God is always communicating with us, and Scripture is the primary way he does it. So to hear from him we have to take the time to read the Bible and listen with our hearts. I'm in Isaiah 57:1-13 this morning. Why don't you join me there? First ask the Holy Spirit to impress on you what you need to hear most. Write down that verse(s) and then journal your observations and what you plan to do in response.
Devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death. (v. 1-2)
Why do bad things happen to good people? Why is it that people who have no use for God often live far too long for most of us, while the people you never want to be without get taken away? It's incomplete, but here is one of the reasons that the best people sometimes die prematurely. As much as we want to cling to our present lives there is something far better beyond it! Only Jesus could fully reveal that truth and solidify our hope in what lies beyond physical death. But even here in the Old Testament the people of God were given hints and in their hearts felt that we were meant for something more.
The fact is that some people are just too good for this fallen world. God sometimes honors them by removing them from it to introduce them to the wonders of his heaven and release them from the burdens that presently weigh us down. Or he knows that something that lies ahead would be too painful for them, so he spares them from it by bringing them to his side where nothing can ever threaten their well-being again.
It shows something of the contrast between how we view death and how God sees it. To us the timing may seem tragic and unfair, while from his perspective it is a blessing and an honor. The reason God sees it so differently is that he knows fully what it's like on the other side of the door of death. And he knows how the future will play out on our own side of that door. He understands far better than we the maginitude of the release that the transition from this life to the next provides.
Thank you for speaking to me today, God. You've given me some perspective on Cathy's death at age 39. I've often struggled and cried out to you about how you could take someone so godly and wonderful so early in her life when the kids and I and the world needed her light. Maybe she was just too good to have to wait for heaven any longer. I miss her so much, but I'm thankful that she is celebrating with you.
We would be so blessed to hear your own impressions of God's message to you today from this text. Please comment below (choose Anonymous from the drop-down menu or sign into your Google account first).
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Blind Lookouts
I can't wait to discover what God wants to say to me today! How about you? I know that whether he's inspiring me, encouraging me, challenging me or convicting me, everything he says to me is intended to bless me and help me find real life. So here we go! I'm taking in just four verses today from Isaiah 56 (v. 9-12). It might take several readings, but ask yourself what the message is for you today.
Israel's watchmen are blind . . . they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; . . . They are shepherds who lack understanding. (v. 10-11)
Blind lookout guards, watchdogs without a bark and senseless shepherds all have one thing in common--they're pretty worthless. The imagery here is brilliant and funny. God definitely has a sense of humor, as well as a way with words. Imagine guards posted at the tower, entrusted with sounding the alarm if the city or the base is being attacked. But as they peer out across the landscape, they can't see a thing! And then there's the neighbor who buys a dog because she wants to feel safer, but the poor thing only hacks when it tries to bark! These sound like a scene out of a Monte Python flick! Sheep are dumb enough animals to walk right into a wolf pack or a hole in the ground. That's why they need shepherds. But if the shepherds are just as oblivious those sheep are really in for it!
God is talking specifically about the leaders, especially those entrusted with the spiritual oversight of his people. They were not much help because they only told the people what they wanted to hear. Every week their sermon topic was something like Everything's Just Peachy or You Don't Need to Change a Thing. It makes for big crowds and good offerings! ... But it also leaves people wandering and misguided and vulnerable to the many attacks on their lives and their relationship with God by our Enemy.
We need people in our lives who tell us the truth. And it's not just our spiritual leaders. I need friends who tell me the truth when they see me heading the wrong direction. I need a mate who has her eyes open to how I'm doing spiritually and who loves me enough to not just turn a blind eye if I'm drifting. And they need me to do the same for them. As a parent, I've got to be sure that I am paying close attention to what is happening in my kids' lives. They are depending on me to protect them. I don't want to be a blind watchman! And if I do see a real problem I've got to have the courage to speak up even if it makes me unpopular with them. I am wise to surround myself with people who have discernment instead of friends who wouldn't know a rattlesnake from a pile of cow manure. They will help keep me out of trouble instad of leading me into it.
So what kind of people have you surrounded yourself with?
Please share your comments and insights below! (Choose Anonymous from the drop-down menu or sign into your Google account first.)
