Jesus' Manifesto

Have you ever wondered about what Jesus was like as a child, as a teenager, or as a young man, growing up in Nazareth? As the promised “Prince of Peace,” how did he act, what was there about him as a twenty-something that was different?

We will never know because the Bible is silent on this subject and there is no sense speculating, although I sometimes do. We know so little about his upbringing, his family, his training or his work, but there is a good chance he worked either as a carpenter or stone mason like his father Joseph.

We know his mother Mary outlived him, but we don’t know when his father died or what happened to any brothers or sisters, except his brother James. We do know he was raised in the Galilee region, an area where conservative Jews chose to live after leaving their exile residence in Babylon.

Luke 4 tells us the story of Jesus’ “coming out party” and it is a remarkable story. After learning very little about his early life, Luke tell us that Jesus, as a thirty-year-old, was asked by the leaders of the Nazareth synagogue to read from the prophetic scrolls, which was a standard part of Sabbath worship.

By the way, this episode is the oldest known account of a synagogue worship service and most scholars think that it is unlikely that there were designated readings during the synagogue service, so either Jesus or the synagogue leader may have chosen the reading from Isaiah.

We don’t know how much Jesus read from Isaiah that morning, but Luke tells us that Jesus focused on some key passages and used these passages to describe his ministry. Luke records this part of Jesus’ reading that morning:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the blind,

to release the oppressed,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

(Luke 4:18-19)

The passage from Isaiah that Jesus read described the coming of the promised Messiah, the “Prince of Peace,” and Jesus amazed everyone that morning by identifying himself as the one Isaiah was talking about. It was a bold declaration, a manifesto, a statement of purpose, and it clearly linked Jesus to hundreds of years of Old Testament prophecy. It was a re-statement of the “peace pictures’ of the prophets who promised that the Messiah would bring good health, ample food, freedom from oppression, and security. It was the beginning of the fulfillment of the promise of peace, of Shalom in all its many facets, both spiritual and physical.

This was Jesus’ “mission statement” and he intended it to be a summary of what his ministry on earth would be. Three principal themes were emphasized: he intended to preach the good news of God’s offer of salvation, to exercise social justice for those who were suffering, and to show compassion for those who were treated as “outsiders.”

This bold declaration by Jesus almost cost him his life. What a beginning to his public service! In fact, his public service lasted only three years and he was executed as a common criminal, despite never committing a single crime or illegal act. Like many peacemakers in history, he died because of opposition from evil people, yet he showed us how to live a life of purpose, a life of significance, despite how others around him chose to live.

Jesus’ instruction to us is to make the choice to live like him, as a peacemaker – one who proclaims the “good news,” works for social justice, and is compassionate toward those who are marginalized in our society. What a challenge!

So What?

• Does this episode in the Bible give you any new insights about Jesus? If so, what have you learned?
• Do you have any heroes who are peacemakers? Can you think of anyone who chose to live out these teachings of Jesus and what has been this person’s legacy?
• If we want to live lives of significance, lives that make a difference in our broken world, following Jesus’ example should be our goal. What are the biggest obstacles preventing you from following his instructions?

For Further Study:

If you are interested in learning more about this episode in Scripture, I would encourage you to read chapter three (“Mutiny on the Sabbath”) in Doug Greenwold’s book, Encounters with Jesus. Information on this book is available at http://Preserving BibleTimes.org.

A Surprise Birth

The God of the Bible is a God of surprises.  The God of the Bible is not predictable and rarely does things the way I would do them!  I have learned this lesson many times during my twenty years of work in Russia.

In fact, when God directly intervenes in history or in our personal lives, there are usually lots of interruptions and unexpected changes.  This was clearly the case with the surprising birth of Jesus in Bethlehem.

For hundreds of years, the prophecies concerning the Messiah were passed down from generation to generation.  Although the kingdoms of Israel and Judah were destroyed and its citizens exiled – and this was surprise to the Jews who thought they were a “chosen people” – they were eventually freed from captivity and allowed to come back to Palestine and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and the temple.

But this restoration was not what the Old Testament prophets had predicted.  Even during the period of Jewish independence under the Hasmoneans from 166 – 63 B.C., the “Kingdom” which had been prophesized by Isaiah, Micah and Ezekiel, among others, was never realized.  The Jews went back home, but to their surprise, they were still weak and vulnerable.  Then another surprise – more foreign occupation, this time by the Romans.

