To Live As Christ

A Personal Journey With God

About Me

Subscribe Via Email

Book Recommendations

Connect

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
© 2025 To Live As Christ · Design by Steck Insights Web Design Logo
Photo by Pablo Heimplatz on Unsplash

Looking up when we want to look down

December 13, 2017 by brianmichaelsteck Leave a Comment

I was reading Psalms his morning and chapter 55 describes David’s experience of betrayal. In the midst of understandable frustration towards his enemies who had hurt him, he pauses to say,

But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship at the house of God, as we walked about among the worshipers.” Psalm‬ ‭55:13-14‬ ‭NIV‬‬https://bible.com/111/psa.55.13-14.niv

You can hear the shock and horror in his voice. There has been a tragedy. It wasn’t my enemies who have wounded me; you would expect that.

Proverbs 27:6 says, “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.” So there is a time and space for our close friends to tell us the hard truth; and we should be thankful.

But this was different. This was someone near me. A trusted friend. My neighbor in church.

Yet, despite the pain and shock of betrayal, this misfortune is met with a beautiful response. David looked up when he wanted to look down.

As for me, I call to God, and the Lord saves me. Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice. He rescues me unharmed from the battle waged against me, even though many oppose me. God, who is enthroned from of old, who does not change— he will hear them and humble them, because they have no fear of God.” Psalm‬ ‭55:16-19‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Where to look

Where does our attention go when we’re hurting?

Most of the time, I get self-centered and focused on the wound. Like a little child who scraped his elbow and wants to show everyone the band-aid, I go in search for attention. See my pain! Validate the hurt!

Or maybe your response is despair. You’ve been shell-shocked so many times in your life that you’ve begun to give up.

Or maybe your response is pride. Betrayal just adds to the heap of burning hatred you feel towards society. It’s one more reason that God should wipe this planet clean again. You take on your own “savior mode” and experience the betrayal as injustice toward’s God’s righteous one.

The pain of betrayal can take on so many different tones of response. And let’s be honest, whichever we choose, we feel validated in the response.

But David models looking up when we want to look down.

Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.” Psalm‬ ‭55:22‬ ‭NIV‬‬

He turns towards God, pointing his mind towards the truth of God’s character.

This is how I long to respond. When I’m hurt, I want my reaction to be: “I was wronged. But my God, who is good, will vindicate me and be my source of hope.”

May I look up when I want to look down.

Filed Under: Lordship Tagged With: Pain

Beware of Falling Millstones

Spiritual vs Temporal and the Problem of Suffering

May 18, 2012 by brianmichaelsteck Leave a Comment

Suffering is a HUGE topic and is not and cannot be covered fully in a single post. Please excuse the brevity as this is meant to be only a passing glance at the topic.

About this time Jesus was informed that Pilate had murdered some people from Galilee as they were offering sacrifices at the Temple. ‘Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than all the people from Galilee?‘ Jesus asked. ‘Is that why they suffered? Not at all! And you will perish, too unless you repent of your sins and turn to God. And what about the eighteen people who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them? Were they the worst sinners in Jeruselem? No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will perish too.” -Jesus, Luke 13:1-5

I read that passage this morning, and couldn’t remember anyone ever teaching on it. It really struck me for some reason and I couldn’t put my head around it.

Wesley’s Explanatory Notes on the passage help shed some light. The passage, while addressing suffering and justice, are actually a “type” or symbolism for what was about to come. Wesley draws out the conclusion that the Galileans killed while offering sacrifices at the Temple are a foretelling of Christ, and soon his disciples as well, being killed while celebrating the passover.

He goes on to share that the eighteen people killed when the tower fell on them, is likened to the 600,000 people who were murdered, shipped off to the gladiatorial games and Roman mines when the city of Jerusalem was besieged and the temple was destroyed in 70 A.D.

What does this mean?
Now, I hear that and, maybe because I’m slow at the uptake, am still unsure of how to apply this. What is the take-away?

Some say that every sickness, downturn in the economy, personal or national attack is a reflection of our due penalty for sin. Those people who say this will stub their toe and figure that it is because of their disobedience. I disagree.

While there are times when God clearly administers justice, even to the people he loves (Read just about anything in the old testament and you will see the interaction between the LORD and Israel demonstrates this over and over), there are also certain aspects, universal laws, that God established which we encounter; Some as a result of the fall, and some as part of being finite humans.

Beware of Falling Millstones
Beware of Falling Millstones

To further argue this case, I am reminded of a Jewish law that establishes certain cities of refuge for murderers to run to when they unintentionally killed someone – the example given of a worker who accidentally drops a millstone on someone’s head. To protect the clumsy worker from the angry family of the unfortunate millstone victim, Mr. Butterfingers would be sent to the town of refuge until an allotted amount of time had passed. God clearly understands that, although the consequence (death) is serious, it was clearly an accident and not a spiritual exercise in justice because the dead guy had it coming to him.

Basically, when it comes down to it, I don’t believe that every action and reaction is spiritual.

That said, I think Jesus is trying to get across a point here. There are physical repercussions. There are spiritual repercussions. You must discern which are which. But unlike the physical, which we tend to give more importance, the spiritual always supersedes the temporal and requires our critical attention.

Take a look at the healings Jesus administered. He always took care of the physical body, but so often it was only as evidence for the spiritual healing which had already occurred. Jesus was and is ultimately concerned about the spiritual.

In our eyes, the physical takes precedence over the spiritual because it’s what we touch, taste, hear and see.

But because we haven’t learned to see with spiritual eyes, we are limited in our understanding and unable to grasp the dire need of the internal and eternal. Instead we devote all our time and energy to the external, temporal and ultimately futile.

Not to steer anyone back to the days of self-flagellating monks who believed that anything physical was bad. But I do hope to draw out of this passage the reality that the spiritual is king to the physical.

A word on suffering
My last point that I want to make is in regards to suffering in particular. Without an proper understanding of the spiritual, we will see the pain and turmoil of this present age and say, “Where is God? What kind of loving father could let his children suffer?”

But I encourage you to seek the heart of the Father. Look at how Christ mourns over Lazereth, even before Christ raises him from the grave (John 11). Look at the LORD’s long-suffering and enduring grace shown to the Israelites throughout the old testament.

There are times of pain and very often there are no obvious reasons for them. Especially when we are in the midst of the situation, it is virtually impossible to see and understand “why”. Our prerogative is to mourn with those who mourn, to rejoice with those who rejoice and ultimately seek to give God the glory.

God knows your pain before you know it, does not leave you when you’re in it and does not forget about it or get tired of you, even when others have.

Filed Under: Lordship, Scripture Studies, Suffering, Surrender Tagged With: Healing, Lordship, Pain, Spirtual, Suffering, Surrender

Categories

  • Church Philosophy (8)
  • Discipleship (26)
  • Family (7)
  • Government (1)
  • Lordship (14)
  • Music (4)
  • Prayer (3)
  • Scripture Studies (7)
  • Soul Care (4)
  • Stewardship (4)
  • Suffering (2)
  • Surrender (18)
  • The Kingdom Centered Mind (8)
  • Uncategorized (2)
  • Worship (10)

Quotes

Loading Quotes...

Affiliate Disclaimer

This website contains affiliate links, however we only recommend books, music and videos that we have used, benefitted from and feel will improve the lives of our readers.