Israel's watchmen are blind . . . they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; . . . They are shepherds who lack understanding. (v. 10-11)
Blind lookout guards, watchdogs without a bark and senseless shepherds all have one thing in common--they're pretty worthless. The imagery here is brilliant and funny. God definitely has a sense of humor, as well as a way with words. Imagine guards posted at the tower, entrusted with sounding the alarm if the city or the base is being attacked. But as they peer out across the landscape, they can't see a thing! And then there's the neighbor who buys a dog because she wants to feel safer, but the poor thing only hacks when it tries to bark! These sound like a scene out of a Monte Python flick! Sheep are dumb enough animals to walk right into a wolf pack or a hole in the ground. That's why they need shepherds. But if the shepherds are just as oblivious those sheep are really in for it!
God is talking specifically about the leaders, especially those entrusted with the spiritual oversight of his people. They were not much help because they only told the people what they wanted to hear. Every week their sermon topic was something like Everything's Just Peachy or You Don't Need to Change a Thing. It makes for big crowds and good offerings! ... But it also leaves people wandering and misguided and vulnerable to the many attacks on their lives and their relationship with God by our Enemy.
We need people in our lives who tell us the truth. And it's not just our spiritual leaders. I need friends who tell me the truth when they see me heading the wrong direction. I need a mate who has her eyes open to how I'm doing spiritually and who loves me enough to not just turn a blind eye if I'm drifting. And they need me to do the same for them. As a parent, I've got to be sure that I am paying close attention to what is happening in my kids' lives. They are depending on me to protect them. I don't want to be a blind watchman! And if I do see a real problem I've got to have the courage to speak up even if it makes me unpopular with them. I am wise to surround myself with people who have discernment instead of friends who wouldn't know a rattlesnake from a pile of cow manure. They will help keep me out of trouble instad of leading me into it.
So what kind of people have you surrounded yourself with?
Please share your comments and insights below! (Choose Anonymous from the drop-down menu or sign into your Google account first.)
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Everyone Belongs
I'm glad you're back to open your mind to some more God-thoughts! The conversation with God for today is centering around Isaiah 56:1-8. What is he trying to communicate to you?
Let no foreigner who has bound himself to the LORD say, "The LORD will surely exclude me from his people. . . . for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations." (v. 3, 7)
The Jews always had a hard time accepting the fact that they weren't the only nation that God loved. God had chosen them to specially represent him to the rest of the world, but God's sights were always set on the whole world, not just Israel. Gentiles (non-Jews) were excluded from the inner court of worship in the temple. There was an outer section called the Court of Gentiles where they had to stay. It was like being in coach when the Jews were all in first-class. But God didn't intend to leave them there. His plan was to welcome them into honored places in his family. . . something that would only happen through the new covenant brought in by Jesus.
I'm so glad that I'm not a second-class citizen in God's Kingdom! I'm thankful for the way he has honored and included me with full rights as one of his sons! God, you have been so good to me!
At the same time, I realize that I can repeat the same spirit of exclusion that the Jews had of the Gentiles. I wonder what people group--what ethnicity or social class--feels like they don't belong in our faith community? And what can we do about it? How can we better recognize and reflect that the U.S. doesn't have the corner on Jesus? I could start by praying more for the nations to know Jesus. I could support my church's mission efforts to places outside our own region. I can intentionally walk across the room and extend my hand of friendship to people of other ethnicities than I am, invite them into my life, learn about them and their customs. I could invite them to worship with me.
Father, help me to learn to love and value all kinds of people and all nations of people as you do. Forgive any hint of prejudice or nationalism that smacks of false pride and makes others feel excluded. Thank you for being a God who loves not just Pearland, not just the U.S., but the world. Amen.
Please share your comments with us! Your insights are welcome!
Let no foreigner who has bound himself to the LORD say, "The LORD will surely exclude me from his people. . . . for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations." (v. 3, 7)
The Jews always had a hard time accepting the fact that they weren't the only nation that God loved. God had chosen them to specially represent him to the rest of the world, but God's sights were always set on the whole world, not just Israel. Gentiles (non-Jews) were excluded from the inner court of worship in the temple. There was an outer section called the Court of Gentiles where they had to stay. It was like being in coach when the Jews were all in first-class. But God didn't intend to leave them there. His plan was to welcome them into honored places in his family. . . something that would only happen through the new covenant brought in by Jesus.
I'm so glad that I'm not a second-class citizen in God's Kingdom! I'm thankful for the way he has honored and included me with full rights as one of his sons! God, you have been so good to me!
