I recently started reading Mere Christianity with my oldest child, and in the opening chapter, C.S. Lewis begins building his argument for Christianity by demonstrating how all people have an inherent sense of what is good and decent behavior, or what he calls the Law of Human Nature. As the chapter ends, Lewis states, “you notice that it is only for our bad behavior that we find all these explanations [excuses]. It is only our bad temper that we put down to being tired or worried or hungry; we put our good temper down to ourselves.” This line stood out to me because while what Lewis describes is true of how our fallen, sinful nature thinks, I have seen that as I mature in Christ, I have grown quicker to recognize my own weakness, succumbing to ‘bad behavior,’ and God’s goodness towards me in any ‘good and decent behavior’ I demonstrate.

The apostle Paul relates this idea in Romans 7, pointing not just to an innate idea of what is good, but explicitly naming God’s perfect standard: “So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.” And he goes on in the well-known lines, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do….For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.” But all hope is not lost, he concludes the chapter, “Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Lewis is right that we understand what is good, but as his argument develops, it is clear, as in Romans, that doing good in our own strength is a losing battle. Deliverance from sin by trusting Jesus as Lord and abiding in him through listening to his Holy Spirit is the only way to truly bear good fruit. To close with a story, several weeks ago, I was helping out as 3rd base coach at my son’s baseball game. While in left field, one of our players was quite loudly making inconsiderate remarks about the other team’s player at bat. I got his attention and said, “Think about your words, let’s be encouraging”. Expecting possibly a defiant attitude, or at least shameful embarrassment at being called out for his behavior, I was pleasantly surprised when this player immediately responded with a cheerful “Oh, OK!” and was just as loudly encouraging the very next batter. This led me to think if I expected a different response because that is how I sometimes treat the Holy Spirit’s voice in my life? This was a reminder that, like Paul, I know sin is living in me, but God is good, and through Jesus’ deliverance, His Holy Spirit is calling me to good works prepared in advance. May we all listen to his voice and be quick to respond in obedience without guilt or shame!

Andrew Toews

No Services: Next 167 Miles

Last summer Emily and I embarked with our 4 children on a 3-week road trip tent camping and visiting family through the western United States and encountered that road sign departing Ely, Nevada westbound on US Hwy-6. It’s not conclusive, but some quick google searching indicates this is a top contender for the longest such stretch in the lower 48 states, and that only after 152 similarly remote miles arriving into Ely, and that following 105 miles of I-70 through Utah (which is officially the longest such stretch of Interstate highway).

I have been told that among many other excellent traits, the Toews men in my heritage have a penchant for worry. This holds true for me, so while anticipation for our adventures to come was high, knowing these barren stretches of road lay ahead weighed heavily on my mind. As we left Kansas on I-70 my mind battled anxious thoughts: what if the van broke down (we had major electronics issues repaired just 4 days earlier), what if someone gets sick, what if….

Our phones held enough signal that Sunday morning to stream Grace’s service and we listened as Jack taught the parable of the persistent widow from Luke 18. As we drove on my persistent prayer became Isaiah 26:3 “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast because he trusts in you” (forgive the not quite word-perfect translation, that’s how I had it in memory and what I was silently repeating in prayer).

Our first night of camping at Arches National Park I read more of the surrounding context to better understand what I was praying. Chapter 26 opens with “In that day….” looking forward to a future time when God would bring about peace, but the current state from which the prophet Isaiah spoke was anything but peaceful. “The Lord has sent a word against Jacob and it will fall on Israel” (9:8) “wickedness burns like a fire; it consumes briers and thorns” (9:18) “Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners or fall among the slain” (10:4). I nearly laughed out loud as I read 10:24-25 “O my people, who dwell in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrians when they strike with the rod and lift up their staff against you as the Egyptians did. For in a very little while my fury will come to an end and my anger will be directed to their destruction.” In short God is saying: “don’t worry, after they destroy you, I will destroy them!” How is that supposed to be helpful? We see here that God operates outside our limited perspective and while Israel’s situation seemed hopeless God’s ultimate intent is to bring about peace. By God’s grace, today we are one pivotal step closer in His plan to bring about peace. The child referenced in 9:6, the Lamb of 53:7 has come to appease God’s wrath against the wickedness in each of us and open the door for us to be at peace with Him. If we put our trust in Jesus’ atonement for our sin, we can look forward to the day when that peace will finally be perfected in His return!

In the perspective of Isaiah’s tribulation my worries paled in comparison, but nevertheless God was faithful to answer my persistent prayer and our family enjoyed the trip of a lifetime together. Not all went perfectly but we saw God’s provision throughout. Our youngest got a stomach bug, but it came on the one day we had no real plans or firm destination and God provided a hotel with immediate early check-in available for her to sleep it off until the next morning. We nearly got swept off a beach when the last wave of high tide wiped out all remaining sand back to steep bluffs, but by God’s goodness all our people (and things) remained safe, although very much not dry! Most notable of all Emily and I felt a patience and calm throughout that could only be from God’s Spirit.

In John 15:7 Jesus tells us “If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you.” God’s word (“will” in NIV) is that of peace, so while that peace will not be perfected until His return if we remain in Him and persistently ask, He is faithful and will give us a spirit and mind at peace in the turmoil surrounding us.

-Andrew Toews