Psalm 62:8 Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Selah.

I took this photo this afternoon from a hilltop in West Hills, looking southeast toward the Palisades fire. This is the same fire that destroyed Pacific Palisades a few days ago. Now it has crested the mountain, and like a hungry beast, is heading toward the communities of Brentwood and Encino along the 101 and 405.

It’s hard to believe these wildfires just started on Tuesday. Our hearts go out to the people of Pacific Palisades, Altadena, and others who have been completely devastated. Other areas face heavy losses and evacuations, and many are still on high alert. Those of us in the San Fernando Valley are literally in a “ring of fire” with various fires burning nearly all directions. Thankfully, several have been contained and mitigated, but others continue to be a threat, and there is still more wind in the forecast.

We all have suspicions of how these fires started. We all have frustrations with the mismanagement and poor planning by city and state officials. These leaders need to be held accountable. Meanwhile, we continue to pray for those in harm’s way and thank God for the incredible skill and courage of first responders.

Our prayer is not only that God would provide physical safety, but that he would use this tragedy to turn hearts toward him. Unfortunately, sometimes it takes a disaster to get our attention and help us think about eternal things. It would be wonderful to see a genuine spiritual revival in Los Angeles. So many have lost so much. Early estimates say this will be the costliest wildfire event in US history, and it’s not even done yet. People have lost not only homes, businesses, schools, and church buildings, but tragically, some lost their lives.

One of the most jarring scenes this week was seeing a street full of luxury cars, all empty, as people had run for their lives to escape the flames. Firefighters had to send in bulldozers to push the cars out of the way so they could get emergency vehicles to the front lines of the fire. In just a matter of hours, these people’s lives were turned upside down. How quickly we can lose everything!

Jesus says it this way: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19–21)

Earlier in the week, I wrote a prayer and shared it on social media. Please join me in praying this over our city.

Father in Heaven, you control the wind and the waves. In times of disaster, we remember how frail we are. We pray your protection for the firefighters, and for the tens of thousands in evacuation zones. Please cause the winds to die down. In times of chaos and panic, cause people to consider the frailty of life and look to you for strength. This life so quickly passes by along with all its treasures. Set eternity on people’s hearts, and be glorified today even through this tragedy. In Jesus’ name, Amen

Last Friday, I officiated a memorial service for one of our members, Joe Brown, as well as an interment service at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale. During the memorial service, Joe’s sister-in-law Rhonda shared a beautiful poem that she has written. After the service, I asked if I could get a copy, and she gave me not only the poem, but a copy of an entire poetry book she has written! She said she belongs to a local poetry club and often gets to share Christian themes in an otherwise secular setting. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did…

Whether it comes in sudden pounce
Or makes a long and visible approach,
Death’s hard to take.
It stuns us, breaks our hearts,
Leaves us bereft of body’s sweet tangibility,
Drives laughter and smiles out of reach.

But we are marked for saving,
Who look to the Lamb,
Who paint his blood on the doorposts
of our hearts.
Death seizes our feeble flesh,
But our souls are safe.

Here in the mercy of God we hide,
Sheltered and kept secure,
Passed over when judgement comes.

Messiah, Messiah,
I cling to your cross
While the angel of death roars by!

Suffering is the gift no one wants, but everyone needs. So let us prayerfully enroll in the school of suffering, expecting to learn valuable lessons along the way.

I love this statement by W. Mackintosh Mackay:

“Experience,’ said a great preacher, ‘teaches fools, but she graduates saints.’ Her graduation ceremony, it must be admitted, is often the close of a long and hard curriculum. If you read the record of our great writers, both secular and sacred, you will be surprised to find of how many of them it was true that they were great sufferers. Of more than poets it is true that ‘they learnt in suffering what they taught in song’. The fragrant name they possess in literature was won out of ‘great tribulation’. The hymns we sing with such comfort to others were born out of bitter hours of pain and disappointment. Our hymnology is largely a martyrology. The men whose words will never die, often died themselves prematurely, or if they lived, lived in what was a living death.” (Expositor’s Dictionary of Texts, v. 2, p. 996)

Just as so many great hymns of the faith, and great men and women of church history, were borne out of suffering, so we can expect trials if we wish to be useful instruments in the Redeemer’s hands. In this week’s lesson we learn…

• How suffering helps us minister to others
• How God redeems our suffering for his good purposes
• The kind of trials we face where comfort is needed
• What’s the difference between a trial and temptation?
• An encouraging reminder that for the believer, all suffering is temporary!

