The editor's thoughts on the March 2011 issue

A friend of mine found out that her stepfather, the man who had been
her father since she was a child, passed away while she was hours away
from home in a foreign country on a mission trip with her college. I
didn’t know her then, but I’ll never forget the way she talked about
her pain or her description of her tears splattering on the uneven
planks of the hardwood floor in the lobby of the hotel. In my mind’s
eye, I saw her there, sobs wrenching from her body and tears coming
unbidden.

But I’ll also never forget the simple e-mail she got from a friend,
someone we both admire. It simply said, “The aching may remain, but
the breaking will not.”

No, those words aren’t Scripture. They’re the lyrics of a song by
Andrew Peterson called “The Silence of God.” And in the midst of her
suffering, they spoke truth to her—that the pain she felt was real and
would last a long time and may never fully go away. But it wouldn’t
kill her, because the God she loved is the same God who promises to
redeem all things.

As Christ-followers, we sometimes believe a false concept that because
we’re following Jesus, our lives will be problem-free. That we won’t
have to suffer. That God’s biggest role in our lives is to do whatever
makes us happy. But the problem with that idea is that it isn’t true.
Jesus promised that His believers would face persecution and suffering
(John 15:18; 16:33). And the fact is, Jesus Himself suffered greatly
while He was on this earth in human form. If Jesus Christ—the Messiah,
God in human flesh—suffered during His earthly life, why would we
expect that our lives would be free of pain, sorrow, and suffering?

We will face suffering, pain, and loss in this life. It won’t always
seem fair, and at times, we’ll feel overwhelmed and broken by it.
That’s the truth. And this month, we’re telling the truth about
suffering in ec. Jennifer Denning’s cover story, “Faith under Fire” on
page 27, tells the truth that suffering is part of our fallen world
and speaks to the lie that God exists just to make us happy. Through
Anna McKenzie’s article (p. 18), Lindsey Dugue’s quiz (p. 19), and
numerous other devotions and articles, you’ll learn that God can give
us hope even in our deepest sorrows, and He often redeems the things
we thought would kill us so that they shine with His glory. After you
read this issue, I hope you realize that God can even use the
suffering in our lives to bend and break us so that He can mold and
shape us to look more like His Son. You can’t escape suffering in this
world, but you can trust God.

The aching may remain, but the breaking will not.

Notes from the editor: February issue

That sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach. Queasiness. Clammy hands. Deep, overwhelming regret.
That’s the way I usually feel in the moment when I realize my careless words have hurt someone’s feelings or my inattention to detail caused me to make a big mistake at work. But none of that really compares to the way I feel when I recognize and admit that I have sinned against God. Devastated might be a better word.

I’ll admit that it hasn’t always been that way. There was a time in my life that while I understood I was a sinner in need of forgiveness, I’m not sure I comprehended the depth of my sinfulness or the fact that sin didn’t just displease God, it dishonored Him. That choosing to sin was like throwing God’s grace and goodness back in His face and telling Him I knew better. There came a point, though, when I realized my attitude toward sin didn’t quite match up with God’s. I found myself facedown on the floor repeating David’s words from Psalm 51, crying out for forgiveness.

I finally understood in that moment that sin really is a big deal. We like to think it isn’t or justify our actions by saying we can always ask for forgiveness later, but those attitudes mock a holy God who can have nothing to do with sin. We don’t take sin seriously. But God does.

But God also takes restoration seriously—and if there’s one thing you get out of this issue of ec, I hope it’s that. That God takes sin seriously, but He also takes loving you seriously and is willing and able to forgive and restore you. You’ll find that message of hope and restoration in Cynthia Hopkins’ cover story, “What’s the big deal with sin?” and in nearly every devotion this month. Take it to heart and dwell on it. Don’t make the mistake of thinking it’s true for everyone but you or that God couldn’t possibly still want you with all your flaws, sins, and bad choices. He loves you, and His love is relentless.

Let His relentless love overwhelm you this month. Let it change your attitude toward sin and challenge you to a life of obedience. Let it show up in the way you treat others and what you do and say on Facebook (see p. 46). February is the month of love, and I couldn’t think of a better time to celebrate the God who gave His one and only Son so that we could have a relationship with Him than now. Jesus loves you—and that’s a fact, not just a song you sang as a child. Believe it. Trust Him. Live in the overwhelming power of it.

You are the one Jesus loves. Be loved.

Editor's thoughts: November 2010

During my freshman year of high school, I took an art class. While I still have some of the “art” I created, I honestly don’t remember a lot about the class. The one lesson that has stuck with me, though, is the series of classes that focused on the concept of perspective. We drew and drew—the same objects, the same landscapes, again and again—from various perspectives. I had to learn to look at things from a different point of view and attempt to draw them from each new and different perspective.

It’s interesting that it would be the classes on perspective that I remember most vividly from high school art class. That’s because while I don’t draw much anymore, I still struggle with perspective. When life’s storms blow through my world, I often find myself wondering why this painful experience had to happen to me. I’m the queen of blowing things completely out of proportion. When a work day is frustrating or I don’t get my way or things don’t go exactly as I thought they would, I’m quick to think—and sometimes say—that life couldn’t possibly get any worse.

