In the right position?

Come, let us bow down and worship him! Let us kneel before the Lord who made us. He is our God, and we are the people he cares for, his sheep that walk by his side. Listen to his voice today... (Psalm 95:6-7)

We are to approach, not with pride, but in humility. Not with the list of good deeds we have managed to accomplish, but with the trust that our lack of goodness will be met with the fullness of his grace. If we are to come - to approach or move toward - we have to a set course of purpose. Let us bow - we are to incline ourselves so as to be in the position of reverence; to yield ourselves to God alone. Let us worship him - honor and adore him because none other should be our focus. Take a knee in submission so as to no longer be in a position to run. Before him, we are waiting on him. Quite a beginning to our study today, isn't it? There is no longer any running - but yielded spirit, open heart, and focused attention. This is how we approach the throne of God.

He is our God and we are the people he cares for. We often gloss right over the words of this passage as though they were just nice "poetry" or "kind words". We miss what God wants us to get into our hearts and minds about who we are in his eyes. As we approach his throne, it isn't in our own effort, but in the beauty of his grace. What is more remarkable is that by humbling oneself we become even more blessed by his hand! As we approach with yielded and expectant heart, we are met with outpourings of his care and "carefulness" over our lives. He is the giver of both the correction which makes our path certain and straight, and the grace and love to walk therein! Without God's care we'd be in quite a mess in our lives! God expects us to actually spread his grace around - not just enjoy it all by ourselves. 

We frequently walk ahead of God - getting our timing all messed up because we think we have it all figured out. Then we get a little behind him in matters where we find it a bit more of a struggle to "get on board" with what he desires to do in or through our lives. If we can just find the "cadence" of walking alongside him, we'd be much more satisfied in our walk. There is something of strength garnered from being side-by-side in the walk, not struggling to lead, nor lagging behind in frustration or fear. God's desire is for us to not "keep up" but to be "kept" alongside. God doesn't want us out front, boasting in our own strength, or being pushed along to get us moving in the first place. He doesn't want us lagging behind, for he knows the enemy often attacks from the rear! How is it we actually hear God's voice? We need to be in a position to hear it! I think position and attitude is quite important when it comes to listening and to being heard! Just sayin!

Transplanted

But the godly will flourish like palm trees and grow strong like the cedars of Lebanon. For they are transplanted to the Lord’s own house. They flourish in the courts of our God. Even in old age they will still produce fruit; they will remain vital and green. (Psalm 92:12-14)

Have you ever transplanted something, only to have it look kind of droopy and on the verge of death afterwards? I know the plant goes through a bit of 'shock' with its roots being exposed, kind of like us when God takes us from one place of comfort in our walk with him and begins to move us onto 'bigger and better' things with him. God never disturbs our 'comfort' at one level of growth unless he has plans for us to grow bigger by moving us into a different 'pot' in life. 

I live in the Arizona desert and know that palm trees seem to do very well here. They aren't many 'native' to this area - only the fan palm found in the Kofa National Wildlife Preserve near Yuma. There are other varieties found here, though. Date, Queen, Mexican Blue, Areca, and other types of palms growing here, but none of them are native to this area. They had to be transplanted from their 'natural' growth zone into this one. Most of them grow quite well here. Why? They become accustomed to the soil, heat, winds, and lack of rains we have here. You won't find coconuts here, though. Why? They won't adapt to this climate or this soil.

We might not be accustomed to the new soil God has planted us into today, but rest assured that he doesn't move us into places where he knows we will not thrive. We will 'adapt' to the 'soil' he has prepared for us in whatever the next 'transplant' will be for us. We can be certain that he will 'tend' the soil, provide the right 'climate' and create the right 'growth opportunities' for us wherever he places us. It is only when we put our roots down in the places he hasn't prepared for us that we have a hard time 'adapting' and 'flourishing'. Just sayin!

Care Instructions

I have cared for you since you were born. Yes, I carried you before you were born. I will be your God throughout your lifetime—until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you. (Isaiah 46:3-4)

We all have those moments when we are just incapable of holding up any longer - we need someone to care for us because we have given all we can manage, needing God's help to make it any further. This is not a bad thing to realize - we all need him to carry us through. We might struggle through out of sheer bullheadedness, but if you have tried that one, you know just how overwhelming the experience really is. If you look into my life, you will find that I have done things under my own willpower and self-effort on occasion, but things never ended up being as good as they could have been if I would have just let God help me with it.

Who better to care for us than the one who actually made us? He knows how we will approach the issue at hand, right down to how we will perceive it - as a threat or a blessing. He knows what sends us hurdling down a rocky path and what keeps us on the straight and narrow. To put it in pretty plain vernacular - he knows what makes us tick. It should give us some encouragement to know he will care for us all the days of our lives - from the time we are conceived till the day we breathe our last - then on into eternity with him. 

Look again at our passage - he will carry you along. That doesn't leave any room for stagnation in our walk, does it? Maybe when we 'lack propulsion' in our walk we need a gentle nudge from him to get us going again. The need to be 'carried' doesn't indicate weakness - it shows our dependence upon him. We might not even realize he is carrying us at some points, but as we look back at where we were, what we went through, and where we stand today, we might just see his 'carrying' more than we realized while 'going through' whatever it was.

God doesn't make a show about carrying us. He often does it without us even being aware his hands have bolstered us, lifting us when we were about to fall, and protecting us from things unseen that could have harmed us if we stumbled into them without his care. He made us - he will care for us. If you are feeling a bit like no one is on your side today, take heart. God may not always 'feel present', but he is always present. As they say it in theological terms, he is 'omnipresent'. He is also 'omniscient' - all-knowing. Whatever you are going through today, he knows your circumstances, has made a way through them, and will be right there to take that weight upon his shoulders. You just need to give it over to him and allow him to carry it (and you) through. Just sayin!