After 400 years of silence, in what the Bible describes as the “fullness of time,” God dramatically intervened in human history in a surprising way – he sent his Son to earth in the form of a baby.  The Christmas story, that is very familiar to some of us, is recorded in the Gospel of Luke, chapter two.  Take note of the emphasis in this birth narrative on the “Prince of Peace” and his work while on earth.

The angel Gabriel proclaims “the good news of great joy” and refers to the newly born baby as “the Lord,” a term usually reserved only for God the Father, but now applies to this Messiah, his Son.  When the host of angels appear, they highlight one result of Jesus’ birth for which God is to be praised: “on earth peace (shalom).”  Of all the things that could have been said about the effect of the surprise birth of Jesus, it is shalom that is emphasized.

Luke’s meticulous record of Jesus’ birth and life underscores the point that Jesus is the fulfillment of all of the hopes of Israel.  Jesus is the one who would bring “the gospel of peace.”  God has acted as he promised and, while the long wait did not make many Jews very happy, Jesus’ unexpected birth in a small obscure town in Palestine is indeed “good news.”

In posts that follow, we will wrestle with the question of what peacemaking means, what “the gospel of peace” means, as we look at Jesus’ actions and teachings.  Stayed tuned!

So What?

• Have you experienced God’s surprising intervention in your own life?  I sure have.  When Marge and I were 32 years old, Marge’s sister died of breast cancer and then 9 months later her husband, our brother-in-law, died on the night of a wedding rehearsal for a re-marriage.  As a result of these totally unexpected events, we inherited six children and a French poodle.  Looking back on this experience, Marge and I can see God’s hand in this crisis and how God helped us through these difficult times.  When God intervenes in our lives and major surprises happen to us that we never expect, it puts our faith to the test.  If we maintain our trust in God during these surprising times, we grow stronger as a result.
• Did you ever wonder why God’s Son was made human in the context of a small obscure village in Palestine, the son of a young Jewish girl?  Why not the son of a king, like powerful King Herod?  Why not placed in a home where he would get the best education available?  Why not in Rome, capital of the world at that time?
• We need to constantly remind ourselves that God’s ways are not our ways and his thoughts are not our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8).  If we put our faith in God, we will often be surprised when we least expect it, surprised – but also blessed!

Picturing Peace

What’s the value of trying to picture a “peaceable kingdom,” where lambs lie down with lions? How is this helpful? Why did God inspire the Biblical writers to paint these dramatic other-worldly pictures?

I can think of a time when using my imagination caused me trouble. After graduate school, I was excited to get a job as a Foreign Service officer at the Department of State and I imagined a great career as a diplomat and foreign policy expert. But after four years I knew I was in the wrong place and left the State Department to become a teacher, which I later discovered was my real passion.

Others I know dreamed about a person they wanted to marry, but the image they dreamed up was impossible to find in reality. Or, like me, they imagined a perfect job, a pathway to success, but it never worked out like they imagined.

In the last post, we noted that God used Old Testament prophets as his spokesmen for judging Israel and Judah for their sins. The prophets cried out against the evil acts of the people who attended worship services, but whose lives were contradictions to what they said they believed.

But the prophets did something else. In addition to proclaiming judgment, which did not make them popular people, they also offered hope. And that hope was to be found in a Messiah who would bring in the ‘Kingdom of God.” This Messiah would be a “Prince of Peace (shalom).”

Let me give you an example. One of the harshest critics of Israel was the prophet Isaiah, but he was also a man who described a future “Kingdom of Righteousness” in which the Messiah would rule in justice. Listen to these beautiful words: “See, a king will reign in righteousness and rulers will rule with justice. Each man will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land. . . . My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest” (Isaiah 32: 1-2 and 18).

If you have ever been to the desert areas in Israel or to some of the desert areas in southwestern United States, you can picture what Isaiah is talking about. When people are trying to eke out a living in a dry and barren land, shelter from the hot sun and fresh water are amazing gifts. That’s what Isaiah was promising God’s people.

