Wandering

 

Some wandered in the desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle. They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle.

—Psalm 107:4-7

One day, I had business in a familiar city not far from the surrounding farmlands of my hometown. I had traveled this way many times. Each time I came this way I noted a sign along the roadside that directed people to a local golf club. My curiosity and my sense of adventure, small though it is, led me to believe that I knew where following that sign would lead me. I expected that, in addition to driving past the advertised golf club, the road would also lead me in the direction toward home.

As I drove, I came to a fork in the road and the road signs, faded and askew, pointed in various conflicting directions. I followed the direction of the sign that pointed to the golf club, even though I felt it likely directed me the wrong way.

As I drove along, just as I had suspected, I realized the road I had chosen was taking me in the wrong direction. But, I had now driven so far that I didn’t want to turn around and go back.

The road grew narrower and became paved with dirt. I drove through woods on either side and up steep hills and down into valleys, feeling as much panic as I had ever known driving somewhere. This desolate road finally wound past one farm, and I came to a familiar sounding road.

So, I turned to follow this new road. When I came to a stop sign a few miles later, I was less than two miles from my childhood home. I also discovered that I was much nearer to my destination than I would have been had I followed the road I had originally expected to take.

Speaking metaphorically, sometimes our “internal GPS” leads us through the “fog of life”—so thick that we cannot see ahead—even to the point where we begin to believe that we have strayed way off the path. We feel alone and baffled as to what to do to get “home” again.

In our stupidity and our tendency to wander away from the proper path, many times the Scriptures reminds us that we resemble sheep. Sometimes our Good Shepherd allows us a time of vague and mystifying travel that leads us to think He has allowed us to get lost. In response, we do our best to listen for His voice, to lean on Him when we can’t see the way, and to keep going forward by faith.

Yes, we can get off on the wrong path because we haven’t stayed close to the Shepherd. But, in such a case, though we can feel lost, we know that if we return to God and stay close to Him, He will eventually direct us to where we had hoped to arrive all along.

God patiently waits for us to show our trust in Him. In the times of confusion, He looks for our faithfulness. And, He waits to bring us out of our time of questioning and into the destination where His guidance will lead us.

Oh, Lord, our Heavenly Shepherd, direct us along the dark path on which we find ourselves. Though we cannot see ahead, and the way looks foreboding, speak to us with Your assurance that You will guide us and stay with us until You bring us to the place where you want us to settle—a place we can call “home”!

Lead us, teach us, and make Your way known, as we look back over the path we’ve come by the leading of Your divine presence. We pray with thanksgiving in Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

 

Dealing with Issues

 

And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, and had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.

—Mark 5:25-28, 34 KJV

In our current culture, we use the word, “issues” in an entirely different manner than it was used historically. To us it means “negative circumstances or questions.” In the passage above, the word referred to a “discharge from the body.”

Nevertheless, I see a very real parallel between this Biblical story and current usage. We certainly deal with “issues” in our lives. Some wear us down, as the discharge of blood did this woman. Some make us physically sick, financially vulnerable, heart-wounded, grief-stricken, scared, lonely, hopeless, etc.

With what “issues” are we dealing with today? Have we strained to reach out to Christ, who has power over all the woes of our lives and can help us make sense, or at least cope with all that happens?

The use of the word, “spent” in this story also speaks to me. The woman had spent all she had. And, even the doctors had come to the end of their solutions. As an old hymn states:¹

When we have exhausted
   our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed
   ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end
   of our hoarded resources,
Our Father’s full giving is only begun.

Discovered!

 

Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the Lord.”

—2 Kings 22:8

Have you ever discovered something you thought had been lost forever? I’m not talking about leaving your glasses on the top of your head, or forgetting where you last laid down your car keys—although that can cause panic for a short while! No, I’m talking about discovering something neither you, nor anyone you know, has seen for a very long time—something that finding it has life changing results.

