On the Way to Wonder

Psalm 18 is a song of David after he is delivered from the hands of his enemies and the hand of Saul. He is ecstatic as he opens his song praising God as his strength, his rock, his fortress, his rock and refuge, a shield and stronghold. Wow. He describes his depression as being similar to drowning in the depths of the sea but then he envisions God’s help as a horrible storm crashing into his world and disrupting everything. Thunder, lightning, hail, dark clouds burst onto the scene, scattering his enemies in fear. Netflix would love it. Next he reflects on his own role in the conflict and having evaluated himself, he finds himself innocent of wrong and seeking the Lord through his ordeal. This little gem is buried in the middle, v. 25,

         ”To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd. You save the humble and bring low those whose eyes are haughty.”

David still had to fight his battle. His confidence did not remove the struggle but gave him strength and perspective as he learns from his experience.

Matthew 18 (today is the 18^th and we are looking at Matthew this year) has the disciples going to Jesus and asking who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus calls a little child and challenges us to become like little children because whoever humbles himself like a child is greatest. King David and Jesus present humility as a quality of great value. That is very counter-cultural in our world of power, wealth and voice. I do not know what battle you are fighting today nor who you perceive to be your enemy nor if you feel you are drowning but I do know our God hears, sees, and acts on behalf of the humble. It doesn’t mean we can avoid the battle, but He is walking with us.

“Keep me as the apple of your (God’s) eye,” (Psalm 17:8) intrigued me this morning after reading Proverbs 17 for June 17. “Apple of the eye” is actually an English idiom used by Shakespeare about 1590 and made famous in the King James translation of the Bible in 1611. It seems to refer to the pupil, but may mean the whole eyeball. The idiom is used about five times in the Old Testament and is a plea for God to keep focus on the person praying who is struggling. In Psalm 17 David is feeling surrounded by enemies, misunderstood, perhaps outnumbered. David pleas that he has tried to follow the Lord as best he knew how with an honest heart and faithful speech. He contrasts being the apple of God’s eye with the eyes of the great lion crouching and watching to catch and devour his prey. Wow. He pleas for God’s focus to help, not the enemy’s focus to devour and destroy. Perhaps today we feel surrounded by giant lions: racism, poverty, injustice, disease, loneliness, or perhaps misunderstanding. How comforting to know that God sees through all our masks to the real intents of our heart, understands the fears that plague us, and heals the wounds that scar us. He focuses on us for our good and keeps us as the “apple of his eye.” He’s not crouching in a bush but walking beside us. Thank you, Lord. Blessings on your day as you walk with Him!

Tonight we will bless the Community Gardens that are a ministry of Bethany. I pondered how many gardens could name in the Bible, so I did a word search on “garden.” Indeed most of us probably know about the Garden of Eden, perhaps the garden of Naboth lusted after by King Ahab, husband of Jezebel, and thirdly the Garden of Gethsemane. Major dramas unfolded in each of these gardens. Interestingly, “garden” is most referenced in Song of Solomon as love and relationship is compared to the joy of a wonderful garden. It is not trampled by the public but a place of privacy and restoration, peace, fragrance, tasty, spicy – perhaps we use the word renewal and revival. For many the joy of working in the garden, outside, away from work and worry brings renewal. Personal blessing. Isaiah talks about the restoration of Israel like a garden that gradually grows and matures and produces goods that feed many. Bethany’s garden produced 4000 (I think) pounds of food for food shelves. Even before we bless it tonight, plants are growing in-spite of Covid and our sheltering. I think there is a whole sermon on that! Jeremiah uses the garden as a symbol of settling as he tells the Israelites to plant gardens in Babylon and bless neighbors as their exile will be for a time. Gardens are not a “drive through” experience. Gardens are also places of final rest for kings in the Bible. Cities are seen like gardens planted along a river. Pulling all this together, gardens are places of blessing but it takes time, patience, and perseverance. Each of us is like a plant in God’s garden, special, fragrant, perhaps spicy. I pray that as we grow today, we will be a source of renewal and rest to others, a person with whom others find peace and joy, and that ultimately we will point others to the God who’s sun, rain, and seasons blesses and grows us. Maybe I’ll see you tonight. Blessings.

