pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

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Love and Strength

Reading: Isaiah 40: 27-31

Verse 29: “He gives strength to the weary and his understanding no one can fathom”.

Photo credit: Kelly Sikkema

The second half of our passage from Isaiah 40 continues the theme of yesterday’s verses: God is everlasting. Isaiah again asks, “Do you not know? Have you not heard”? Just as we need to be reminded over and over, so too do the Israelites. God is still our God, unchanging and eternal. When we get weary and when we feel isolated and alone, we too need to hear again that “the Lord is the everlasting God”. Isaiah goes on to remind the faithful that God doesn’t get weary or tired and that God’s understanding is unfathomable. How often we grow weary and fail to understand the depth of God’s love and wisdom and might!

Although almost none of our trials or struggles or even seasons of separation from God or one another are as long as the forty years Israel spent in exile, we can all relate to their situation. We’ve all walked through the valley for so long that we feel like we cannot take another step forward. Sometimes, though, we are to blame for the weariness and/or the isolation that we “suddenly” find ourselves in. We get caught up in chasing the things of this world until the moment we find ourselves wrung out and exhausted and alone, hitting the wall and realizing it was all for naught. However and why we got to the place of weariness or isolation, verse 29 speaks balm to our souls: “He gives strength to the weary and his understanding no one can fathom”. Our everlasting, eternal God is right there. God understands. Our wise and mighty God is right there to give us his understanding and his strength.

This is goods news for us, yes, but it is also good news that we are meant to share. When God gives us strength and understanding, it is a wonderful gift. It is life changing for us to realize that we are not alone, that the God of the universe is on our side. Experiencing those touches of God draw us deeper into our relationship with God. In that place, we know what it means to be truly loved. Filled by that love and strength we are equipped to share that with a broken and needy world. Going out into the weariness and loneliness of the world, we bear God’s presence into the lives of those who are hurting and who are thirsty. May we each bring hope into the world today and every day.

Prayer: Loving and almighty God, guide me today to those who are weary, to those who are lonely, to those who need to feel and experience your love and strength, even if they do not know it. Fill me with the words or actions to help others know you today. Amen.


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Abundant

Reading: Exodus 16: 9-15

Verse 12: “…Then you will know that I am the Lord your God”.

As our passage opens, Aaron calls the community of faith together, acknowledging that God has heard their grumbling. As they gather to come before the Lord, God’s glory is revealed in the cloud. In verse eleven we again hear God acknowledge to Moses that he has heard their grumbling. In response, Moses passes along that the people will have meat in the evening and bread in the morning. The announcement closes with the pronouncement: “…Then you will know that I am the Lord your God”.

In the provision, the Israelites certainly know that it was God who provided. In the evening, the quail come and cover the camp. Cover the camp – there is an overabundance implied here. The same is true with the manna. A covering of dew surrounds the camp. It was not here and there – it surrounded the camp. After the dew is gone, God’s care is again made evident as bread appears and covers the desert floor. Again, a feeling of overabundance. Each and every person is able to gather as much as they need.

Is there something to be learned about God because the quail and manna come in such abundance? Can we learn something about God and our relationship with God through this passage? I tend to think that God sounds annoyed by the grumbling. That is because I know I would feel annoyed. In the same way, at first I see the overabundance as God saying, “Do you have enough? How about now? Now?” as the quail and manna almost pile up. But these thoughts do no align well with my overall understanding of God. God hears the grumbling through the unconditional love that defines all God does and says and is. The abundance is a reflection of that endless, unconditional love. That is the lens through which God sees their relationship too. Yes, the people grumble; they complain. Maybe even a few whine. I’m guilty of all three at times. When I digress into these attitudes and when my prayers reflect this, it is because I lack trust, because I think God is taking too long to answer, … We grumble… not because we think God unloving or uncaring. We grumble because we are not loving God enough, not trusting enough, not secure enough…

God loves us. In abundance. God will care for us. In abundance. May our growing faith step more fully into God’s abundant love and care.

Prayer: Loving God, in my heart I know you love me fully, dearly, completely, abundantly. It is a love I can only begin to fathom, a love I can just scratch the surface of emulating. In your abundant love, guide me to love you and others better today than yesterday, better tomorrow than today… Amen.


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One More Link

Reading: Psalm 145: 1-5

Verse 3: “Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom”.

Psalm 145 is about praising God. This is something we can do in many ways. The psalmist begins with worship, with exalting God. Perhaps this happens on Sunday morning, but it can also happen in other ways. It can occur in quiet moments of prayer. It can be singing praise in the car or in the shower. Praise can happen as one walks or runs and recognizes God in the beauty of the stars or forest groves. Worship can happen as we read our Bibles and meditate on God’s work in the world and in our lives.

The praise section transitions with these words: “Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom”. These words draw to mind why we praise God. While the greatness of God might be hard to fathom, it is certainly recognizable and it draws us to praise the creator. We can see God in the magnificence of creation itself, in the faces of one another, in the healing miraculous touch that occurs in our Bible, in our world, and maybe even in our lives. These and many more bring us to an awareness of how worthy God is of our praise.

In verse four the psalmist shifts to evangelism. This too is a form of praise. He writes, “One generation will commend your works to another”. Part of our connection to God and to one another comes in our common story. The arc of the Bible connects people of faith through stories that span thousands of years. Beginning in Genesis 1:1 through Revelation 22:21 we hear the story of God’s love and redemption. Each story builds the case for God’s love for his children and for all of creation. The stories of God’s mighty acts and wonderful works reveal both God’s glory and the ways in which God has, can, and will work in the world and in the lives of the faithful. We are a part of telling the stories too. We are each one more link in the great story of faith and we are each a storyteller too.

Whether by word, action, or deed, may we praise God and may we tell the story of our faith, planting seeds and encouraging our fellow disciples along the way.

Prayer: Magnificent creator, the work of your hands is amazing! The intricacies of our world shout your greatness. Yet I know you and you know me. This mystery too reveals your greatness. It humbles me. May my life be poured out as thanks to you, my God and King. Amen.


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Praise

Reading: Psalm 145

“Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom”.  God is indeed worthy of our praises.  All the blessings in our life come from God alone.  For this simple fact we should offer our praise to God all the time.  From the larger view, we sense God’s greatness, but we cannot see the bounds of it.  It is like looking out upon the ocean or up into the night sky – we can sense the immensity of it but we cannot really fathom or understand just how big or great it is.  Such is the case with God.

“I will meditate on your wonderful works”.  Even though we cannot fully understand, we can meditate on and wrestle with the things of God.  God’s hand and Spirit are at work in so many ways all the time.  It is good for our soul and good for our faith to take time often, to slow down, and to see God in our world and in our lives.  When we meditate on this, we gain a better sense of what we cannot fully understand.

“The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made”.  God desires to bless you and me.  God desires to bless all of creation.  This has been God’s intent since the beginning of the world.  But we are fallen and broken.  We sin.  This does not diminish God’s love for us.  Seeing our human state, God sent his only Son to die for us.  God is compassionate.  His love for us is so passionate that God gave his only Son for our sins.  This is an essential truth if our faith.  Consider this well today.  Meditate on God’s love and compassion for us all.  God is worthy of our praise.