Managing in Tough Times
FIRST QUARTER 2023
SABBATH SCHOOL INSIGHT #11
MARCH 18, 2023
“MANAGING IN TOUGH TIMES”
Our lesson this week deals with what we do when times get tough. Concrete steps based on Biblical principles are provided for us as we study the lesson day by day, which include putting God first, trusting in God rather than our own resources, and getting our priorities straight. Many Biblical examples are given to give us a visual aid to help us grasp the reality of what God’s resources look like.
The first concrete step given us is in Sunday’s lesson—Putting God First. The story of King Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20:1-22 is given as a great example of putting God first. Jehoshaphat was told that “a great multitude” was coming against him from Syria and that they were close by. He did not get an inventory of his military assets as David did in 1 Chronicles 21:1-14; instead, he chose to seek the Lord and proclaimed a fast for all Judah. The king himself, leading by example, stood in the midst of the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem “in the house of the Lord” and said: “O LORD God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You? Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever? And they dwell in it, and have built You a sanctuary in it for Your name, saying, “If disaster comes upon us—sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine—we will stand before this temple and in Your presence (for Your name is in this temple), and cry out to You in our affliction, and You will hear and save.’ And now, here are the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir—whom You would not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them and did not destroy them—here they are, rewarding us by coming to throw us out of Your possession which You have given us to inherit. O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You” (2 Chronicles 20:5-12, NKJV).
We observe some important steps that Jehoshaphat took.
- His natural instinct was to put God first.
- When Jehoshaphat was facing one of the greatest challenges in his life he did not lean on his own understanding—He trusted in the Lord with all his heart, he acknowledged God and trusted Him to direct his path (c.f. Proverbs 3:5,6). We also see here another of the concrete steps given on Monday which is to trust God, not our own resources as did King David when he numbered Israel.
- He invited the people to stand with him in prayer. He did not go it alone.
- His seeking the Lord was not a quick “say a prayer.” He beseeched the Lord, he wrestled with God.
- He acknowledged that the God of heaven, the God of Israel and the fathers, the Creator, the covenant keeping God, was the only true God—more on this later.
- He reminded God of His promises and prayed the Word back to Him, the prayer of Solomon as found in 2 Chronicles 6:19-30. It is as if he was holding up God’s Word to Him, knowing he was praying the will of God.
- He confessed his weakness and God’s strength. His strength is made perfect in our weakness. “‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9,10).
Ellen White has some thoughts that inform how God has asked us to pray. The bold print I have added to emphasize the point.
“The Elder Brother of our race is by the eternal throne. He looks upon every soul who is turning his face toward Him as the Saviour. He knows by experience what are the weaknesses of humanity, what are our wants, and where lies the strength of our temptations; for He was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. He is watching over you, trembling child of God. Are you tempted? He will deliver. Are you weak? He will strengthen. Are you ignorant? He will enlighten. Are you wounded? He will heal. The Lord ‘telleth the number of the stars;’ and yet ‘He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.’ Psalm 147:4, 3. 'Come unto Me,’ is His invitation. Whatever your anxieties and trials, spread out your case before the Lord. Your spirit will be braced for endurance. The way will be opened for you to disentangle yourself from embarrassment and difficulty. The weaker and more helpless you know yourself to be, the stronger will you become in His strength. The heavier your burdens, the more blessed the rest in casting them upon the Burden Bearer. The rest that Christ offers depends upon conditions, but these conditions are plainly specified. They are those with which all can comply. He tells us just how His rest is to be found.” —Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 329.
“Let the prayer go forth from unfeigned lips, ‘Lord, increase my faith; give me divine enlightenment; for without help from thee I can do nothing.’ Come in humility and bow before God; open before the Lord your Bibles, containing the divine promises; take your position upon them; make a covenant with God that you will answer His requirements; tell Him you will believe, without any other evidence except the naked promise. This is not presumption; but unless you work with zeal, unless you are earnest and determined, Satan will obtain the advantage, and you will be left in unbelief and darkness. The words and promises of God are the only foundation of our faith. Take the Word of God as truth, as a living, speaking voice to you, and obey faithfully every requirement. God is faithful, who hath promised. …. Our blessings are limited by the weakness of our faith. God is not unwilling to bestow; He is a reservoir of power.” —Ellen G. White, Sabbath-School Worker, April 1, 1886. Selections From the Testimonies Bearing on Sabbath School Work (1900) p. 28.
“Open your Bibles alone before God, and ask Him to give you an understanding heart and firm, righteous principles. Ask Him to give you a realization of the importance of implicit obedience, and to fill the heart with an abiding, comforting assurance of the love of Christ. Ask Him to inspire you with a holy endeavor and an unshrinking faith, which takes God at His word. An increase of faith and confidence in God is the result of an increased knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ, gained through studying His Word. Thus, we may have a visit with the very best Friend we have.” —Ellen G. White, 15 Letters and Manuscripts, Letter 76, 1900, par. 8).
