Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV
Rejoicing, praying, and giving thanks put the circumstances of our lives, both good and bad into God’s hands and help us see them through His eyes. Last night our beloved daughter-in-law Melinda slipped from this world into the presence of Jesus. And while we are overwhelmed with grief and shock, these words are promises to which we cling. Melinda has finished her race. Her battle with cancer is finished. And while that pernicious disease claimed her physical life, it could not touch her soul. That remained fully and exclusively in the hands of Jesus with whom she now lives. Nancy and I didn’t know how to process the news that came in three words. “She is gone.” Yet as sadness rolls over my heart I sense the message echo back from Heaven, ” She has arrived!”
The Lord is at hand: Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:5b-7 ESV
If you are seeking God’s direction yet feeling as if you are at a dead end, you are in good company. It is totally normal to sometimes face difficulty, crisis, or discouragement. But at those moments, we need to recall that in the Gospels, Jesus specialized in showing up for his disciples exactly for times like those. Jesus often appeared unexpectedly, in the middle of storms, inside locked rooms and at gravesides. And when Jesus came, he always began with same message. “It is I. Don’t be afraid! In today’s passage Paul begins by reminding us that our reason for confidence and faith in our prayers begins with one fact. “The Lord is at hand.” No matter that 2,000 years have passed, that no one else is praying and in spite of our weaknesses and failures, Jesus is still so close, that we can reach out and touch Him. So, as you go about your journey this morning, don’t be anxious, instead, rest your faith on these three simple truths. The Lord is at hand, He is listening, and He has promised to answer. May God bless us as we rest secure in knowing that He is within our hand’s reach, He listens to our prayers, and He will calm every fear with this message. “Do not be afraid. I am standing near!”
When I was a little boy, my mother would often put her hands on her hips, sigh and say, “I just can’t make rhyme or reason out of this.” “This,” could mean, either her knitting project gone awry, my latest escapade of falling in the pond while catching frogs or the sorry state of my room. I remembered Mom’s saying recently when I stumbled upon this quote from Spurgeon.
“Articulate speech, which is denied to birds and beasts, is given to us for this major reason – that we may articulately and distinctly, praise and magnify the name of the Most High,” Charles Spurgeon
Now, Spurgeon was talking about our spoken words, but his thoughts also apply to our writing. If you write regularly, you probably could list a multitude of things that begin your inner avalanche of thoughts which landslide into a composition. I was challenged by Spurgeon’s thoughts about both the goal and form of our words. As writers, we often read tips on the “how’s” of writing. How to write dialogue, how to choose better adjectives, how to hook the reader at the beginning, and on and on. If we aren’t careful, we will soon become like a guide, who has learned how to survive in the wilderness, but has no idea of where he is going. The longest chapter in the Bible is Psalm 119, and I find it interesting how its writer pulls back the curtain on his motives for writing using the phrase, “I delight.” more than any other. Here are just four of them:
“I delight myself in your statutes…” Verse 16
“Your testimonies are my delight…” Verse 24
“And I will delight myself in Your commandments…” Verse 47
“…for Your law is my delight.” Verse 77
Just as Spurgeon challenged us to use words to magnify and praise God, the Psalmist shows us that he begins by delighting in the words that God has to say. Just as it was for the Psalmist, God’s statutes, testimonies, commandments, and law wait for us every day in the pages of the Bible. Unless I begin my day delighting in God’s words, then my own may be witty, or insightful, but they will only leave people dying of thirst in the wilderness. But when I have found my reason to write burst forth from delighting in God, then God delights in showing me the rhyme and reason of words that will lead others on the pathway to Him!
But now abides faith hope and love, but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13 NKJV
The story of Jairus, is one that teaches us to hope when our hopes have run out on us. But I learned a valuable lesson on hope from the unlikely duo of two parrots. You see, when I was still in business, my possession of a pickup truck and trailer made me a very popular guy with my friends, friends of friends and, my family when it came time to move. It was really a great way to get to know people, get some free pizza and stay in shape. One December, Susan who was a friend from our church, asked my wife and I tot help her to move. Though it was chilly, the weather was not too bad by Northeast Pennsylvania standards, but the biggest challenge of the day came in the form of two large parrots. These fellows each had their own large cage, and I had left them for last.
So with the truck packed almost to the gills, After I carried out the first parrot and slid his cage carefully into the passenger side of the pick-up, I realized that there was no way that both cages were going to fit up front. So, the unlucky resident of cage number two was given the warmest spot I could find in between the boxes in the back, and I also carefully wrapped the entire cage in a blanket. Then after tying the cage in securely, and closing the tailgate, I slowly drove the eight miles or so of winding country road over to their new home. After pulling in, I first brought in my feathered friend from the front, while he was cheerfully chirping away, unfazed by the journey. The other less fortunate bird however was quite a different story. After bringing in his cage and unwrapping it from the blanket I saw him sitting as silent as a stone and virtually motionless. Whether he was suffering from shock or the cold I don’t know, yet nevertheless, after thirty minutes warming up, he seemed none the worse for wear.
The journey of these guys reminds me of that verse about hope. When everything else we have in this world is packed up and our world is changing around us, unlike the parrots, we get to choose between two options. We can ride up front close to Jesus, or we can make the journey in the back, wrapped in a blanket, safe secure and alone. Hope calls us to ride up front, close to Jesus. He promises us that even though we still won’t understand everything and that the situation is not in our control, that He will stay by our side and we can ride next to Him. I HOPE that you will like this little message that I shared with the residents at Life Care Center this Friday. Have a blessed weekend everyone!
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