thanks in all circumstances?

6. How does High Point Baptist Church contribute to our trusting in God?

By David Robinson

“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
― C.S. Lewis from “The Problem of Pain”

“Some of you have suffered. Some of you are suffering. And some of you will suffer. It is inevitable. You will suffer at some point in your life! Basic discipleship means tribulations.” – John Piper: 2008 Desiring God Regional Conference (Austin, TX) “Job: When the Righteous Suffer”

Why do we suffer or experience adversity?

And, what should be our correct response to suffering or adversities?

I remember attending that Desiring God conference and being incredibly encouraged and challenged to think about the wonder and love of God through adversity or affliction.  As Piper led us through Job, by the end of the conference I saw that Job’s suffering was a means of grace that caused him to see himself and God more clearly.  One of the most profitable things we can do is to have a rooted, unshakeable biblical doctrine of suffering/trials/adversities so that when the winds of life blow we don’t believe wrong things about God.

Using James 1:2-4, Bridges reminds us, for the believer, trials are ultimately working for our maturation.  Though not a popular doctrine and very hard to grasp for many Christians, we must, by faith, believe what God has revealed to us in the Scriptures, which are for our instruction.  Romans 8:29 tells us that we were predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son and Bridges captures that truth by saying:

We can be sure that the development of a beautiful Christlike character will not occur in our lives without adversity. Think of those lovely graces that Paul calls the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. The first four traits he mentions – love, joy, peace and patience – can only be developed in the womb of adversity….Adversities spoil our peace and sorely try our patience. God uses those difficulties to reveal to us our need to grow, so that we will reach out to Him to change us more and more into the likeness of His Son. (p.186)

And this is why we are called to rejoice (Romans 12:12). We don’t rejoice at the trial, but rather we rejoice because the trial or adversity is working for our benefit and God’s glory.  Adversities and trials have their unique ways of doing what comfort and ease could never do – expose particular sins in their various forms and cultivate Christlike character.

Bridges uses the last half of the chapter explaining how God uses adversities to prune us, to grow in holiness, to grow in dependence on God, to develop perseverance, to serve others, to experience deeper fellowship with other believers and ultimately Christ.

Questions

1. Bridges likens adversity to the pruning process (John 15:2). What keeps us from seeing that God’s pruning is a good thing?
2. Adversity exposes our indwelling sin seen in our reactions and attitudes. Why don’t we rejoice in that?
3. The Lord gave Paul a thorn in his flesh, a messenger from Satan, to keep him from becoming conceited (2 Cor. 12:7-10) and to cause him to rely on His strength.  Do you see God’s wise love in this?  Can you see God’s wise love in your affliction?
4. Romans 8:28 says that for those who love God all things (including adversities) work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Do you believe this as you’re going through _________________? (fill in the blank with your trial or adverse situation)
5. How should Hebrews 12:2 encourage us in our fight to believe God and rejoice in adverse times?
6. How does Joseph’s life and his response to his brothers cruel treatment help us see God and adversities? (See Genesis 45:1-17, 50:20-21)
7. What implications do our responses to adversities have on the gospel?

By Ben Wright

This post is waaaaaayyyy late. I know, I’m sorry. I’m tempted to blame it on a crazy first week at home with the twin boys and their older brother. In fact, I will blame it on them, but I do apologize for the inconvenience to y’all. Speaking of three boys, they’re going to eat us out of house and home—maybe even into bankruptcy! And speaking of bankruptcy, here are my reflections on . . . “chapter 11″:

Go ahead and groan. I worked hard on that.

So, the central argument of this chapter is that God made us the way we are for his own purposes—good purposes, even if we can’t quite perceive how they’re good for us or for him. When we don’t understand, what we know about God’s character ought to lead us to keep trusting him. Bridges writes:

If I have difficulty accepting myself the way God made me, then I have a controversy with God. (162)

In other words, if we’re dissatisfied with who we are, our quarrel really is with God because we’re not trusting his purposes and his wisdom. Is there a problem with not trusting him? Well, yes. But why is there a problem with that?