At the same time, I realize that I can repeat the same spirit of exclusion that the Jews had of the Gentiles. I wonder what people group--what ethnicity or social class--feels like they don't belong in our faith community? And what can we do about it? How can we better recognize and reflect that the U.S. doesn't have the corner on Jesus? I could start by praying more for the nations to know Jesus. I could support my church's mission efforts to places outside our own region. I can intentionally walk across the room and extend my hand of friendship to people of other ethnicities than I am, invite them into my life, learn about them and their customs. I could invite them to worship with me.
Father, help me to learn to love and value all kinds of people and all nations of people as you do. Forgive any hint of prejudice or nationalism that smacks of false pride and makes others feel excluded. Thank you for being a God who loves not just Pearland, not just the U.S., but the world. Amen.
Please share your comments with us! Your insights are welcome!
Monday, March 28, 2011
God Thoughts
After a worshipful Sunday do you have the Monday spiritual let-down? You know, you can hear from God even on Monday mornings! Let's listen in to what he's saying in Isaiah 55:8-13 today. You can read this through twice in a minute. But no need to rush. What is God speaking to your heart through this text? Again, there is so much paced in these few short verses! Here is what I'm focused in on . . .
As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. . . . So is my word that goes out form my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. (v. 9, 11).
How much I need God's thoughts in my head! My own thoughts tend to take me to the wrong places, how about you? That is because they come from my fallen human nature. Funny how I sometimes find myself expecting God to think like me! If I'm not careful I am capable of projecting myself and my ideas onto God, as if he is basically just a super-human me. My own feelings can become the standard by which I discern right from wrong and good from evil. If it's okay with me, surely it must be okay with God....right?
When I'm feeling cynical, depressed, hopeless, inferior, inadequate or generally discontent I can be sure that it is my own thoughts that are forming my emotions. The same is true when I'm feeling superior, judgmental, unaccountable, envious, ungrateful, apathetic, spiteful or malicious, or even inappropriately lustful. God's thoughts don't lead me there.
God's thoughts take me to much greener pastures. They fill me with peace about the past, gratitude about the present, and confident hope for the future. God's thoughts lead me to serve others, to care about the injustices in the world enough to do something about them. They inspire me to see myself as he sees me, to feel loved and honored and cared for. God's thoughts lead me into God's ways, which are also so much higher than my own.
That's why I need God's Word (read the verses above again). God's Word expresses God's thoughts. When I meditate on God's Word it puts God-thougths in my mind. God promises here that his Word will accomplish what he intends for it to. It is effective and powerful! It's like refreshing rain on the parched earth of my soul. It elevates me from earth-bound thinking and wordly ways to a much higher plane of thinking and doing.
I love to take in the amazing thoughts and ideas of the infinitely holy God! I soak them in and let them saturate my mind. That's what my devotional time, my journaling time is all about. And sharing that experience with you, encouraging you to reap the same rewards is why I take the time to publish this blog.
Good for you to take time to drink in God's life-giving thoughts! You will be blessed today because of it.
Please share your impressions from this awesome text with us! Comment below either by selecting Anonymous from the drop-down list or sign into your Google account first and then comment. We will be eager to hear what you have to share!
As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. . . . So is my word that goes out form my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. (v. 9, 11).
How much I need God's thoughts in my head! My own thoughts tend to take me to the wrong places, how about you? That is because they come from my fallen human nature. Funny how I sometimes find myself expecting God to think like me! If I'm not careful I am capable of projecting myself and my ideas onto God, as if he is basically just a super-human me. My own feelings can become the standard by which I discern right from wrong and good from evil. If it's okay with me, surely it must be okay with God....right?
When I'm feeling cynical, depressed, hopeless, inferior, inadequate or generally discontent I can be sure that it is my own thoughts that are forming my emotions. The same is true when I'm feeling superior, judgmental, unaccountable, envious, ungrateful, apathetic, spiteful or malicious, or even inappropriately lustful. God's thoughts don't lead me there.
God's thoughts take me to much greener pastures. They fill me with peace about the past, gratitude about the present, and confident hope for the future. God's thoughts lead me to serve others, to care about the injustices in the world enough to do something about them. They inspire me to see myself as he sees me, to feel loved and honored and cared for. God's thoughts lead me into God's ways, which are also so much higher than my own.
