Lately we’ve been having a ‘Testimony’ portion at our Sunday worship services and it’s been taking a little more time than I expected, leaving me with a little less time to speak.
That means, unfortunately, that I could only go as far as to share my response to the testimonies given, and to give a recap of the message last week.
Or, at least, that’s how it turned out for me yesterday. I was telling the congregation that I’ve started reading and writing about the book of Romans, and I took a little more time than usual reflecting on our message for Fathers’ Day, and how this Father that we have has an everlasting and therefore unfathomable love (based on our readings in Romans 10 and 11) for us.
We aren’t to contain Him as our Creator, we’re to trust Him as a Father.
In a slight demonstration of weakness, I resorted to ending the message by opening up about how vulnerable I’ve been feeling lately. What I said was with events that have been going on recently, it started off with a fear of the future.
This fear of what may happen in the near future spread like a virus to the rest of my mind, to the point that I started questioning my present condition… and because I’ve been easier stressed by the present, what followed was condemnation from the past.
It’s unfortunate that in my present case, it only takes a little fear to have noticeable impact upon the rest of me. As the litany goes, it is the ‘little death that brings total obliteration.’
But anyway, that’s how it seemed to end for me last Sunday. We may have our own struggles, but may all of it continue to drive us back to our Savior… and through Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit, may we find our bearings once again, in His perfect love that casts out all fear.
And really, now that I’m thinking about it, why does it seem like it just takes a little fear to creep in to threaten ‘total obliteration’ to me?
The reason I’m finding as feasible right now is that it’s not as if it was something sudden – I feel as if there’s been subtle event after event, mostly of my own doing (or lack of doing or negligence, actually) that have actually had me gripping onto other more finite things… so when the smallest of gusts came, it pushed me harder than I expected.
Fear crept in, and condemnation ensued.
Throughout last week and all the Scripture I’ve been consuming, I stumbled upon Psalm 18.
Sharing it here:
The LORD Is My Rock and My Fortress
TO THE CHOIRMASTER. A PSALM OF DAVID, THE SERVANT OF THE LORD, WHO ADDRESSED THE WORDS OF THIS SONG TO THE LORD ON THE DAY WHEN THE LORD DELIVERED HIM FROM THE HAND OF ALL HIS ENEMIES, AND FROM THE HAND OF SAUL.
I suppose I’d be singing along the same chords when victory is assured on my end as well… but no matter where I am, in victory or defeat, there’s always going to be a reason to praise.
HE SAID:
I love you, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.
Just as I mentioned earlier, I’m not going to wait for victory to be seen before I call upon the Lord… and when we DO call upon Him, I believe it is but natural for us to be led, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to proclaim with our mouths (if only for our own ears to hear) of the goodness of God through all that He is to us.
He is not only our Strength; Friends, our God, and our Father is also our Rock in whom we take refuge; He is our Fortress, and our Deliverer, our Shield, our Stronghold, and the Horn of our salvation.
Now all this sounds familiar, like I wrote about all of it in the past, but surely back then I haven’t been in such duress and distress as I am today.
But the Truth remains the same: We call upon the Lord in praise, knowing that before we see any sort of resolution according to our own standards – yes, before all that, we can already proclaim of how we have been saved from our enemies.
The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction assailed me; the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.
We are not ignorant to our afflictions. We ought to be unlike folk who would passionately tell us to stay away from negative statements or negative declarations, because for a good number of them, this would impact the ‘metaphysical’; Or, the negative words we say would come true.
I believe it is only by the superior (and honorable) grace of God, through the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the resultant power and confidence we have through the Holy Spirit that we are not only able to face our problems, but we are also able to see as much details as we could with our finite senses, and recognize them for the threats that they are…
In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help.
From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.
…Only because we don’t stop at recognizing the situation in all details we’re able to observe! No, we see these problems as they are so we can call them out as they are, because we are never alone and ALWAYS in the presence of our God, and our Father.
True, we may look at our issues and circumstances and would inevitably feel distressed as David was, but thanks be to God, it doesn’t stop there for us – for to our God do we also cry for help!
And oh, what a response David got:
Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry. Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him.
He bowed the heavens and came down; thick darkness was under his feet.
He rode on a cherub and flew; he came swiftly on the wings of the wind.
He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him, thick clouds dark with water.
Out of the brightness before him hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.
The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice, hailstones and coals of fire. And he sent out his arrows and scattered them; he flashed forth lightnings and routed them.
Then the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.
Behold, how infinitely mighty, and how terribly great our God is. David goes into detail, but I’m not about to sound redundant here, only to make observations:
- He ‘bowed the heavens’, ‘bowed’ being nâṭâh / naw-taw’ / A primitive root; to stretch or spread out; by implication to bend away…’the channels of the sea were seen’. The seemingly absolute firmament and deeps were warped and revealed as our infinite Creator intervenes in finite creation… in what I’m assuming is an instant (‘swiftly on the wings of the wind‘).
- ‘thick darkness was under his feet… He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him, thick clouds dark with water.’ Now, we’ve oft discussed how the darkness is the absence of light… but apparently, we’re not to make this conclusion immediately – for even in the darkness, He is present. I say this only to emphasize the absolute omnipresence of our Creator.
- Not only is our Father present (albeit seemingly hidden) in the darkness, but the Truth is, brightness is what comes forth, and ‘hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds’; (1), Brightness and light go before our God, and notice (2) the clouds are HIS; the coals of fire did not break through THE clouds, but HIS clouds. He is not only IN the darkness, He OWNS the darkness just as much.
- Our Father’s response is not without rebuke… and at His rebuke, the heavens thundered, “and the foundations of the world were laid bare.”
F. B. Meyer, in his commentary, states it well: ‘The voice of the sufferer may be weak and solitary, but it reaches through the gates of pearl and moves creation!’
I will stop here for now, for lack of time. God willing, I’ll finish this later today.
Until then, God bless us all.
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