His Sweet Reminders

Today I was surprised by "catastrophy". A year's worth of my work - including reports, data, technology inventory, lesson plans, activities, projects, assessments, and research was lost. The immediate panic that set in robbed me of the ability to think and put my emotions in high gear. I tried to remain composed for the good of those around me, but was almost paralyzed in trying to fight back. Going through the motions at work, I prayed for sanity. As soon as I was able to be alone went before His throne, "really God, is it possible that I can fall apart this quickly? - forgive me Father for my sheer despair, forgive me for my meltdown, help me to focus on what lasts. Then the pictures started coming - God's precious gift of life: Anna Rae - my new granddaughter. God's first sweet reminder - thank you Father for holding me up with sweet reminders. The next blessing was a sweet lunch with my sister Joanne - Father how you've blessed me. The third sweet reminder came on my drive home - a call from D'Andre, my 8-year-old grandson. "Hi, Oma, I love you." "I love you too Dre, are you calling just to talk?" "No, I heard you had a very bad day today - I just wanted to tell you I love you, you want to tell me what happened?" Father, Father, my heart cried out - how sweet your reminders, my cup runneth over. Lord God, you are so personal - I thank you for loving me so much. These are the moments of grace that are so sweet to me, that strengthen my faith and humble me at the same time. These are the moments when the old hymns of faith rush back into my mind: "Great is thy Faithfulness, O God my Father; there is no shadow of turning with Thee; Thou changest not, thy compassions they fail not; as Thou has been thou forever wilt be..."

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Psalm 46:10 is a verse that God has brought me back to over and over again during the last 37 years, but it wasn't until just a few months ago that I noticed the comma. For 37 years, I read the verse as "be still and know" as if the two could somehow be done simultaneously. In the busyness that is me, multi-tasking seems normal - but I've now been confronted with the comma. A comma calls for a pause, signals a sequential occurance, or even a progression in thought. God is teaching me that every minute part of scripture is purposeful and wrought with meaning. First: be still - forget the todo's, the worries, and the unfinished tasks; ignore the world's clamor, the tube, the music and the phone; stop the hurried pace and the 100 mph racing of the mind. BE STILL - a command or the soft-spoken whisper? More and more it seems to me that my Father is holding me in His arms and whispering "shhh now my child, be still." Second: and know - be fully aware, understand, comprehend to the level of application. What does it mean to KNOW God? Do I live with the full realization of God's Holiness? Do I live out a life of awe at the immensity of who God is? The faith of a child seems to be so much closer to this KNOW - the child who says, "God is soooooo big, He is bigger than anything!" Am I fully aware? Do I really understand? ... or have I oversimplified my God? God, in His mercy, calls me to be still, and know... - to show me again that He is holy, awesome, mighty, righteous, all-powerful, glorious, unchangeable, unfathomable... Shhhhh, He whispers - BE STILL now my child, now let me remind you again of who I AM. I AM He who said, "have no other gods before me." I AM He who said, "come to me all who labor." I AM He who formed you. I AM He who bought you with blood. I AM He who is doing a mighty work in you. I AM He who loves you. No, He is not someone you mess with or oversimplify. He is the one who spoke the universe into existence and retains full control. Yes, He's got the whole world in His hands, but as for me? He's my daddy, I'm His child. He holds me in His mighty and safe arms - and that simply blows my mind!