Another “concrete step” the lesson gave us on Wednesday is setting priorities. The author gives us several texts including Matthew 6:24 and 1 John 2:15-17, which we will come back to, but first an encounter with Jesus in Mark 12:30 is cited. “Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, 'Which is the first commandment of all?’ Jesus answered him, ‘The first of all the commandments is: “Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these’” (Mark 12:28-30).
Now notice the scribe’s response to Jesus. “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He. And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices” (Mark 12:32-33). This is fascinating. The Shema was the centerpiece of the Jewish morning and evening prayer. It is found in at least 3 places in the Torah—in Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-21, also in Numbers 15:37-41. I encourage you all to read all 3 renditions, noting the differences. The first line of the Shema in Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!”, is an acknowledgement that there is only one true God and He is the Creator God. Parents were to teach this to their children when they sat in the house, when they walked by the way, when they lay down at bedtime and when they rose up in the morning.
The story is told of Rabbi Eliezer Silver, who in 1945 after WWII headed up the search for thousands of displaced Jewish children across Europe. They had been hidden from the Nazis on farms, in convents and monasteries, and now he sought to return them to their families if at all possible. He had a lead that there was a monastery in the south of France that had taken in Jewish children, but the priest there was of little help. Rabbi Eliezer made several trips to the monastery but the priest kept saying that all the children were Christians. The Rabbi reviewed the books and saw names like Schwartz, Kaufmann, and Schneider—which could be either German or Jewish. So, he asked the priest if he could come back at bedtime, to which the priest agreed. That night at bedtime Rabbi Eliezer Silver returned to the monastery and began to sing the Shema. To no surprise, children began to sing and some began to cry out, “momma, momma.” They were Jewish, and they knew that prayer for they had never forgotten it.
Jesus learned the Shema on His parent’s knees every single day, morning and evening. So, when the scribes came to Him and asked Him what is the first commandment of all, the Shema was in His DNA. “Jesus answered him, 'The first of all the commandments is: “Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’” This is the first commandment’” (Mark 12:29,30). Matthew 6:24 says, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” The lesson’s author appropriately points out that Jesus did not say that it was hard to serve God and money, or that you need to be careful in how you serve both. He said without equivocation that it could not be done. The text says, that one cannot love the Lord our God with all our hearts etc., if we have divided hearts. On page 93 of this week’s Bible study guide, the author states, “God explained to Moses one of the reasons He established the tithing system was 'that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.’” Of course that word “fear” is to trust God. I do believe that tithing protects us from selfishness, and encourages us to trust God to provide for our needs. “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). The text in Matthew 6:24 is crucial to managing in tough times and putting God first, trusting God and not our own resources and placing our priorities aright.
“'No man can serve two masters.’” We cannot serve God with a divided heart. Bible religion is not one influence among many others; its influence is to be supreme, pervading and controlling every other. It is not to be like a dash of color brushed here and there upon the canvas, but it is to pervade the whole life, as if the canvas were dipped into the color, until every thread of the fabric were dyed a deep, unfading hue.” —Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 312.
Our vision from the eye of the soul needs to be focused and concentrated on things of time and eternity. It is important to note that when Jesus quoted the Shema to the scribe, he added one phrase, “with all the mind.” The scribe restated it as “with all the understanding.” God has given us all we need in His Word to love Him with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind or all our understanding, and with all our strength.
As Seventh-Day Adventists today, do we have a Shema? A message that we are to proclaim to every nation, tribe, tongue and people? The Three Angel’s Messages are to be lived and proclaimed by God’s last day people. “The Lord in His great mercy sent a most precious message to His people through Elders Waggoner and Jones. This message was to bring more prominently before the world the uplifted Saviour, the sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. It presented justification through faith in the Surety; it invited the people to receive the righteousness of Christ, which is made manifest in obedience to all the commandments of God. Many had lost sight of Jesus. They needed to have their eyes directed to His divine person, His merits, and His changeless love for the human family. All power is given into His hands, that He may dispense rich gifts unto men, imparting the priceless gift of His own righteousness to the helpless human agent. This is the message that God commanded to be given to the world. It is the third angel's message, which is to be proclaimed with a loud voice, and attended with the outpouring of His Spirit in a large measure.” —Ellen G. White, Testimonies to Ministers, p. 91, emphasis added.
Our Adult Bible Study Guide pointed out that the world seems to be spinning out of control in every area—pandemics, crime, wars, natural disasters, political uncertainty, immorality, and more. At this time in earth’s history, God’s remnant people can provide hope to the world. The apostle John says, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:15-17). God has given us a message illuminating in its influence and saving in its power. These times have become difficult. We have a sense that time is winding down. Will we be faithful to the call of God in this prophetic movement? This message points us to the God of the Shema.
May we experience what it means to love God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind and with all our strength.
~Lyndi Schwartz