The key point is this: The prophets were foretelling the arrival of Jesus who would be the “Prince of Peace,” and Jesus would introduce God’s Kingdom in dramatic new terms.

For those of us from Christian families, we have often heard these familiar verses from Isaiah in the weeks leading up to Christmas:

“For unto us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (shalom).
Of the increase of his government and peace (shalom)
There will be no end.” (Isaiah 9:6-7a)

From now on, when you hear or read these words, think about this prophecy in the context of Isaiah’s teaching about shalom. Jesus was coming to show us a new way to live, first by his actions and then by his teaching.

Although using our imagination can sometimes get us in trouble, especially if we have a rich fantasy life, the prophets drew these “peace pictures” to give us hope. Even in times of revolution, tsunamis, economic downturns, unemployment or corrupt rule by autocrats, we must not give up hope, because the Prince of Peace has promised to be with us.

So What?

• Dr. Craig Barnes, my former pastor, has written: “Faith is almost a synonym for vision. It is what allows us to see, to witness, God’s presence. Faith allows us to survive, even enjoy, today because we’ve seen that which is not apparent – God is with us.” Biblical faith is grounded in the promises and then the arrival of a Messiah, a “Prince of Peace.”

• To be peacemakers in our broken world, we need to be “agents of hope” in a culture where the default position is cynicism. And to be hopeful people we need three qualities -- imagination, understanding and passion -- if we are to make a difference in our world. Maybe that’s part of the reason why the Old Testament prophets painted these “peace pictures.”

*Note from the Author: If you would like to know when the next post is placed on this blog, there are several ways this can be handled.  You can become a "Friend" of mine - John Bernbaum - on Facebook or on LinkedIn, where I announce each new post, or you can send me an e-mail (johnbernbaum@gmail.com) or comment on the blog requesting that I give you notice by e-mail.

Confronting Corruption

One of the greatest challenges I have struggled with for the last twenty years has been how to live with integrity when you work in an environment of corruption. Russia is a profoundly corrupt place. I read about this aspect of Russian life in graduate school while pursing my doctorate in European and Russian history, but it was unsettling to actually face the reality of it in person. I was robbed at a Metro station by police in 1995 and there was no recourse, no way to file a complaint in the anarchy that characterized Moscow in the mid-1990s.

After we purchased a land lease in Moscow in a public auction in 2001, it took us five years to get a building permit. The normal time period to secure a permit in Russia is 18 months, but we refused to pay bribes to government officials and, as a result, it cost us time and considerable money because of subsequent inflation. Yet for the Board of our Institute, we were agreed that we were not going to pay bribes because of our commitment to train a new generation of Russian youth to be people of integrity.

The Russian Ministry of Economic Development recently reported the results of a survey it conducted in 2010 that noted that 90% of the foreign investors they interviewed cited the high level of corruption as the principal barrier to their investing in Russia. Even Russia’s President, Dmitri Medvedev, has described Russia’s investment climate as “very poor.” Bribery and corruption have become a part of the very structure of Russian life.

Recently I found out that you can buy a diploma from the Russian-American Institute on the Internet in Moscow. For a few hundred dollars, you can purchase a diploma from our school without ever having sat in one class. Diplomas from Moscow State University are also available for purchase, but they are a little more expensive than ours!

These illustrations show sin and evil are not just problems on the personal level, but also how evil infects society and corporate life. Part of the stimulus for the riots all across the Middle East is years of pent-up frustration with corrupt government officials and police, and with rich elites who control power and wealth and are not accountable to their fellow citizens.

If we are to live as peacemakers in this kind of a world, we need to have eyes to see how evil infects the structures of society and then the courage to choose not to live this way. We need to be bold and argue our case by saying “There is another way to live!”

Here’s a situation where the Old Testament prophets, God’s loudspeakers to his people, can teach us some important lessons on how to live in this kind of world. They made it clear when sin and evil were present in society and they were fearless – most of the time – in announcing the consequences of violating God’s laws.

For example, Isaiah repeatedly warned Judah that the sins of the Southern Kingdom would result in her destruction and captivity at the hands of Babylon. Isaiah clearly warned the people of Judah that their sins were not only causing them pain and suffering in their personal lives, but were also inflicting evil on others in their society. In a powerful indictment of the people, Isaiah told them that God found no pleasure in their burnt offerings or religious ceremonies because, when they spread out their hands in prayer, they were full of blood (Isaiah 1:15).

