Thou God Seest Me

God had promised Abram (He had not yet changed Abram’s name to Abraham.) a seed yet Sarai, his wife, was barren.  She schemed to secure that seed through Hagar, her maid, by giving her to Abram.  When Hagar conceived, Sarai dealt harshly with her and Hagar fled into the wilderness.  There God spoke to her and instructed her to go back to Sarai and submit to her.  She would bear Abram a son and his name would be Ishmael.  It was there in the wilderness that Hagar “called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me” (Genesis 16:13).  It was there in the wilderness that Hagar came to know the omnipresent God, i.e. the God who is everywhere at all times.

David, the great warrior-king, was overwhelmed by this particular attribute of God.  He wrote “Whither shall I go from thy spirit?  Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?  If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there:  if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.  If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea: even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.  If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.  Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee” (Psalm 139:7-12).  It is, indeed, an awesome thought to comprehend that God ever watches over me!

Understand that God’s presence everywhere is not pantheism.  The idea behind pantheism is essentially all things are God.  That is not the God of the Bible.  God created the trees, but he is not the trees.  The Creator stands apart from his creation.  Yet, he is present in all places at all times.  There is no place where we can go that he is not there.  The implications of this truth are staggering.  For example, he sees our troubles.  When he sent Moses to deliver the children of Israel from Egypt, he said to Moses “I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows” (Exodus 3:7).  How comforting to know that the God of all comfort sees my difficulties and is present to see me through them.

But his presence has other implications as well.  When David committed adultery with Bathsheba and murdered her husband, God sent Nathan, the prophet, to him.  Nathan asked David “Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight?” (II Samuel 12:9) God sees our sins – every one of them!  The writer of Hebrews records “Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight:  but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do” (Hebrews 4:13). Yes, God sees all of our lives and doings.  For the child of God this can bring great comfort and aid in difficult times.  But for those whose sins are not under the blood of Christ, their works shall be judged by the One who has seen them all. 

Men Ought Always to Pray

Solomon, universally agreed to be a very wise man, made this simple observation, “If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small” (Proverbs 24:10).  The strength he speaks of is an inner strength, a strength that both motivates and sustains even in the midst of great difficulty.  Adversity conversely has a way of fueling uncertainty, marginalizing the value of our efforts, and ultimately quenching the flame of hope.  When we succumb, we give up.

Let’s move a 1,000 years from Solomon’s days to the earthly ministry of Christ.  He taught his disciples, “men ought always to pray and not to faint” (Luke 18:1).  Christ, too, understood the dissipation of strength through adversity.  But he would teach us that prayer is the antidote for discouragement, dismay, and defeat. Prayer brings our appeal before the heavenly Father who is eager to hear the prayers of his children.  While there may be a delay in his answer or an answer not conforming to our expectation, we understand it is because of his goodness operating in harmony with his infinite wisdom. God always does what is best for his children and what is best always accrues to his glory and our good.

David understood well this truth.  He declared, “I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.  Wait on the LORD:  be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart:  wait, I say, on the LORD” (Psalm 27:13-14).  Where there is God, there is hope.  It was this hope in an all powerful and loving God that sustained him. More importantly, it was a hope in his God, his heavenly Father, a hope forged by relationship.  The strength that adversity would seek to snuff out was renewed by the supply of a personal God who cared infinitely for his soul.

This was not the only time the adversities of life plagued David.  Much like ourselves, he found himself moving as it were from one difficulty to the next.  Life is made up of such hardships and God’s children are not exempt from experiencing them.  But he consoled himself with this exhortation, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul?  And why art thou disquieted within me?  Hope in God, for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God” (Psalm 43:5).  He found that his God’s goodness could not be exhausted and so shall we.

Paul testified to the believers in Rome of the unwavering and limitless care of the heavenly Father for his own children, i.e. those who have come to know him by faith in Christ.  “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things” (Romans 8:32).  Dear child of God, we must never doubt the intentions of our Father.  He ever invites you as David learned and would teach us so, to wait on the LORD and he shall strengthen your heart.  The God who works “all things after the counsel of his own will” (Ephesians 1:11) is too good to be unkind and too wise to make a mistake.  Hope in God.  Pray and you will not faint.

Dealing With Uncertainty

Uncertainty seems to blanket the landscape of our lives no matter where we turn.  We are uncertain when the virus’ cloud shall be lifted from our society.  Frankly, we are uncertain as to how we shall even recognize its removal and how we shall go about restoring order once more to our communities.  We wonder what our lives will be like then and whether the “normal” that we’ve known in the past shall be returned to us.  Jobs have been lost and financial stability rocked.  Businesses have closed and may not come back.  Even the way of doing business and conducting our daily affairs has been substantially disrupted and modified. We are left wondering whether or to what extent the very quality of our lives has been jeopardized.