“Then God said, ‘Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.’ And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. “ (Genesis 1:11,12)

Yesterday’s quote was, “The good you do is not lost though you forget it. (Unknown) Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. (1 Peter 3:9)” I needed the reminder that “good” is never lost, though perhaps forgotten or misunderstood. In a “heavy” conversation with a good friend on Saturdy, the good I was trying to be got twisted. Apologies were in order and the wound is healing. This morning I remembered in Luke 18:18-20 how a ruler asked Jesus, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus replied, “Why do you call me good? No one is good – except God alone.” Today’s quote is, “The giver makes the gift precious. (unknown)” It seems to me that then what we do for God is the good and that is not lost because He is good. He somehow irons out the wrinkles of our intent and humanness. As I read the verses around 1 Peter 3:9, I see a context, perhaps advice, to seek to live in harmony, respecting our others, being compassionate and humble. In our “topsy-turvy” world of today those words feels very counter-cultural and open to interpretation but it is clear that Peter admonishes us to turn from evil and do “good,” act as God would have us act. Many blessings as you go through today seeking to do “good.”

“Time wasted is existence; time used is life. (Young) …I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10)” Jesus promised a “full” life, translated “abundant life” in other translations. I suspect that in my youth I thought that meant a life fulfilling all my dreams and not a life of struggle, disappointment, and conflict. Many days were “good” days but along with the sunshine came the cloudy days. In Psalm 13 for June 13, David feels forgotten by God, wrestling with enemies, discouraged. He ends the psalm though, “But I trust in your unfailing love, my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord for he has been goo to me. (v5,6)” Trust is hard. Trusting a God that cannot be seen and has pretty fallible followers is challenging. The psalm reminds us that God’s love is unfailing and He is working out salvation, not necessarily as I think but as He knows is best. I find that comforting and it frees me to invest in today. May you sense God’s presence as you go about the highs and lows of today. He is with you.

“Man is unjust, but God is just; and finally justice triumphs. (Henry W. Longfellow) Do you want justice? Don’t fawn on the judge, but ask the Lord for it! (Prov. 29:26)” Wow, were these authors born centuries apart, in different parts of the world, one a writer and one a king, looking down the spyglass of time and seeing 2020? I am shocked as I wake this morning and read all the blurbs that come through news and email about demands for justice. I turned to Proverbs 12 for June 12 and did not find anything further about justice as such and I realize that trusting justice to a God that cannot be seen and trusting that He is working towards a future resolution of the injustice I feel so strongly now, is a hard pill to swallow. As the news talks about racial injustice, or perceived political injustice, as friends talk about the unfairness of walking with a partner with Alzheimer’s (“I never thought life would be like this. It is so hard!), as my daughter has to face the fear of infection from the virus to get a job, my heart cries. Trusting God is not easy. Perhaps that is why we talk about faith. This Sunday we talk about Jesus empowering his disciples, which means us, with his ministry of healing and presence. “The kingdom of heaven has come near,” but is not yet fully realized. We live in that tension. We live with the injustice and do our best, in the way God has gifted us, to bring peace and justice to others but ultimately “God is just” and we must turn to Him. As we lay our concerns, our cries, our wounds, our hopes and our needs on His alter today, may we relax and know He is listening and acting in ways we cannot see, for everyone.

“Nothing is impossible to a willing heart. (Heywood) Trouble and distress have come upon me, but your commands are my delight. Your statues are forever right; give me understanding that I may live. (Psalm 119: 143,144)” It is interesting that these two quotes are juxtaposed, one a secular quote that probably resonates with Paul’s sentiment,” I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” and one that I imagine was written by David fleeing Saul and finding solace and direction from God’s statues. As an elder, I remember the dreams that did not come true no matter how willing my heart was to love, to go, to exercise. That guy did not marry me. That sea voyage did not occur. And in retrospect, I can see that it all worked out for the better as I sought God’s direction and will, not my heart’s longings. Proverbs 11: 6 shares, “The righteousness of the upright delivers them, but the unfaithful are trapped by evil desires.” As our hearts reflect God’s heart then God’s will can come into focus. We can saddle the horses but the victory is the Lord’s! Blessings today as you wrestle with the desires of a willing heart and the reality of the world you live in!

