Comfort

The Lord is Near

/ pastorpete51 / 11 Comments

 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

In my lifetime there have been times that we prayed, and God miraculously answered, by healing my back so that I could return to work, blessing our children and grandchildren, so that nine out of ten are still serving the Lord and attending church regularly. But I have also begged for a daughter-in-law to be healed and yet she died, prayed for a son’s marriage, yet it still ended in divorce. At those moments, the promise of today’s Bible reading and God’s peace felt far away. But as I was listening to this chapter the other night, I noticed something which I had missed all these years. I missed it because I forgot that when Paul wrote his letter, he did not use chapters and verses. Now, usually those nifty divisions give us a great way to find a passage, but as I listened to the chapter being read, I realized that the end of verse five, gives us the reason we should have hope. He is at hand! (or in other translations, “He is near.”).

Paul urges us to pray with confidence, but not because we have great faith. Yes, faith was and always will be important, but not everyone that Jesus healed had a lot of faith. He raised a widow’s son from the dead, and we can be sure that fellow had zero faith because he was dead! But something else was at play even greater than our faith or our lack thereof. Jesus came so close to where they were that He could reach out and touch the funeral bier. Or, remember on the road to Emmaus, when two of the disciples were walking along, talking about the death of Jesus and strange reports they had heard about his resurrection. They had a lot of questions and doubts, but the Bible tells us, that Jesus came and walked along with them. We also see Mary standing outside the empty tomb weeping and asking the “gardener” where the body of Jesus was. Did Jesus show up and try to make her feel terrible about her doubts or ignore her tears? No! Jesus drew near. Do I understand all of what these passages mean? No! But they give me a peace that reaches far beyond anything that I understand. I remember that the Lord is near; He won’t allow hopes to be buried forever, he walks with us when we struggle with doubts, and he stands nearest when tears stream down our cheeks and He calls us by name!

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Never Abandoned

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“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Psalm 22:1

I know that all of Psalm 22 is a picture of the cross, but as I listened to it today on the Bible app, I also began to wonder what was happening in King David’s life when he wrote it. Was David running from Saul, being attacked by his own son Absalom or involved in some unrecorded battle? Though we don’t know exactly his circumstances, it made me realize that when Jesus said, “Take up your cross and follow me,” it will mean that, just like David, there will be times when we will pass through circumstances just as challenging to our faith.

But unlike our Lord, who truly was forsaken as He bore our sins, though it may feel as if God has forgotten us, that it is not so. Jesus has promised that He will be with us, through thick and thin all the way, even to the end of the world. Are you facing failure in your career? Abandonment by a spouse? Rejection by a parent? Have received the diagnosis you feared from the doctor? Jesus has not, nor will He ever forsake us, but when we humbly call out to Him, He will come. Though the lyrics of the song, “Little Talk With Jesus,” are often sung lightheartedly with smiles, let’s read them carefully this morning and make them our prayer. God is listening; God cares, and He will make things right and make us whole, when we cry out to Him in our prayer.

"I may have doubts and fears
My eyes be filled with tears
Jesus is a friend whi
Watches day and night
I go to Him in prayer
He takes my every care
And just a little talk
With Jesus makes it right!"
Cleavant Derricks

Rock of Ages

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In England of 1763, when Augustus Toplady wrote this song, he could not have known that a storm was brewing on the horizon. In just three short years, the American Revolution broke out, claiming the lives of 25,000 colonists and another 12,000 young British boys. For those losing a father, a brother or a son, the political outcomes paled in comparison to their personal losses. Today, it feels as if our society, our nation and our world stand on the precipice of another cataclysmic change. It is like the storms that blow in from the Gulf, here in Florida. While standing on the beach, the outlook seems sunny and hot, but just over the horizon dark clouds begin to form, the wind begins to blow and there comes the distant sound of thunder. Soon the lifeguards begin to yell, “Get out of the water! Get off the beach! Find shelter!”

In the lyrics of this great hymn, our God, who knows what griefs and sorrows lie just over our horizon, also calls and gives us an invitation to run from the storm and find our refuge in the Cross of Jesus Christ!