In
John 5:39 Jesus said “You search the scripture to find life; they
speak of me.” I have tried to consider this in all my study of the
word of God for the past year or so. Coupled with 2Tim 3 I know it
will provide me with understand and knowledge of how God relates to
man, a challenge to belief I have that is incorrect (including those
that come out in a variety of human action) and instruction for
living life as it was intended by my creator. It has changed the way
I relate to the Bible. I used to think there were scriptures that
could not fit these criteria. But when I stop and ask, God fills in
the part I've missed over decades of study.
Sometimes
my study is initiated by my personal preference or interest. Other
times it is truly initiated by God through the Holy Spirit. Monday's
study of Psalm 77 was such a time. Let me clarify that I think both
are valid and God speaks greatly to my heart, need and living through
both. That said, I will share some of what God gave me in Psalm 77.
It's never been my favorite Psalm and had God not prompted me strongly, I probably would not have dwelt on it. Yet he had so much
that applies to where I am, how I pray and what it means to overcome.
Yes, overcoming has become a sort of theme these days. But I'm
seeing that overcoming may not mean exactly what I used to think it
did.
“I
sought the Lord. All night I stretched out untiring hands; my soul
refused to be comforted”.
Sometimes
when we are in distress, the human side of us does not accept God's
presence in the situation. That can be because I think I should do
something to fix it or because I am ashamed that I am in distress, because I feel like I've caused it, or because I think I
should trust God more fully.
In
reality, I claim too much power over my life. God is sovereign. He
doesn't bring all of the illness and stress into my life, but he is
sovereign, he is powerful and he is aware.
The
psalmist states "I remembered you, oh God and I groaned."
He says he mused on it and his Spirit grew faint. He says that God
kept him awake and he couldn't even talk about it. Perhaps that was
because he was finally admitting he didn't understand what the core
problem was and so didn't know what the solution really was. The
human spirit will fight for control until it is worn out trying to
make our best guess happen either by coercing God or manipulating
circumstance. There comes a point where I begin to really look for
God whether or not he offers an immediate solution to my problem. He
always does, but sometimes I need to get over that. Sometimes I need
to just look for God and put my love for him in the right position.
When
we truly love him he will begin working in amazing ways and because
we are close to him we can see the truth and not the enemy's lie.
Satan works to get us off course and then comes back as our accuser
to bring guilt that keeps us from running back to God and so set us
further off course. But he is the author of lies, a liar from the
beginning.
We
try to solve our own problems in our minds. We cry for help from a
human perspective because the problem has canceled our God
perspective. Our Spirits get worn out. And then it is that our
thoughts turn to the love and power of God that we have known in the
past. We remember the fellowship we had with him.
In
self owned guilt the psalmist cried out in his frustration: "
Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never show his favor again?
Has his unfailing love vanished forever? Has his promise failed for
all time? Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has he, in his anger,
withheld his compassion?" In essence he is asking if God
has ceased to be God.
But
he knows better “To this I will appeal: the years of the right
hand of the most high. I will remember the deeds of the Lord. I will
remember the miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all your works
and I will consider your mighty accomplishments.”
Sometimes
I must separate myself from the problem and recognize God for who he
is and for what he has done in my life and the lives of others I
know. It makes me feel that I am abandoning the imperative problem
in my life, and yet it is the Spirit drawing me out where I can truly
see. The problems that seem to be are seldom the true problem in my
heart. Perhaps one day I will know that most of my assumed problems
are a blink in God's eye, though they seem a matter of life and
death. I must ask “Does he not know? Has his grace stopped being
grace? Can his promise fail at all? Has he forgotten me in this
trial?” And this brings me back to who God is: his power and his
unchanging character.
When we begin to see God in his
holiness, we know that nothing else is as great as our God. We see
that he can perform miracles. He can display his power among people.
We remember that he has shown us his power and redeemed us in the
past. We confirm his power and willingness to save.
The
Psalmist begins to affirm and praise his God.
The
water saw you and they writhed; the depths convulsed.
The
clouds poured down water; the skies resounded with thunder.
Your
arrows as lightning flashed back and forth; your thunder was heard
during the tornado. Your lightning lit up the world.
The
Earth trembled and quaked. Your path led through the sea. Your way
led through the mighty water, though your footprints were not seen.
You led us as a flock through all of this.
Before long I find myself
"Telling the 'storm' how big my God is."
It
would have been nice if the psalmist had told us the rest of this
story. It would have been interesting to see what God did to solve
the problem the psalmist was experiencing. But we don't really need
that, do we? When we get our hearts and minds in perspective with who
God really is in our lives, we see the hand of God at
work. In truth we know God's love is there to take us through the
storm or to stop the storm. He, not the storm becomes the focus.
Your footprints led through the
waters: the problem, the difficulty, the hindrance, the scary part,
though we could not see them.
Doctrine: God is always
there. He has not lost his interest, his character or his power.
Correction: We must
learn to acknowledge, honor, and trust what we cannot see.
Instruction: Reject
Satan's attempts to keep us from reaching for our Father when we are
in trouble -whether of our own making or not. When overwhelming
problems arise, realize God is not overwhelmed. Focus on him and his
faithfulness and trust his ability to be God in this situation.
Then ask -always ask.