That's why I need God's Word (read the verses above again). God's Word expresses God's thoughts. When I meditate on God's Word it puts God-thougths in my mind. God promises here that his Word will accomplish what he intends for it to. It is effective and powerful! It's like refreshing rain on the parched earth of my soul. It elevates me from earth-bound thinking and wordly ways to a much higher plane of thinking and doing.
I love to take in the amazing thoughts and ideas of the infinitely holy God! I soak them in and let them saturate my mind. That's what my devotional time, my journaling time is all about. And sharing that experience with you, encouraging you to reap the same rewards is why I take the time to publish this blog.
Good for you to take time to drink in God's life-giving thoughts! You will be blessed today because of it.
Please share your impressions from this awesome text with us! Comment below either by selecting Anonymous from the drop-down list or sign into your Google account first and then comment. We will be eager to hear what you have to share!
Friday, March 25, 2011
Gotta Have You Now
It's a great day, because I have life and God has me in his hand! I'm listening to him today from Isaiah 55:1-7. It's very short, but wow is it ever full of thoughts to dwell on! Don't miss out on what God wants to speak to your heart. He is inviting you right from this text, "Listen, listen to me . . . and your soul will delight in the richest of fare." That's his promise! Take a moment and read it thoughtfully, then again. . . . What are you hearing?
My eyes are drawn to this:
Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. (v. 6)
I'd like to think that God is always going to be accessible for me whenever I choose to take my pursuit of him seriously. But God is saying something otherwise here. There's a window of time when our hearts are opened to God. There's a time when I will find him if I seek him. There's a time when he is near and inviting me. The implication is that if I keep putting him off, the window may eventually close. The door may shut. God wants a relationship with me, but I have only today to pursue him. Tomorrow may never come.
I think the limitation is on our own part, not God's. It's not that God will stop pursuing us but that we will become more and more insensitive to his voice if we keep shutting our ears to it. I use MS Outlook. When I first started keeping my calendar on it, I would sit up and take notice whenever a reminder popped up. But I found that often the reminders would come at the most inconvenient times. I would invariably be right in the middle of a thought I was carefully crafting or a phone call or a project. So I started ignoring the reminders with the intent of reading them a few minutes later. Now that I've done that enough times, something interesting has happened. I don't even hear the reminder alarm anymore! It can go off and I will not even notice it!
The most consistent problem I see that is keeping people from a life-giving connection with God is that they are in no hurry for it. Everything else takes priority. God is what they will focus on when their schedule opens up a little and there's nothing else pressing or entertaining to do. They occasionally hear something from God that sparks their interest, convicts them, or brings to their minds their need for God. But they lay it aside for another day. Maybe someday, when . . .
But eventually they don't even notice when God is speaking to them anymore. He becomes more and more distant from their thoughts. They lose the heart to really seek him, so they never find him. Or the day comes unexpectedly when there are no more tomorrows for them. The window of opportunity is forever shut.
God, you offer me real life through knowing you, the source of life. You love me infinitely and long for me to be filled up with your love. But I know that you will not settle for being my afterthought. God, I will seek you now.
I would love to hear from you! Please share your comments below (choose Anonymous from the list or sign in with your Google account first.)
My eyes are drawn to this:
Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. (v. 6)
I'd like to think that God is always going to be accessible for me whenever I choose to take my pursuit of him seriously. But God is saying something otherwise here. There's a window of time when our hearts are opened to God. There's a time when I will find him if I seek him. There's a time when he is near and inviting me. The implication is that if I keep putting him off, the window may eventually close. The door may shut. God wants a relationship with me, but I have only today to pursue him. Tomorrow may never come.
I think the limitation is on our own part, not God's. It's not that God will stop pursuing us but that we will become more and more insensitive to his voice if we keep shutting our ears to it. I use MS Outlook. When I first started keeping my calendar on it, I would sit up and take notice whenever a reminder popped up. But I found that often the reminders would come at the most inconvenient times. I would invariably be right in the middle of a thought I was carefully crafting or a phone call or a project. So I started ignoring the reminders with the intent of reading them a few minutes later. Now that I've done that enough times, something interesting has happened. I don't even hear the reminder alarm anymore! It can go off and I will not even notice it!
The most consistent problem I see that is keeping people from a life-giving connection with God is that they are in no hurry for it. Everything else takes priority. God is what they will focus on when their schedule opens up a little and there's nothing else pressing or entertaining to do. They occasionally hear something from God that sparks their interest, convicts them, or brings to their minds their need for God. But they lay it aside for another day. Maybe someday, when . . .
