Is God fair?

Do you ever feel 'ashamed' about your understanding of the Word of God? There are indeed times when someone will come out with some 'deep' insight into what God has said, then we simply sit there in a state of 'awe' because we had never seen that truth before in that particular passage. We shouldn't ever feel 'ashamed' that we didn't see the truth like they did - we should revel in the fact God surrounds us with people who can see things we might have missed and that they are willing to share them with us! It is one of the means God uses to actually help us learn his truths.

Lord, you gave us your instructions and told us to always obey them. How I wish I could be more faithful in obeying your laws! Then I would never feel ashamed when I look closely at your commands. The more I understand how fair your laws are, the more sincerely I will praise you. (Psalm 119:4-7)

God gave us his instructions, not so they could sit on a shelf or in a bookcase never being read. He gave them to us as practical tools to keep us away from temptation, safe within the boundaries he sets, and so we'd have the weapons we need when the enemy of our souls tries to convince us we will never be safe or overcome sin. Always obeying these instructions is where we struggle. We understand them to a point, but it could just be we need to understand them a bit better. We won't come to that place of deeper understanding on our own, though. We need the help of the Holy Spirit, teachers of the Word, and even our closest friends to help us 'see' what remains hidden within those pages.

Perhaps we avoid time in the Word of God, choosing to just be 'spoon fed' bits and pieces on a Sunday morning. Maybe we don't want to make the effort to discover what it is God wants to reveal. The more we get into the scripture, the more 'insight' we will develop. Insight is nothing more than discernment - another big word that means we can see an underlying truth. God's plan for us is to give us insight so we will grasp and begin to incorporate that underlying truth within our lives. For example, when he tells us not to covet what our neighbor possesses, he isn't keeping us from good things. He is instructing us to avoid the traps of jealousy, comparisons, and pride. 

His laws are indeed 'fair', even though Satan might want us to think otherwise. This world's philosophies will attempt to tell us there is no 'fairness' in God's 'restrictions', but both his 'restrictions' and his 'allowances' are fair. The frequency at which we expose ourselves to God's truths will determine how well we begin to appreciate both God's allowances and his restrictions. Both are for our safety and blessing. God is always 'fair' - even when he places a 'do not go there' sign clearly in our path. Just sayin!

Just another sunrise?

The heavens keep telling the wonders of God, and the skies declare what he has done. Each day informs the following day; each night announces to the next. They don’t speak a word, and there is never the sound of a voice. Yet their message reaches all the earth, and it travels around the world. In the heavens a tent is set up for the sun. It rises like a bridegroom and gets ready like a hero eager to run a race. It travels all the way across the sky. Nothing hides from its heat. (Psalm 19:1-6)

We might be amazed with each sunrise, sunset, and the phases of the moon! Why? They are simply doing what they were designed to do - to keep telling the wonders of God and declaring boldly what he has done! They declare his creative power and his ability to sustain all things with nothing more than the sound of his voice! This should give us cause to pause for just a few moments to consider his greatness and to bask in his brilliance! When we think of the sun and the moon, we are to consider them as "declarations" of God's continued care for each of us. Without a word, the sun goes down and the moon takes its place in the sky. Without a sound, the sun begins the slow journey from somewhere below the horizon into the majesty of the sky above. In the passage of hours, it finds itself lingering just along the opposite horizon, giving that final glow of daylight as the moon sets about the path it will keep during those ensuing nighttime hours. No announcement is heard - no words are spoken - yet the brilliance of the sun's brightness and the faithfulness of the moon's passage tell of the faithfulness of our God.

