作者：Steve Fuller 作者：駱鴻銘
或許你渴望獲得醫治、渴望一份工作、一個孩子，或一位妻子。而你也經年累月地忠心並熱切地為此禱告。但你仍在病痛中、失業、無兒無女、或仍舊單身。
Maybe
you have longed for healing, for a job, for a baby, or for a wife. You have
faithfully and earnestly prayed for weeks and months — even years. But you are
still sick, still unemployed, still childless, or still single.
你如今感到失望，事實上是你對上帝感到失望。
And
you are disappointed. In fact, you are disappointed by God.
多少年來，我和妻子一直盼望能懷孕。我們盼望、禱告；更多盼望、也更多禱告。我們認識的幾對夫妻都懷了孕——而我們卻沒有。我們深深感到失望，但上帝的話呼召我們要憑信心而活。而信心的意思是，相信上帝一切的應許，都在基督耶穌裏為我們預備了。
For
many years my wife and I longed for pregnancy. We longed and prayed. And longed
and prayed some more. Couples we knew got pregnant — but we did not. And we
felt deep disappointment. But God’s word calls us to live by faith. And faith
means trusting all that God promises to be for us in Christ Jesus.
所以，當我們失望時，上帝應許我們什麼呢？
So
then, what does God promise when we are disappointed?
什麼好處都不缺
You
Lack No Good Thing
這些年來一直在幫助我的，是詩篇第三十四篇10節的應許： 「少壯獅子還缺食忍餓，但尋求耶和華的，甚麼好處都不缺。」這個應許是給那些尋求主，在基督裏因信得生和想要更認識上帝的人。
One promise
that’s helped me over the years is Psalm 34:10, “The young lions suffer want
and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.” This promise is
for those who seek the Lord — those who are saved by faith in Christ and who
are seeking to know him more.
上帝應許那些尋求祂的人，什麼好處都不缺。這意思是，對你有好處的，上帝都會賜給你。
God
promises that those who seek him will lack no good thing. Which means, if
something is good, God will give it to you.
好，這很難吞得下去。畢竟，你還生病、失業、沒有孩子或依舊單身。
那麼，上帝要如何履行祂對你的應許呢？
Now
that’s hard to swallow. After all, you are still sick, unemployed, childless,
or single. So how is God fulfilling his promise to you?
最大的好處
The
Greatest Good
幫助我理解這點的是問這個問題：什麼是最大的好處？
What
helped me understand this was to ask: What is the greatest good?
大衛說：David says,
我的心哪，你曾對耶和華說：你是我的主；我的好處不在你以外（詩十六2）。
I say
to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.” (Psalm 16:2)
亞薩說：And Asaph,
除你以外，在天上我有誰呢？除你以外，在地上我也沒有所愛慕的（詩七十三25）。
Whom
have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides
you. (Psalm 73:25)
而保羅說：And Paul,
不但如此，我也將萬事當作有損的，因我以認識我主基督耶穌為至寶（腓三8）。
Indeed,
I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ
Jesus my Lord. (Philippians 3:8)
所以最大的是好處就是上帝自己——在耶穌基督身上認識上帝。
So
the greatest good is God himself — knowing God in the person of Jesus Christ.
這不只是知道關於上帝的事而已，實際上這就是在認識上帝。這意思是去感受祂的榮耀、祂的愛，並經歷祂的同在。當我們如此經歷上帝時，我們就會感到飽足，以至於不再渴望其他的事物。上帝是唯一能滿足一切的好處，這就是為什麼上帝是我們最大的好處的原因。
This is
not just knowing about God. This is actually knowing God. This means to feel
his glory, sense his love, experience his presence. When we experience God in
this way, we are so full that we desire nothing else. God is the only
all-satisfying good, which is why he is the greatest good.
讓一件事成為有益的是什麼？
What
Makes Something Good?
因此，當上帝應許說，我們任何好處都不缺，是什麼意思呢？
So
what does God mean when he promises we will lack no good thing?
得醫治是有益的，但是沒有得醫治也是有益的。
Healing
can be good, but so can lack of healing.
若上帝是我們最大的好處，那麼使一件事成為有益，就是因為它會叫我們更多得著上帝。所以，在病痛中得醫治是有益的。因為它向我們彰顯了上帝的能力、憐憫和良善，使我們更多得著上帝。但沒有得醫治也是有益的，因為這會讓我們與主更親近，因而更多得著上帝。
If
God is our greatest good, then what makes something good is whether it brings
us more of God. So being healed of a sickness can be good because it can bring
us more of God by showing us his power, mercy, and goodness. But not being
healed can also be good since it, too, can bring us more of God by drawing us
even closer to him.
這正是保羅從他身上的一根刺所經歷到的：「祂對我說：『我的恩典夠你用的，因為我的能力是在人的軟弱上顯得完全。』所以，我更喜歡誇自己的軟弱，好叫基督的能力覆庇我」（林後十二9）。
That’s
what Paul experienced with his thorn in the flesh, “But he said to me, ‘My
grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’
Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power
of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
所以，若是上帝選擇讓我未得醫治，是因為疾病能讓我更多得著祂那完全滿足的同在，勝過醫治所能帶給我的。在這種情況下，儘管我未得到醫治，我其實並不缺任何好處，因為疾病讓我能在主裏經歷到最多的喜樂。既然上帝是令我完全滿足的珍寶，那麼，能讓我更多得著上帝的，就是有益的事。
So if
God chooses not to heal me, it’s because sickness will bring me even more of
his all-satisfying presence than healing would have brought me. In that case,
even though I’m lacking healing, I’m not lacking any good thing, because the
sickness is how I will experience the most joy in God. Since God is my
all-satisfying treasure, then what makes something good is whether it brings me
more of God.