But eventually they don't even notice when God is speaking to them anymore. He becomes more and more distant from their thoughts. They lose the heart to really seek him, so they never find him. Or the day comes unexpectedly when there are no more tomorrows for them. The window of opportunity is forever shut.
God, you offer me real life through knowing you, the source of life. You love me infinitely and long for me to be filled up with your love. But I know that you will not settle for being my afterthought. God, I will seek you now.
I would love to hear from you! Please share your comments below (choose Anonymous from the list or sign in with your Google account first.)
Thursday, March 24, 2011
The Gift of Peace
Today's conversation with God is coming from Isaiah 54:11-17. I hope you can give yourself the blessing of listening to what he is saying to you there. The most well-known statement in this text comes from verse 17, but today God is putting something else on my heart . . .
All your sons will be taught by the LORD, and great will be your children's peace. (v. 13)
That's exactly what I want for my children! There is nothing more I could ask for them than for the level of peace they experience in their lives to be great! I think that's what most every parent wants and hopes for. We do our best to love them and spend time with them and give them many fun experiences. The park. Little league. Ice cream sundaes. Birthday parties filled with presents and balloons. Video games. Movies. Campouts. McDonald's. We give them everything we can to make their lives happy.
But while all those things are great, none of them are the real key that is going to unlock the door to a life of great peace. What is going to help them avoid following the crowd down all the wrong paths? What is going to keep their heart pure? How are they going to really love and care about the others around them instead of becoming mean and insulting like most kids in school do?
Where are they going to learn to wait to experience sex in marriage where they can have real, amazing intimacy instead of empty thrills that lead to shame, heartbreak, disease and unwanted pregnancies? What will inspire them to see themselves as the wonderful creations they are when the world is trying its best to make them feel inferior?
Where will they learn not to worry and fret about things? How will they navigate their feelings when someone they love dies? How will they find contentment? What will keep them from measuring their worth by the value of their assets or being owned by their possessions? How will they know what the right thing to do is? Where will they learn the joy of being generous with all they have and all they are and making a difference?
How will they learn what real love is and develop the capacity to love their mate all out with a serving, giving, tender love that just won't quit? Where will they gain the wisdom to make it through life's disappointments and painful experiences with grace, poise and hopefulness?
These are the things that will bring my children peace. And few if any of these things will happen by accident. These things are learned by knowing God . . . by knowing him personally and deeply . . . by receiving his love and loving him back. My children will have great peace in their lives to the degree that their hearts are taught by the Lord. And that starts with me, their parent. Above all things, it is my foremost duty and privilege as a parent to make sure that I guide them into a personal relationship with God and a real understanding of his will as he revealed it in Scripture.
Father, as you have taught me, may I be diligent about teaching my children of you. I want so much for them to know you so that they will know peace.
Please bless us by sharing what God impressed on your heart as you read this text! Comment below after signing into your Google account or just select Anonymous from the list. It's easy and you may encourage someone else!
All your sons will be taught by the LORD, and great will be your children's peace. (v. 13)
That's exactly what I want for my children! There is nothing more I could ask for them than for the level of peace they experience in their lives to be great! I think that's what most every parent wants and hopes for. We do our best to love them and spend time with them and give them many fun experiences. The park. Little league. Ice cream sundaes. Birthday parties filled with presents and balloons. Video games. Movies. Campouts. McDonald's. We give them everything we can to make their lives happy.
But while all those things are great, none of them are the real key that is going to unlock the door to a life of great peace. What is going to help them avoid following the crowd down all the wrong paths? What is going to keep their heart pure? How are they going to really love and care about the others around them instead of becoming mean and insulting like most kids in school do?
Where are they going to learn to wait to experience sex in marriage where they can have real, amazing intimacy instead of empty thrills that lead to shame, heartbreak, disease and unwanted pregnancies? What will inspire them to see themselves as the wonderful creations they are when the world is trying its best to make them feel inferior?
Where will they learn not to worry and fret about things? How will they navigate their feelings when someone they love dies? How will they find contentment? What will keep them from measuring their worth by the value of their assets or being owned by their possessions? How will they know what the right thing to do is? Where will they learn the joy of being generous with all they have and all they are and making a difference?
