Prayers God Always Answers

If you are like me, you probably find yourself more consistently confused or failing in prayer than in any other area in the Christian life. Why is that? Talking to the God who chose us, saved us, and sustains us should be the most natural and delightful thing in the world, shouldn’t it? Perhaps it should, but more often than not, it isn’t.
We all know we should pray more. The guilt within reminds us. But if we are honest, we neither want to pray more, nor are we really convinced we need to. Why? Perhaps we don’t really understand what prayer is — or we’re prone to forget.

Let God Speak First

The most important thing to do when it comes to thinking about prayer is to let God speak. Our approach to prayer (and our practice) is often an amalgam of platitudes, folk religion, and basic biblical truths, rather than an exegetically rigorous and theologically rich account of the teaching of the Bible.
When we actually look at what the Bible teaches about prayer, it is surprisingly simple: to pray is to ask God to do what he has promised to do through Christ.

Cast All Your Cares

The core of the gospel is that we have nothing, contribute nothing, bring nothing to God. Prayer, which is made possible by the gospel and shaped by the gospel, works the same way. God gives to us; we don’t give to God. We ask; he gives. Prayer depends on what he has done in us and for us, and on what he will do in us and for us.
Jesus teaches us to pray and to freely ask our Father for the desires of our heart:

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” (Luke 11:9–10)

We can ask for whatever we want, knowing that God will not give us anything bad for us, but only what is good for us (Luke 11:11–13). The apostle Peter exhorts us, “[Cast] all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7) — all your anxieties, even your mundane and material ones. Don’t be afraid to ask him for anything, and don’t hold back any burdens from him.

Six Prayers

But our everyday expressions of need are not the burden of the New Testament when it comes to prayer. While Scripture encourages us to pray for all manner of things, God also clearly exhorts us to focus our prayer lives.
God hears and answers every prayer, but there are a precious few to which he always says, “Yes.” The prayers always answered positively are the prayers which explicitly ask God to deliver on his promises to us. God will always say Yes when we ask him to do his work through his word.
I have found at least six basic prayers God will always answer.

1. Glorify yourself through me.

The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14).

2. Forgive me.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

3. Reveal more of yourself to me.

I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord (Jeremiah 31:33–34).

4. Give me wisdom.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him (James 1:5).

5. Strengthen me to obey you.

As you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure (Philippians 2:12–13).

6. Spread your gospel to the lost.

This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come (Matthew 24:14).
How do we know God will answer these six prayers? Because he says he will in the first place, and then, even more, because these prayers sum up what God has promised to do through the gospel. This is what God has said he would most surely do.

Ready to Answer

If we want to grow and mature in prayer, we don’t need to set a timer. We don’t need to learn new contemplative methods, or build a prayer closet in the woods. But we do need to become better ask-ers. We need to realize that we are all walking disasters apart from grace, men and women who need God every step of every day. We would all make a shipwreck of our life and the lives of those around us if God did not intervene.
The gospel yells at us, You are weak and sinful, flawed, and needy — but God is strong, gracious, and good — and ready to answer. Ask him to do what he has already promised to do for you. And keep praying, until that day when we won’t need to pray anymore from a distance, because we will see our great Promiser, Provider, and King face to face.

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Top 12 Development Goals for Leaders

I help a lot of leaders create individual development plans using some variation of this process. This time of year (January) is always especially busy.
Although every leader I work with is unique, it seems like the development goals end up being somewhat common from year to year.
To help you get a head start on your 2010 leadership development plan, here’s a list of development goals that may apply to you too. I’d recommend picking no more than one and really working at it for at least 6 months. Do not attempt to work on all 12, just because there are 12 months in a year.
For 2010, I’d like to improve my:
1. Strategic thinking. Improve my ability to see the big picture and take a longer range, broader business perspective. Learn to step back from the day-to-day tactical details of my business and focus on the “why”, not just the “what” and “how”.
2. Listening. Learn to pay attention and demonstrate to others that that I value what they have to say. Use active listening, open-ended questions, body language, and eliminate distractions that get in the way of my ability to listen.
3. Coaching. Shift my leadership style away from always directing and telling and learn to guide and develop my direct reports. Work with each of my direct reports to create their own individual development plans.
4. Financial acumen. Learn how to understand, interpret, and use “the numbers” to improve my business.
5. Cross-functional knowledge and perspective. Learn about other aspects of the business other than my own functional silo.

6. Industry, competitive, and customer knowledge. Improve my understanding of our industry and our competitors. Get closer to our customers and find out what they need and value.
7. Leadership presence. Improve my ability to “command a room” and communicate in an authentic way that inspires others.
8. Change leadership. Be more of a change catalyst, a champion of change. Learn to implement and sustain change in my organization.
9. Remote management. Improve my ability to manage my remote direct reports and organization. Make better use of technology to plan, communicate, and collaborate virtually.
10. Collaboration. Improve relationships with my peers. Be a better partner, understand their goals and needs, and learn to work together to help achieve each others goals.
11. Talent management. Improve my ability to assess, hire, promote, and develop. Fill all open positions with nothing but “A” players and replace chronic underperformers. Develop a “virtual bench” for all key positions and a succession plan for my own position.
12. Time management. Get a handle on where I’m wasting time and shift my focus to more value-added activities. Learn ways to work more efficiently and prioritize.

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Do You Sleep Less Than Jesus?

