A solar eclipse and the power of faithful suffering
A single ticket in Illinois won the eighth-largest Powerball jackpot in history last night. We may never know the winner’s identity, however. In Illinois, a person who wins a prize of $250,000 or more can choose to remain anonymous. And unless you live in that state and purchased a ticket, this story is likely to be more interesting than relevant to you.
The same is true of much of today’s news:
- White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt will leave her role at the end of the month.
- Home Depot’s chief executive, Ted Decker, is stepping away from his role for medical reasons but is expected to return in a few months.
- Toyota is recalling 655,000 Camrys globally.
- Soccer great Cristiano Ronaldo married his long-time partner in Portugal.
- Goldfish Gluten Free will be available this November.
Each story is more relevant to some of us than to all of us. For something to affect a response from us, it has to affect us.
This is a simple principle with eternal significance.
“How do you know it’s from the moon?”
The moon passed in front of the sun yesterday, as it does every eighteen months or so. If you happened to be where the solar eclipse this produced was visible, congratulations. Folks in Spain were especially excited to be in the “path of totality,” since they had not experienced a total solar eclipse in more than a century.
About 230 million people were able to see 90 percent totality, including those in the UK, where the Telegraph reported that “eclipse fever has hit Britain.” Up to 94 percent of the Sun was covered there. Since the next total eclipse in Britain will not be until 2090, people tried to make the best of it.
I don’t live in the UK or even in the parts of the US that saw a very partial eclipse, so I’m taking the word of those who do. I’m reminded of my aunts Daisy and Clella, who were convinced Americans never went to the moon. The whole thing was staged on dunes in Arizona to bilk the taxpayers, they claimed. When I told them that I had seen a moon rock in a museum, they asked, “How do you know it’s from the moon?” It was a good question.
I could have watched the eclipse online, but my aunts would have asked how I knew what I saw on my screen was real. In this day of AI and fake videos, their skepticism is more warranted than ever.
The faith of three faithful friends
If I had accompanied Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the lunar surface, I could more easily have persuaded my aunts that people walked on the moon. Personal endorsements are always the most powerful marketing, which is why so many ads feature celebrities.
The more someone I admire demonstrates a trait I do not have, the more I will want what they have.
In yesterday’s article, I mentioned a friend who is facing his ALS diagnosis with such courage and good humor that I find my own faith greatly encouraged. He’s not the only person who has blessed me in this way recently.
I also heard from a friend who was at a hospital undergoing cancer treatments. She was excited to tell my wife and me that she had been able to share her faith with other patients twice during the day. She had promised the Lord that she would not miss her cue if he would give her a chance to glorify him. He did what she asked, and she did what she promised. Only the Lord knows the eternal significance of her present-tense faithfulness.
Another friend is facing another cancer surgery. But every time I check on him, he wants to know how I am doing and how he can pray for me. His selfless faithfulness demonstrates the reality of Jesus’ living presence in his life.
“He put a new song in my mouth”
This pattern of faithful witness in painful times is evident across Scripture. For example, David reports in Psalm 40 that he had been in “the pit of destruction” and “the miry bog” (v. 2a). But in such hardship, he “waited patiently for the Lᴏʀᴅ” and cried to him (v. 1), and God drew him out of the pit and “set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure” (v. 2b).
What’s more, David adds, “He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God” (v. 3a). Now comes my point: “Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lᴏʀᴅ” (v. 3b).
Paul made a similar point in his second letter to the Thessalonians: “We ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring” (2 Thessalonians 1:4, my italics). Their afflictions made their faithfulness more powerful and persuasive.
When we trust God in hard places, others see the reality and relevance of our faith as they can in no other circumstances. If all is well with us, of course we will worship and serve God, they say. But when times are difficult, when we are in “the miry bog” but we trust God even there, others see that our faith is genuine and transforming.
In Acts 16, after Paul and Silas had been beaten and put into prison, we read that “about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them” (v. 25, my italics). Picture the scene: You’re chained in a cell alongside other prisoners. None of them can leave of their own volition. They are the definition of a “captive audience.”
If you praise and worship God at midnight, those in the dark with you cannot help but hear and see your faith. And as you glorify Jesus, they are drawn to the One you worship.
What “new song” will you sing to God today?
Quote for the day:
“Nothing good has ever come into the world without opposition, and that is especially true in spiritual matters.” —James Boice
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