SOMETHING TO SHARE...


Friday, November 5, 2010

The LORD on our Side!

I, a struggling pilgrim, write to others who need a good word today. I hold in my lap, as I pen these few thoughts, the Good Word and find much comfort and encouragement for the journey these days in the blessed Psalms. This week, I have been reading through chapters 120-134, the ones entitled in my Bible, the Songs of Ascents, those probably sung by those who said they felt they were sojourning in Mesech and Kedar (their enemies and haters of peace-chap. 120) but they were setting their eyes and hearts toward Jerusalem (the city of peace) and more importantly, toward the King of Jerusalem, their LORD Who made heaven and earth. (chap. 121).

That's us, fellow traveler. Can we not see the parallels, even more clearly, as the day of the King's most welcome return approaches? I have had conversations lately with believers and about believers who feel an intensity of the heat that they haven't experienced as of yet. Remember, we are soldiers and the enemy is busy scheming, lying, and throwing fiery darts- we can expect it. I confess, myself, that I must daily wage war against thoughts of uselessness, apathy, even depression which wants to seize me probably stemming from a long season of physical struggles.  It is so liberating to know that I can say that I struggle because there was a day when I was a spiritual teen-ager and knew everything and thought that "my theology" wouldn't allow weakness. Who was I kidding? I, certainly, was not a student of the Apostle Paul's, was I? Let me ask you- how can someone who has never been in a spiritual battle ever minister to another who is there now?

I picked up Joni's new book yesterday at Lifeway and tears ran down my face last night as I read from a precious saint of God concerning a new unrelenting pain that she is in now. Do you know why Joni's words are so powerful? Because, as she sits in a 40-yr. wheelchair and ministers, as she begins to cry because she feels the room is tightening in around her, her husband, Ken, must come and hold the Kleenex while she blows her nose. Those are her words- it's real to her- it's her life and millions have been blessed and inspired by this saint of God who gives her great God, her merciful Savior, all the praise and all the glory! Let me share a quote from her new book called A Place of Healing. It will whet your appetite to go buy it. "The adversary knows very well what my example of trust and confidence in God has meant to Christians throughout the years, from the time I published my first book, Joni, back in 1976 through the present. Has Satan read my books? I seriously doubt it- there is way too much Jesus in those pages for his liking. Nevertheless, he knows my love for the Savior and hates me for it. My enemy has most probably assigned some captain in his lowerarchy of hell to harass me. My wicked adversary knows I have at least become accustomed to quadriplegia. He recognizes that total and permanent paralysis is no longer the struggle it used to be for me. He is aware that my profound disability has helped me develop the prized characteristic of needing God desperately when I wake up in the morning. And quite frankly, he despises that. He hates knowing that my trust in God resounds to the Father's glory. He detests thinking of my increased eternal capacity for worship and joy in heaven as a reward for my perseverance these forty-plus years in my wheelchair. He loathes the way my fellowship with Christ in His sufferings turns up the wattage on the Savior's glory. He considers it odious that I have yielded to the Hebrews 12-type discipline of the Lord in years past, and he sneers as he watches me walk deeper into that fellowship of suffering with Jesus."  WOW!
   She carries on and so will we because of the Psalm that I just read this morning. "If it had not been the LORD Who was on our side, now may Israel say; If it had not been the LORD Who was on our side, when men rose up against us: Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us: Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul: Then the proud waters had gone over our soul. Blessed be the LORD, Who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth. Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped. Our help is in the name of the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. " chapter 124.

I remember, as a child, as we played in the backyard, seeing the bat tossed from my brother, Wayne, the best athlete in Liberty Heights, to Max, the boy who caused me to break my toe. (refer to former blogs). You, who have done this to see who chooses first, know that the one who reaches the top of the bat with his outstretched thumb,wins the privilege of  selecting the remaining twenty, yeah, we had lots of kids in our neighborhood, to be on their team. Wayne, probably, hated to do so but if he won, he chose his little sister because I was the next best shortstop behind him. The best got chosen first because everybody likes to win but here's my thought, one that I hope will bless your day as it has mine already.

God chose me and you, Christian friend, to be on His side and definitely not because we were good but simply because of His love and His desire for us to be objects of that love, mercy and grace which redounds to His glory! That declaration, as the Jerusalem bound people made as they traveled was my declaration as I got up from my bed this morning. His love and amazing grace on behalf of this lady who writes who deserves it the least of any one I know, motivates me.  See, we all face dilemmas. These pilgrims sang about that they were a bird in a snare. Matthew Henry says it like this- "God's people are taken in the snare, and unable to help themselves out as any weak and silly bird is: and then God breaks the snare, and turns the counsel of the enemies into foolishness." That's our God, Saints! He will turn the accusations of the enemy back on his own head. I am sure that satan thought he would destroy Joni when she dove into the shallow water at age 17 and broke her neck. He, maybe, thought he had Paul and Silas silenced in the dark dungeon but what is that sound we hear? Praying and singing at midnight, huh? He is trying to convince some of us that we are through because of our weaknesses and fears and failures. Let's don't listen to him- he is a liar. He mocked and partied, I am sure, at the cross, but it was there and at the empty tomb three days later that he was defeated. He is a defeated foe and knows it and no doubt, is working 24/7 because he is aware of the time and that it is almost up. HALLELUJAH!!!!

We may, at times, feel we are a bird in a trap but God is on our side- He never loses- it's impossible for Him to do so. In verse 8, the sojourners remind themselves again that "Our help is in the name of the LORD." They reaffirm over and over that their Companion on this arduous journey never sleeps nor slumbers but is leading all the way, yes, through the valleys for our good and up the mountains, Brothers and Sisters.
   Oh, my aim is that you be encouraged. I prayed for people this morning who I have never met but know through others that you hurt today. I also prayed for you who I do know and know well that your valleys, whether physical, emotional, financial,relational or any other way are wearing you down. I just want you to know that brothers and sisters come alongside you today to pray because we love you. Let me close with another quote from Matthew Henry concerning this chapter- "The more desperate the disease appears to have been the more does the skill of the Physician appear in the cure."  And I say amen.

Standing with and kneeling for you today,   Deborah  -   "What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?"

1 comment:

  1. Good blog Deb!!! I know this will encourage everyone who reads it...it encouraged me!! Dedene

    ReplyDelete