Well the first thing I want to say is that in asking the question this way John has been his own answer. “How can I magnify the gospel through my everyday actions in the midst of suffering?” Whoa. I mean, he has already done it for me, anyway. He has caused me to be thankful for God’s grace in his life. “My sufferings have drastically and positively [that is an amazingly gracious word] impacted my life.”
So what can I say to him when he has already been his own answer? It seems to me like anything I would say here would be building on a very good foundation. So let me just draw attention to some biblical things that I am sure John knows and may just be an encouragement to hear me say. “How can I magnify the gospel? How can I magnify Christ in suffering so that others see Christ’s glory and delight in him?” he asks.
There are two kinds of answers to that question. One is how John can maintain his own faith and hope and joy in suffering because without that he would be of no use to others. And the other way of answering the question is to think with him about the sorts of things he might do to help others enjoy what he is enjoying. So the two halves. How does he maintain his own faith and joy and then, maintaining it, what kinds of things might he do or say that would help others? So here is my answer to the first half.
John, this is how to maintain your faith. I mean, you are doing, obviously, a great job of it, but let’s do it more and more. Recall that Christ, by his gospel work of dying for us and rising again, has secured all the promises of God. All of them find their yes in him according to 2 Corinthians 1:20.
Second, learn from Paul’s own suffering that God’s good purpose in it all is that we will rely on God who raises the dead (2 Corinthians 1:8–9). “We were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. That was to make us rely not on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead.”
So every horrible thing that comes into our life is meant to cause us to fall on the Christ who raises the dead and increase in our confidence that we would be raised and we should rely on nothing but him.
Third, take heart from the biblical assurance that suffering is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory (2 Corinthians 4:16–18). “We do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction [namely lifelong affliction in John’s case] is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” So take heart. Everything we walk through is working and preparing and increasing a weight of glory in the age to come for us.
And embrace Paul’s experience that when he asked the Lord to take away the thorn and doesn’t give it, he glories in the all-sufficiency of the grace of Christ, which is what you are doing. “Three times I pleaded with the Lord that he would take it away from me, but he said, ‘My grace is sufficient for you. My power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weakness and insults and hardships and persecutions and calamities. For when I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Corinthians 12:8–10).
In those verses, John, we have already moved to the second way of answering the question, haven’t we? Namely, not just how can you maintain your joy, your hope, your faith, but what sorts of things might you do that would help other people see and enjoy Christ, because Paul just said in those verses, “I boast in my weaknesses. I am content in my weaknesses.” And so that is the sorts of things we should do. We should exult in Christ in our weaknesses.
So I would say maybe here are three concrete suggestions. And who am I to talk? You know these. First, don’t murmur against God. The sheer freedom of murmuring against God Paul says in Philippians 2:14–15 is a light shining in a dark place. When we don’t murmur in our lives when hard things come, we are like lights shining. And that is exactly what John said he wants to be.
The second thing is, give expressions of praise to the goodness of God. There are a few people in my life — I think of one woman in particular who lives with chronic pain and chronic disability — and I know no one who is more full of praise than she is. And it is a powerful witness of God in my life every time we are around each other. So give expressions of praise and attributions of the goodness of God.
And the third one I would mention is, live your life focused on others. Don’t draw attention to your own injuries or disabilities, but take thought for others. This is what Paul said is the very essence of the mind of Christ in Philippians 2:4–5. Don’t just take thought for yourself, but take thought for others even when everything in you may be crying out, “I hurt. Pity me.”
So thank you, John, for already causing me to be more thankful for Christ in your life. And may God grant you great grace as he said. “My grace is sufficient for you. My power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). May it be so for you and for all of those who suffer.

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Don’t Be That Guy

We can invest the rest of our lives plunging deeper into the writings of the apostle Paul to get a better view of the glories of Christ to delight our souls.
In Paul’s letters (as elsewhere in the Bible) we are told glorious indicatives of truth like Christ is the Creator and Sustainer (Colossians 1:16–17), who was incarnated and died as our propitiation (Romans 3:25), was raised from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:3–4), and he inaugurated the new creation (Colossians 1:18), as he ascended to his sovereign throne (Colossians 3:1). And by faith we are united to him and his power!
In Christ all of these truths of grace are ours (2 Corinthians 1:20). And these glorious truths feed our souls and give rise to all the manifold commands from God that bring focus and direction to our daily lives in the form of apostolic imperatives.

Don’t Be [Blank]

Amidst all the glorious indicatives, some 30 times Paul tells us “don’t be” certain people. Don’t be this guy; be that guy. Don’t be this gal; be that gal. And every time he tells us what not to be, he’s also pointing us to what we should be, based on who we are in Christ. Here’s my paraphrase of the full list:
Don’t be strutting around arrogantly in life; learn to live in fear of God (Romans 11:20).
Don’t be conformed to this age; be transformed by the renewing of your mind to know God’s will (Romans 12:2).
Don’t be slack in serving Christ; serve the Lord enthusiastically (Romans 12:11).
Don’t be arrogant around others; associate with the lowly (Romans 12:16).
Don’t be conquered by evil; conquer evil with good (Romans 12:21).
Don’t be indebted to one another; except in the love deficit toward one another (Romans 13:8).
Don’t be divided by error; be united in the same conviction (1 Corinthians 1:10).
Don’t be deceived about sexual sin; immorality damns souls (1 Corinthians 6:9).
Don’t be a slave of man’s opinions; you are a slave of Christ (1 Corinthians 7:23).
Don’t be flesh-driven idolaters; be Spirit-guided delighters who reject temptation by God’s grace (1 Corinthians 10:6–13).
Don’t be overly concerned about your own good; seek the good of others (1 Corinthians 10:24).
Don’t be childish in your thinking; be holy but wise about the workings of evil (1 Corinthians 14:20).
Don’t be deceived about the influence your friends have on you; circle yourself with wise friends (1 Corinthians 15:33).
Don’t be married to an unbeliever; find a spouse who lives in the light of Christ (2 Corinthians 6:14).
Don’t be deceived by immediate gratification; sow wisely, knowing you’ll reap later (Galatians 6:7).
Don’t be deceived by empty-headed arguments; God’s wrath is coming on the disobedient (Ephesians 5:6).
Don’t be partners of those who live in the shadows of evil; walk as children of God in the light (Ephesians 5:7–9).
Don’t be foolish about your life; understand God’s will (Ephesians 5:17).
Don’t be drunk with alcohol; be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18).
Don’t be frightened by your opponents; stand firm in the God who will deliver you (Philippians 1:28).
Don’t be conceited toward one another; in humility consider others as more important than yourselves (Philippians 2:3).
Don’t be consumed with self-interest; be consumed with the interests of others (Philippians 2:4).
Don’t be a worrier; be thankful in everything (Philippians 4:6).
Don’t be bitter toward your wife; love and cherish her (Colossians 3:19).
Don’t be driven by the lust-filled desires of the world; be driven by desires fitting of your redemption in Christ (1 Thessalonians 4:5).
Don’t be duped by people who say Christ already returned; keep anticipating the day (2 Thessalonians 2:2).
Don’t be quick to rebuke an older believer; encourage him like you would a father (1 Timothy 5:1).
Don’t be too quick to appoint and anoint church leaders; keep yourself free from confirming people in sin as you pursue your own personal purity (1 Timothy 5:22).
Don’t be ashamed of suffering for Christ; share in his suffering as you rely on the power of God (2 Timothy 1:8).

