After the winds of
night-time, it is now a sunny, beautiful, and calm morning in Upstate New York.
Had there been snow on the ground we could have called it a blizzard because of
the intense wind. Praise the Lord for the new day, and the Lord's new blessings
and faithfulness day to day.
The Lord blessed us
with a full weekend of sharing, celebration, worship, and witness. One of our
ministry teams prepared and served a meal Saturday noon at the First United
Methodist Church, Endicott. Another team prepared and served a special
meal which was served at 5:30 PM at the Union Center UMC. We gathered for
worship both at Union Center and at Wesley on Sunday morning. There was also a
gathering for dinner and a hymn sing at Wesley UMC at 5:30 PM yesterday. It
was all good and was a great blessing.
Yesterday's reading
was taken from Psalm 91. The opening verse of this psalm have been quoted
countless times and repeated in the hearts of God’s people even more frequently:
“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the
Almighty.” There are two striking images for God here. One is a large bird
sheltering its young with his wings: “He will cover you with his feathers, and
under his wings you will find refuge.” The majestic eagle comes to mind as he
protects his young high on a craggy mountain ledge. In a way, he is the “most
high” of all living creatures. We are protected by God, even as an eaglet in
the nest is protected. No predator comes near because the father eagle is
standing next to his young so that his shadow falls over them. This is a
picture of extreme tenderness of God. The young are lovingly cared for and
protected.
The other image is
that of a military fortress: “I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my
fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’” Again, “His faithfulness will be your
shield and rampart.” God is both tenderness and strength. Tenderness without
strength would fail to give the needed protection, but strength without
tenderness would not be the kind of protection you would want. God’s strength
provides our protection and, because it originates in the heart of God, we are
reminded that He cares deeply for us.
We are invited, to dwell in the shelter of the Most High and rest in the shadow of the Almighty. If we walk with Him and trust in Him then He will cover us with His wings and protect us. All of life finds meaning and purpose in a relationship with God. The psalmist wrote: “‘Because he loves me,’ says the Lord, ‘I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.’”
We are invited, to dwell in the shelter of the Most High and rest in the shadow of the Almighty. If we walk with Him and trust in Him then He will cover us with His wings and protect us. All of life finds meaning and purpose in a relationship with God. The psalmist wrote: “‘Because he loves me,’ says the Lord, ‘I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.’”
In the context of a
love relationship with God even the greatest disappointments in life have
meaning and purpose — because all of life finds its meaning and purpose in Him.
Our relationship with God is the filter through which we look at all of life.
That relationship helps us to interpret all the things which happen to us. He
stands in the midst of the situation we face, holding out His arms to
us.
I love the story of Jesus’ disciples when they left Jesus on the shore and headed out into the Sea of Galilee. A terrible storm arose and they were straining at the oars just trying to survive. The wind was against them. It looked as though the sea was going to swallow them. Then, suddenly, something worse than the storm frightened them. Their worst fears were realized as they saw what they thought was a ghost floating across the waves. They did not realize it was Jesus walking on the water toward them. Screams of terror arose from the boat. Just as they thought they were going to perish, they heard a familiar voice say, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid’” (Mark 6:50).
I love the story of Jesus’ disciples when they left Jesus on the shore and headed out into the Sea of Galilee. A terrible storm arose and they were straining at the oars just trying to survive. The wind was against them. It looked as though the sea was going to swallow them. Then, suddenly, something worse than the storm frightened them. Their worst fears were realized as they saw what they thought was a ghost floating across the waves. They did not realize it was Jesus walking on the water toward them. Screams of terror arose from the boat. Just as they thought they were going to perish, they heard a familiar voice say, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid’” (Mark 6:50).
I believe that
Christians throughout the ages have lived through the same experience. Just as
their worst fears were realized, just as they thought the storms of life were
going to overcome them and the waves would swallow them, just as they thought
they were going to perish, they heard a familiar voice call out to them saying,
“Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid. It is not disaster, it is me!” See
Him coming to you now. Hear Him speak through the storm. Hear him say, in the
words of the psalmist: “Because you love me I will rescue you. Because you have
acknowledged my name I will protect you. I will be with you in trouble. I will
deliver you.”
In Christ,
In Christ,
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