Such uncertainty leaves an empty feeling in each of us to one degree or another.  We feel as if we are merely plodding along without a clear sense of direction.  It is as if we were awoken from our beds in the black of night only to grope along in the darkness not quite knowing what our next step may encounter.  We wait for the cloud to lift that light might once again shine upon our path and make our way clear.  Such persistent and relentless uncertainty reveals most certainly just how little of substance we actually control and, perhaps, that is what discomforts us the most!  Uncertainty leads us to confront our true helplessness and we don’t like that. 

How do we cope then with this floundering, this forced suspension of our lives, this unwelcome intrusion to our order?  We need to be listening to the right voice.  Jesus said, “I am the light of the world:  he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12).  Following Christ gives light to our path and hope for our journey.  We may not know where the road will lead tomorrow, but we know that the right road leads out at the right place. 

The LORD’s earthly people, the Jews, had entered into their own dark period having been carried to Babylon in captivity.  Yet in the midst of that darkness, he quieted them with this message, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end” (Jeremiah 29:11).  The “expected end” was the culmination of his promises to Abraham concerning a nation, a land, and a dynasty.  The LORD was telling them to rest in his promises for all shall be fulfilled.  Christ offers the same assurance today to all those who follow him – an expected end characterized by peace.

Asaph captured this sentiment perfectly when he declared of the LORD, “Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel and afterward receive me to glory” (Psalm 73:24).  He will lead me through this life and preserve me safely unto his presence.  That, my friend, is all the certainty we need.  Follow Christ now and you shall not walk in darkness.

Stretch Forth Thy Hand!

Jesus had many encounters with the Jews’ religious leaders, the Pharisees, over their interpretations and applications of the Mosaic law.  They had replaced the commandments of God with the traditions of men.  Consequently, they were far from the truth.  On one occasion the Lord came upon a man with a withered hand in one of their synagogues on the Sabbath.  The Pharisees, in an effort to trap Jesus as a violator of the law, asked “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath days?” (Matthew 12:10-13)

Jesus turned the tables on them and confounded them with a simple illustration.  He related that if a man had a sheep that fell into a pit on the Sabbath day he would lift the sheep out of the pit. He then made the point that a man is better than a sheep: therefore, it is “lawful to do well on the Sabbath days”. In other words, showing mercy is always in season!

At this point Jesus turns to the man with the withered hand and says “Stretch forth thy hand.”  The Scripture goes on to say that “he stretched it forth and it was restored whole, like as the other.” What a remarkable truth bound up in these four words!  First, we must understand that the man could not move his hand at all.  It simply hung limp at his side.  Christ speaks to the man and commands him to “stretch forth thy hand,” that is, to lift it up and reach out.  In response, he does so and is healed.

We are very much like the man with the withered hand.  We cannot serve God as we should for, as Paul said, “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing.  For to will is present with me; but to perform that which is good I find not” (Romans 7:18).  But with every divine command that the Lord gives, He provides the divine enabling.  In the incident above, Christ commanded the man to stretch for his hand, i.e. something he could not do on his own.  But, as he responded to the command, the Lord provided the enabling to go with it.

So it is with us.  If Christ is our Savior, then He has called us to let our light shine before men.  What God calls for us to do, He provides the enabling to do it!  Child of God, what task lies before you that seems too great, too difficult, too overwhelming to do?  Stretch forth thy hand and glorify your Father, which is in heaven!

He Made the Stars, Also!

In the creation account of Genesis, the Scriptures declare “God made two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also” (Genesis 1:16, emphasis added).  Almost as an inspired afterthought, the author tells us, “Oh, yeah, he made the stars, too!”  The Psalmist actually relates “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth” (Psalm 33:6).  Not only did God merely speak the stars into existence, “He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names” (Psalm 147:4).  Wow!  Let that sink in for a moment.

Astronomers estimate that the observable universe has more than 100 billion galaxies and that our galaxy, the Milky Way, has about 300 billion stars!  That is quite a few.  Even if they are off a few billion here or there, it is still a lot of stars.  God knows the exact number.  He created each one of them by merely speaking them into existence AND he has given each one of them a name!

Yet in all the myriad of celestial bodies, God chose planet earth to be inhabited by his special creation, man.  David, overwhelmed by this consideration, declared “When I consider thy heavens…what is man that thou art mindful of him?” (Psalm 8:3-4)  He saw in this immense universe the handiwork of an infinite and all powerful Creator – and it took his breath away to think that God was mindful of him.

Yet this God, who inhabits eternity, is indeed pleased to dwell with those among men who humble themselves before him.  It is man alone that is made in God’s own image and it is this image, marred by sin, the Creator wants to restore.  He did this by sending his Son to redeem us from our sin through his death, burial, and resurrection.  You see, the glory of God revealed in his stellar creation is nothing compared to the glorious image of God revealed in his only begotten Son. 

