Saturday, June 23, 2012

Our help and our shield!

“Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in Him, because we trust in His holy name. Let Your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us, even as we hope in You."  ~Psalm 33:20-22

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

A Love that will never let go.

One Sunday evening each month, we meet together with people from our church, to sing, sing, sing! Everyone loves to sing at our church.

This last singing night was hosted at an older man's home. In addition to our normal singing he wanted to play the piano for us and have us sing selected songs.

O Love That Will Not Let Me Go, was one of those songs.

I looked up the story of the author of these lyrics. (He was said to have written all four lyrics in 5 minutes!) He knew great brokenness. He said his life was: "an obstructed life, a circumscribed life... but a life of quenchless hopefulness..."

Such is the case for those of us who have Christ as our hope.
This Love with never let us go!


O Love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.
~George Matheson

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Looking at life backwards.

"...all the days ordained for me were written in Your book
    before one of them came to be."  ~Psalm 139:16  
In moments when I begin to worry about the future, I've found that it helps me to look at life backwards. Yep, backwards. =)

Numerous times in the Bible the Lord tells us to trust Him. This pleases and glorifies Him, just as a parent is honored when their children joyfully trust and obey them. But it is hard to trust, especially when life seems so uncertain, and our eyes are focused on "now."

What do I mean by looking at life backwards? I basically  mean, seeing our life from an eternal perspective and fixing our gaze on how big and powerful God is. He knows what's in the past, the present, and the future. He knows exactly what the ending of our lives will be, because He has written our life stories! {Ephesians 2:10} 

The Lord knows when and where and how my story on this earth will end.  He knows who my children will be, when they will be born and what plans He has for them. Which means that if He knows who our children are, He knows who both of their parents are, which means that He knows exactly who we will marry. The Lord knows why we've gone through each circumstance in our lives. Everything ties together. But it will never clearly make sense to us now. I love how Martin Luther writes it:
"Our God is like a printer, who sets the letters backwards, so that here that is the way we must read them; when we are printed off yonder, in the life to come, we shall read all clear and straightforward."
Oh, the swell of joy we can have now - and will know in a greater way, when we see Him face to face - when we realize that all of this life is for His glory.

Fretting or worrying seem foolish when life is viewed "backwards" {Matthew 6:27}. Oh, my friend, trust in the Lord, the almighty and sovereign Creator! Cling to Him. Pray, work, trust; the Lord will faithfully lead us as we seek His will for our life and run this race with perseverance!  

"The providence of God is like Hebrew words - it can only be read backwards." ~ John Flavel