To answer that question, I think we need to grapple with the question Bridges proposes on page 163, in reference to a story from John 9: “Is God’s glory worth a man being born blind?” My wife and I spent just a few days around a NICU recently when one of our newborn sons needed close observation. He turned out to have been healthy when he landed in the NICU, but as I saw so many other little ones in far more critical condition (even a sneeze can cause brain bleeds for a very premature baby), I couldn’t help but wonder. “God, why are our boys healthy? Why are these parents so weary and sorrowful when everyone thinks that the worst-case scenario for our kiddo is that he needs a little time?”

Obviously, I can’t answer that question about our family. I don’t know the mind of God. I do know that we all need a faith that can withstand the most inexplicable trials and even persecutions. We need to know God in such a way that we are so confident in his sovereignty AND his goodness that we will trust him, regardless of how our life falls short of his expectations. And we will only possess that sort of faith as a gift from him. We can’t “gin it up” on our own. May God grant that gift to us, and may he use us in one anothers’ lives to that end.

A few questions for further reflection:

1. In what ways are we inclined to think God messed up when he made us? A disability? The wrong body type? The wrong gender? Interests, skills and hobbies that don’t let us “fit in”? The wrong kind of intelligence? Gifts that don’t seem as useful or aren’t as prominent in the church as someone else’s?

2. How do we deal with our dissatisfaction with how God made us? Self-destructive behavior? Bullying? Eating disorders? Withdrawal from relationships? Bitterness?

3. What are the lies about God and about ourselves (and the purpose for existence) that we’re believing when we get trapped in this sort of thinking?

4. Is there any possibility that it’s ever wrong to try to alter the way God made us because we’re dissatisfied with it—whether through diet and exercise, surgical intervention, altering our appearance through tattooing or hair coloring? Or is it possible that those actions might not be inappropriate in themselves, but the motivation of our heart in pursuing them could be sinful? (I realize this could be a controversial question. In no way am I saying that any of these things are necessarily wrong, but I wonder if it might not be helpful for us to think about these questions and search out our hearts.)

5. Do you agree with Bridges that “if we are bored with life there is something wrong with our concept of God and His involvement in our daily lives” (168)? If so, what’s the right way to deal with or think about our boredom?

By Bob Perez

At the beginning of Chapter 9, “Knowing God’s Love”, Bridges says “It seems the more we come to believe in and accept the sovereignty of God over every event of our lives, the more we are tempted to question His love. “  This chapter deals with our ability, by God’s grace, to know His love in the midst of trials and suffering.  As the author says, and as Scripture reveals, there is no sacrificing of God’s goodness because He is sovereign over all.  We are very helpfully encouraged to apply the Gospel, the ultimate showing of God’s love, to our circumstances when we are tempted to doubt His love for us.  I also appreciated the focus on our union with Christ and it’s relevance for the topic at hand.

Chapter 10 addresses the question of how we can experience God’s love in the midst of adversity.  It’s possible, of course, to have our theology right and not experience God’s love. We must walk by faith and not by sight, fighting the temptation to get overwhelmed by circumstances and instead look to Christ. God’s love is often shown in discipline but that love is unfailing. In the middle of it all, He promises to be with us.

Thoughts for Reflection

1. In the past, when you’ve been pressed to the point where you began to doubt God’s love for you, what did you do well in eventually believing the truth about God? What was the root of your unbelief?
2. When considering God’s love displayed for us at Calvary, Bridges goes to lengths to suggest the importance of looking at 1) the sacrifice and cost of our Savior and 2) the sinfulness and unworthiness of those who He loved at the cross.  Lack of meditation on #2 he argues, may cause us to somehow feel that we have a “right” to God’s love by thinking more of ourselves than we ought. Ever been in that position?
3. What does it mean to be “in Christ”? How does our union with Christ affect how we think through adversity and any temptations to doubt God’s care for us?
4. Lamentations 3:1-23 shows the writer calling to mind truths about God’s love and faithfulness. This is a purposeful setting of the mind on truths of God and not on circumstances. How does this come about?
5. God’s love is unfailing.  Do we live as if we believe this? What would this unfailing love look like in our lives if we understood this truth in increasing measure?

