Wow!
In a little less than 8 hours another year will end and yet another begin.
Time seems to be careening by these days!
Are you pleased with the year you’ve just lived?
What do you expect in 2009?
Are you one of those who believe that, at the moment the big “O” is inaugurated, Camelot will begin? Or do you fear that the economic gloom of the past few months spells doom for years to come? Is your world collapsing all around you? Or are you like the Kid who woke up to find that a fertilizer truck had lost its brakes, and run out-of-control into his bedroom filling the room and several others in the house with its contents, and was later found digging through the manure explaining to his scolding Mother as he dug feverishly, “with all this horse poop there’s got to be a pony in here somewhere!”?
In times of transition such as we’re in today life really can be especially confusing. It always has been. Nowhere is that more apparent than in the Psalms of the Bible. These often brutally honest and frequently painful prayers and testimonials are candid glimpses of the many faces of life. One, in particular reveals the incongruities that have been a part of life since ancient times.
King David, is the writer of this, the 31st Psalm. At first it’s hard to determine whether or not he’s in a funk or simply reflecting on the kind mercy of his God and listing the trouble from which this merciful Lord has saved him. Halfway through the Psalm it’s clear he’s in trouble. He pleads with God, “Be kind to me, God I'm in deep, deep trouble again. I've cried my eyes out; I feel hollow inside. My life leaks away, groan by groan; my years fade out in sighs. My troubles have worn me out, turned my bones to powder. To my enemies I'm a monster; I'm ridiculed by the neighbors. My friends are horrified; they cross the street to avoid me. They want to blot me from memory, forget me like a corpse in a grave, discard me like a broken dish in the trash. The street-talk gossip has me'criminally insane'! Behind locked doors they plot how to ruin me for good. Desperate, I throw myself on you: you are my God!”
Then his mood changes again. He turns from pleading to praise, "What a stack of blessing you have piled up for those who worship you, ready and waiting for all who run to you to escape an unkind world. You hide them safely away from the opposition. As you slam the door on those oily, mocking faces, you silence the poisonous gossip. Blessed God! His love is the wonder of the world. Trapped by a siege, I panicked. 'Out of sight, out of mind,' I said. But you heard me say it, you heard and listened. Love God, all you saints; God takes care of all who stay close to him, but he pays back in full those arrogant enough to go it alone. Be brave. Be strong. Don't give up. Expect God to get here soon.” (Psalm 31: Selected THE MESSAGE)
The reason for this happy ending is in the pivotal belief expressed midway through the Psalm, “My times are in your hands …” (vs. 15)
“My times,” could just as appropriately be translated, “my experiences.” This troubled King, overwhelmed by the weight of life is strengthened by the thought that the course of his life is being managed by his God.
Are you encouraged this New Year’s Eve by the thought that God is in charge of “the times” – the 2009 and beyond – of your life? Or are you skeptical? Do you see good people hurt severely and think, “what’s wrong with God? Why would He let such a thing happen?” “If He lets them suffer He’s certainly not going to treat me fairly!” You could even see this as a flat contradiction to the idea that we have any degree of “free will,” and reconsider whether or not you want such a person meddling in your life. You could say with the singer, “ain’t nobody gonna run my life!” Or you can believe, with David, that regardless of how things appear, God’s gonna “get here soon.” Or to put it another way, “I’m gonna trust Him even though I can’t see Him or any evidence of His attention or love right now.”
Of course the evidence of such faith is in the way we go about living the “times” that are “under God’s management.” Are we digging through the “poop” expecting to find a pony? Or are we lamenting our situation and complaining that we can’t afford to buy a better house that isn’t on such a busy street.
The power of this idea that “our times” are “in God’s hands,” was vividly illustrated to me in my Aunt Ruth’s Christmas letter. She is my Mother’s Sister, the last survivor of three Sisters. She and her Husband, Jim, celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary in 2007. To honor this momentous milestone their Friends and Family gave them the gift of an Alaskan Cruise. They took that cruise this past June. I’ll let her tell you about it.