God through Isaiah warned the people of Judah in no uncertain terms: “Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow” (verses 16b-17). Categories of vulnerable people who were being wronged in Jewish society were clearly spelled out here. These were people without power, without anyone to defend them.

Later in this same chapter, Isaiah stated God’s judgment against Judah’s rulers who are described as “rebels, companions of thieves” who “love bribes and chase after gifts” (v. 33). Unfortunately sin doesn’t simply limit its destruction to individual acts of evil, but penetrates the structures of a society and causes the oppression of groups of people, especially those who are weak. Evil knows no bounds. It is an obstacle to God’s shalom in our personal lives and in our corporate lives.

So What?

• Sin is not only shalom’s enemy that attacks the hearts of individuals, but sin also finds expression in our corporate lives. Evil can become imbedded in the structures of society that often favor the rich and hurt the poor. When we see it around us, we ought not to close our eyes and walk away. Why? Because it doesn’t have to be like this!
• Think about your context. Where do you see evidence of sin and evil that have impacted corporate life in your community? Share some examples with me and others who read this blog.
• When the Russian writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn was sent into exile in 1974, he encouraged his fellow citizens to action by saying “Live not by lies (Marxism-Leninism)!” Through his writings and his example, he helped to bring down the Soviet regime. If individuals would begin making up their mind to “Live not by lies” -- this could lead to a halt in purchasing diplomas on the Internet and a commitment to actually get the education represented by the degree. Perhaps we would see a movement that would begin to curtail the corruption that pervades many societies. What a great peacemaking movement this would be!

So What Went Wrong?

If you read the earlier posts in this Blog, I am sure that some troubling questions have come to mind. I can easily imagine you thinking, “Thanks for explaining the richness and beauty of the Hebrew word shalom and describing its comprehensive character, but why do I see so little of it in our world?” The obvious question that you might ask is “Why don’t we experience this shalom if it’s God’s intention for creation? Why are we so frustrated and burdened down with conflicts if God wants us to enjoy His promises of blessings and security?”

The bottom-line is this: What went wrong? Why all the riots in the Middle East, largely driven by some many people who are oppressed, tired of corruption, and unemployed? Why so much abuse of children and sex trafficking?

In December, when I was in Moscow, thousands of neo-Nazi “skinheads” demonstrated in Red Square and then went on a rampage, beating dark-skinned people while the police passively watched. Why is there so much ethnic hatred in our world?

These are not easy questions and, in my judgment, the only way to get at an answer is to go back to some Biblical basics. Let’s think about how God created men and women as free moral agents capable of choosing good or evil. Although God created a harmonious, peaceful world, the disobedience and rebellion of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden made everything go wrong.

What was the problem? Adam and Eve tried to become like God – to be free, autonomous individuals accountable only to themselves. Their decision was a costly one and it brought judgment on themselves and their descendants. What God originally intended was now distorted by humanity’s rebellion.

Genesis 3 tells us how Satan entered human history as an enemy of God and, from the beginning of the Biblical record, we are given a picture of his devious, destructive ways. When Satan approached Eve in the form of a serpent, he first raised doubt in her mind about what God actually said. Once doubt had been created, Satan then openly contradicted God and denied that God would cause her to die if she ate the forbidden fruit. Satan – the Liar – then goes one-step further: he promised her she would become “like God.” Satan is indeed a crafty, shrewd being who knows the human heart. The sin of Eve, which was later repeated by Adam, is the core of all evil in the world today: men and women want to be “like God” – autonomous, rulers of their own destiny, self-reliant, accountable only to themselves, recognizing no authority outside of themselves.

The painful consequences of sin were immediately evident to Adam and Eve. Once they ate the forbidden fruit, their sin made them frightened to be in the presence of God, so they hid. The sin they committed was soon transmitted to their children, creating envy between their two sons, Cain and Abel, which eventually lead to the first recorded murder in the Bible. Sin, the act of disobeying God and rebelling against His authority, broke God’s intended shalom in creation.

So What?