By Josh Hayward

Chapters 7 and 8

One of the most difficult concepts for people to both grasp and accept is the relationship between God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility.  Naturally, Bridges tackles this topic in chapter seven.  One of the first questions people tend to ask after hearing for the first time (or the fiftieth time) about God’s absolutely sovereignty on both a macro and micro level is: “Why then should we pray?”  Bridges argues that God’s meticulous governing of all things actually fuels pray in the lives of his people.  “Prayer assumes God’s sovereignty.  If God is not sovereign, we have no assurance that he is able to answer our prayers” (pg. 113).  Similarly, the sovereignty of God does not negate our responsibility to live prudently.    

In chapter eight, Bridges served us well by introducing the attribute of God’s wisdom.  His purpose here was to help us to see that God’s thoughts are so far above ours, it is impossible to know what his purposes are for every situation; indeed, it is not our job to know.  Our job is to rest in his perfect wisdom.  God does not owe us an explanation—He is God!  And his ways are incomprehensible.   

Questions for Further Reflection

1)      Why do you think sovereignty actually fuels prayer, rather than stifles it?

2)      Bridges said, “In His infinite wisdom, God’s sovereign plan includes our failures and even our sins.”  Do you agree?  Why or why not?

3)      Explain the difference between the following statements: “God is sovereign and man has free will” vs. “God is sovereign and man is responsible.”

4)      Romans 8:28 is a passage often introduced when discussing the importance of trusting God in the midst of suffering.  Many say, “I know God is working for my good, but I guess I’ll never know what that good is.”  What does Bridges say is the “good” mentioned in this verse?

5)      Why do you think it might be wrong to ask “Why?” of God in an accusatory way when we are facing hardship?  What might that reveal about our hearts?  What are we actually saying to God?  What does it reveal about our hearts when we say, “God, I don’t understand.  I will just trust you.”?

By Drew Rogers

Chapters 5-6

In these next two Chapters, 5-6 Bridges continues examining the scope of Gods sovereignty in relationship to his absolute control over nations, shaping all events and all decisions to fulfill His purposes for our good and His Glory.

And secondly Gods establishment of certain physical laws for the continued operation of His universe, and that these laws operate moment by moment according to His direct will.

Bridges shows us that the scriptures teach the following specific truths about the sovereignty of God over the nations:

1. God in His sovereignty has established government for the good of all people-believers as well as unbelievers (Romans 13:1-4)

2. God determines who rules in those governments (Daniel 4:17)

3. God determines the timing of each leaders rule (Isaiah 40:23-24)

4. God controls the decisions that rulers make (Proverbs 16:33)

5. God rules in the victories and defeats between nations on the battlefield (Proverbs 21:31)

And then again in Chapter 6 Bridges shows us these truths in regard to Gods sovereign control over Nature:

1. God has not walked away from the day-to-day control of His creation. He has established physical laws by which He governs the forces of nature, but those laws continuously operate according to His sovereign will.

2. Gods word teaches us that God controls all the forces of nature, both destructive and productive, on a continuous, moment- by- moment basis. All expressions of nature, all occurrences of weather regardless of what it is, a devastating tornado or a gentle rain, are acts of God. (Psalm 147:8,16-18, Job 37:3,6,10-13,)

3. God sovereignly rules over all physical afflictions. (Exodus 4:11, Isaiah 45:7)

Thoughts and reflections

1. How do we understand and come to terms with many of these issues, birth defects, Tsunamis, earthquakes in which untold number of believers and unbelievers alike are killed. ( I would point you towards John Pipers book: Suffering and the Supremacy of Christ, for further reflection regarding many of these issues)

2. What would you consider Romans 12:2 to teach us in regards to understanding the ways of our God as opposed to the way the world would have us think on these issues. What is it that it teaches us to do?

3. How do you think these chapters and what you have read up to this point strengthens your faith (trust in God) and helps in your progressive sanctification, taking into account, John 17:17 and 2 Corinthians 3:18.

4.Exodus 4:11 and John 9:1-3 shows that God does not just permit disabilities but rather he intends them! How would you describe the difference? and is there one?

Here is an expansion of Psalm 139:13-16, with the previous question (4) what do you think about this?

