Are You With Me?

 

You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth,
And called from its farthest regions,
And said to you,
‘You are My servant,
I have chosen you and have not cast you away:
Fear not, for I am with you;
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you,
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’  Psalm 41:9-10 (NKJV)

 

My mom and I spent a year in Boston while she was finishing her Masters degree.  She was often sick that year, and while she was finishing a major paper from a hospital bed, I would go home alone to study and rest.  It was not that I did not have people to watch over me.  In fact, several friends would stop by our apartment to just check in on me to ensure everything was alright.  One might suspect that at times I might have had a level of loneliness.  That was not the case at all.  I always felt my mom was there with me, and I behaved as such.  My faith was not as big to me then as it is now.  Today with children and grandchildren, there never seems a moment when I’m alone, but at times when it is late at night and I am trying to figure out what to write in my devotion, there can be a sense of loneliness.  “God?  Are you with me,” I say to myself?  I know He is there.  But it is a subtle reminder of where my focus is for that moment.  I could be watching the game or an episode of one of my favorite shows, but as I have previously written, sometimes you have to tune out the noise around you so that you can focus on God.  The simple utterance of the words, “Are you with me,” ensures for that moment, my focus is truly and exclusively on Him.

It is good for us to take time out to focus on God’s presence in our lives.  I love these verses in Psalms because of how reassuring it is, and while it is easier to understand using the New Living Translation, I preferred the New King James because it both read like a poem and felt more personal.  No matter how far we may seem, God is there, and we are His most prized possession.  We have no reason to be afraid or discouraged.  When we are weak, God will strengthen us, and when we are weary, He will hold us up.  These two simple verses cover so much ground.  Even when we think we are, we are never truly alone.  David prefaced this in the 23^rd Psalm saying, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me.” (Psalm 23:4a NKJV) This reassurance is invaluable in times where we might be on a solo mission.  When no one believe in you, God does.  He is there to help, talk, guide, instruct, and strengthen.

There are no boundaries that can withstand God’s pursuit of us.  This leaves us with a very simple question.  Why would we ever feel alone?  If we have an authentic and loving relationship with Him, we would not.  So if you are lost or just wondering, remember the old African hymnal:

No, never alone!  No, never alone!  He promised never to leave me, Never to leave me alone!

Never Alone (Unknown)

What is driving your feelings of loneliness?  What void of abandonment can Jesus fill today and beyond?  My prayer is that we know God is with us, and reassure ourselves as much by simply asking God, “Are you with me?”  Amen.

Recoup from Vacation

 Ever need a vacation to recuperate from your vacation? On the other hand, sometimes the vacation is so good that you can't remember what you do for a living. Somewhere in the middle is where I find myself this Monday.

I do remember that yesterday, I was speaking to a group of teens about Gideon. I got a lot of "deer-in-the-headlight" sort of response. The thing is, Gideon is one of those characters we've heard a lot about (fleece wet, fleece dry, and everyone grab your jars and torches!). Yet, when we read the account in Judges, there seem to be a lot of details that seem, well weird. And it's not just Gideon, it's Yahweh too.

If you feel uncomfortable considering something God does to be "weird", don't fret. He makes stars, moves galaxies, and is completely responsible for the particles that make up quarks. So, weird is really what we should expect, not the clearly understandable.

So, when this Creator of all matter seems comfortable having Gideon test Him, it's really okay. It may even be an invitation to us to put Him to the test. And yes, I know Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:16 where God tells the Sons of Israel not to test Him as they did when they grumbled about water at Massah. But asking Him to confirm His word to do something completely irrational is not the same as claiming He has somehow deceived us. The call not to test God is a call not to be disobedient, and Gideon is seeking the opposite.

So, God calls Gideon to seek one more confirmation:

Now the same night it came about that the LORD said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hands. But if you are afraid to go down, go with Purah your servant down to the camp, and you will hear what they say; and afterward your hands will be strengthened that you may go down against the camp.” So he went with Purah his servant down to the outposts of the army that was in the camp. Judges 7:9-11 NASB

The very idea of facing a number of camels impossible to number with 300 guys with torches and jars is not rational. It's not, regardless of how you figure it. Even with 32,000 it's not sensible, and with 10,000 brave souls it is still a bad idea. So, with 300 men who lap water like dogs, the prospects are beyond ridiculous. And so, down to the camp Gideon goes:

Now the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the sons of the east were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as numerous as the sand on the seashore. When Gideon came, behold, a man was relating a dream to his friend. And he said, “Behold, I had a dream; a loaf of barley bread was tumbling into the camp of Midian, and it came to the tent and struck it so that it fell, and turned it upside down so that the tent lay flat.” His friend replied, “This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given Midian and all the camp into his hand.” Judges 7:12-14 NASB

The ridiculous thing Yahweh asked of Gideon was only part of the work He was already doing. Yahweh had already prepared the Midianites for failure. Now, knowing this, Gideon can move ahead with the ridiculous assured of success. And he does. Jars, torches, and blasts from the horns of rams is all that these 300 dog-drinkers need to overcome hilarious odds.

See what Gideon does first, having heard this confirmation from his enemy: "When Gideon heard the account of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. He returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for the LORD has given the camp of Midian into your hands.”" Judges 7:15 NASB (emphasis mine)

That's the right response, worship. Yes, we are to obey, go get busy doing what our Savior has commanded. But we are also to worship Him. Jesus heals ten lepers, but only one returns to praise Him. Jesus heals many in Judea and Galilee, but only a foreign military officer demonstrates the faith in His authority. 

Have we become jaded by years of faith? Have we seen the worst of believers and wondered if faithful churches even exist anymore? Or has our work in obedience become the distraction from the One we obey? Have you had a "good vacation" from service and can't remember what you were doing?

The first thing we need is worship. The second thing may be obedience, but the first thing is worship. I know that when I sense my prayers being hindered, when it seems my Savior is far off, when I just can't work up the needed energy to do the next thing in obedience or fight the next temptation, I need worship.

I need to acknowledge the Creator and Sustainer of the universe and call out His name, His power, and thank Him for the fact that He has revealed Himself to one like me. That is what centers me in Him, and then everything else is easy. I can face the temptation, find the energy to obey, and sense His Spirit at work where I can do nothing.

Gideon did. He suddenly has a plan, suddenly knows what to do with 300 to defeat enemies he can't count. He started with worship. And, I recommend, we start there too.

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Copyright by The Lockman Foundation