Defined by What We Are

In these dozens of ways, Paul paints the contours of the Christian life with darkened shadows of opposites — teaching us what to be by warning us what not to be. Again, the point of the list is not to find our Christian identity in what we’re not. Rather, our identity is rooted in what we are: united to our glorious Savior. Out of his work and power can we be told, “Don’t be that guy.” “Don’t be that gal.”
And in these juxtapositions we better understand the will of God for our lives, as we live out of the power of Christ’s death and resurrection on our behalf.

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Three Ways to Love Your Imperfect Husband

Sometimes it seems we could fulfill our biblical role as wives a lot easier if our husbands would simply do what they are called to do.
If they would cultivate a stronger prayer life, we would feel better about following their lead. If they were growing through regular study of Scripture, we would be honored to submit. If they loved us as Christ loved the church, we would shower them with respect.
But our calling doesn’t hinge upon how faithfully our husbands are walking out theirs. We stand before the Lord alone, and we do all as unto him. And the reality is that it’s easier to see where someone else is lacking — especially when that someone lives under the same roof, with habits and idiosyncrasies we’ve dissected for years. We can become nit-picky and critical about where they need to be and miss the myriad shortcomings we possess ourselves.
Still, it is a very real issue if our husbands are not cultivating spiritual disciplines such as prayer and Bible study. And if love is lacking, it’s downright heartbreaking. How do we set aside our own hurt and frustration and live out our calling as Christian wives? How do we follow a shepherd who is not adequately shepherding? Here are three ways to love your imperfect husband.

1. Pray for Your Husband

As wives, prayer is our strongest ministry toward our husbands. The mindset is not, “I guess I’ll pray since nothing else is working.” Rather, it is a mind that is fully persuaded that prayer should be first and foremost — and that it’s the most powerful and effective service we can offer our husbands.
We are able to pray for our husbands as no one else can. We see his ups and downs, his moods and attitudes, and his strengths and vulnerabilities. We see what he devotes his time to. By his words and actions, we see his heart toward the things of God. What we do with this insight is key. We can attempt to “fix” things ourselves — with nudges that turn to nagging, or correction that morphs to criticism. Or we can trust the Good Shepherd to do the work in his timing and in his power.

“Wives, you have the ability to intercede for your husband in a way that no one else can. Pray hard and often.”

Prayer invites Jesus to dwell in the midst of the cares and concerns we have for our husbands. It changes the dynamic. We’re no longer focusing on the problem but on the one who can solve it. We are reminded that nothing is too hard for God. Just as the king’s heart is like channels of water in the Lord’s hand, such that he can turn it wherever he will (Proverbs 21:1), our husband’s heart is fully accessible and pliable in the hand of the Lord. He’s able to turn his heart toward him. Through our prayers, we join forces with our husbands to bring about change.
Praying for our husbands does a work in our own hearts as well. Our hearts are softened as we intercede. We gain humility and compassion as we realize that we both, husband and wife, are flawed and in desperate need of grace. This is especially significant if one’s husband does not know Jesus as Lord. Our prayers are a fresh reminder of the saving grace we received, which God is able to pour out on our husbands to bring about redemptive change.

2. Encourage Your Husband

Being called by God as head of the home is not an enviable burden. Our husbands shoulder expectations and responsibilities before God that are immense, including the depth to which they are called to love. Wives are called simply to love their husbands (Titus 2:4), while husbands are called to love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her (Ephesians 5:25). No matter how strong one’s walk with God, sacrificial love is a daunting standard. Indeed, the breadth of the divine standard for husbands — of love, of providing for the family, of guiding the family spiritually — may cause them more stress than we realize.
Although our eyes naturally fall on areas in which our husbands need to improve, we should instead look for ways to bless them with encouragement. This is not necessarily easy, especially if we’ve seen a pattern of certain behavior over time. We may be skeptical about any positive change. It won’t last might drift through our minds. We may even be tempted to belittle efforts that our husbands make, regarding them as inadequate.
But as we intercede for our husbands, our attitude and actions should line up with the end goal. We should believe that change is possible and encourage even the small movements we see. As we speak words that build up and give grace (Ephesians 4:29), we not only revitalize our husbands, but our marriage as well.

3. Die to Yourself

The only way we can truly walk out our calling as wives despite our own hurts and frustrations is to die to self. This is our ultimate call as believers: to daily crucify our flesh so that Christ may live fully through us. And when Christ is living through us, we experience the surpassing greatness of his power.

“God knows we cannot be the wives he calls us to be in our own strength. Thankfully, he does not expect us to.”

God knows we cannot be the wives he calls us to be in our own strength — and thankfully, he does not expect us to. When self gets out of the way, his Spirit takes over, infusing us with immense grace and strength. We are able to pray when we’re tired of praying and to love when the “feeling” eludes.
Grace highlights ways we can encourage, seasons our speech, and quiets our spirits. And as we wait on Jesus to answer our prayers for our husbands, his grace keeps our eyes fixed on him, our Good Shepherd, the one we are ultimately called to follow. Here lies an eternal treasure. As we walk in obedience to our calling as wives, we find ourselves in blessed fellowship with our Lord.

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What If Tomorrow Is Even Harder Than Today?

I remember the Sunday evening I got a phone call asking if I could come to the hospital. I found my friends snoring in the ICU waiting room. Their teenage daughter had been in an accident, and they had been there for two days with little sleep. The car was totaled, and we weren’t sure yet which way it would go for her. Her hair was buzzed, which exposed surgical seams on her scalp held by staples. While hooked to machines sustaining her life, she missed her high school prom.
Over the next few months, when I would talk with her parents, I could see a question in their eyes. The question is a common one. It’s the same question those who have been affected by the recent hurricanes might ask. It’s the same question I hear in the understandable exasperation of many minorities in our country. And it’s the same question survivors of the Las Vegas shooting are left asking.
The question goes something like this: If tomorrow is as difficult as today, or is even harder than today, how will I go on? Maybe you have felt the weight of that kind of despair.