For you formed my inward parts with Down syndrome;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb without eyes.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made with cognitive challenges.
Wonderful are your works in creating me without limbs;
my soul knows it very well though my ears will never hear a sound.
My frame was not hidden from you as you made me with Apert syndrome,
when I was being made in secret with autism,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth without Hexosaminidase A.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance with spina bifida;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me with cerebral palsy,
when as yet there was none of them. (From Desiringgod Blog: Is God Sovereign over Human Disability by John Knight)

5. Final thought: We come to many of these issues without sufficient categories built into our minds so we must let God through His word by the Holy Spirit create new categories of understanding. In this then we come to the Bible allowing it to establish our understanding rather then us coming with our presuppositions making the Bible say what we want to hear. Books like this saturated with Biblical truth contribute greatly to our understanding even when things seem not to make any sense at all. We then allow the Bible to form and create understanding and forming a world view in light of its truth with regards to all matters of Gods absolute sovereign control. And finally; Romans 8:31-39 proclaims the precious truth that there is Nothing in all creation that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

By David Robinson

 After laying some foundational truths about God from Scripture in chapters 1 – 3, namely His love, goodness, and providence pointing ultimately to His sovereignty, Bridges, in this chapter, and for the next few chapters communicates the scope of God’s sovereignty.  This chapter deals specifically with God’s sovereignty over people.  This great doctrine is not short of any static. The long standing and controversial conversation goes like this:  (a) If God is completely sovereign, then we are not free morally responsible beings.  (b) If we are free morally responsible beings, then God is not completely sovereign.

Bridges answers this wrong thinking from Scripture showing us that God is indeed sovereign over people, yet man is culpable for His decisions.  But there is one underlying issue that Bridges doesn’t let us forget when we are thinking about this subject – God’s will being accomplished.  We err when we isolate our circumstances (joys and pains) from God’s purpose to conform us to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29) and work all things for His glory (Rom. 11:36), which is why all things exist.

Bridges shows us that:

1. God prompts people to carry out His will. (Ex. 3:21-22, Eze. 1:1, 1:5, 6:22, Dan. 1:9)
2. God often restrains people from doing what is contrary to His will. (Gen 20:1-6, 35:5, Ex. 34:23-24)
3. Sometime God doesn’t restrain evil, but turns those evil and wicked acts to work for His people’s good and His glory. (Gen. 50:15-20, Isa. 53)

Bridges also reminds us, that the sinful acts of men don’t have their origin in God. (James 1:13:14)

Thoughts and Questions for Reflection

 I applaud Bridges for helping the reader see that all right thinking and living must start with a right thinking of the character, nature and revealed purposes of God.  Too often our default thinking and living is self-centered, comfort driven and “right now”, instead of God-centered and eternal.

• After reading this chapter, has your view of God’s sovereignty changed?
• How has this chapter benefitted you as you consider the circumstances of your life – past or present?
• Are you comforted knowing that God, at times, changes the hearts of men (even yours) to accomplish His will?

By Ben Wright

Chapter 3

We can summarize this chapter in three key statements:

1. God does whatever pleases him.
2. God exercises absolute control over the actions of all his creatures.
3. God’s sovereignty is not always apparent.

Thoughts for Reflection

This chapter raises a few questions that I think we’ll explore in greater detail later on. But for the time being, we can probably see how #3 above is one piece of the puzzle that throws a wrench in the other two. (Pardon my mixed metaphors.)

I mean, it’s a lot easier to believe that God’s sovereign control is for his glory and our good—even when bad things happen—if we can see immediately how the bad thing contributes positively to good in the end. But you know that’s not how life works, and that’s why we’re reading a book about “trusting God.”

Trusting God means that we choose to believe that God IS in control and his plans ARE good, even when we can’t see the end of the story. That’s why Bridges points us to the divergent ends of the stories of Peter and James in Acts 12. Trusting God means believing his plans are wise and good, even when your husband (or parent or child) dies.

It’s also one of the reasons we get a bird’s-eye view of lots of other stories that actually end well—Job, Joseph, Daniel, Esther, Ruth—even when those characters didn’t know in the middle of the story how it would all end. The Spirit of God, speaking through human authors, was conditioning us to see how God acts in history, so we can respond with faith now, even though we can’t see the particular from the vantage point of the present.

