2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
It always amazes me how God’s timing in bringing something to my attention is so perfect. He knew I have been working hard and wanted me to be reminded Who should be put first in my life. That is why He arranged for me to hear a talk on “Be Still” by Mary Shepperd, a very fine teacher and loving person in our congregation. God was using Mary to deliver a message He wanted me to hear. I have Mary’s permission to use what she shared with us in writing this series of messages.
A number of my recent messages have ended with a reminder of how much God loves us. Those words are easy to say, but it’s not always easy to understand the full ramifications of what this means to us. Her title, “Be Still,” comes from PS 46: 10, “Be still and know that I am God, I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Because I’m such a believer in the value of putting citations in their original context, look at PS 46, a song described as “God Is With Us.” PS 46: 1-3, “God is our shelter and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not be afraid, even if the earth is shaken and the mountains fall into ocean depths; even if the seas roar and rage, and the hills are shaken by the violence.” If you have read the Scriptures as I have, mental pictures of the judgments of Revelation, Jonah’s experiences at sea, and Paul’s ship wrecks might have gone through your mind. Each one of these examples leaves us with the message that God rewards those who are faithful in the long run.
Now, look at PS 46: 4-7. “There is a river that brings joy to the city of God, to the sacred house of the Most High. God is in that city, and it will never be destroyed; at early dawn He will come to its aid. Nations are terrified, kingdoms are shaken; God thunders, and earth dissolves. The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our Refuge.” We are so blessed that we have access to both OT and NT Scriptures in such a compact form as are our Bibles. When we read citations like this passage, we can flip to REV 22: 1-3 and DN 2: 34-35 (which I hope you will read over) and see the connections between them with this passage in PS 46. Looking at them in this context, we, with our 20/20 hindsight, can see the Psalms verses are prophecies of what is yet to come.
The final section of PS 46 reminds us of God’s sovereignty while at the same time repeating that He is our Refuge. PS 46: 8-11, “Come and see what the Lord has done. See what amazing things He has done on earth. He stops wars all over the world; He break bows, destroys spears, and sets shields on fire. ‘Be still and know that I am God,’ He says, ‘ I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.’ “ Some of you are able to remember what it was like during World War II, the post war era, the long cold war with the Soviet Union, the Viet Nam war years, and beyond. Anyone who has either lived through these years or read about them knows that while they were going on, we questioned if these very real threats to North America would ever end. I’m old enough to remember what it was like to see members of my own family conscripted into the army during the Berlin Wall crisis and the Cuban missile crisis and being told by the service that they couldn’t tell us either when or even if they would ever come home. Some of you might have even lost friends or relatives in Viet Nam. And yet, look at what God has done. Today, the Berlin Wall, the Cuban missile crisis, and the war in Viet Nam are distant memories. Today, there is no more USSR. While that doesn’t mean that we won’t ever have similar problems again, it does demonstrate the truth of God’s sovereignty. The writer and singers of this Psalm remind us that while God is in control, He is also our Refuge. Isn’t that what a responsible Parent is to the children He loves?
I know in my heart God wants us to seek Him. The question is how much of our time do we spend in that pursuit? Do really understand just how important making time for God in our lives is? Mary had some suggestions for us to consider that are very valuable. To let God into our lives we have to be quiet enough to hear what He has to say to us. We need to value His role as our Refuge enough to let Him carry it out. How can we do this if we are forever too busy? To answer this question, we need to look at why we are so busy. When we have no time to ever do something we want to do, we are too busy. It’s time to look carefully at our lives to see if less important things can be either weeded out or postponed. As hard as it is, we need to learn to say the word, “no,” at times. One question we could ask in deciding which things must go and which things we must keep in our lives is to ask: “Are my motives in doing this in line with God’s will?” Are we engaging in a certain activity to prove we are a good person, for reasons of pride, for personal gain, or to get approval? Or, are we letting God do His work through us in doing them? If we are not sure, then pray about it. God will give us direction, if we will simply ask Him for it.
Sometimes the reason we don’t allow enough time in our lives listening to God is our need for approval, something Mary calls a “love-deficit.” We are exposed to ideals for family life that our family lives don’t meet. Not everyone is able to have a mother like Beaver Cleaver’s or a father like Ozzie Nelson, Robert Young, or Stu Erwin depicted on their TV programs. Maybe we had great parents, but felt like an outsider with our school mates, because we didn’t fit the current ideal they had in their minds. People growing up this way often over compensate for this “love-deficit” as adults by trying to be everything to all people. Ask yourself why you adopted certain adult behaviors. Are you trying to fill in a gap in your lives, or are you letting God do His work through you? These are not easy questions to ponder. Each person’s answer to them is different. Yet, we need to take the time to ask them, so that we can make God a priority in our lives. Tomorrow, we will continue looking at this subject with more insights from Mary’s presentation and the Scriptures. In the meanwhile, join me in this prayer:
PRAYER: O Lord, we humbly approach You, recognizing that You deserve to be the number one priority in our lives. You truly are our Refuge and really want us to make You the Lord of our lives. You teach us through the Holy Spirit that we must make room in our lives for You. Help us to recognize the value of becoming less busy, so there is time in our lives for us to quiet down and hear what You want us to know. Help us to recognize that anything is possible with You and that You are there for us everyday of our lives. In Christ’s name, amen.
Know that you can turn to your Lord, both in times of trouble and times of triumph. He is present in your lives and loves you more than any human can. His love for you is unconditional and perfect. Feel blessed by this, Dear Ones. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace, Peace, and God’s Presence Be With You,
Lynn