Doing What We Can While We Wait for God—and Joy Piper, John. When the Darkness Will Not Lift: Doing What We Can While We Wait for God

“Doing What We Can

While We Wait for God—and Joy”

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Introduction

Waiting for the Lord in a season of darkness should not be a time of inactivity. We should do what we can do. And doing is often God’s appointed remedy for despair. Wise Christian counselors, ancient and modern, have given this advice. George MacDonald, whom C. S. Lewis called “his master,”1 wrote:

[God] changes not because thou changest. Nay, He has an especial tenderness of love

towards thee for that thou art in the dark and hast no light, and His heart is glad when thou dost arise and say, “I will go to my Father.” . . . Fold the arms of thy faith, and wait in the quietness until light goes up in thy darkness. Fold the arms of thy Faith I say, but not of thy Action: bethink thee of something that thou oughtest to do, and go to do it, if it be but the sweeping of a room, or the preparing of a meal, or a visit to a friend. Heed not thy feelings: Do thy work.2

Richard Baxter gave the same counsel three hundred years earlier than MacDonald and traced it back to the Bible. Be sure that you live not idly, but in some constant business of a lawful calling, so far as you have bodily strength. Idleness is a constant sin, and labour is a duty.

Idleness is but the devil’s home for temptation, and for unprofitable, distracting musings. Labour profiteth others and ourselves; both soul and body need it. Six days must thou labour, and must not eat “The bread of idleness.” (.) God hath made it our duty, and will bless us in his appointed way. I have known grievous, despairing melancholy cured and turned into a life of godly cheerfulness, principally by setting upon constancy and diligence in the business of families and callings.3

Body

WHAT MATTERS IS YOUR DUTY, NOT YOUR JOY?

This counsel from MacDonald and Baxter raises a critical question. They both seem to make feelings feelings negligible. They seem to say: What matters is that you do your duty, not that you feel joy. But that may not be what they mean, and if it were, I would strongly disagree. When MacDonald says, “Heed not thy feelings: Do thy work,” he means: don’t let wrong feelings govern you. Act against them. If your feelings are telling you that staying in bed is the best thing today, preach to your feelings and tell them how foolish they are. Don’t lose sight of the gospel in this preaching! Don’t forget that defeating these wrong feelings and getting out of bed is enabled by the Spirit and is becoming what you are in Christ. But then exert your will and get up! I certainly agree with this.

But the question is deeper: If joy in God is the foun tain of love and the root of right living—as I believe it is—can behavior that proceeds without joy be virtuous? I will answer the question at two levels.

First, I would say that a Christian, no matter how dark the season of his sadness, never is completely without joy in God. I mean that there remains in his heart the seed of joy in the form, perhaps, of only a remembered taste of goodness and an unwillingness to let the goodness go. This is not the “joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory” (). It’s not the joy that we have known at times and fight to regain. But it is a fragment of such joy—like a man who sits in prison and pulls out a tattered picture of his wife, or a paralyzed victim of a car accident who watches a video of the day he could dance. Or, even more fragmentary, the joy may only lie there in the cellar of our soul in the form of penitent sadness that we cannot desire God as we ought. Inside that sadness is the seed of what we once knew of joy.

DUTY INCLUDES THE DUTY OF JOY

The other answer I would give is that we should never say to ourselves or another person in the season of darkness, “Just do your work. Just do your duty. Just act like a Christian, even if you don’t feel like one.” That’s almost good advice. But the problem is in the word just. Instead of only saying, “Just do your duty,” we must say four other things as well.

First, we must say that joy is part of your duty. The Bible says, “Rejoice always” (). And in regard to the duty of giving, it says, “God loves a cheerful giver” (). In regard to the duty of service, it says, “Serve the Lord with gladness” (). In regard to the duty of mercy, it says do it “with cheerfulness” (). In regard to the duty of afflictions, it says, “Count it all joy” (). We simply water down the divine command when we call someone to half their duty.

