The Surpassing Value of Loss

Perhaps the most effective means of learning the true value of people and things in life is to lose them. This can also be the most raw and emotionally painful experiences one can go through. Whether one loses a relationship because of repeated and foolish behavior or the brute fist of reality hits one without warning the net effect will be the same. Yours or my life will be permanently altered and what could have been possible in life and the development of relationships is permanently altered. The forms of life ending or life altering events are many: Death, divorce, illness, financial ruin, being victimized by those bent on evil for their own gain and the direct consequences of our choices to do foolish or evil things. No one is immune from trouble but we can learn to be wise and choose God’s way of life rather than the folly of idolatry.

The history of the ancient Israelites is a case in point regarding this. Their persistent rebellion and idolatry brought down on them the curses that Moses warned them about and they cheated themselves out of the protection and blessing of the living God (see Deuteronomy 28). Jeremiah the prophet reminded them of this when he declared this:  

“Thus says the LORD: ‘Stand at the crossroads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.’ But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ Also I raised up sentinels for you: ‘Give heed to the sound of the trumpet!’ But they said, ‘We will not give heed.’ Therefore hear, O nations, and know, O congregation, what will happen to them. Hear, O earth; I am going to bring disaster on this people, the fruit of their schemes, because they have not given heed to my words; and as for my teaching, they have rejected it.” (Jeremiah 6:16-19, NRSV)

God warned them in advance what would happen to them if they did not heed God’s words and seek to listen to God. Yet the very loss that came upon them—being uprooted from their homeland, watching their relatives and countrymen die and seeing God’s city and temple destroyed. Yet this very loss, even though it came upon them as a consequence of their own hard hearts and persistent choices to sin against God and each other, could become for them the means of their salvation. The loss forced those who survived as exiles to confront their sin, the consequences (with which they were confronted daily) and to throw themselves into God’s mercy.

The pain and the loss will not be forgotten, but if they are willing to exercise faith as they walk through it God can burn into their memory (as individuals and as a people) the seriousness of sin, the reality of God’s holiness and the true purpose for their existence. Before they had lived under the delusion of idolatry—pretending to be able to live and thrive without faithful obedience to the living God alone. Now those who survive and their descendants can learn from the past and press in to understand the ways of the God of the universe under his covenant love. Whether this actually happens depends upon their willingness to learn to heed the prophetic word with faith.

I would propose that there has been no change in God’s character nor in his ways since the ancient Israelites lived and received the revelations of God through Moses and the prophets. The advent of the promised Messiah Jesus has not changed the fact that God still brings down upon us the consequences of our choices to sin. God still allows hardship and trouble to enter our lives (and sometime severely disrupt them). In other words, God allows pain and loss in our lives. The renewed and ratified eternal covenant we have in the Lord Jesus has not changed this basic aspect of how God operates. What has changed is the breadth and depth of knowledge we now have of God’s character and love in the Lord and thus the capacity for knowing the living God.

The function denial of this truth is evident when one surveys the Christian churches in America and the Western world. All one has to do is pay attention to the general silence of the preachers and teachers in Christian circles on matters of human sin, judgment, God’s discipline and the reality of hell. Simply note how popular the heresy of “name it and claim it” prosperity teaching is and that those who teach that have no words of comfort for those who suffer. Note how frequently we Christians gripe about ordinary and petty inconveniences as though we were suffering some hardship for Christ. Note the attitudes and consequential choices Christian people routinely make to avoid hardship, confrontation and the hard work of reconciling with others.

Suffering is part of life and God utilizes it for our good. Whether we have brought it upon ourselves (and are quite deserving of it) or victims of others evil intentions or foolish choices. If we can come to perceive and value the hardships, the different forms of pain and the real loss that they bring then we can submit ourselves to Father God in the midst of the most difficult circumstances. The troubles and trials will not define us but rather shape our thinking and teach us to fear the Lord--so we can live with a holy realism in this life. Our experiences, no matter what they are, can then become our valued teachers which lead us to greater depth of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and to press more into the communion of the Holy Spirit, all the while giving thanks to the Father of glory.