Not by Bread Alone

In The Fellowship of the Ring, Bilbo Baggins has a line that gives voice to this feeling. He says to Gandalf, “I feel all thin, sort of stretched . . . like butter that has been scraped over too much bread.”
After forty years of wandering in the wilderness, the Israelites knew what it meant to feel thin. But before they entered the land of promise, God wanted the people he had redeemed to know why he would allow them to feel so stretched. In Deuteronomy 8:3, Moses tells God’s people,

“He humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”

Many people are familiar with the second part of this verse (“man does not live by bread alone”) because Jesus quoted it in the wilderness during his forty days of fasting. But the verse has two parts, and it’s precisely the relationship between them that makes the verse so powerful.

When We Have Nothing Left

Part A says, “He humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna.” It’s Part A that reveals the way God went about teaching Part B, “man does not live by bread alone.”
At first glance, it could seem that God was actually teaching the complete opposite lesson. One might think that if people had to rely on food every day to survive, then God was simply teaching that people need to rely on food to survive — as if he were saying, “Each day I let you get hungry and then I feed you, so that you might learn that people need food to survive.” But the biological lesson is not the lesson.
To realize how Part A directly relates to Part B, we need to think about how manna functioned in the life of an Israelite. Each day, a person would collect just enough manna for that day. If you collected too much, attempting to hoard the resource, the manna would breed worms and stink (Exodus 16:20). In other words, manna never needed an expiration date because you always knew it expired tomorrow — unless tomorrow was a Sabbath in which case the manna lasted an extra day (Exodus 16:22–24).
To describe this in imagery more familiar to us, consider your fridge. Each night when you go to bed your fridge is empty. Your freezer, empty. Your cupboards, empty. You seek out your neighbors, but their house is also empty. The grocery stores, marketplaces, and gas stations, empty. Not a single McMuffin or Dunkin Donut or box of Wheaties to be found. Each night when you go to bed, all the needed resources for tomorrow are gone. As you lay in bed with your tummy already rumbling, there’s nothing left.
Nothing left except a promise! You’d still have the promise from the mouth of the Lord that tomorrow he would provide for the needs of tomorrow. Every night, you’d have an empty manna jar. But every night, you’d have the promise from the mouth of the Lord. This is the lesson of Deuteronomy 8:3.

Feed on Gospel Promises

When we fear tomorrow may be more difficult than today — when we feel like butter scraped over too much bread — God wants us to feed upon his promises.
Feed your soul on the promise that if God clothes the lilies and feeds the birds, he will certainly care for his children (Matthew 6:25–33). Feed on the promise that his grace is sufficient and his power is made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). Feed on the promise that God is working all things for our good (Romans 8:28). Feed on the promise that God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that those who believe in him can have eternal life (John 3:16).
And if tomorrow does indeed turn out more difficult than today, and the next day is so hard that it kills us, God has promised to raise his children to a life better and brighter than we could even imagine (Revelation 21:1–7).

Rock Beneath Us

These promises are ours because we have a Savior who conquered sin and death and evil. When Jesus, the True Israelite, felt the duress of forty days in the wilderness — alone, with no food, and assaulted by the tempter — his faith in his Father’s provision never wavered. Satan mocked him, targeting what he thought could be Jesus’s breaking point, saying, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread” (Matthew 4:3). But in that moment, Jesus told the devil, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4). Where Adam failed, the Second Adam did not.
Left to ourselves, we are always, only, ever a house of cards. Yet beneath our flimsy hope of self-sufficiency rests the rock-solid promise of a good and gracious God, always strong and sovereign. This promise sustained my friends as they waited in the ICU for their daughter to recover. It sustains me when life is hard. And it can sustain you when you fear what’s ahead.

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Do Men Owe Women a Special Kind of Care?

Egalitarianism tends to obscure the deeper differences between manhood and womanhood. This has not served us well in the last fifty years. It has instead confused millions and muted a crucial summons for a distinctly masculine care.

Unanswered Question

What average man or woman today could answer a little boy’s question: Daddy, what does it mean to grow up and be a man and not a woman? Or a little girl’s question: Mommy, what does it mean to grow up and be a woman and not a man?
Who could answer these questions without diminishing manhood and womanhood into anatomical structures and biological functions? Who could articulate the profound meanings of manhood and womanhood woven differently into a common personhood created differently and equally in the image of God?
How many articles have been written about the meaning of being a “real woman” or “real man” that leave us saying, “But all of those wonderful things apply just as well to the other sex — maturity, wisdom, courage, sacrifice, humility, patience, kindness, strength, self-control, purity, faith, hope, love, etc”? By all means, these mark true womanhood. And they mark true manhood. So, they do not answer the little boy’s question: What does it mean to grow up and be a man and not a woman? Or the little girl’s question: What does it mean to grow up and be a woman and not a man?
For decades, Christian and non-Christian egalitarians have argued, assumed, and modeled that roles among men and women in the home, in the church, and in the wider culture should emerge solely from competencies rather than deeper realities rooted in how we differ as men and women. This means that, from the side of egalitarianism, very little attention has been given to the questions of our little girl and boy. Apart from physiological and anatomical features, the questions seem to have no answers. And today, even those features are pliable.

When Nature Won’t Yield

Way back in 1975, Paul Jewett, who taught me systematic theology at Fuller Seminary, conceded as an egalitarian his uncertainty about “what it means to be a man in distinction to a woman or a woman in distinction to a man” (Man as Male and Female, 178). He did not mean the anatomy was ambiguous. He meant that, whatever deeper differences there are, he didn’t think we could know them.

“The stubbornness of God-given nature creates the need for the egalitarian message to be even more forceful.”

Egalitarians seem not to have been alarmed by this confession of ignorance. Instead, it seems they have been confirmed and emboldened by it. It fits the half-century-old gender-leveling current of the culture. But current is too weak a word. Torrent or avalanche would be more accurate. One need only sample the movies and TV shows of recent years to see the increasing passion with which women are portrayed as being just as physically strong, harsh, impudent, violent, arrogant, vulgar, two-timing, and sexually aggressive as any macho male hero.
One wonders if this passion for the portrayal of Annie Get Your Gun on steroids is perhaps owing to the rising sense that there is something in nature that won’t adapt to our egalitarian portrayal. The stubbornness of God-given nature, then, creates the need for the egalitarian message to be more forceful, even preternatural (Wonder Woman, Catwoman, Superwoman). Such are the trials of those who try to recreate what God made otherwise.