• The evil that we see in our world, the brokenness and alienation, the violence – all of these are the result of sin in the lives of men and women. When we see it around us, we may be quick to blame others for the injustices we see, but Jesus taught us to look first at the sin in our own lives (John 8:1-11). This insight was powerfully articulated centuries later by the Russian writer, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, when he wrote: “ . . . the universal dividing line between good and evil runs not between countries, not between nations, not between parties, not between classes, not even between good and bad men: the dividing line cuts across nations and parties, shifting constantly. . . . It divides the heart of every person.”

• Biblical shalom helps us to understand God’s intention for his world and His desire that we live in peace and harmony. When we see evil and brokenness, our response needs to be “It doesn’t have to be like this!” Rather than shrugging our shoulders and walking away from the injustice and animosity that surrounds us, we need to become shalom-makers.

• Peacemaking is rarely an easy task, yet Jesus teaches that those who are peacemakers are “blessed” or “happy” and are “children of God” (Matthew 5:9). That’s an exciting calling, don’t you think? Why not ask God to teach us how to be shalom-makers?

• I have a suggestion: When you see conflict or struggles, try training yourself to think “It doesn’t have to be like this!” Then maybe you will figure out how you can make a difference for the good of your family, neighborhood, or world.

 

Making Choices

There are parts of the Bible that are very hard to understand. We can read through certain passages in the Old and New Testaments and really struggle to make sense out of what we read. Some passages present us with a paradox, a seemingly contradictory statement that may nonetheless be true.

In my previous Blog entries, I wrote about the richness of the Hebrew word shalom – how it encompasses interpersonal relationships, the health and well-being of people and animals, personal security, the welfare of society, and other aspects.

But the Bible also contains passages that bring a different perspective to the meaning of shalom, a perspective that we might be tempted to ignore. Here’s an example. In Leviticus 26, there is the conclusion to what scholars describe as the “Holiness Code” that covers chapters 17 through 26. The whole book of Leviticus, which most of us rarely read, records laws that the Lord gave to the Israelites to help them form a nation out of twelve nomadic tribes. Detailed regulations are given concerning religious worship and sacrifice, economic life, the administration of justice, political rule, and family structure.

Chapter 26 offers insights into why God so strongly and clearly states that if the people obeyed these commands, they would experience His blessings and His shalom. Specifically God promises to put “His dwelling place” among them – which basically means that God would be with them -- and He assures them that they would experience His shalom both spiritually and materially, including physical security, an abundant harvest, and the presence of God in their community. Their faithfulness would result in all of these blessings from God.

But God also makes it clear that disobedience would result in disaster – the cursed D’s: disease, destruction, desolation and death. So here’s the problem: There is a tension between our understanding that peace is a gift of God, not the result of human activity, but at the same time the promise that if we follow God’s commandments, we will create more peaceful conditions. If we don’t, our disobedience will result in the lack of shalom – the cursed D’s.

To put this another way, God is the primary source of shalom, yet men and women are given responsibility for the existence of shalom in their society or its absence. That’s a tough tension, not easy to resolve.

As I have reflected on this, it strikes me that this issue of the consequences of our actions, the consequences of the choices we make, deserves our attention. God has created us as free moral agents. Our freedom to make choices is an essential part of our humanity. This is in part what it means when the Bible says we were made in the image of God.

We have the freedom to make choices and that includes saying “No” to certain behaviors and actions. If we are really free – and we want to live a life according to Jesus’ commandments – then we are free to choose to avoid behavior that undermines God’s desire for shalom in our world.

So What?

• We are not helpless victims. Victimization is a common attitude in our time and, even though we are sometimes are hurt by the actions of others, we can choose not to respond in kind.
• Dealing with paradoxes in the Bible is not unlike dealing with them in our daily lives. Paradoxes are created when two opposing forces or ideas seem to be incompatible. But living with pressure or tension is not necessarily bad – it can also keep us sharp and alert. Can you think of some illustrations of this in your life?
• Jesus, the Prince of Peace, commands his followers to keep His commandments. Jesus does not want our vague expressions of love and He never asks us to feel certain ways about Him. He asks for a love expressed in our lives by the choices we make, by acts of our will. This is how we demonstrate our love for Jesus.
• There is another difficult question that is related to this discussion: Why do bad things happen to good people who are following Jesus’ commandments? I will reflect on this in subsequent entries.

