03-08-2022
“As a deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God! I thirst for God, for the living God. I say, “When will I be able to go and appear in God’s presence?” I cannot eat, I weep day and night; all day long they say to me, “Where is your God?” I will remember and weep! For I was once walking along with the great throng to the temple of God, shouting and giving thanks along with the crowd as we celebrated the holy festival. Why are you depressed, O my soul? Why are you upset? Wait for God! For I will again give thanks to my God for his saving intervention.
I am depressed, so I will pray to you while I am trapped here in the region of the upper Jordan,
from Hermon, from Mount Mizar. One deep stream calls out to another at the sound of your waterfalls; all your billows and waves overwhelm me. By day the Lord decrees his loyal love,
and by night he gives me a song, a prayer to the living God. I will pray to God, my high ridge: “Why do you ignore me? Why must I walk around mourning because my enemies oppress me?”
My enemies’ taunts cut into me to the bone, as they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
Why are you depressed, O my soul? Why are you upset? Wait for God!
For I will again give thanks to my God for his saving intervention.
Psalm 42 (NET)
We cannot see him in the videos coming from Sumy where Ukrainian President Zelenskyy says, “They’re turning Sumy into hell.” We do not see him in the Drug Wars of Mexico where upwards of 250,000 people have been killed. We do not hear him speaking out against the civil war in Syria where over 590,000 people have been wiped off the earth.
But, even as we do not “see” or “hear” God, does that mean he is not among us?
Oswald Chambers writes something in his invaluable work, “My Utmost for His Highest” that speaks toward this issue. He writes, “No one is ever united with Jesus Christ until they are willing to relinquish not sin only, but their whole way of looking at things.”
How do you look at the world? The events of the world? We hear a lot of people complaining about rising prices for food, gas, utilities, etc. However, what if those same people were living in Ukraine, walking away from their homes, separated from loved ones, with no water and no food - while gunfire was being aimed at them and shells were loudly exploding all around? Their whole way of looking at things…would be vastly different.
When things are going well, gas is 1.50 a gallon and you don’t have to wear a mask everywhere, we usually believe God is right there. Shoot, he must be in love with us for he is blessing us so!
It’s only when things and people are against us - when times are difficult - that we begin uttering those supposedly blasphemous words, “Where is God?” But, are those not virtually the same words the Son of God yelled while hanging hopelessly on the cross? “My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?” In other words, “Where are you God?”
We like to think, in our limited way, that when things are tough God must not be in our midst. He must have just left us on our own without so much as a “Good luck!”
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Consider the following true story. A long time ago, near Niagara, New York, a tribe of North American Indians resided in relative peace and prosperity. Once a year, in order to maintain the status quo, the tribe would choose a young virgin to serve as the tribe’s sacrifice to the spirit of the Mighty River. She was called, “The Bride of the Falls.”
One year, the chief’s daughter was chosen. In the days which followed he went about as if nothing was going to happen. On the day of the sacrifice the tribe prepared the white canoe and filled it with fresh fruit, vegetables, and beautiful flowers. The young girl placed herself in the middle of the canoe which was then launched out into the middle of the river.
It was at this precise moment when a second canoe came rushing from the bank. In it was the chief - the young girl’s father. He plowed through the waters putting his back into the oars and in a very few, quick, strong strokes he made it to his daughter.
Reaching her, the chief grabbed hold of her canoe and brought his alongside hers. Then, holding her canoe close to his, the father and daughter were swept along the mighty current and over the falls. They perished side by side. The father would not let go…
And so it is with our heavenly Father. When we think we are alone, we are not. When we feel as if there is no one else, there is. At the moment we believe we are entering “the dark night of the soul” all on our own, He is there. “I will never leave you; I will never forsake you.”
Friends, consider the following words of Yahweh as he reminds us of his constant presence.
Deuteronomy 31:6 – “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Deuteronomy 31:8 – “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”
Isaiah 41:17 – “The poor and needy search for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. But I the Lord will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.”
Psalms 37:28 – “For the Lord loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones.”
Isaiah 42:16 – “I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.”
Consider the following true story. A long time ago, near Niagara, New York, a tribe of North American Indians resided in relative peace and prosperity. Once a year, in order to maintain the status quo, the tribe would choose a young virgin to serve as the tribe’s sacrifice to the spirit of the Mighty River. She was called, “The Bride of the Falls.”
One year, the chief’s daughter was chosen. In the days which followed he went about as if nothing was going to happen. On the day of the sacrifice the tribe prepared the white canoe and filled it with fresh fruit, vegetables, and beautiful flowers. The young girl placed herself in the middle of the canoe which was then launched out into the middle of the river.
It was at this precise moment when a second canoe came rushing from the bank. In it was the chief - the young girl’s father. He plowed through the waters putting his back into the oars and in a very few, quick, strong strokes he made it to his daughter.
Reaching her, the chief grabbed hold of her canoe and brought his alongside hers. Then, holding her canoe close to his, the father and daughter were swept along the mighty current and over the falls. They perished side by side. The father would not let go…
And so it is with our heavenly Father. When we think we are alone, we are not. When we feel as if there is no one else, there is. At the moment we believe we are entering “the dark night of the soul” all on our own, He is there. “I will never leave you; I will never forsake you.”
Friends, consider the following words of Yahweh as he reminds us of his constant presence.
Deuteronomy 31:6 – “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Deuteronomy 31:8 – “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”
Isaiah 41:17 – “The poor and needy search for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. But I the Lord will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.”
Psalms 37:28 – “For the Lord loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones.”
Isaiah 42:16 – “I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.”
The truth is this, as C.S Lewis, in his book "Miracles" writes, "The presence of God is the most real thing we ever encounter." May the reality of God be your reality today…and may God hold the hands of those women, children, and elderly who are leaving Ukraine, and may he stand strong by those who remain behind to protect and serve the land and people they love.
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