Here’s the audio link:

And here’s a copy of the handout:

Thanks for listening. This is week six in an 11-week biblical counseling class called, “Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands.” To order a Study Guide please click here. 

Have you ever hit “rock bottom” before God got finally got your attention? The nation of Israel did. This morning in our Bible Study Community, we did a one-lesson overview of the Book of Lamentations. I’d love to study this book more someday! Attendance was down a bit today with the bad weather, but not to worry, we recorded the lesson and you can listen along right here. In this passage, we learn…

• That it’s OK to cry… and that many godly people have
• The dazzling symmetry and poetry of Lamentations
• How moments of shame can lead to repentance and renewal
• Where Jeremiah drew hope in the midst of suffering

Here’s the audio link:

And here’s a copy of the handout:

Thanks for listening. If you live in the Highland area, we invite you to our Immanuel Baptist median adults Bible study on Sundays at 9am in the Fellowship Hall.

A few days ago, in an “Ask Pastor John” episode, John Piper was asked about depression, and whether a Christian hedonist can experience it.

If you’re not familiar with Christian hedonism, you should pick up Piper’s classic book Desiring God. His basic premise is that “God is most glorified us when we are most satisfied in him,” and that God actually created us to know and enjoy him. True Christianity is not the denial of pleasure, but rather discovering that we were made for pleasure, and that true joy is found in God alone. Christians are to be hedonists in the true sense of the word, and pastors in particular should be those who taste and see that the Lord is good, then share him with others.

So, back to the matter of depression. A listener named Hannah from Los Angles writes Piper a courageous question: “…There is a very real place of deep darkness that I’ve experienced. When I hear you speak of Christian hedonism, and joy and pleasure in God, I feel a tinge of fear, because I’ve often lived in valleys where I feel little joy. Can flourishing Christian hedonism co-exist with seasons of dark depression, or is that a stark contrast of terms?”

Piper begins by recommending an exposition on Psalm 72 by John Bloom called “My Soul Refuses to Be Refreshed.” He also refers to one of his own books When the Darkness Will Not Lift.

I love what Piper says about the psalms. “The most experiential parts of the Bible are very realistic as far as the ups and downs of our relationship with God.” This is good news for us. We are not to be driven and tossed by our emotions, but they are a genuine part of the human experience, and we should be neither surprised nor alarmed by them, but rather seek to take those emotions and thoughts captive to the will of God.

Piper then distinguishes between “flourishing” Christian hedonism where depression is unlikely to be felt and “rugged” or “unbroken” Christian hedonism that experiences ups and downs. He makes an interesting point that depression is not mainly finding joy in something other than God, but is more complicated than that. Depression often involves physical factors and attacks from the enemy. With depression, “the capacity to cherish at all has dried up and there is a deep, dark numbness of the soul.”

This is a helpful definition and comes from the voice of experience. I would have loved to hear a scripture at this point, giving biblical support for his definition and diagnosis. I think it can be justified by the language of Psalm 42 and passages such as Job 3 and Ecclesiastes 4. But while Piper does not cite scripture in his definition, he does give five very helpful scriptures to serve the soul during bouts of depression. If you struggle with a “deep, dark numbness,” know you are not alone, and that God can help you just as he has helped these Spirit-inspired authors before you.

Micah 7:8–9 Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my cause and executes judgment for me. He will bring me out to the light; I shall look upon his vindication.

Psalm 139:7 Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?

Psalm 42:5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation

1 Peter 2:2–3 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Philippians 3:12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Piper says we press on to make Jesus our own, because he pressed on to make us his own.

You can listen to the whole answer here. It’s only 11 minutes long and worth your time.

As those who have tasted that the Lord is good, may the Lord help us every day to crave for him and find our satisfaction in him, pushing through the darkness and embracing the One for whom we were made.

(I first shared this post in a blog called “Shade for the Shepherd” that I briefly started in 2020, but then I decided to stick with my existing blog “Pinch of Clay.” Thanks for reading!)