Tag: faith

Mathematical Musings: Ups and Downs

Scripture

The mathematician in me has always appreciated the concept of inverse variation: if the value of one quantity increases, the value of the other quantity decreases in the same proportion. For example, at constant temperature, as pressure increases, volume decreases. You might remember this from physics or chemistry class.

2 Corinthians 4:16-17 (ESV) says, “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison…” The inverse variation analogy might be a stretch. But, in the life of a believer, we don’t fret about the inverse relationship between the outer and inner selves. We take heart. While the outer physical self decreases in stamina and vigor, by God’s grace our inner self is increasingly renewed and invigorated for glory. We are embodied souls living with a “both” existence of life and death. As we lament the curse of bodily decrease, we also take joy in the grace given in our hearts being enlarged by a beautiful Savior, Jesus Christ.

Another look at mathematical principles includes the concept of direct variation (the opposite of inverse variation) which happens when both values increase at the same time and in relationship to one another. 2 Corinthians 5:11-15 says, “Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. For if we are beside ourselves (crazy), it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that One has died for all, therefore all have died; and He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him Who for their sake died and was raised.”

As the Corinthians increasingly mocked Paul as being crazy, the unbelieving Corinthian culture increased in darkness and hard-heartedness. Yet, there was a simultaneous increase in right-mindedness – knowing the fear of the Lord and sharing the Gospel with others. Being sober and crazy at the same time, increasingly. Have you ever experienced that dual reality? Paul exemplified sobriety in his passion for ministry, motivation to please Christ, and priority to persuade others of Gospel truth even while accusations of his craziness increased.

Being in your “right mind” is observed when a believer grows in relationship with the Lord to reveal outward evidence of wisdom, fruitfulness and passion. The world may question the faith upon which these evidences are based as insanity. But taking a page from Paul’s playbook, nothing else matters except that the love of Christ controls us increasingly and that we live for Him. What may seem ludicrous to one group will be eternally life-giving to others.

Here are other valuations that increase in concert by God’s perfect design. Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally, brothers (and sisters), whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Let these increase directly in relationship to one another.

For the believer, direct variation should be a “both” existence of faith and love. Watch love increase when faith increases. It is direct!

Yes or No Questions

Scripture

I am a retired high school mathematics teacher and a great lover-of-order. I like yes or no questions that have no nuances, no gray areas. Questions that are not really up for discussion. True/false. Right/wrong.

Psalm 77 may look at first like a discussion, but I have walked with the Lord for long enough to know that the Psalm writer Asaph’s invitation is to enter the true/false realm. I am invited to affirm the yeses and nos in my life of faith. Even when God is silent, even when I am greatly troubled and losing sleep, even when waiting on God seems excruciating, I am invited to gaze thoughtfully at God’s work and character…

Let’s start with the “Nos.” Psalm 77:7-9 (NIV) says, “Will the Lord reject forever? (No) Will He never show His favor again? (No) Has His unfailing love vanished forever? (No) Has His promise failed for all time? (No) Has God forgotten to be merciful? (No) Has He in anger withheld His compassion? (No) Maybe rhetorical. Maybe not.

For me these are not timidly spoken “Nos.” They are emphatic “Nos.” These are the “Nos” that lead me to contemplate the “Yeses.” In the remainder of Psalm 77 (v10-20), I remember that God is the Most High Who does miracles and mighty deeds. Amen. Bringing about my salvation was miracle #1! Amen. He is Holy, great, powerful. He has moved mountains in my life, surrounded me with friends, transformed my anxious thoughts, kept me steady in times of turmoil, helped me to see loss as gain, helped me to see His Kingdom spreading on earth, helped me to apply His Word, helped me to help others. Amen.

Because of the “Nos,” He shows me His welcome, His favor, His unfailing love, His kept promises, His mercy, His compassion. Psalm 77:20 says, “You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.” I remember how God faithfully led His people like a flock by Moses and Aaron. He still leads today. He is the Good Shepherd.

2 Corinthians 1:20 says, “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through Him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.”

Image of the Invisible God

Scripture

Who is Jesus? Colossians 1:15-20 reveals the grand mystery. Jesus is Supreme in all things. He is the Son of God, a relationship that bears mystery – yes. He is the image of the invisible God. By faith we come to understand Jesus as God incarnate. There is fullness – the expression of God in all fullness. While there is mystery, there is also revelation.