Struggling with Ambiguity & Lack of Direction

The last three months have been a difficult time in my life, a time in which my ministry in Russia has become very confusing.  I have prayed for clear direction for my work, but no clear direction has come.  As I look to the future, I realize that I have no idea what lies ahead.

For those of you who know me, you will understand that for twenty years I have been working in Russia with the goal of building a faith-based liberal arts university, which -- by the way -- I was asked to establish by Boris Yeltsin’s Minister of Education in October 1990.  It took five years, in participation with a group of Russian and American educators, to get the school established, eights years to get it accredited, and nine years to build a campus facility.  Every step of the way was a battle, but through a series of miraculous events, we were able to get the school in operation and housed in a beautiful building.  Then, within three months of a joyous building dedication in May 2010, the Board was forced to make the difficult decision to suspend the Institute’s undergraduate program.  A series of decisions quietly made in the Kremlin to protect state universities at the expense of private schools, because of a dramatic decrease in the number of college-age students, made it impossible for the Institute to compete legally in the marketplace.

My dream, my work for twenty years, now appeared to be over.  I could not understand how so many miraculous events could occur to make the Russian-American Institute a reality, yet now it was clear that it had to be closed down.   God’s intervention on our behalf was evident numerous times, so how could this happen?  I went through a period of mourning, just trying to make sense out of a series of events that appeared senseless.

Living with ambiguity is difficult for everyone.   When events like this happen, it is hard not to be paralyzed.  Wrestling with doubt, questioning God’s presence in the midst of radical challenges in life – this is what I was struggling with.  Why?  Why now?

In times like this, going back to God’s Word and re-discovering His promises proved to be a helpful way of getting through this discouraging period.  I still don’t have any answers to why this has happened – why the Institute has to close its undergraduate program – but now I have a sense of expectancy as we search for a new mission in Russia.  Yes, I still would like some answers to my “Why?” questions, but I know those answers may not come for quite awhile.

But for me the bottom-line is this: God is a God of “Shalom” and He desires to bless and protect me.  I need to put my trust in His promises.  My questions may not get resolved quickly, my doubts may not be answered soon, but I have learned once again that trusting in God, even in periods of ambiguity, while not easy, is what is needed. 

This assurance of God’s desire to care for us is made beautifully evident in Numbers 6:22-27.  In this passage, God instructs Moses to tell Aaron and his sons, who were from the tribe of Levi and were set apart to serve as priests, to announce a blessing  from God on the people each day.  In Biblical literature, a blessing is a very special type of speech.  It is something that God gives us and yet we can also give God.  In these verses, God blesses His people, and in the Psalms, the writers often bless God.

Here are the words of the priestly blessing: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.”  God is making it clear to His people that He has a covenant with them, that they bear His name, and that He will bless them.  What is the nature of His blessing?  Shalom (verse 26).

The promise of God was, first of all, protection.  “The Lord bless you and keep you.”  The word “keep” means watch, guard, and shelter.  “The Lord make His face to shine upon you.”  This graphic expression is the Hebrew way of describing one’s emotions.  For example, Genesis 4:5 tells us that when God refused Cain’s sacrifice, Cain’s face was “downcast” or “his face fell.”  On the other hand, a favorable disposition was often described by a facial expression that “shined.”  When the Bible says God’s face “shined” when He looked on His people, it meant God was showing  His care and love and pleasure.

All of this graciousness and blessing from God results in one conclusion: Shalom!  God wants His people to have shalom.  God’s desire for His people today has not changed.  His wish for us is shalom. 

In times of ambiguity, in times when we lack clear direction in our lives and our prayers never seem to be answered in the ways that we expect, we need to trust the God who offers us blessing and protection.

So What?

• Having doubts, questioning God – these are experiences all of us go through and God is not angered by this.  Doubt is not the opposite of faith, fear is.

• David, the King of the Jews who God loved, often struggled with doubts that he expressed to God.  Read his struggles with God in Psalm 22:1-4 or Psalm 28.

• When we have friends who are going through times of doubt, times when their lives lack direction, what can we say to encourage them?  Does God’s promise of shalom offer us a helpful response?