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We’re not going to change the world. Let’s just get that idea off our plates right now. As long as people have free will(as it should be), they will choose the fool-hardy pursuit of things, excess, indulgence and momentary pleasure. That’s our world, we have to accept it to a point. However, we can change our little corner of the world. We can change how we do Christmas. We can change how our friends and neighbours VIEW how we do Christmas~because they are watching. And it does matter how you act behind closed doors when no one is looking. How you think in your heart and mind will directly reflect how you act outwardly. How you treat people is directly related to what you think of them.
The people around you want the same things you want. They want to be loved. They want someone to care. They want to…
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The Lord said: “I am sending an angel to protect you and to lead you into the land I have ready for you.” Exodus 23:20 (CEV)
Life is full of surprises. Sometimes those surprises are humorous, like the other night when I heard a noise and went to investigate in the dark. It was on this adventure that I discovered that our cat was an efficient ‘mouser’. She left her catch for us, completely field dressed and lying on the living room carpet. Had I taken the time to turn on the lights, I wouldn’t have discovered this ‘surprise’ with my bare feet!
Sometimes, life’s surprises are frustrating, such as the night you save up for a date night, only to have a tire go flat on the way home from the date. A tire, mind you that you don’t have the money to fix, especially since you just spent your savings on a movie and dinner.
Life’s surprises can be devastating as well. Job loss, a call from the doctor regarding your tests, or finding out your spouse has been having an affair can send your world into a tailspin. Suddenly you are left to pick up the pieces of life and trying to put them together the best you can. It’s like putting together a jigsaw puzzle without any idea of what the picture is supposed to look like when you are done.
The $64,000.00 question isn’t IF life will throw surprises your way, but how you will handle them. Moses knew what it was like to have surprises thrown his way. As he began his journey across the wilderness as leader of a bunch of rebellious people, God gave him a nugget that each of us can turn to when life’s surprises hit us.
In the midst of God’s instructions to his people he gives us hope for the times when surprises attack us. His words, “I’m sending an angel ahead of you…” should be encouragement to all of us. If you read on through the end of the chapter he promises us that if we will obey his words, trust him with our lives and remain faithful to him, he will guide us through the challenges and surprises we encounter.
Farmers will tell you that ground that has already been plowed is much easier to work. God promises us that he has gone before us. He has prepared the ground so that when we journey through we will have an easier time finding his direction.
Two things are important to remember, however. God has never promised that the journey will be easy. There will be struggles along the way. Secondly, while we hope for God’s promises to be fulfilled quickly, his timing is always best. When the Israelites entered the Promised Land they weren’t given all the land right away. God brought victory in his time and in his way so that his people would be ready for the tasks ahead.
God has seen your tomorrows. While we endure surprises along the way, nothing that crosses our path surprises him. The trials you are encountering are his way to strengthen you and prepare you for the journey ahead.
PRAYER: Father God, thank you for going before me. The surprises I encounter sometimes seem too great and without purpose. Thank you that you know my future and know what I need to carry on. Amen.
Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? John 14:9 (NIV)
“Don’t you know me?”
The words are stunning really. It’s a phrase that hurts both the one saying it and the one to whom it’s directed. After all this time we’ve spent together, you don’t know me? After going through all these struggles, you haven’t noticed? I’ve walked by your side. I’ve eaten with you.
When you were sick I comforted you; when you were scared I held your hand; when you were confused, I gave you direction; when you were frustrated, I encouraged you. I stood up for you when you were under attack; I picked you up when you fell; I held the light when the path was dark and an umbrella when it rained.
Like Philip, each of us can get so used to the ‘idea’ of Jesus we tend to really appreciate who he is and what he does for us on a daily basis. Do you KNOW Jesus? Meditate on that question for a moment.
I know the guy at the coffee shop where I get coffee every morning. I know my neighbor across the street. I know the person in the next cubicle at work. But the way I know each of them is completely different from the way I know my wife, or she knows me. After being together all these years it still amazes us how we will be ‘lost in thought’ and blurt out the same idea. Completely random thoughts? Yes, but we know each other so well we often know exactly where our thought processes are going.
But even the intimacy and comfort of knowing my wife as well as I do is nothing compared to how Jesus knows me. Those thoughts I can’t put into words? He knows them. Those fears and doubts I don’t dare tell anyone? He understands.
