“And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:20
“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10
Whether alone or in a crowd, have you ever wondered where God is? Despite God reminding us throughout scripture that He is in fact with us and will never leave us, we still have our doubts. I’m not sure how it came about, but during a recent worship service I started thinking about the presence of God. If I had to guess, I would assume that Matthew 28:20 was one of the texts used in the sermon. In any event, I’ve been pondering our failure to recognize the presence of God in our lives. I don’t know about you but, I certainly have a tendency to take it for granted and, therefore, fail to recognize it or rely on it when I should. As I’ve considered this problem, there seem to be four primary reasons that we fail to recognize God’s presence in our lives: ignorance, immaturity, impediments and refusal.
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Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah
saying, “Thus has the Lord of hosts said, ‘Dispense true justice and practice
kindness and compassion each to his brother; and do not oppress the widow or
the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts
against one another.’ But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn
shoulder and stopped their ears from hearing. They made their hearts like flint so that they
could not hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His
Spirit through the former prophets; therefore great wrath came from the Lord of
hosts. Zechariah 7:8-12
If there is anything that my parents taught me, it was to
have a servant’s heart. I don’t recall
them ever doing it through instruction, but they certainly did it through
example. As a child I remember my mother
making lunches for drunks who came to the parsonage from the bar down the
street looking for a handout. Never did
she speak a disparaging word against them.
I remember one long night when a man came to our door drunk and my dad
spent the entire evening getting him sober.
In the coming weeks he and his family began attending church. In high school and college, I had the
opportunity to work with my mother in a small country hospital. As a nurse she had great compassion for her
patients and, if needed, advocated for them.
At that same hospital I also had opportunities to see my parents work in
tandem as Mom was meeting patients’ physical needs while Dad, as a chaplain, was
addressing their spiritual needs. Both
served in various ways without the need to be praised as their charity was an
outpouring of their faith.
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In the moral sphere, every act of justice or charity involves putting ourselves in the other person’s place and thus transcending our own competitive particularity.
It is good to renew ourselves, from time to time, by closely examining the state of our souls, as if we had never done it before; for nothing tends more to the full assurance of faith, than to keep ourselves by this means in humility, and the exercise of all good works.
“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength
of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalm 73:26.
I’m taking it easy this week. Due to the the holidays,
traveling and my normal responsibilities, my body, mind and soul need a
rest. Consequently, I thought I’d use the
opportunity to provide some personal background for this blog, and for those
who are unaware, share my passion. It’s
not my norm. My history tells me not to
trust, but my Lord says to be transparent to help others. Further, I prefer to focus on the positive to
keep me from dwelling on the negative. With
those disclaimers in place, let me open up a bit for you.
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“They sang, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, saying, ‘For He is good, for His lovingkindness is upon Israel forever.’ And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. Yet many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ households, the old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, while many shouted aloud for joy, so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the shout of joy from the sound of the weeping of the people, for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the sound was heard far away.” Ezra 3:11-13
New Year’s Eve is the time when we tend to evaluate the past
year and look to the new one with a hope of great things to come. Our best New Year’s Eve was December 31,
1981. That night our younger daughter was
born and there was literally a party atmosphere in the delivery room. In addition to my wife and me, there were two
doctors, three interns, a couple of nurses and an anesthesiologist. Rather than waiting for a ball to drop in New
York City, we were awaiting the arrival of a child. While it was mostly a joyful event, there was
also pain as my wife would have to recover from the surgery. While we like to label each year as good or
bad, the reality of this life is that most years are a mixture of joy and sorrow. That was the mood as the exiles from Babylon
viewed the foundation of the new temple.
Those that remembered the former glory of Jerusalem wept at over the
loss of what once was. However, there
was also the joy of Jerusalem being rebuilt.
It’s a good lesson in life…how to gracefully accept the joys and sorrows
of life understanding that God has orchestrated our lives with purpose so that in
the end we may be blessed with a joyful eternity.
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There is no one who is insignificant in the purpose of God.
If you look up into His face and say, “Yes, Lord, whatever it costs,” at that moment He’ll flood your Life with His presence and power.
So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. Colossians 3:12-14
Within the past couple of weeks there have been quite a few conversations to make plans for Thanksgiving. While the menu hasn’t varied too much from year to year, the people with whom we share the meal have varied greatly. Naturally, the core group has always been our immediate family. However, many years have regularly included extended family, friends and acquaintances. As I consider those with whom I have celebrated this holiday, I am reminded that I am most thankful for the people that God has chosen to weave in and out of my life. Their roles, the length of time in my life and the affection for them has varied greatly, but they have all had a purpose. As the saying reminds us, some people are a blessing while others are a lesson.
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Faith, which is trust, and fear are opposite poles. If a man has the one, he can scarcely have the other in vigorous operation. He that has his trust set upon God does not need to dread anything except the weakening or the paralyzing of that trust.
