Timely Words!

Even When I Walk Through a Very Dark Valley…


“Even though I walk through the darkest valley…”
(Psalm 23:4 – NRSA)

We are familiar with the signs that read, “You are Here”. All of us from time to time have found ourselves in a place where we have stood, wondering how to get from where we were to a better place. Some places have intimidating entrances, looming large as we enter. David, the psalmist, had great experiences with entering dark caves and weathering valleys. (Suddenly, he’s no longer just a character in the Bible, but someone we can identify with.) For years he was chased by king Saul. Those were uncertain years for David. He wrote in I Sam. 20:30 – “There is a step between me and death.” His visibility had diminished to what he could only see close around him. It was like a deep fog that surrounded him and there seemed to be no clearing to any brighter path. It was in that moment that he learned God from the shadows. In this deep darkness he sensed there was no need to be afraid — God was with him! David had great experiences with God, with a lion and a bear, and men similar to Saul.
Somewhere between here and there, the way to our destination is lined with uncertainties, doubts, and things that challenge us to fear. God is with us! He has never taken His eyes off of us — not for one moment. It takes being in a dark place to bring this truth to light. On the other hand, many of us are facing somewhere between here and where the enemy tries to tell us we will wind up being.  He often tries to project our future from where we currently stand. He mockingly tells us, “you are here and this is where you are headed!” Job, no doubt, was faced with similar voices after having lost so much. His response was, “He [God] knows the way I take; when He has tried me I will come forth as gold (Job 23:10). So — there is an intervening period — something that happens in the mean time! It takes place before the outcome of what has been negatively predicted. God is continually in that interim — watching and moving as we travel through the darkness.
We are somewhere between the place we have started and a destination. The forecast can be bleak, but God is familiar with each valley. While we travel, our destination is to see Jesus and to enter into a place of finality. He is the one who has gone on before us and now ever lives to make intercessions for us. Fear not little flock, it is our Father’s pleasure to give us the kingdom!

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Unfailing!


Two are better than one;…for if they fall, the one will lift up his
fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth…and a
threefold cord is not quickly broken. (Ecc. 4:9-12)

According to Ecclesiastes, being single has its disadvantages! As a rule – two people can accomplish more than one and people who are real friends share a bond that a single person just does not have.

Two or more people who have a bond can help each other in difficult times. They have a sense of community and responsibility for each other. We are told in Ecclesiastes that the bond can be like an entwined rope that has three cords. It is virtually impossible for anyone to pull apart strong ropes. Likewise, it is difficult for an outsider to break established relationships that people have formed. People need to be involved in close and unfailing relationships with others!

God did not design people to be alone. Even in marriage – the Bible does not prohibit people from being single – but often encourages a marital bond. The Genesis account is that it is not good for man be alone, but they are to seek out wives (Gen. 2:18, Prov. 18:22), enjoy their mates (Prov. 5:18-19), and increase family relationships (Psalms 127:3-5).

There are many people who are alone and just live for themselves. They work hard, never have time for any one, and store up finances without regard for others (Ecc. 4:8). They often become greedy and leave everything they have to no one. What a shame! People like this don’t understand deep friendships with others or just choose not to engage themselves in any meaningful relationships.

The body of Christ is a bond and God often brings lonely, rejected people into His body of believers to become a part of His family (Psalms 68:6). Friendships with brothers and sisters in the body of Christ can become unfailing because people can mature in the oneness relationship with God and His Son, Jesus Christ, and the relationship we have with Christ and His church.

There are a lot of relationships that fail, but love is like a strong rope; it is unfailing!

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Worried About Lost Donkeys, and Stumbling on a Kingdom!


“Don’t worry about the donkeys you lost three days ago.
They’ve already been found. But who are all of the people
of Israel longing for? You and your father’s whole family!”
(I Samuel 9:20, NIV)

donkey on grass lawn

 

We all have misplaced and even lost things that we treasure. Everybody should be able to identify with the cycle and anxiety of mentally backtracking, trying to recall where we lasted placed something.

There are people in the Bible we can identify with, who have lost things, too. There was a character in the Old Testament whose name was Saul.  He was from Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin. He seemed to be an average citizen who one day was sent on an assignment by his father to locate some of their donkeys who had ran away (I Sam. 9:1-27). The father was troubled by this lost (9:5). The family did a diligent search and Saul and his servant travelled to many areas, no doubt, spending days in the process. They came upon a prophet by the name of Samuel who had knowledge that the donkeys had been found. This must have taken a load off these two exhausted travelers! It’s is such a blessing when we find what we have lost!

While finding their donkeys seemed like a time for rejoicing, there is a greater blessing to this whole account in the book of I Samuel. The prophet further shared with Saul that God had called him to be king over all Israel! We see a perplexed man who was at a loss about a lowly animal, yet he was about to step into the greatest blessing he could not even have imagined!

It’s amazing how God can have some greater plan for a man or woman who, at present, is perplexed, and so unsure about loss. God has a way of showing us our future even when our present seems bleak. Saul’s mind was toward one of the lowest animals God had created and yet God’s mind was to give this man authority to oversee the kingdom of Israel! The scripture has declared that the people we read about in the Old Testament, such as Moses and David, in some unique way, are not complete without us (Heb. 11:39-40). It also states in verse 40: “God having provided some better thing for us”. Whatever the loss we may feel today, it is safe to say that God has some better thing for us tomorrow!

Here is a song about uncertain times and anxiety
when we are at a loss. Please click the link below:

Didn’t I Walk on Water

 

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Engaged for One Another!


Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan,
and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days,
night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and
so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law:
and if I perish, I perish.
(Esther 4:16)

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Esther the queen was warned by her uncle that the position she held as queen would not exempt her from escaping the same fate that was planned for her people, the Jews. It’s hard to say what thoughts she entertained at this initial announcement that Haman had planned genocide for her people (Esther 4:14).

We are those who have been physically hard-hit by a current virus. Some have even lost their fight. We have heard some testimonies of others who are recovering. It is God’s mercy that there are some around us who, like Esther, have not had to grapple with this sentence and deep “shadow of death”. Those who contracted this virus face extreme mental and physical challenges. Imagine a similar account of the Jews in Esther’s day, knowing that they would be executed in a matter of days! There was great mourning and many laid prostrate in sack cloth and ashes (Esther 4:3). There was fasting, weeping, and wailing! Although Esther seemingly was not affected by what her fellow-Jews were facing (because her identity, as a Jew, was hidden), she still did the right thing by interceding for her people before the king. She approached the king and ask for mercy for those she loved. She could have lost her life by approaching him and eventually revealing to him that she was a Jew, as well.

Esther is an example to us. Those who have not been physically challenged with what is infecting others still have a responsibility to not only be concerned, but to be engaged! Like Esther, we owe it to those around us to intercede on their behalf with seasons of fasting and continual prayer. These are the times when those who feel secure in their homes are to become engaged! Mordecai told Esther, in so many words, that a palace and shelter would not save her. (She had to be engaged!) Only God has the option of saving us and those we know. Pray for those you know who are suffering severely. Also, fast for those you know who are suffering severely. Get out of places of comfort and, if physically possible, prostrate yourself before God! Cry out for those who need your voice!

Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with
them; and them which suffer adversity, as being
yourselves also in the body. (Heb. 13:3)

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one
for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent
prayer of a righteous man availeth much. (James 5:16)

Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience,
in all things willing to live honestly. (Heb. 13:18)

I thank my God, making mention
of thee always in my prayers. (Phl. 1:4)

But withal prepare me also a lodging: for I trust that
through your prayers I shall be given unto you. (Phl. 1:22)

But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and
when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. (Luke 22:32)

And when he [Peter] had considered the thing,
he came to the house of Mary the mother of John,
whose surname was Mark; where many were
gathered together praying [for him.] (Acts 12:12)

For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through
your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. (Phl. 1:19)

 

Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word
of the Lord may have free course, and be
glorified, even as it is with you. (II Thes. 3:1)

 

 

 

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