A lot of the time, my perspective on life revolves solely around me—how this affects me, how I feel, how I’m being mistreated. As I’ve matured in my faith, I’ve had to learn to listen to the Holy Spirit when I feel my emotions and my me-centered perspective start to spin out-of-control. Because what I learn when I listen and search Scripture is that my God can use the painful experiences of my life to display His glory. That maybe I’m walking through this experience now so that later I can help someone else. That it’s not all about me. Every once in awhile, I’m able to look at the so-called chaos in my life and see it from God’s vantage point. In those moments, I see how He is loving me through this all and how He’s using this experience to teach me, conform me, and bless others. I begin to recognize how He is at work in every part of the situation I thought was the worst thing ever.

It wouldn’t hurt me—or you—to seek to see life from God’s perspective a little more often. That’s the point of David Crim’s cover story on page 26—and in a way, this issue of ec. When we see ourselves from God’s point of view, it changes how we think about our lives and our purpose, as you’ll see when you read Will Snipes’ story on page 46. God’s perspective is so much bigger than ours that He can even use our grief and pain to reveal His glory and achieve His purposes, as Matt Papa discusses in an exclusive Q&A with ec (p. 56).

Don’t miss this: God is at work in every part of your life and He’s calling every believer to live an uncommon life, empowered by hope and strength that only He can give. It’s time to see your life from His perspective.

Thoughts on the September isse

One day when I was in college, I was sitting in a little park on campus trying to relax and refocus before my next class. While I was there, I met a guy who was looking for a conversation partner so that he could improve his English. He was from the Middle East, and I agreed to talk with him about once a week for the rest of the semester. During that time, he asked a lot of questions about American culture, customs, and life in general. At some point, he told me he was a Muslim, and our conversation turned to topics of faith. He wanted to know what I believed, how it differed from what he believed, and why I believed it.

I was caught off-guard, and my response was, well, lacking. I don’t know if anything I said came anywhere near explaining what I believed and why. I don’t remember specifically talking about Christ or sharing the gospel. I don’t think I did the Truth justice and am pretty sure I rushed past that moment in the conversation to other topics I felt more comfortable with and was better prepared to talk about.

But now, years later, I count that conversation as a missed opportunity to share the gospel and defend my faith. Before long, the semester was over and I lost touch with my friend. Because I’d never even thought about how to defend what I believed or why I believed it, my defense of the things most important to me was lackluster and uncomfortable at best. What little information I did manage to give was simply words and phrases I’d heard other people say, not my own reasons or responses.

As editor of ec, if there’s anything I want with this magazine, it’s to help you know God deeply and help you to NOT make the mistakes I did. That’s why I want you to think about what you believe and why now, so that you can give a defense when someone asks you later. Read Courtney Jo Vessey’s lead story “Make no apologies” on page 27 for more on that. Wrestle with the tough questions of faith now; don’t run away from them. Let our new series “Tough Questions” on page 30 help you begin that process. Live your faith, as Hannah Wakefield encourages you to in her story on page 40, and make your faith known.
My best advice to you as someone who’s a little older and made more mistakes: dive in deep in your relationship with God. Get to know Him and trust Him with your tough questions. He can handle them, and, more than that, He wants to. Trust Him, seek Him, talk about Him. Make no apologies!

Thoughts on the August issue

Life hurts. I can write that, because while life is good at the moment, I’ve lived through hurt that I sometimes still don’t understand. When my grandmother died three years ago, the grief almost swallowed me whole. When my twin brother got married, I was happy for him, but I was a little depressed that I was still single. There was a dark valley in my journey of faith that I didn’t think I’d ever climb out of and a crippling fear that God had simply had enough of me. A friend declared he was an atheist. Someone I really liked and trusted turned out not to be the person I thought he was. My other grandmother began to suffer from dementia that basically robbed me of the woman I’d known and loved. And that was just in the last three years. Life isn’t perfect, and, sometimes, it just hurts.

But what I can tell you about all of those hurtful moments and all of the times storms have hit my life is this: God never left me. In my darkest moments, when life has hurt the most, I’ve had the overwhelming feeling that God was with me, that He loved me, that He would never let go of me. When the bottom has dropped out of my life, I know that it has been God who has stopped my free fall and steadied me. Now, when the storms come, I wait for Jesus to take control of the storm in my life. Because He’s there. Because He cares. Because He has never left me alone to handle life’s hurts all by myself. Because He can handle the storms when I simply cannot.

That’s the truth I want you to take to heart as you read this month’s issue of ec. We’re not guaranteed an easy life as Christians; in fact, Jesus declared that we would face trouble in this world—but then He reminded us that He had overcome that trouble. (See John 16:33.) Get to know that Jesus, the One who walks with you through your pain and understands it because He once lived here. Think about that truth as you read Jennifer Denning’s cover story, “Faith, Interrupted” on page 33. Let it wash over you as you read this month’s devotions. Let it challenge you as you read Julie Partin’s story about the things you need to do to prepare spiritually before you leave your parents’ home (p. 52).

When you close this issue of ec, it’s my prayer that because of something you’ve read on the pages of this magazine, you’ve come into an even deeper relationship with Christ—a relationship that is so strong, deep, and personal that when life’s storms hit, you simply cling to Him. Life hurts and storms are going to come, but you’re not alone in them. God is good through it all.