所以，當上帝應許說，我們不會缺乏任何好處，祂的意思是我們不會缺乏任何使我們能更多得著上帝的事物。我們必然會擁有一切能使我們更得著上帝的事物。所以，如果你沒有得醫治，或沒有工作、孩子、妻子，你並沒有缺乏任何好處，因為上帝已經定旨，要藉著你的缺乏使你更多得著祂自己。
So
when God promises that we will lack no good thing, he means we will lack
nothing that would bring us more of God. We will have absolutely everything
that will bring us more of God. So if you lack healing, or a job, or children,
or a wife, you are not lacking any good thing because God has ordained your
lack to bring you more of himself.
我為什麼會感到失望？
Why
Am I Disappointed?
當我對上帝感到失望，是因為在那一刻，我渴望得著一件事，比渴望得著祂更甚，無論是醫治、工作、一個孩子、還是一位妻子。儘管醫治、工作、兒女和婚姻可能是有益的，但這些都無法像上帝自己那樣來滿足我。
When
I feel disappointed by God, it’s because at that moment there’s something I’m
longing for more than him, whether it be healing, employment, a child, a wife.
As good as healing, employment, children, and marriage might be, none of them
will come close to satisfying me as much as God himself.
所以，當我對上帝失望時，問題乃是出在我的信心。我不相信上帝自己就是那位說祂要在耶穌裏幫助我的。我不相信祂是可以滿足一切的珍寶。
So
when I’m disappointed by God, there’s a problem with my faith. I’m not trusting
that God himself is who he says he is for me in Jesus. I’m not trusting in him
as my all-satisfying treasure.
所以，我能作什麼呢？這裏有八個步驟，是我個人發現，在失望時對我有幫助的。
So
what can I do? Here are eight steps I have personally found helpful in
disappointment.
1. 帶著你的失望來到耶穌基督面前，信靠祂會與你相會，並改變你的心（詩四十1～3）。
Come
to Jesus Christ with your disappointment, trusting him to meet you and change
your heart (Psalm 40:1–3).
2. 為你渴望其他事物勝過渴望上帝而認罪。懇求主藉著十字架饒恕你，並領受完全赦罪的保證（約壹一9）。
Confess
that you are longing for something else more than him. Ask him to forgive you
through the cross. Receive assurance of complete forgiveness (1 John 1:9).
3. 祈求聖靈的運行來改變你的心，剛強你的信心，讓你再次經歷耶穌基督是滿足你一切的珍寶（約六35）。
Plead
for the work of the Spirit to change your heart, strengthen your faith, and
enable you once again to experience Jesus Christ as your all-satisfying
treasure (John 6:35).
4. 既然聖靈是透過上帝的話來工作，就要去尋找那些描述上帝的愛、能力和威嚴的經文，和那些關於上帝是完全滿足你的珍寶的應許。用這些經文熱切地禱告，努力信靠祂 （加三5）。
Since
the Spirit does his work through the word, find Scriptures describing God’s
love, power, and majesty, and promises concerning God as your all-satisfying
treasure. Pray earnestly over these Scriptures. Fight to trust them (Galatians
3:5).
5. 繼續用這些經文來禱告，並信靠這些經文，直到你感覺到聖靈正在改變你的心，你也再次體驗到耶穌基督是你完全滿足的珍寶為止（彼前一8）。
Continue
praying over and trusting these Scriptures until you feel the Spirit changing
your heart, and you once again experience Jesus Christ as your all-satisfying
treasure (1 Peter 1:8).
6. 為上帝的應許禱告：祂預旨的每一樣試煉，都會帶領你在祂裏面得著更多的滿足（林後四17）。持續禱告，直到聖靈剛強你的信心，使你無論缺乏什麼，都會使你與上帝更親近，更多得著祂。
Pray
over God’s promise that he will ordain every trial to bring you even more
heart-satisfaction in him (2 Corinthians 4:17). Do this until the Spirit
strengthens your faith that whatever you lack will bring you even more of God.
7. 也為上帝的應許來禱告，求祂會顧念你一切所需（健康、工作、金錢），用一種能使你更多得著祂的方式來引領你（腓四13、19；太六33）。
Also
pray over God’s promise that he will take care of everything else you need
(health, work, money) in such a way that it will bring you even more of him
(Philippians 4:13, 19; Matthew 6:33).
8. 持續為你渴望的其他事物（醫治、工作、兒女、婚姻）禱告，但要努力繼續信靠耶穌作你完全滿足的珍寶（詩四十三4）。
Steve
Fuller is lead pastor of Grace Church Abu Dhabi and writes at Living by Faith.
Continue to pray for the other things you desire (healing, employment,
children, marriage), but fight to keep trusting in Jesus as your all-satisfying
treasure (Psalm 43:4).