Alarming Sexual Agnosticism

But it really is astonishing that Paul Jewett was unable to identify the deeper meaning of manhood and womanhood. The reason it should astonish us is that he confessed,

Sexuality permeates one’s individual being to its very depth; it conditions every facet of one’s life as a person. As the self is always aware of itself as an ‘I,’ so this ‘I’ is always aware of itself as himself or herself. Our self-knowledge is indissolubly bound up not simply with our human being but with our sexual being. At the human level there is no ‘I and thou’ per se, but only the ‘I’ who is male or female confronting the ‘thou,’ the ‘other,’ who is also male or female. (Man as Male and Female, 172)

He cites Swiss theologian, Emil Brunner (d. 1966), to the same effect,

Our sexuality penetrates to the deepest metaphysical ground of our personality. As a result, the physical differences between the man and the woman are a parable of psychical and spiritual differences of a more ultimate nature. (Man as Male and Female, 173)

After reading these amazing statements concerning how essential manhood and womanhood are to our personhood and how sexuality “conditions every facet of one’s life,” it is all the more stunning to read Jewett’s agnosticism about the meaning of manhood and womanhood,

Some, at least, among contemporary theologians are not so sure that they know what it means to be a man in distinction to a woman or a woman in distinction to a man. It is because the writer [Jewett himself] shares this uncertainty that he has skirted the question of ontology [what actually is] in this study. (Man as Male and Female, 178)
All human activity reflects a qualitative distinction which is sexual in nature. But in my opinion, such an observation offers no clue to the ultimate meaning of that distinction. It may be that we shall never know what that distinction ultimately means. (Man as Male and Female, 187)

Surely this is a great sadness — and an important clue to how we got where we are today. It is not a great leap from Jewett’s agnosticism about what manhood and womanhood are to the belief that those differences (unknowable as they seem to him) have no God-given, normative status in the nature of things, but only a social status chosen by individuals.

From Unanswerable to Unaskable

The decades-long disinclination to ask the question (using Brunner’s terms), What are the “psychical and spiritual differences of a more ultimate nature” between manhood and womanhood? has morphed from Jewett’s agnosticism into today’s antagonism. The question is not only unanswerable; it is unaskable.

“Men, everywhere, all the time, bear a burden, under God, to care for the well-being of women.”

But not asking the question about the essence of male and female personhood confuses everyone, especially our children. And this confusion hurts people. It is not a small thing. Its effects are vast.
When manhood and womanhood, for example, are confused at home, the consequences are deeper than may show up in a generation. There are dynamics in the home that form the children’s concept of manhood and womanhood, and shape significantly their sexual preferences. Especially powerful in forming sexual identity is a father’s strong and loving affirmation of a son’s masculinity and daughter’s femininity. But how can this kind of strong, fatherly affirmation be cultivated in an atmosphere where deeper differences between masculinity and femininity are constantly denied or diminished for the sake of gender-leveling and sex-blindness?

Suppressing a Needed Summons

Under pressure to shun the question about deeper and differing inclinations that may define the God-given natures of manhood and womanhood, mainstream Western culture has suppressed one of the realities that God put in place for the flourishing of both sexes. While affirming the importance of mutual love, respect, honor, and encouragement between men and women, there is in our day a resistance against the biblical summons for men to show a peculiar care for women that’s different than they would for men — and a strong disincentive to women to feel glad about this.
But in Colossians 3:19, the apostle Paul told husbands, “Love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.” That is not the same as saying, “Neither of you should be harsh.” We can tell from Ephesians 5:22–33 and 1 Peter 3:7 that this admonition to men is owing to a peculiarly male temptation to be rough — even cruel — and to a peculiarly female vulnerability to that violence, on the one hand, and to a natural female gladness, on the other hand, to be honored with caring protection and strong tenderness.

Complementarian Claim

This is where biblical complementarians step in to say that something beautiful and vital is lost, when the only summons to men, in relation to women, is the same as the summons given to women, in relation to men. Calls like: be respectful, be kind, keep the Golden Rule.
No, say complementarians. God requires more of men in relation to women than he does women in relation to men. God requires that men feel a peculiar responsibility for protecting and caring for women. As a complementarian, I do not say that this calling is to the exclusion of women protecting and caring for men in their own way. I am saying that men bear a peculiar burden of responsibility that is laid on them in a way that is not laid on women.

Irreversible, Peculiar Responsibility

It’s tragic when a whole culture refuses to tell men that their manhood includes a peculiar kind of care for women.

Modeling the peculiar summons to the man in marriage, Christ dies for his bride to save her, beautify her, nourish her, and cherish her (Ephesians 5:25–30). In Paul’s way of thinking, this peculiar calling of manhood is no more reversible with the calling of womanhood than the work of Christ is reversible with the work of the church.
And since this calling is rooted, not in asexual competencies, but in the nature of manhood itself, its implications for life are not limited to marriage. To be sure, a husband bears unique responsibilities to his wife. But this deeper meaning of manhood does not lose its significance when he walks out of the door of his home. Men, as men, everywhere, all the time, bear a burden, under God, to care for the well-being of women, which is not identical to the care women owe men.
This message, at the heart of complementarianism, has been all but muted in our culture. Many would rather sacrifice this peculiar biblical mandate, given for the good of women, than betray any hint of compromise with egalitarian assumptions. Thus, I am arguing, we have forfeited both a great, God-ordained restraint upon male vice, and a great, God-ordained incentive for male valor.

Human Does Not Replace Masculine

We have developed a theology and a cultural bias that continually communicates to men: You bear no different responsibility for women than they bear for you. Or to put it differently, we have created a Bible-contradicting, nature-denying myth that men should feel no different responsibility to protect women than women feel to protect men. Many have put their hope in the myth that the summons to generic human virtue, with no attention to the peculiar virtues required of manhood and womanhood, would be sufficient to create a beautiful society of mutual respect. It isn’t working.
Perhaps the disillusionment of these days will give us pause. Perhaps we will consider that we have lost something very important. Perhaps many will wake up to the possibility that it is not noble, but tragic, when a whole culture refuses to tell men that their manhood includes a peculiar kind of care for women.

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Mungu Hachakuacha Peke Yako

Nasi  twajua ya kuwa katika mambo yote Mungu hufanya kazi pamoja na wale wampendao katika kuwapa mema, yaani, wale walioitwa kwa kusudi lake. 29 Maana wale aliowajua tangu asili, aliwachagua tangu sili wapatanishwe na mfano wa mwana wake, ili yeye awe mwana wa kwanza miongoni mwa ndugu wengi; 30 na wale aliowachagua tangu asili, hao akawaita; na wale aliowaita, hao akawahesabia haki, hao akawatukuza. 31 Basi tuseme nnini juu ya hayo? Mungu akiwapo upande wetu, ni nani aliye juu yetu? 32 Yeye asiyemwachilia mwana wake mwenyewe bali alimtoa kwa ajili yetu sisi sote atakosaje kutukirimia na mambo yote pamoja naye?

Ukweli zingine hutusababisha kushangaa; Warumi 8:28-30 ulimshangaza Paulo. Yote yanatendeka kwa wema—Mungu hufanikisha, kwa sababu alikujua tangu asili, alikuchagua kwa utukufu wa Kristo, kakwita ukiwa mfu kwa uasi na dhambi. Akakutukuza polepole mpaka wakati wake wa kuja. Wakati utakapo badilishwa mwili kama wa Kristo uliofufuliwa.
Jambo hili karibu linamshangaze Paulo. Anasema, “Tusemeje basi kuhusu mambo haya?” N’naya sikia mambo mawili kwa maneno hayo kwa Paulo na kwetu sisi. N’nasikia, “ Ni vigumu kupata maneno kwa mambo haya makuu.” N’nadhani wakati Paulo asemapo, “Tuseme nini kuhusu mambo haya?” Jiba u lake ni: Ni lazima tuiseme tena kwa njia nyingine. Ni lazima tupate maneno tofauti ya kuisema tena. Haya ndiyo anayofanya na maneno, “Kama Mungu akiwa upande wetu, ni nani aliye juu yetu?” Maneno haya amekuwa akiyasema. Lakini ni sharti ayaseme kwa tafsiri  nyingine.
Na basi hata nasi ni lazima. Kama umewahi kushiriki injili tukufu na mtoto au mzazi ama rafiki mara nyingi, ni laima ufanye vile tena, linene tena kwa njia ingine. Ni lazima tuandike barua nyingine pepe, andika barua ingine kwa imla, tufundishe mafunzo mengine, tengeneza mabango mengine, andika shairi lingine na uimbe wimbo mwingine, mwambie babaa fulani mwenye afya mbovu, kando ya kitanda chake. “Basi tuseme nini kuhusu mambo haya?”  Tuyaseme  kwa njia ingine, mara na mara mpaka kifo kisha kwa milele yote. Hapatakoma kuwa njia inayostahili kuwa njia linguine la kueneza injili tukufu.

Mungu yu kwetu

Wakati huu Paulo asemaje katika mlango 31? Anasema “Kama Mungu akiwa upande wetu ni nani atakaye kuwa juu yetu ama atakaye tupinga?” Na lengo lake ni kujumlisha na yale yaliokuwa mbele: Mungu ni wetu, basi hakuna awezaye kutupinga. Mungu alitujua tangu asili, alitufanyia hatima ya kuwa wana tangu asili, akatuita toka kwa wafu, akatuita haki, na atendakazi ndani yetu kutoka kwa kiwango kimoja cha  utukufu hadi kingine mpaka siku ile kuu na wenye furaha, siku ya Kristo. Tutalisemaje tena? Tutasema, “Mungu ni wa upande wetu.”
O maneno haya mawili ni ya dhamani kiasi gani, “upande wetu.” Hakuna maneno mengine ulimwenguni ambyo ni ya kutisha kiasi ya, “Mungu yu kinyume chetu.” Kama ghadhabu kuu isio na kipimo ikiwa kinyume chetu, basi kufagiliwa au kuondolewa kabisa ulimwenguni itakuwa ni dhawabu tamu ya neema. Ndiposa wanaojaribu kutuhawishi kuwa kuondolewa ulimwenguni kabisa ndio maana ya hukumu, wala sio jehanamu, wameacha njia pakubwa. Kuondolewa kabisa ulimwenguni kwa sababu ya ghadhabu ya Mungu sio hukumu, ni ukombozi na msaada (ona Ufunuo 6:16). Hapana. Hakuna kuondolewa kabisa utakaotendekea mwanadamu tena. Milele tuaishi pamoja na Mungu akiwa kinyume chetu au akiwa wa  upande wetu. Na wote walio ndani ya Kristo watasema wakiwa karibu na (!) furaha isio na kifani, “Mungu ni  wa upande wetu.” Yu upande wetu.
Sasa basi hakuna hukumu ya adhabu juu yao walio katika Kristo Yesu (Warumi 8:1) Mungu yu kwa vyote, upande wetu wala kamwe hatakuwa kinyume yetu. Hakuna moja ya magonjwa yetu yatakuwa ni adhabu ya hukumu kwetu kutoka kwa hakimu asiyesamehe. Magari yetu yalio haribika au mashine zilizo haribika nazo sio ishara ya adhabu ya Mungu. Tofauti za ndoa sio ishara ya ghadhabu yake. Wala kazi tulizofutwa sio kichapo kwa sababu ya dhambi. Hapana watoto wsio na nidhamu ambao ni adhabu kwa hasira  ya Mungu. Tukiwa ndani ya Kristo. La. Mungu ni wa upande wetu wala sio kinyume yetu, kwa na katika mambo yote—yawe mepesi au machungu.

Ni nani aliye dhidi yetu?