Lots of “alls” can be found in the book of Colossians. Jesus is Supreme over all things – Creation, heaven, earth, visible, invisible, thrones, dominions, rulers, authorities, the Church. As we dig into the mystery, the apostle Paul helps us to clarity various relationships – Jesus to His Father, Jesus to the Church, Jesus to eternal life, Jesus to redemption.

Colossians 1:21-23 (ESV) says, “And you who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, He has now reconciled in His body of flesh by His death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before Him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.”

These verses highlight the great pivot point of the Gospel. This pivot is where we recognize the depth of our alienation and hostility to God, and then respond in faith to our Savior. As a former math teacher, I love the world of opposites, negatives, positives, what’s in a set and what’s not, what’s above and what’s below a graphed function – these are the 180-degree turns that the Gospel reminds me of visually. For believers, there is the constant reminder in scripture of the “before and after” and the “once you were…” And then comes the great pivot in the Gospel – “But…”

But now… But God raised Him from the dead (Acts 2:24)…But God demonstrates His own love (Romans 5:8)…But God has put the body together (I Cor. 12:24)…But God in His grace gave it to Abraham through the promise (Galatians 2:27)…But God had mercy on him (Philippians 2:27)… All these represent a 180-degree, complete turnaround from being alienated, hostile, and evil to being holy, blameless, and above reproach in Jesus Christ. A total status change. A “180.”

The hinge, of course, is faith. Stable, steadfast, firm, not shifting – Faith. Faith in Him Who is Supreme in all things.

As you contemplate the “180,” this might be your prayer (taken from Valley of Vision, “The Spirit of Jesus”):

Because of Who Jesus is, “…May His comforts cheer me in my sorrows, His strength sustain me in my trials, His blessings revive me in my weariness, His presence render me a fruitful tree of holiness, His might establish me in peace and joy, His incitements make me ceaseless in prayer, His animation kindle in me undying devotion.”

By faith, I can understand the mystery of who Jesus is and can trust that His Supremacy covers all the “alls” in my life. After all, He is the image of the invisible God.

Clearing the Air

Scripture

Mark 4:37-41 says, “A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, ‘Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?’ He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Quiet! Be still!’ Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, ‘Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?’ They were terrified and asked each other, ‘Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!’ “

Several days ago, it was a temperate, low-humidity September day, I wondered why I didn’t need my sunglasses. Because the sun was definitely shining… (a puzzle). I later learned that the wildfire smoke from California had drifted eastward so much so that it smudged up the skies, reduced the brilliance of the sun, and added unusual coloration to our sunsets.

John Bacon, in a USA Today article, has recently reported that the West Coast fires have burned an area larger than the state of Connecticut. Sobering. Hard to imagine! But, this puts things into perspective.

Add this: drifting California smoke was high enough not to bother East Coast asthma-sufferers, but low enough to produce a cloudlike cover, subduing normal sunshine. Covid has been like those wildfires. A challenge the size of Connecticut! A subduer of normal sunshine! A squall that won’t die down. We mask-wearers long for breaths of clean, unobstructed air. Will it all clear someday?

On this same beautiful September day (2020), I sat around a table on a colonial town street, having a brown bag dinner with a group of lady friends. It was inspiring to see each other without the use of Zoom. In our new-normalizing, we enjoyed reflecting on the silver linings of Covid (yes there are some). I’d describe these silver linings as opportunities to do things differently. Outdoor dining has turned out to be a real treat. Using our patios and screen porches more at home is another. Not so much gas guzzling these days. Not many road trips. More walks and bike rides. Attention to things long forgotten due to busyness. Appreciating things previously taken for granted.

There is One true silver lining – the One who causes the wind and waves to obey Him. We need to clear the air…We need to remind ourselves of this timeless truth:

Matthew 6:26-30 says, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will He not much more clothe you — you of little faith?”

Take off the masks on your heart and mind. Breath in the clean air of God’s Truth. Nothing happens apart from His control. The winds obey Him. Nothing is suffered that He doesn’t sift. The waves obey Him. His plans and purposes cannot be thwarted. Have faith. Clear the air. See the silver linings.