How will they learn what real love is and develop the capacity to love their mate all out with a serving, giving, tender love that just won't quit? Where will they gain the wisdom to make it through life's disappointments and painful experiences with grace, poise and hopefulness?
These are the things that will bring my children peace. And few if any of these things will happen by accident. These things are learned by knowing God . . . by knowing him personally and deeply . . . by receiving his love and loving him back. My children will have great peace in their lives to the degree that their hearts are taught by the Lord. And that starts with me, their parent. Above all things, it is my foremost duty and privilege as a parent to make sure that I guide them into a personal relationship with God and a real understanding of his will as he revealed it in Scripture.
Father, as you have taught me, may I be diligent about teaching my children of you. I want so much for them to know you so that they will know peace.
Please bless us by sharing what God impressed on your heart as you read this text! Comment below after signing into your Google account or just select Anonymous from the list. It's easy and you may encourage someone else!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Loved Forever
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The text I'm reading today is Isaiah 54:1-10. This is such an inspirational book of Scripture! If you can, allow yourself the benefit of reading the text yourself first, at least twice. Ask God to make it speak freshly to you. I'd like to know what catches your attention. For me it's . . .
"Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed," says the LORD, who has compassion on you. (v. 10)
After God expresses that when I'm in a state of callused rebellion against him, he may briefly "abandon" me--in the sense of punishing me--and hide his face from me (v. 7-8), this promise in verse 10 gives me so much peace. If I can't count on anything else in life I can depend on one thing--God does indeed love me with an "unfailing love"! He loves not just me as an individual but his people as a collective group. He loves his church with an unfailing love (the "you" in this passage is plural in Hebrew). He promises that nothing can make him stop loving me! Nothing I've done or might do, no matter how bad, can shake his love. It's the most solid, unmovable force in the universe! He will never withdraw from me his offer of relationship.
That's hard for me to fathom. I'm all too aware of how short-lived the love of humans can be. People can be so fickle and conditional with their love. Maybe the unfailing love of God is the hardest truth about him to really comprehend. It's also the most life-changing. No matter how devalued others may make me feel, the God who created the universe with a word and rules over it finds me--me!--worth his infinite love.
Sovereign Lord, I never want to live in a way that I feel abandoned by you. I confess that when life is painful it sometimes feels like you have turned your face away from me. But I know the truth, this truth you are speaking into my heart today. Thank you for loving me always, no matter what! I feel honored today by who I am in your eyes. Help me to love others with that same kind of unfailing love. Amen.
I would be honored to hear your own reflections on this passage! Please share your thoughts by commenting below. (Sign into your Google account first, or just select Anonymous from the drop-down menu.)
The text I'm reading today is Isaiah 54:1-10. This is such an inspirational book of Scripture! If you can, allow yourself the benefit of reading the text yourself first, at least twice. Ask God to make it speak freshly to you. I'd like to know what catches your attention. For me it's . . .
"Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed," says the LORD, who has compassion on you. (v. 10)
After God expresses that when I'm in a state of callused rebellion against him, he may briefly "abandon" me--in the sense of punishing me--and hide his face from me (v. 7-8), this promise in verse 10 gives me so much peace. If I can't count on anything else in life I can depend on one thing--God does indeed love me with an "unfailing love"! He loves not just me as an individual but his people as a collective group. He loves his church with an unfailing love (the "you" in this passage is plural in Hebrew). He promises that nothing can make him stop loving me! Nothing I've done or might do, no matter how bad, can shake his love. It's the most solid, unmovable force in the universe! He will never withdraw from me his offer of relationship.
That's hard for me to fathom. I'm all too aware of how short-lived the love of humans can be. People can be so fickle and conditional with their love. Maybe the unfailing love of God is the hardest truth about him to really comprehend. It's also the most life-changing. No matter how devalued others may make me feel, the God who created the universe with a word and rules over it finds me--me!--worth his infinite love.
Sovereign Lord, I never want to live in a way that I feel abandoned by you. I confess that when life is painful it sometimes feels like you have turned your face away from me. But I know the truth, this truth you are speaking into my heart today. Thank you for loving me always, no matter what! I feel honored today by who I am in your eyes. Help me to love others with that same kind of unfailing love. Amen.
I would be honored to hear your own reflections on this passage! Please share your thoughts by commenting below. (Sign into your Google account first, or just select Anonymous from the drop-down menu.)
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