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I will live among my people Israel in this Temple that you are building, and I will never abandon them. 1 Kings 6:13 (GNT)
There was a story on the news some time back about a man who witnessed a horrific accident. He went to assist the victims. The two passengers were able to be helped from the wreckage, but the driver was trapped and bleeding badly. It was obvious he wasn’t going to make it, but he was conscious. The ‘rescuer’ knelt beside him.
The driver told him he wasn’t going to make it but asked the ‘rescuer’ to stay with him. Over the next several minutes, as sirens grew louder the two had a short conversation. The driver asked him to say good bye to his family and the two talked briefly about life until the driver breathed his last breath.
There are times when people isolate themselves from others because the pain people have inflicted on them cause them to withdraw, but in reality none of us want ever to be alone. This is especially true during the crisis times of our lives.
Bearing the pain of divorce is much easier if we have just one of two friends who will help us through the battle. Health concerns, financial setbacks, career changes and a plethora of other events in life can drag us down, but having someone we can count on to sit with us through it all makes all the difference in the world.
The sad fact is, it’s hard to find someone who will always be there when we face crisis. Friends may give us some relief, but they have their own lives, or they move away. Perhaps the most painful wound is when family rejects us. A friend of mine recently went through a messy divorce. He was the first one in his family to be divorced and in the midst of his pain, shame and guilt he turned to his family for support to get through the pain, but he got none. His family was to embarrassed by his failure to see the pain. When family members leave you and friends abandon you, what’s left? Who will pick up the pieces and help you put them back together?
When Solomon was building the temple, the Lord God of Israel made a promise. This temple would be his dwelling place. The people of God would know two things. They would know where God lived, and they would know he was there for them.
Thousands of years later the Apostle Paul writes “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? (1 Corinthians 3:16) What a great reminder to us during those times when crisis faces us and we’ve nowhere else to turn. Our creator God lives with us. He will never leave us, never let us down, never be too busy to hear us, and never overlook our pain.
That’s a promise each of us can cling to when life gets harsh; when we want to give up; when we aren’t sure we can go on. Invite him in to those darkest hallways of your existence. He will never ever leave you or judge you. He only wants to show you his love, comfort and forgiveness.
PRAYER: Father, it seems like during the darkest times of my life, when I’ve needed someone the most, no one is there. Some have tried, but they don’t really understand me. I thank you for loving me, understanding me and living with me through all of life. Amen.
Love the Lord, all his faithful people! The Lord preserves those who are true to him, but the proud he pays back in full. Psalm 31:23 (NIV)
Mom grew up in rural Minnesota long before cell phones and microwaves and cyberspace were even words in the dictionary. She’d often tell stories of riding to church in the sleigh or buggy with nothing but hot stones to warm their feet. When electricity came to their farm it was an amazing, exciting event!
In mom’s world, frugality was a lifestyle, not an option. The things she learned on the farm prepared her for her life as a pastor’s wife. With five boys to feed and a husband serving small, rural churches like she grew up in, excess was rare and simple things were cherished.
One of the many things mom did to make ends meet was to always have a big garden. At the time, I didn’t appreciate the fresh vegetables and detested the thought of having to help plant, weed or harvest. I don’t ever remember, however, being upset about having the fruit and vegetables mom canned on those cold winter evenings or for Sunday dinner!
I never once complained about having mom’s strawberry preserves on a piece of her warm, homemade bread.
Today, for the most part, people who preserve fruits and vegetables and make jam and preserve other fruit do so for nostalgia or to help make ends meet. For mom (and us) it was a necessity. Rows of colorful jars on the basement shelf in the fall provided assurance of food for the winter regardless of anything else that might happen.
I think of that when I read Psalm 31:23. The Lord ‘preserves’ those who are true to him. We, as his children are protected from the ravages of life. Regardless of what goes on around us, we stay safe in secure in him, like a jar of strawberry jam, unaffected by all that goes on around us.
Today the things I see around me make life difficult. Today I’m confused, frustrated, worried and maybe even angry at times by where I see the world going. But I’m preserved! I know that someday all this will pass and I’ll receive in full measure all that the Father has for me. The Father’s preservation of me means I’m changed so that life’s struggles will not affect me, yet I maintain the basic identity of who I am.
Those who reject his love, the psalmist says, will receive, in full measure, the consequences of their rejection. They will seek fulfillment in things unpleasing to God and suffer the despair of loneliness. They’ll openly reject the principles of his word and continue on a path of hopelessness. Will God punish them severely? I think the psalmist implies that he won’t need to. He’ll simply let the consequences of their behavior run its full course in their lives. Rejecting God carries its own penalty.
For us, though, as his children there is forgiveness, restoration, and best of all, preservation.