Maana yake ni, kuisema tena kwa njia tena ingine, “Ni nani aliye kinyume yetu?” Tungali katika mlango wa 31: “Kama Mungu ni wa upande wetu ni nani atakayetupinga?” Ambapo tuna mazoea yakusema, “Kweli?” Hiyo ina maana gani? Mlango 35 inasema kwamba kutakuwa na mateso na mahangaiko na kuuawa kwa upanga. Mlango 36 inasema kwamba waKristo wanauawa mchana kutwa, wanahesabiwa kama kondoo wa kuchinjwa. Paulo alisema hayo. Basi maana ya kusema, “Ni nani aliye kinyume yetu?” Ninafikiri ana maanisha hakuna atakayefaulu kutupinga.
Sheitani na wenye dhambi wanaweza kukufanya kuwa mgonjwa, waweza kuibagari lako, wanaweza kupanda mbegu ya uhasama katika ndoa yako au kukunyang’anya kazi au mtoto wako. Lakini mlango wa 28  unasema kwamba Mungu anatenda haya yote pamoja kwa ajili ya wema wako kama wampenda. Na kama yakitendeka hatimaye kwa wema wako, mitindo ya adui yanavunjiliwa mbali na lengo lake la kukupinga linageuzwa likawa la kuinua jina la Kristo, kutakasa nafsi, kuongeza imani, manufaa machungu. Kama mungu ni wa upande wako, hatakuzuia vitu hivi.Lakini anakuundia mema mahali naye adui anapopanga maovu (Mwanzo 50:20; 45:7). Mambo yalio kinyume chako anayaunda yakawa ya upande wako. Hakuna atakayefaulu kuwa hasimu wako.
Litakuwa na kishindo kikuu kiasi gani jambo hilikatika maisha yetu! Hatustahili kuwa kama ulimwengu kama mambo yakiwa hivi. Wengi ulimwenguni wanchagua njia ya maisha yao wenyewe kwasababu wanaogopa ugonjwa na wizi na ugaidi na ukosefu wa kazi na mengine mengi. Lakini kwa mfuasi wa Yesu, Bwana anasema, “Mataifa wanaytafuta haya yote. Ninyi tafteni kwanza ufalme kanza" (ona Mathayo 6:32-33). Mungu atawapeeni mahitaji yenu. Na kile mpotezach au kukosa katika huduma ya ufalme wa upendo na dabihu na mateso itakutendea kwa wema na kukurudia, katika njia mojawapo ya muundo wa Mungu, mara mia.
Kwa hivyo simama mbele ya hasimu wako na uinene injili, uwe Kankan, Guinea, au Istanbul, Uturuki, au Tentara, Indonesia, au Minneapolis, Minnesota. Na uyaseme maneno hayo kwa wale waliopanga hata kuondoa uhai wako: “Fanya yanayokulazimu kufanya, lakini hatimaye maneno yako yote na majeraha yako yote yatanoa imani yangu, yataongeza dhawabu yangu, na kunipeleka Paradiso pamoja na Yesu Kristo aliyefufka.” O tofauti ulioje kama tukiamini kuwa Mungu akiwa upande wetuhakuna atakaye simama kinyume chetu.

Makuu ya maana kule mbinguni

Na sasa tusemje kwa hiyo? Mtume Paulo ataongeza nini kwa jambo hilo? Atalisema bado kwa tena njia lingine. Katika mlango wa 32 kwamba sio tu ahadi kwamba hapana mahasimu bali tena ameahidi ukarimu kamilifu, kwa utele wake kutoka kwa Mungu; na yote hayo kwa msingi imara wa kifo cha mwanawe kwa ajili ya wenye dhambi. “Hakumzuia mwanawe mwenyewe, lakini alimtoa kwetu kwa ajili ya sisi sote, atakosaje pia pamoja naye kutupa—vote! Ukweli dhabiti wa Mbingu.

Mwanawe mwenyewe

Tafakari kwanza sehemu za maneno. Kwanza maneno “Mwana wake mwenyewe.” Yesu Kristo hakuwa mwanadamu ambaye Mungu alibuni na kumfanya awe wake duniani. Yesu Kristo ni Yule aliyekuwa tangu asili; kwa kweli alikuwepo, amekuwepo mileleyote, ambaye hakuumbwa, wa milele pamoja na Baba (Mungu), akiwa na umbo la kiungu na Baba ambaye kwake, ukamilifu wa Ufalme unadumu (Wakolosai 2:9) Kumbuka kutoka kwa Warum 8:3 kwamba Mungu alimtumia mwanawe mwenyewe kwa mfano wa mwili wenye dhambi.” Kwa tafsiri linguine Mwana alikuwepo kabla ya kuichukua mwili wa mwanadamu. Yeye siye tu nabii bali ni Mungu Mwana.
Na mlango wa 32 unapomwita Mwana “wake mwenyewe”, sababu ni kuwa hakuna wengine na kuwa ni yeye wa dhamana kuu kwake Baba. Yesu akiwa ulimwenguni Mungu alisema mara mbili, “Huyu ndiye Mwanangu nimpendaye” (Mathayo 3:7: 17:15). Katika Wakolosai 1:13 Paulo anamwita Mwana Mpendwa wa (Mungu). Yesu mwanyewe alitoa fumbo waliokodisha shamba la mizabibu nao watumishi wa Bwana walipigwa na ku uawa walipoenda kuchukua matunda. Kisha Yesu anasema kuwa alikuwa na mwingine bado ambaye ni Mwana mpendwa (Marko 12:6). Baba alikuwa tu na mwana mmoja ambaye alimpenda kwa dhati. KIsha akamtuma mwanawe huyo wa pekee
Nina wana wane. Hakuna upendo mwingine ufananao na ule kati ya baba na  mwana. Usinielewe vibaya. Nampenda mke wangu  na hata binti yangu vile vile. Kisha nampenda baba yangu na wenzangu kazini, hapa kanisani na hata wewe. Hivi simaanishi kwamba aina hizi za upendo hazina uzito kama upendo ule kati ya baba na mwana, bali upendo huu  wa baba na mwanawe ni tofauti. Zote hizo pia ni tofauti lakini niruhusu niseme tu kuhusu upendo huu: Hakuna upendo kama ule wa baba na mwanaye.
Maana ya mlango wa 32 ni kuwa upendo huu wa Mungu kwa mwanawe wa pekee ulikuwa kamakizuizi kikubwa kama mlima Everest uliosimama kati yake na wokovu wetu. Hapa kuna kizuizi kilicho kigumu kuondoa. Je, Mungu angeweza, angefanya kuushinda upendo wake mkuu, wa kutamanika, na wenye joto jingi na uzito mkuu kwa mwanawe ili apate kulawitiwa na kusalitiwa, kisha kukataliwa na kudhihakiwa, apigwe mijeledi, atemwe mate na kusulubuwa msalabani na kuchomwa mkuki kama mnyama anayechinjwa. Angefanya hivyo kweli? Je angemtoa mwana wake wa upendo? Kama hivyo hakuna kingine ambacho kingezuiwa kama akitaka kulitenda. Kama kizuizi kikuu zaidi kilishindwa katika ari  yake ya kutenda wema kwa watu wake, kila kizuizi hakika kitashindwa.
Je, alifaulu?  Jibu la Paulo ni ndio, kisha anaiangalia kwa mitazamo miwili, hali ya kuridhisha na kutoridhisha: ”Hakumzuia lakini alimtoa.” Kwa maneno haya, “hakumzuia,” tunasikia uzit wa hali hiyo ngumu na kizuizi. Mungu hakufurahia uchungu na dharau kwa mwana wake. Jambo hili lilikuwa lenye uchungu sana kwa Mwana wa Mungu akitendewa. Dhambi ilikuwa imefika kilele chake wakati huo. Asili yake ilifunuliwa—kwamba ni uvamizi dhidi ya Mungu. Dhambi zote—zilizo zetu—ni uvamizi dhidi ya Mungu. Kukataliwa kwa Mungu uvamizi wa haki yake na kweli na wema wake. Lakini Mungu hakumzuia Mwana wake hata kutendewa maovu haya.