And during those times when I feel too weak to go on, he turns to me and asks, “Don’t you know me?” Do you remember the storms I’ve calmed, the sick I’ve healed, the broken hearts I’ve mended? I haven’t changed. My love for you is, as it has always been. My power is available to you just as it was to the blind man, the crippled, and a bunch of fishermen being tossed wildly in the boat.
Do you know Jesus? Do you know the Jesus that is ready and willing to walk through the tempest with you? It’s much more than getting acquainted. It’s a life-long journey bathed in prayer and digging deep into his word. Knowing Jesus, really KNOWING him is the best thing for whatever trial you are going through.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I’m as guilty as Philip of not seeing you for who you really are. I depend on myself when I should depend on you. I doubt when I should trust. I am weak when I should tap into your power. Help me from this day forward to see you as you are. Amen.
Some thoughts for worship:
Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart! Psalm 32:11
As the eastern sky begins to glow with the dawn of a new day, I rejoice in you my Lord. The tasks before me today are great. I’m sure there are surprises of varying degrees that await me. But my rejoicing isn’t based on the activities, events or people who cross my paths.
My rejoicing comes from you.
People change. Activities can sap our strength or go wrong. Even when they go well, they end and in their ending leave a void. People, even those closest to me can’t fulfill every corner of my soul. Sometimes, people fail me.
Not only do I rejoice in you, I’m glad because in your eyes I’m righteous. Thank you Lord that righteousness isn’t based on my ability to meet the expectations of you or others. You aren’t surprised by my weakness; others will never be satisfied with who I am. My righteousness is based on Jesus’ blood and forgiveness. Holiness, oh God, isn’t perfection, but knowing how to handle sin when it attacks me.
I sing! I sing to you my Father with words that I often can’t express in notes and words. My song comes from my heart! We fight over what songs should be sung, what instruments should be played and how ‘worship’ should be accomplished.
The best worship, O Lord is the worship of my heart. In the midst of my doubts; in the midst of my fears; when I feel overwhelmed by the tasks before me, my heart sings for I know that you will see me through if I rely on you for my strength.
Today, I rejoice in you. Not because of what lay ahead of me, but because I know you will go with me. My heart sings for I know my allegiance to you will empower me for the day ahead. Amen.
Therefore let all the faithful pray to you while you may be found; surely the rising of the mighty waters will not reach them. Psalm 32:6
As I read Psalm 32:6 a picture came into my mind. It was a home video taken during the horrific Japan Tsunami of 2011. As flood waters came into a small seaside village, sirens wailed and residents took shelter on a small hillside, running to the safety afforded them by a single set of stairs. We all watched with amazement and horror as the sea crept down the streets, then gained momentum and began to sweep cars, truck, boats and other debris ahead of it.
The water rose higher and higher, endangering the small group of people taking shelter there. They were safe, but the destruction around them was a stirring testimony to the power of nature and the frailty of life
“Surely, the rising of the mighty waters will not reach them,” is a promise those of us that are believers in Jesus Christ can hold on to. Flood waters will come. Those earthy things we hold dear may be taken from us. Those things that have provided us security may falter or even fail.
Relationships we thought would last a lifetime end in divorce or death or job changes. Careers once though secure will end abruptly. Freedoms we hold so dearly too may be in danger or taken completely from us. The winds of time and age will change the lifescape we have always known.
Those who put their faith completely in God, who trust in Jesus Christ and build their security on the word of God and prayer, need not worry when the flood waters approach. We may lose all of our earthly possessions. We may watch as the world we once knew gets swept away. But our souls remain secure in the promise of Psalm 32:6.
Here’s the true beauty of this promise. Sometimes the flood waters that threaten us are our own doing. Sometimes they are the result of evil in the world. God’s promise of protection isn’t affected by the reason for our struggle. His promises are based on his character and strength, not ours.
When you see those flood waters approaching. When everything you held as secure crumbles or is swept away, remember that the God of the universe has promised to be a refuge from which the raging waters of the sea can not reach you.
PRAYER: Father, we are surrounded by adversity and pain and trials. It seems sometimes as though our hopes and dreams are being swept away in flood of adversity. During those times may we run to you for refuge and strength. We praise you for your promise of ultimate protection. In Jesus name, Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 