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Hello my dear “Walking with Jesus” friends,
It’s Monday and very often that’s a challenge to the contentment and peace of our hearts, isn’t it?
Here are some fair questions as we begin a new week together?
- Does God fully understand all that is happening in what appears to be an out of control world?
- Why doesn’t God put an end to it, and stop all the evil?
In recent weeks I’ve been attempting to show you a pathway OUT of the despair and darkness of times like these, and into a new future of walking very closely with God. You’ll recall I told you three weeks ago, this journey begins with the power of looking back, the power of REMEMBER. When we need peace of mind or we face decisions in times of confusion and turmoil, it helps to look back, and ask God to show us what He was doing and teaching us in our past. Listen: “This is what the LORD says: Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths; ask where the good way is and walk in it and you will find rest for your souls.” (Jer. 6:16) Did you hear God’s promise of rest for your soul?
The intentional act of looking back over your life and learning how God was involved in your past, how He has been working to shape and refine YOU for the future, which HE knows is awaiting you, is a very important skill to develop. Listen to Isaiah 46:10-13, God says: “Remember the former things, those of long ago. I am God, and there is no other; I am God and there is none like Me. I make known the end from the beginning and I say: My purpose will stand, I will do all that I please… what I have said, that will I bring about, what I have planned, that will I do…”
Do you hear God’s advice my friends? Looking back, with the intention of gaining wisdom before moving forward, is essential to NOT taking a wrong path, as we try to move forward out of very complex, traumatic times.
Do you hear God’s declaration that HE is PURPOSEFUL? God is working to accomplish HIS holy, global purposes at all times, in every generation! Did you hear God promising there is ‘rest for your soul’ as you find God’s good way and walk in it? That good way, is when you and I walk with Jesus, guided by the Holy Spirit. Listen to Psalm 25:4 “Show me Your ways, O LORD, teach me Your paths, guide me in Your truth, for You are God my Savior and my hope is in YOU all day long.” Is that the cry of your heart today?
Two weeks ago we learned the second great step in this process is LOOKING UP to God and celebrating that the resurrected Jesus is at the right hand of God the Father, interceding for us in His EMPATHY. Jesus understands our human journey from His position of EXPERIENCE! He lived here, like one of us, in similar difficult times. He battled the same disappointments, frustrations, loneliness, anxiety, uncertainty, weariness, rejection, abandonment from those who should love you, broken promises and even abuse from those who should be your close friends. Jesus prays for us with great EMPATHY, and Jesus responds to our calls to Him with complete understanding.
Do you recall Matthew records that Jesus said “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” (Matt. 11:28) Sounds like God’s invitation in Jeremiah’s day, doesn’t it? So. . .do we accept God’s invitation to come to Him when we are in the thick fog of these dark times, or do we scramble trying to find our way out on our own? This is why Hebrews 2 & 4 tell us we can go to Jesus with confidence that He receives us with understanding, love, and power to engage with us in our time of need.
Now this week, let’s turn and look FORWARD and ask this question: of all the voices advising us, which path do we take, how can I discern God’s path? Will Jesus show us the right pathway forward, out of the despair and darkness? YES! We can take the first steps forward with great confidence, and assurance that God is SOVEREIGN over it all… all things, at all times, in all places!
Now watch this… Sovereign does NOT mean everything that happens is caused by God, but rather it means, as Sovereign, God has authority over all. Nothing happens, not even terrible things, without God’s Sovereign permission. Now that’s important!
But God’s Sovereign permission does not mean God causes everything or even approves of everything. Every hour of every day, in every part of our world, God permits terrible sin and evil to take place and those sinful choices and acts hurt many people. It grieves God deeply that we humans, made in His image, continue, with great determination, to try and push God OUT of every segment of society and every part of our lives. And when we do that, the chaos that results is evidence of the wickedness that quickly fills the void…the void that we create, when we reject God and push God out! Did you get that?
There are multiple examples of this in history. Listen to Genesis 6:5,6 “The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that He had made mankind on the earth, and God’s heart was filled with pain.” May I ask…, do you believe this describes how God feels TODAY as He looks at many places being destroyed by evil in our world? You’ll recall the great, global flood was God’s ultimate answer to this global wickedness in Genesis 6.
But you may ask…what about now? Ok, listen to Romans 1 “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. For although people knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise they became fools… Although they know God’s righteous decree, that those who do such wicked things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things, but they approve of those who practice them.” (Rom. 1:18-32)
God IS Sovereign over it all and there will be a final day of reckoning, when every human being, from all time, will stand in complete accountability to Holy God, for everything in their lives. Be encouraged by this my friends: “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of HIM to whom we must give account.” (Heb. 4:13)
And God says this about His holy judgment of the wickedness in our world: “Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such wicked things is based on truth… because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when His righteous judgment will be revealed. God will give to each person according to what he has done.” (Romans 2:2,5,6)
So as we contemplate stepping forward out of the despair, we can be confident everything that is occurring is understood by God, is happening under His Sovereign authority over all, and a careful record is being kept for the day of His final reckoning. God will not be mocked. God’s holy justice will prevail. Wickedness will be defeated. We need not carry the burden of justice. Rather than trying to be judge and jury, we have the privilege of being salt & light in our decaying, dark world, (Matt. 5:13-16) bringing the hope and help of Jesus to our world in despair.
Here’s a powerful song of reflection that I hope will encourage you today. Listen carefully for this line: “I beg of you to change the world around me, as Fear and Faith are fighting for control, amid the raging waters, swirling all around me, YOU’VE become the anchor for my soul… You’ve had a thousand chances to change my circumstances but thank You LORD… for changing ME instead!!”
Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Click to read today’s chapters: Psalm 25:4-6; Isaiah 46:10-13. (At the top you can choose a different translation.)
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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