Scripture tells us if we don't tell of his faithfulness, even nature will declare it. The message is heralded by the brightness of day and the dark, but brilliant night hours. The world is without excuse when it comes to knowing there is a God - for even the things we take so much for granted declare his faithfulness and grace. Without the sun, we would be launched into perpetual darkness and frigid temperatures. Without the brilliance of those rays beating down on plants below, the exchange of carbon dioxide and oxygen would never occur. Apart from their faithful coming and going, all life as we know it would cease to follow its pattern of life. Even us! We often take for granted things which God has taken so much care to prepare and preserve for our well-being. I have an appreciation for the majesty of what God has created and the tremendous amount of care he put into the handiwork each object of his creative power exhibits. Whether it is you or I that is being considered as his handiwork, or the tree fully in bloom with magnificent magnolia blooms filling the air with their sweet smell, or the seeming ease at which the humpback whale rises from the depths below - God is declared to be GOD in all of these things.

Stop to consider these wonders now and again. Think about the mystery of these objects. We don't really know what keeps the sun and moon in their places in the skies above, although scientists have studied their existence and course for years and years. We don't really know how they came to be, although scripture declares clearly their existence is clearly from God's hand - created from nothing - something we cannot comprehend with our finite minds. Some days reveal the passage of those bright rays in shorter spans than others, depending upon the time of year we observe their presence. Maybe this is because God wants us to recognize there are times when we need to bring rest to the earth and seasons when productive growth occurs. Maybe this is symbolic of how we go through seasons of tremendous growth, followed by what seems like times of coolness and barrenness. Those aren't times of barrenness. They are times of preparation - for in those moments when the days seem darker, our hearts are being prepared for the returning of the brilliance of those productive seasons soon to break upon the horizon of our lives! No announcement is necessary for the sun to take its place high above us. God's care is behind the dependability of its rising and setting! Just as consistent as he is in arranging for the sun to take its course high above us, his care over our lives may be depended upon because his carefulness over our lives and the course we take within them is for more important to him! Just sayin!

More on my side than yours

So one night the king of Aram sent a great army with many chariots and horses to surround the city. When the servant of the man of God got up early the next morning and went outside, there were troops, horses, and chariots everywhere. “Oh, sir, what will we do now?” the young man cried to Elisha. “Don’t be afraid!” Elisha told him. “For there are more on our side than on theirs!” Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!” The Lord opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire. (2 Kings 6:14-17)

More on our side than on theirs. Those words should echo within our brains, resound within our hearts, and bolster our spirit. Why? God doesn't ever leave his kids to stand on their own - he goes before, prepares us for what it is we will face, and stands with us as we do. Troops, horses, and chariots everywhere? That describes a pretty intimidating force, does it not? Yet God is there and with him we always have more on our side! The moment we begin to see the 'armies of our enemy' instead of the ARMIES OF OUR GOD, we give into the intimidation of our enemy. It might be hard to appreciate this one, but when the 'show of force' is huge on our enemy's side of the battle, we need to remember the 'number' on our side is even greater!

The enemy's tactic has always been to attempt to 'bully us' into believing he has a better plan than God, an easier way to follow, or a more thrilling path to explore. Whenever the enemy 'shows up in mass' within our lives, he is more intimidated of us than we are of him. He sends his masses because he knows the 'rattling of those sabers' might cause us to falter a bit. Keep in mind that God doesn't just 'rattle sabers' - he pushes back every force that opposes us, taking captive all that stand in the way of our growth, and assuring that we are safe within the confines of his carefully laid out boundaries. 

The armies may amass, but God's presence shuts down all their saber rattling. We must train our minds to listen for God's still small voice amidst all the saber rattling of our enemy, though. We might be tempted to focus on all the chaos he brings with his armies, but when we listen intently, we hear what they don't - God's presence. Aram's armies were huge, but God's presence brought a peace to the heart of his servant and showed just how 'powerless' they were as they stood before the presence of God. As the army advanced, do you know what happened next? Elisha asked God to blind them - to literally make them blind. In their blindness, they were led astray, right into the midst of Israel's armies.  

When the enemy cannot 'see' his path to advance, we have the opportunity to turn him away without his even knowing he is being led right into the hands of our might God. 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!