“It was a wonderful experience … very enjoyable. We had 3 days sightseeing along the way. First in Ketchican where we watched logging antics and visited a totem pole park. It was misty that day but we were dressed for the weather. Then we spent a few hours in Juneau. The most exciting thing we did was to ride a helicopter to the Mendenhall Glacier. It was well worth squeezing into the weather suits and heavy boots. When we got to the site, we had to have cleats attached to the soles of the boots, so we could walk on the glacier. It was informative. The guides were exceptional. Then we stopped at Skagway where we met our grandson … who drove us to old mining sites. Then we took the train ride to the summit. It was a long look down, but interesting.”
I’ve always been proud of my Aunt! I’m even more proud of her now! To put it into perspective she is, now that her Mother and Sisters are in Heaven, the Matriarch of my maternal ancestors. She’s no kid. But she did everything the cruise offered and more. Her comments on the risky stuff? “We were dressed for the weather;” “the most exciting thing we did was ride a helicopter;” the walk on the glacier was “informative;” the train ride along the edge of high cliffs was “interesting.” I’d like to think that I have inherited the gene that orients this great Lady to see life as something to be lived with enthusiasm and high expectations.
Now such an attitude is made up of something more than a certain sort of DNA. There’s faith in it. The cruise provides a wonderful metaphor for that faith. When you leave dry land and sail away on that adventure you make some rather risky choices. Probably chief among those choices is to dismiss the notion that the makers of the hull of the ship you’re now sailing in are better shipbuilders than the makers of the Titanic. I know some people who wouldn’t even set foot on a ship until they had a personal review of the blueprints and documentation of the seaworthiness of all materials incorporated into every square inch of it. Aunt Ruth hasn’t spent a lot of time “at sea.” Would she be prone to seasickness? Did she personally meet the Captain and crew? Had she had a chance to verify their qualifications to manage this vessel in which she’d be living the next several days of her life? What about the course the ship would take? Had they verified that all passageways were deep enough to accommodate a boat of this size? Some folks would want assurance that the great whales would not be harmed nor would their migration patterns be disturbed. Ruth and Jim could have stayed in their cabin out of the bone chilling mist rather than take in the logging competition and the Totem Pole Park. I doubt she’d ever been in a helicopter before. Why, at this stage in life, take such a risk? These choppers are not the most stable flying machines. And “squeezing into those weather suits and heavy boots.” Cruises are for relaxation and pleasure not high adventure! She could have, legitimately, spent her time in the cabin or on deck reading, napping, and taking in the scenery from the safety and comfort of her floating palace. But not Ruth. She’d put a bit of her time in the hands of the managers of an Alaskan Cruise and she was going to “seize” those days!
Our God, like the captain and crew of that majestic vessel, is often behind the scenes. But He has provided a passengers’ guide to the most satisfying experience of life on his watch and those who step out and live it, with his encouragement, guidance, and assistance will discover, with David, that “God takes care of those who stay close to Him.” As a matter-of-fact David writes, in another Psalm, “The Lord (God) is my Shepherd. I have all that I need.” (Psalm 23:1 New Living Translation)
Do you believe that? Do you believe that the one who manages “the times” of your life has made ample provision for every moment and all the eventualities of your life? Do you intend to live every moment, every day you have with an enthusiastic abandon that will appear risky to anyone who doesn’t believe that everything you’ll need has already been provided by the “Captain of your soul”? Will you live a risky life that provides God with plenty of opportunity to demonstrate His infinite power to all who observe? People of faith, “overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised them. They shut the mouths of lions, quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight. Women received their loved ones back again from death. But others were tortured, refusing to turn from God in order to be set free. They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection. Some were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in prisons. Some died by stoning, some were sawed in half, and others were killed with the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute and oppressed and mistreated. They were too good for this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.
All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised. For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us.” (Hebrews 11: 33 – 40)
I have little idea what faith will mean for me in 2009. But I intend to find out! “My times are in" the Lord’s “hands” and I expect the best!
Do you?
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