“The great man is he that does not lose his child’s heart. (Mencious) …whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:4)” These saayings greeted me on my calendar this morning before I turned to Proverbs 10 in my Bible. Mencius, a Chinese philosopher second to Confucius, talks about a child’s heart. Matthew sees children as humble. The dictionary would define humble as coming from “low”. I do not think it means low value but perhaps acknowledging the other as understanding more, a source of wisdom.  Proverbs 10 contrasts the righteous person with the fool and sluggard. Verse 8 and verse 10 talk about “the chattering fool” who comes to ruin. Hmmm.

Last night I spent time with my granddaughter who “chattered” on about a book she was reading and a little weaving loom I gave her. The chattering of a child brings strong memories. I remember walking across the desert compound in Kenya with her father, sharing about life. This kid started talking in full sentences with descriptive adjectives. I could not tell one pickup from another but he could tell me it was a blue Toyota, 4WD, with a winch – at age 2. He would chatter on, describing his life to me. A child’s heart reports with joy to the parent. Angry children may well explode about an injustice but as I reflect, I tend to think anger often focuses on the injustice the other did to reporter. It is not chatter.

Verse 8 shares that “the wise in heart accept commands, but a chattering fool comes to ruin.” That ties talking with humility and teachableness. Is chattering, seeking to share and learn? I ponder as I go about my conversations today, am I chattering to the Lord as my parent, talking about my day, open to being taught or am I reporting in to defend myself and tell Him what I think He should be doing? I suspect I often come as an adult, bearing the burden of responsibility, rather than as a child sharing with a parent who has “the whole world in his hands.” I would pray that today we might connect with our child’s heart that shares with “the father” and does not just chatter to hear our own voice. Blessings. He’s listening for you.

“Choice, not chance, determines destiny. (Unknown) Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve … as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord (Joshua 24: 15).” Proverbs 9 presents us with choice today. Two women, Wisdom and Folly, are at the top of the city inviting us into a banquet they have prepared. They call to the simple to come in and eat. Wisdom’s banquet of delicacies will result in understanding, lengthening of days and years. Folly also calls to the simple offering “stolen water” and “food eaten in secrecy.” Her guests fail to realize the people in the house are the dead. The person is simple and must make a choice. Neither hostess demands we enter. The choice is ours. While I realize some choices are forced upon us by life, no one chooses illness or riots or death, how we respond to situations determines our destiny. Whether we choose to respond with love and not hate, with forgiveness and not bitterness, with concerns for the other as well as our goals, all determines the destiny, the outcome of our lives. As we start our days with prayer, meditation, reflection, being in the Word, we tune our hearts to the choices we will need to make today. I doubt which jam we choose or which shirt we wear is that important but other choices touch our values and that is important. As you make choices today, may you her the voice of Wisdom and the Holy Spirit calling you in to their banquet. Blessings.

Oswald Chambers on my calendar shares, “It isn’t so true that ‘prayer changes things’ as that ‘prayer changes me and I change things.’” During these days when we are clamoring for change and the dismantling of injustice, these words of wisdom feel a bit pointed. At the same time, Proverbs 8, June 8, is dedicated to telling us to gain wisdom. Gain wisdom over wealth and riches. Wisdom is personified as an entity that God called forth before creation of our universe and who delighted to see God creating. What caught my eye, though, was that wisdom is teamed up with prudence. V.12 “I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence.” I had to look up the word “prudence” to make sure I understood what it means. www defines prudence as being cautious. Showing “good and careful judgment when handling practical matters” or “wise and well-thought-through decision or action” is considered prudent. The first thing we were taught in Swahili language school, on the first day was, “Haraka, haraka, haina Baraka.” Hurry, hurry has no blessing. We Westerners were known as people who ran around in circles, hurry, hurrying.

So how does this all fit together? Prayer is when I take time at certain times of the day or in certain places or perhaps under certain circumstances. I get up in the morning to spend time in the Word but my husband often asks, “What did you learn in the shower?” Prayer changes me as I listen. I slow down and think before acting, ponder my sermon. Prayer is one way to seek wisdom and to be prudent when making decisions. It is not the only way. In our world today when news sells, when communicative avenues are so available, and there seems to be so many experts about so many topics, it feels like Proverbs advice to seek wisdom that dwells with prudence is good advice as we start another week. Wednesday we will look again at how Daniel and friends, navigating culture as ordinary people were wise. You are invited to join us. May you be wise and prudent as you face the challenges in your life today. Blessings!