PRAYER: Father God, I thank you for preserving me. The things I see around me scare me. The trials I’m enduring now weigh me down. But I rest in your promise and wait for your blessing to unfold because I know that through Jesus Christ I am preserved. Amen.
The Lord is the strength of his people, a fortress of salvation for his anointed one. Psalm 28:8
Imagine what it was like for David, just a kid, a mere 16 years old or so. His idea of excitement was being in the mountain meadow tending a bunch of sheep. David spent more time alone than he spent with people.
One day all that changed. He was called in from the field and when he arrived, the great priest Samuel was there. Priests didn’t just ‘show up’ at your door for no reason. Especially someone as mighty as Samuel. When he came, there was a reason. What must have been going through his mind as the oil from the anointing ran down his cheeks and dripped from his chin?
The King? Me? I’ve never even been in the palace much less be king?
Anointing didn’t mean maybe. David was in! How or why or when didn’t matter at that time. Too much to think about. Scripture implies that at least for a while David returned to the fields. Same old sheep. Same long nights. But now, there must have been something different, and the difference was in David. Now he had hope. Now he knew God was going to use him for something wonderful. The songs of praise must have rolled off his lips.
The story didn’t end there of course. There were years of waiting. Years of scoffing by his brothers. Years of dodging spears and angry tirades by Saul. Years of hiding for his life in caves. Years of wondering when God’s promise would be fulfilled.
What was it that kept him going? What was it that made David get out of bed every morning and attack each day as a mighty warrior with victory in sight? The motivation for David’s persistence was his anointing. That was the promise that would never fail because that promise came from God.
As a follower of Jesus Christ you are anointed today. Whatever trial you are facing, whatever disappointment is trying to keep you from moving forward, whatever or whoever has hurt you with words or action, don’t forget the anointing.
The anointing David received was a promise of strength and a promise of the future. It was a guarantee that God the almighty, the Creator of the universe, the one who hung the stars in space and flung the galaxies into place has chose you for a task and he will see you through to the end.
There will be dark nights. There will be wilderness trails to endure. But when God anoints you, when He has chosen you, the outcome is sure and is in his hands not yours. A wonderful word of praise and reminder from the Psalms.
PRAYER: Father God. Worry seems to follow me. I doubt myself and at times I doubt you. People mistreat me and I make mistakes. But today I rest on the promise of my anointing through Jesus Christ. Today I rest on your promise to see me though. Amen.
Only you, Lord, are a mighty rock! Don’t refuse to help me when I pray. If you don’t answer me, I will soon be dead. Psalm 28:1 (CEV)
Government tells us that safety and prosperity will come from new programs and equality.
Religion tells us that safety and prosperity will come from following certain dogmas and rules.
Education tells us that safety and prosperity will come from new books, higher learning and giving everyone an equal chance.
Society tells us safety and prosperity will come from acceptance and loving relationships.
But governments come and go and things haven’t gotten much better; religion has failed to give us any assurance that life is better by following those rules; education hasn’t solved any major issues of late and society seems on the brink of collapsing within itself.
So what can we hang our hat on every night? What assurance do we have that there is something better ahead? What comfort can we have when the bills are more than the money, our health is failing and the relationship we are in is unsatisfying on the good days and unbearable on the bad days?
A rock climber will tell you that a good foothold in the sheerest of cliffs gives you all the confidence in the world to move on. I’m not a rock climber, but I know about sheer cliffs. I know about getting into a place where there seems to be no way out and having one thing you can count on makes all the difference in the world.
I’m reminded of an old joke I heard years ago. A motorcyclist was driving through the mountains. He navigated one curve after another with no problem. Then the unthinkable happened. He took one curve too fast and ended up going over a sheer 500 foot cliff.
Halfway down he managed to grab a scraggly pine tree growing out of the rock. Suspended 250 feet from the rocky valley below, he screamed for help.
“Is there anybody up there to help me? He screamed at the top of his lungs.
“I’m here,” he finally hears a voice coming from nowhere.
“Well, who are you and can you help me?”
“I’m God, and of course I can help you.”
A bit confused he yells, “Good, can you get me out of here?”
The voice answers back, “Sure, let go of the tree.”
After a moment’s hesitation the man screams again, “Is there anyone else up there that can help me?”
Too often we fail to trust God completely. We acknowledge him as creator God, as controller of the universe, but when life seems impossible we turn to our own resources instead of complete trust in God.
Are you clinging to a tree hoping for some magical rescue? Trust God for who he is and let go of the tree!
PRAYER: Father I’m facing obstacles in my life I neither understand nor have an answer to. I’ve tried everything I know of to get out of this predicament. Now I turn to you and ask you to help me trust you with my entire life. Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 