In the story of young King Josiah—as recorded in 2 Kings 22-23—he decided to remodel the old Temple in Jerusalem, the symbol of the great Jewish heritage with all its history. In order to accomplish this work, King Josiah needed to learn how large the funds for such a task had grown under Hilkiah the high priest at the temple.

Josiah sent his secretary, Shaphan, to the high priest to get the report on the finances. While in his presence, the high priest showed Shaphan something the high priest had discovered while making his account of the collections. This priest showed to Shaphan some scrolls containing the Book of the Law that God had given to Moses centuries before.

Shaphan took the scrolls to King Josiah and read them. At hearing the words, the King tore his robes and wept. His words recorded in 2 Kings 22:13 reveal what he said:

“Great is the Lord’s anger that burns against us because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us.”

However, in spite of the guilt the people owned because of their many years of unfaithfulness, the Lord had mercy on Josiah and caused him to avoid seeing judgment brought to his people.

In a public meeting, King Josiah read this Book of the Law to the people and renewed the Covenant in the presence of the Lord. All the people pledged themselves, as well. To seal their commitment, the King ordered every statue, high place, shrine, and altar to false gods, mediums, and spiritists removed. The King also renewed the celebration of the Passover. No celebration like this had happened in hundreds of years.

What would happen in America, if the general population rediscovered the written Word of God? Would we weep and wail, spend days in fasting and prayer, renew baptismal vows, marriage vows, and remove anything from our public squares that smacked of obedience to the false gods of our own culture?

As God’s people, let us take up this Word from God found in the example of King Josiah. Let us renew our own commitment to God and His written Word as our rule in life and as the power of God for salvation to all people. Then, let us pray that God will help men, women, boys, and girls in our society rediscover the sacred writings that belong to them. Let us pray that they will read God’s written Word and, as a result, bow before the God who sent both the Living Word and that written Word, in order to bring salvation to this desperately needy world.

 

 

The Pleasure of Your Company

 

“I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste. He has taken me to the banquet hall and his banner over me is love.”

—Song of Songs 2:3-4

You can still read the lines, “The pleasure of your company is requested...” on formal wedding invitations that you may receive today. These words most often get overlooked when we keep reading to learn the details that follow.

Chances are that you enjoy the company of special people: those with whom you feel comfortable, those you know well, or those you would like to get to know better. As Christians, we learn to enjoy the pleasure of our Lord’s company through Bible study and prayer, most often in the privacy of our quiet time alone.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism, which many believe summarizes the doctrine of the Bible quite well, begins with the question:

“What is the chief end of man?”

And, the answer written there says simply:

“The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.”

Most often, when we consider these words, we think about our lives “glorifying” God. I wonder how often do we think about “enjoying” Him?

David, the man after God’s heart, says in Psalm 16:11:

You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Another psalmist—perhaps one of the Sons of Korah—in Psalm 43:4 refers to God as his “joy and delight.”

And, God requires nothing of us, in order to meet with us, other than our firm desire and our time. As the Lord Jesus stated in the passage found in Matthew 11:28:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

He knows the pleasure and rest we find coming into His presence. We do not have to wonder if this presence comes only at certain times. Yes, sometimes we can sense His nearness more than at other times. But, He has promised that He would never leave us or forsake us.

In fact, the very last words Jesus spoke before He ascended into Heaven, recorded in Matthew 28:20, remind us:

“Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

An old hymn, ¹ written in the 18th century, captures the concept of joy in His presence:

O thou, in whose presence, my soul takes delight,
On whom in affliction I call,
My comfort by day and my song in the night,
My hope, my salvation, my all!

We can get started receiving this close fellowship with the Savior by beginning our prayer time as follows:

Oh, Lord, You who have invited us to know You, we request the pleasure of Your company during this time of prayer. As we draw near to You, please reveal Yourself through Your written Word.

Thank You for Your promise to be with us always, through our Lord Jesus and by the in-dwelling presence of Your Holy Spirit. Amen.

______________________

1 Swain, Joseph. Hymn: “O Thou in Whose Presence,” Public Domain.