From the Preacher’s Pen…

RacineBuildingI drove right through a stop sign. No, I didn’t mean to do. I just was busy thinking about something else and failed to notice it. Fortunately, there was no one else there to run into or to run into me. Still, it was a bit of a shock to realize what I’d missed and what might have been the result.

I drove right through a stop sign. No, I didn’t mean to do. I just was busy thinking about something else and failed to notice it. Fortunately, there was no one else there to run into or to run into me. Still, it was a bit of a shock to realize what I’d missed and what might have been the result.

Most of us have had moments like that in our lives. They ought to remind us of much more serious things. Things like how easy it is to find ourselves so busy with life that we forget God and fail to see His loving care! That’s always a sign for us to stop a minute and rethink!

Sadly, sometimes we just blunder on with our lives never thinking and never knowing what we missed. And, perhaps worse still, when the inevitable crash comes we blame God.

Can you imagine facing the events of life without a loving Christian family? Can you imagine having trials without the avenue of prayer to our Heavenly Father? For that matter, can you imagine having blessings without anyone to share them with?

The simple fact is, when things go wrong and when things go right, it is always the perfect time to remember who we are and the wonderful family to which we belong. Let’s take a moment to consider a few thoughts from one of the psalmists to keep us going in the right direction this week:

Do You Know Who God Is?

It sounds humorous to hear a little child singing at the top of his lungs, “How Great I Am.” But, like many of the things children do, it would be ridiculous to hear an adult sing those same words. Having said that, it is important that we take care in our lives, our actions and in our words to remember just who is God and who is the human creation.

In studying with non-Christians we sometimes face the attitude: “I don’t know or care what the Bible says, I just can’t believe that God would…” How a person completes that sentence depends on what has happened that they don’t understand, or what it is they intend to do that is against God’s will.

The question of who is God and who is not is one that we all struggle with at times. God allows a wicked person to live a comfortable, long life while the child of Christian parents dies of cancer as the medical bills eat up the family savings. And we are moved to say, “I just can’t believe that God would allow that to happen. It’s just not right!”

Solomon, the wise man, also struggled with this anomaly and, finally, was moved to say, “Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and may lengthen his life, still I know that it will be well for those who fear God, who fear Him openly” (Ecclesiastes 8:12). Remember that passage and underline it in your Bible. Did you understand him? Still I know! Those are the words of a man who got confused about who was God and for a time forgot his God. Those are the words of a man who, in the end, remembered just who was God and wants us to remember, too.

In Psalm 46 the writer announces the proper place of God: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling pride.” He goes on to declare (using God’s own personal name lest we imagine someone else), “Jehovah of hosts is with us!” And the Lord God Himself challenges us to, “Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

The worth of remembering just who is God is found in that same Psalmist’s closing words, “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.” To really be in God, to be a part of His family, is to know who is God. And that brings to us His peace that surpasses all human understanding.

— Lester P. Bagley