Alimpeana

Badala yake ”alimpeana.” Usikose kupata hili. Karibu kila kitu ulimwenguni kilicho cha dhamana na umuhimu kinakutanika hapa wakati huu usio wenye matukio yasio na kifani. Upendo wa kiungu kwa mwanadamu, na chuki cha kiungu kwa dhambi, zinakutana hapa. Hekima isio na  mwisho na nguvu zinakutana hapa. Uhuru timilifu na wa kiungu na uzito wa milele kwa mwanadamu wa kujitolea hesabu na matendo ya kibinadamu yanakutana hapa. Hekima isiyo na mwisho na nguvu zinapatana hapa— Mungu alipomtoa mwana wake mwenyewe ili afe.
Biblia yasema Yuda alimsaliti (Marko 3:19), naye Pilato alimpeana (Marko 15:15) na Herode na Wayahudi na mataifa walimtoa (Matendo 4:27-28), na sisi tulimtoa (1Wakorintho 15:3; Wagalatia 1:4; 1Petro 2:24). Inasema hata kuwa Yesu alijitoa (Yohana 10:17; 19:30). Lakini Paulo anasema jambo la muhimu hapa katika mlango wa 32. Katika, nyuma ya, chini ya na kupitia yote haya ukombozi wa mwanadamu, Mingu alikuwa anamtoa mwana wake ili afe. “Mtu huyu alipotolewa kwa shauri la Mungu lililokusudiwa na kujua kwake tangu zamani, ninyi mkamsulubisha msalabani kwa mikono ya watu wabaya, wakamwua” (Matendo 2:23). Katika Yuda, Pilato, Herode, vikundivya Wayahudi, askari wa mataifa na dhambi zetu, na unyenyekevu wa kusadiki kwa Yesu, Mungu alimtoa Mwana wake. Hakuna kikuu zaidi ya hiki kimewahi kutendeka.

Kama haya ni kweli, kisha?

Tusemeje kuhusu haya? Tutasema, “Makuu ya maana mbinguni ni mazito!” Kama kweli Mungu alimtoa Mwana wake, basi . . . nini? Jibu:   Basi pamoja naye atatukirimia na mambo yote. Kama Mungu hakumzuia Mwana wake mwenyewe, hatatuzuia chochote kizuri. Ni ununuzi wa mwisho na utimilizaji wa  Zaburi 84:11, “Hatatunyima kilicho chema waendao kwa ukamilifu.” Hii ahadi katika msingi wa 1 Wakorintho 3:21-23, “Basi mtu yeyote na asijifie mwanadamu. Kwa maana vyote ni vyenu; kwamba  ni Paulo au Apolo, au Kefa; dunia, au uzima, au mauti; au vile vilivyopo sasa, au vile vitakavyokuwepo; vyote ni vyenu; nanyi ni wa Kristo, na Kristo ni wa Mungu.” Huu ndio muhuri wa ahadi ya Waefeso 1:3, “Atukuzwe Mungu, Baba ya Bwana wetu Yesu Kristo, aliyetubarikikwa baraka zote za rohoni katika ulimwengu wa roho ndani yake Kristo.” Huu ndio kuweka salama ahadi zake Yesu kwa maneno, “Msisumbuke basi mkisema, “Tule nini? Au Tunywe nini? Au Tuvae nini?”…Kwasababu Baba yenu wa Mbinguni anajua yakuwa ni mnahitaji hayo yote. Bali utafuteni kwanza ufalme wake, na haki yake na hayo yote mtazidishiwa” (Mathayo 6:31-33).
Kwa maana hakumzuia Mwana wake mwenyewe, bali alimtoa kwa ajili yetu, kwa hakika ya nidhamu yote, atatukirimia yote naye. Kweli? Yote? Je na mateso au fadhaiko au hukumu au njaa au dhiki au uchi au upanga” (Warumi 8:35)?  Jibu ni matamshi haya ya ya ajabu ya John Flavel kutoka miaka 350 iliyopita:

Hakumzuia Mwanawe mwenyewe, bali alimtoa kwetu sote; Atakosaje kutukirimia mambo yote pamoja naye?” (Warumi 8:32). Itawezekanaje kwamba mungu atunyime, baada ya haya, mambo ya roho au kimwili sisi watu wake? Atawezaje kukosa kuwaita moja kwa moja, awafanye haki bure, awatakase kabisa na kuwatukuza milele? Atakosaje kuwavisha, kuwalisha kisha awalinde na kuwakomboa? Kwa kweli hangemzuia mwanawe mwenyewe kichapo kimoja, mchipuko mmoja, kilio kimoja, hali moja ya fedheha, haitafikiriwa kuwa angeweza, baada ya haya, kutunyima aukuzuia watu wake, ambao kwa ajili yao mateso hayo yakaja, rehema zozote, faraja zozote, fursa yoyote, ya roho au mwili, ambayo ni zuri kwao.

Kila wakati Mungu anatutendea mema. Kama unaamini kwamba alimtoa mwana wake kwa sababu yako, basi hivi ndivyo unavyoamini. Maisha yote ya uKristo ni matunda ya imani hiyo. Mtazame Kristo. Tazamia upendo wa Mungu. Ishi kwa upendo. Usiogope tena.

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