The second thing we must say when we tell a disconsolate person to “do their job” is that while they do their job, they should probably be repenting and confessing the sin of gloomy faith. I say “probably” because even in cases where the main cause is physical, there is probably some element of sinful pride or self-pity mingled with it. I am aware that this may sound like an added burden to the one who is in spiritual darkness. But it is not an added burden. If it is a burden at all, it is already there and not added by calling it what it is. Failing to rejoice in God when we are commanded to rejoice is sin. False comforts lead to artificial healing. But the truest diagnoses lead to the deepest cures. So, yes, we tell the disconsolate: “If you can, get up from your bed and make a meal, or sweep a room, or take a walk, or visit a friend, or go to work. But it is not a matter of indifference whether you do this with joy in God, and if you can’t, then tell him so, and that you are sorry. He will hear you mercifully and forgive.”

WILL YOU BE A HYPOCRITE IF YOU OBEY WITHOUT JOY?

Which leads to the third thing we say along with “Do your duty.” We say: As you are able to do some of your duty, ask God that the joy be restored. That is, don’t sit and wait for the joy, saying, “I will be a hypocrite if I do an act of mercy today, since I do not feel the joy of mercy.” No, you will not be a hypocrite, if you know that joy is your duty, and repent that you don’t have it, and ask God earnestly to restore the joy even as you do the deed. That is not the way a hypocrite thinks. That is the way a true Christian thinks in the fight for joy.

And the fourth thing we say, when we counsel the depressed Christian to be up and doing something good, is, “Be sure to thank God as you work that he has given you at least the will to work.” Do not say, “But it is hypocritical to thank God with my tongue when I don’t feel thankful in my heart.” There is such a thing as hypocritical thanksgiving. Its aim is to conceal ingratitude and get the praise of men. That is not your aim. Your aim in loosing your tongue with words of gratitude is that God would be merciful and fill your words with the emotion of true gratitude. You are not seeking the praise of men; you are seeing the mercy of God. You are not hiding the hardness of ingratitude, but hoping for the inbreaking of the Spirit.

In Conclusion THANKSGIVING WITH THE MOUTH STIRS UP THANKFULNESS IN THE HEART

T

Piper, John. When the Darkness Will Not Lift: Doing What We Can While We Wait for God (p. 51). Crossway. Kindle Edition.

Piper, John. When the Darkness Will Not Lift: Doing What We Can While We Wait for God (pp. 50-51). Crossway. Kindle Edition.

Piper, John. When the Darkness Will Not Lift: Doing What We Can While We Wait for God (p. 50). Crossway. Kindle Edition.

Piper, John. When the Darkness Will Not Lift: Doing What We Can While We Wait for God (pp. 49-50). Crossway. Kindle Edition.

Piper, John. When the Darkness Will Not Lift: Doing What We Can While We Wait for God (p. 49). Crossway. Kindle Edition.

Piper, John. When the Darkness Will Not Lift: Doing What We Can While We Wait for God (pp. 48-49). Crossway. Kindle Edition.

Piper, John. When the Darkness Will Not Lift: Doing What We Can While We Wait for God (p. 48). Crossway. Kindle Edition.

Piper, John. When the Darkness Will Not Lift: Doing What We Can While We Wait for God (pp. 47-48). Crossway. Kindle Edition.

Piper, John. When the Darkness Will Not Lift: Doing What We Can While We Wait for God (p. 47). Crossway. Kindle Edition.

Piper, John. When the Darkness Will Not Lift: Doing What We Can While We Wait for God (pp. 45-46). Crossway. Kindle Edition.

h

i ver. 23

j ch. 3:21; []

k

l [ch. 5:4]

m [; ]

n

o [ch. 5:10; ; ; ]

p ; [ch. 4:12]

q

r ; ; ;

s

t , ; ; []

u []

v []; See

w

x ; [; ; ]

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

English Standard Version Chapter 1

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! hAccording to his great mercy, ihe has caused us to be born again to a living hope jthrough the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to kan inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and lunfading, mkept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded nthrough faith for a salvation oready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by pvarious trials, 7 so that qthe tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes rthough it is tested by sfire—may be found to result in tpraise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 uThough you have not seen him, you love him. vThough you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining wthe outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

10 Concerning this salvation, xthe prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched

English Standard Version Chapter 1

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! hAccording to his great mercy, ihe has caused us to be born again to a living hope jthrough the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to kan inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and lunfading, mkept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded nthrough faith for a salvation oready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by pvarious trials, 7 so that qthe tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes rthough it is tested by sfire—may be found to result in tpraise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 uThough you have not seen him, you love him. vThough you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining wthe outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

10 Concerning this salvation, xthe prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched