We all do it. Rush, Rush, Rush! We leave the house, usually in a hurry, and forget to say "Goodbye" or "I love you" to those we share life with. Once on the outside, we avoid opportunities that might inconvenience us. Why? Because we've built no margin in our day to offer a word of encouragement to those who cross our path. No margin to discern the pain of others and be the very one to offer them hope. We neglect sharing a word of life with someone because we don't want to offend them. So we just keep quiet and justify our silence. "Maybe tomorrow", we reason, "and I'll be more prepared. I'll have more time."
Could it be we've become numb to the fact that life is so very brief? But, what if tomorrow doesn't come for you, or for them? Or what if it does come but it looks vastly different than you had expected it to look? Let me just get to the heart of the matter because I'm burdened about something and I'm not going to beat around the bush ... time is too fleeting! I'm seeing this reality all around me lately. In fact, I say it as recently as Tuesday.
Tuesday, you may recall (if you live around here) has been the ONLY sunny, warm day this week. A day that you just think all is well in the world for everybody, right? I mean, for me it was a day when the house was clean, laundry was caught up, dinner was planned, the sun was shining ~ you get the picture ~ peace and order all around and so I headed out for a wonderful, refreshing walk. But sometimes a closer look quickly reveals that all is not well. Real life is happening all around us. People are hurting, grieving, losing their grip and my heart just breaks for them. Which is exactly what happened when I got in from my walk and turned on the local news.
Little did I know that while I was out walking, a car accident had taken place nearby claiming the life of a local high school senior. Hearing the news, my heart immediately began to pray for a faceless, nameless mom and dad that I will probably never meet but possibly at that moment were somewhere receiving the news that their son was gone, forever. Taken so abruptly and in such a horrific way. It was more than I could stand! Seriously! My heart broke into a million pieces for them. And so I began to pray ~ taking a cue from the book of Daniel (chapter 9) ...
"So, I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications (vs 3a) ...
for we are not presenting our supplications before You on account of any merits of our own,
but on account of Your great compassion. (vs 18 b)" (NASB)
I prayed for their comfort. I prayed that Almighty God would surround them with His great love and compassion even in the midst of what must be the most suffocating of emotions and pain. I prayed that, even though there are no easy answers to life's hardest questions, that knowing God is sovereign will be enough. I am still praying for them that He will be enough!
You see, I'm convinced that resting in God's sovereignty does indeed have to be enough. Don't misunderstand me, when tragedy strikes we don't just stick our head in the sand and say, "Oh well!" No, that would be denial. In this life we will have hard questions, countless tears, deep doubts, burning anger, fear, broken hearts but guess what? He can handle it all.
His lovingkindness and patience with us is so vast! His love is so lavish! He remembers that we are but dust and, therefore, is not caught off guard by our range of emotions. We present all our supplications, as Daniel said, not on any merit of our own but totally dependent on God's great compassion for us! And so, I say it again ... in the end, the conclusion we must come to is that He is sovereign and that fact, alone, must be enough!
I've been in Psalm 90 today and at first glance it can be little depressing. I mean, really, it speaks of the frailty of man, our many afflictions, our sin and God's wrath but look deeper. It also speaks of, it declares, the eternity of God, His mercy and grace and joy. It speaks of Hope which is found only in Him. Psalm 90, in part or in whole, our reality to face as we walk through this life. Our decision to make too ~ to exchange all that we are for all that He is.
And so, I want to share this Psalm with you in the hopes that you will be encouraged in whatever you are facing in your own life. I pray that you will be undone in His holy presence. Absolutely in awe by His majesty, His glory, His splendor! May you find yourself facedown seeking Him, His wisdom, His joy, His favor ~ fresh and new or maybe for the very first time.
A prayer of Moses the man of God.
1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place
throughout all generations.
2 Before the mountains were born
or you brought forth the whole world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
throughout all generations.
2 Before the mountains were born
or you brought forth the whole world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
3 You turn people back to dust,
saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.”
4 A thousand years in your sight
are like a day that has just gone by,
or like a watch in the night.
5 Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death—
they are like the new grass of the morning:
6 In the morning it springs up new,
but by evening it is dry and withered.
saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.”
4 A thousand years in your sight
are like a day that has just gone by,
or like a watch in the night.
5 Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death—
they are like the new grass of the morning:
6 In the morning it springs up new,
but by evening it is dry and withered.
7 We are consumed by your anger
and terrified by your indignation.
8 You have set our iniquities before you,
our secret sins in the light of your presence.
9 All our days pass away under your wrath;
we finish our years with a moan.
10 Our days may come to seventy years,
or eighty, if our strength endures;
yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,
for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
11 If only we knew the power of your anger!
Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due.
12 Teach us to number our days,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
and terrified by your indignation.
8 You have set our iniquities before you,
our secret sins in the light of your presence.
9 All our days pass away under your wrath;
we finish our years with a moan.
10 Our days may come to seventy years,
or eighty, if our strength endures;
yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,
for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
11 If only we knew the power of your anger!
Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due.
12 Teach us to number our days,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
13 Relent, LORD! How long will it be?
Have compassion on your servants.
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
for as many years as we have seen trouble.
16 May your deeds be shown to your servants,
your splendor to their children.
Have compassion on your servants.
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
for as many years as we have seen trouble.
16 May your deeds be shown to your servants,
your splendor to their children.
17 May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us;
establish the work of our hands for us—
yes, establish the work of our hands.
establish the work of our hands for us—
yes, establish the work of our hands.
Psalm 90 (NIV)
Remember, we are not promised tomorrow ... so we've got to get it right today and that's made possible only by His grace. Oh, my friend, how I pray that you know Him. Don't risk the uncertainty of another day without Him!
Holy God, thank you for your great compassion; Your mercy and grace. You continually stun us with you splendor and majesty. And I ask that You would walk with us through the moments of our days teaching us to number them. Teach us to gain a heart of wisdom!
In Jesus mighty and matchless name!
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