Some Questions for Further Reflection

1. How should we think and speak about the plans we make, in light of the reality that God is sovereign over them?

2. What events in our past are most difficult for us to believe God was sovereign over? If we think there’s no way he can accomplish his glory and our good through them, what are we NOT believing about him?

3. What does Bridges mean when he writes, “Trusting God is not a matter of my feelings but of my will” (52)? Are you the kind of person who’s inclined to be ruled by your feelings? What sorts of lies about God can they lead you to believe?

4. Bridges argues, “Our first priority in times of adversity is to honor and glorify God by trusting him” (52). I think he means here that we have to prioritize God’s agenda over our own. What do we have to believe about God’s agenda in order to do this?

5. (Bonus) Does God care if Tim Tebow or Jeremy Lin play well and win games? Here’s a little something more to read if you’re interested.

(EDIT 2/15/12: We believe we have finally fixed the email problem. Sorry for the inconvenience!)

(EDIT 2/9/12: We are experiencing some technical problems with the emailing of these posts. As a result, some of you mistakenly received an old post from our Counterfeit Gods reading.  We’ve also seen delays in the sending of current posts.  If you’re reading this in an email you probably received it a day or two late. We hope to have this resolved soon!)

By Bob Perez

Chapter 1 and 2

Today begins our discussion of our next book, Trusting God by Jerry Bridges. We’re looking at chapter 1 and 2.

The book’s first chapter, Can You Trust God?, begins by introducing the foundational idea that adversity and pain affects us all, Christians and non-Christians alike.  No matter how big or small, whether on a large scale or at a personal level, we all experience varying kinds and magnitudes of adversity or “anxiety producing events”. The question that invariably comes up, especially when the suffering is severe, is “Where is God in all of this?”  The idea being, how we will view God in the midst of our suffering?  More precisely, and the main point of the chapter, Bridges asks ¨Can you trust God?”.  He provides three essential truths about God from Scripture (that will be elaborated on in the rest of the book) that we must believe if we are to trust Him in adversity:

1. God is completely sovereign
2. God is infinite in wisdom
3. God is perfect in love

Chapter 2 discusses the providence of God. Namely the relationship of God’s sovereignty and goodness and how that relates to the care, superintending and interaction with all that He’s created. Bridges gives us his definition of providence: God’s providence is His constant care for and His absolute rule over all His creation for His own glory and the good of His people.

 Thoughts for Reflection

Bridges says that it is just as important to trust God as it is to obey Him. Why is this so?

Think back to a recent time when you experienced significant adversity or trial in your life. Were you able to trust God in the midst of it? If so, what did that look like, how did that play out?  If not, why? What role did God’s Word play?  What role did fellow believers fill in enabling you to trust God at that time?

Bridges states that “Rather than being offended over the Bible’s assertion of God’s sovereignty in both good and calamity, believers should be comforted by it¨.  He cites Isaiah 38:17 and Lamentations 3:32-33.  Why is it that we may fail to find comfort in God’s sovereignty in difficult situations? Specifically, what lies do we tell ourselves at these moments?  How does unbelief manifest itself?

Based on the fact that God is God and we are not, there are things that we are simply not able to understand (Romans 11:33). His infinite wisdom far outpaces our ability to understand.  When we encounter adversity, especially of the extreme kind, we won’t always understand why. We must learn to trust God in spite of this.  How often do we sin in our insistence on understanding in these situations?

Bridges says that the twofold objective of God’s providence is His own glory and the good of His people, and that these are not opposed to each other but always in harmony.  Do we understand this relationship? Is this comforting when we are going through trials? Can we point to scripture to support this harmonious relationship between God’s glory and our good?

Matthew 10:29-31 is one very obvious place in Scripture that rules out deism. Christians however can function as deists due to faulty thinking.  Read this passage and meditate on the weight of the reality of God’s sovereign care over His creation. Do we grasp how much more He sovereignly cares for, governs the affairs of, His children who were bought by the blood of Christ?

We serve an all-powerful, infinitely wise, perfectly loving God who delights in bringing glorify to Himself and good to His people! We can and should trust Him!