It is the Son’s glory, who is the express image of the Father that becomes our prospect through the new birth.  Those who receive him by faith shall share in that glory when he returns for his own to this small yet singularly important creation among billions and billions of stars.  How big is your God?  My God is big enough to create billions of stars, yet small enough to dwell within my heart!  If this God is not your God, he can be.

The Sovereignty and Goodness of God

The reach of COVID-19 has been daunting – it has touched virtually every part of our lives.  Yet we are assured from its Author that it can and will only go so far as its intended purpose.  God reminds us, “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.” (Isaiah 45:7)  Both tranquility (“peace”) and calamity (“evil”) are of the LORD and they each serve Him Who “works all things after the counsel of His own will.” (Ephesians 1:11)

What can be said then about God’s purpose in the ebb and flow of this virus in our community?  We can say with scriptural authority the same of which we can say of all the threads that are woven into the tapestry of our lives, i.e. “…that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)  Here, again, we are reminded of God’s sovereign control working in perfect harmony with His goodness to accomplish His purpose and His purpose is always good.

We can add a further dimension to His purpose by reflecting on Paul’s remarks to the believers at Rome.  “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!  For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or, who hath been his counselor?  Or, who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed again?  For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things:  to whom be glory forever.  Amen.”  (Romans 11:33-36)

We conclude that God created all things, sustains all things, and works all things according to His will for His purpose.  This purpose in all things accrues unto His glory first and foremost.  And, this glory is uniquely and necessarily manifest in his goodness to those who love Him for it has pleased Him to make us like unto His dear Son.

For the child of God, the crisis of the moment is part of God’s eternal plan and we can be assured that He is too wise to make a mistake and too good to be unkind!  Therefore, we give thanks in all things for “this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”  (I Thessalonians 5:18) 

What We All Really Need

When Jesus stood before Pontius Pilate prior to his crucifixion, he made an amazing statement concerning his purpose for coming.  He asserted, “I have come into this world to bear witness to the truth.” (John 18:37)  It could be argued that truth is mankind’s greatest need, for truth gives light and light shows the way through darkness.  The very world in which we live and wherein we walk daily is engulfed by darkness.  Friend, we need truth and, by that, I mean the kind of truth on which we can rely and govern not only our days, but our lives.

There are many voices that claim to be the truth – our government, the news media, our educational institutions, churches, the ever ubiquitous internet, and even our own opinions.  We hear them daily and, yet, we are left wondering, “Can I rely upon this wholly?  Can I place my full weight upon this with undiminished confidence?”

The truth to which the Lord bears witness rises above the clamor of these voices and invites all who will hear his voice to come unto him and find the rest their souls desire.  Why is that?  Because he is both the truth and the light and when we have truth and light, the way is plain and the turmoil of uncertainty vanishes. 

These are very uncertain times for sure.  But, frankly, there have been no times that did not have their share of uncertainty.  Now, as always, one voice rises above the rest.  Jesus, after declaring to Pilate his purpose immediately added, “Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”  May we find ourselves listening to the truth that can satisfy our souls, even in the midst of turbulent times.

A Door of Hope

The first city to fall to Joshua and the Israelites when they crossed into Canaan was Jericho.  God gave very specific instructions for its overthrow.  The Israelites circled the city six days, but on the seventh day they were instructed to circle it seven times.  After the seventh time, the trumpet sounded, the people shouted and the wall of the city fell “down flat.” (Joshua 6:2-5)

God also gave instruction concerning the inhabitants of the city and their belongings.  The city was counted as “accursed…and all that are therein, to the LORD…But all the silver and gold…are consecrated unto the LORD: they shall come into the treasury of the LORD.” (Joshua 2:17-19)  God had instructed the people to keep themselves from the “accursed thing” lest they themselves would be accursed.  This brings us to Achan.

Achan took from among the spoils a “garment…silver and…gold” and hid them in his tent.  This disobedience led to the downfall of the Israelites in their attempt to take the city Ai. God exposed Achan’s sin to Joshua and Achan and his family and all of his belongings were stoned and burnt in the Valley of Achor and a pile of stones placed over them.  Achor means “trouble.”  Achan had “troubled” Israel by taking the accursed thing and promoting their initial defeat at Ai.

Fast forward about 665 years.  God’s earthly people, Israel, had departed from Him and He looked at them as an adulterous wife.  Even so, He spoke through His prophet Hosea, of His future restoration of her to Himself by His grace.  In His promise to the nation, He states “I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.  And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth.” (Hosea 2:14-15)

The valley of trouble in the day of Joshua has now become a door of hope!  Only God can do this.  God can take us through troubled and difficult times and lead us to a door of hope.  The COVID-19 virus hangs over our community, our nation, and our families as a shroud.  But God is in control.  He alone knows the path this will take us.  If we belong to Him, all the paths He leads us through come out at the right place.  He is our Door of Hope!