Month: October 2023

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Incoming!

“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy . . .”1—Paul, writing to believers in Philippi

Sometimes world events remind us of how little we are in control. Russia invades Ukraine, and we can but watch. Terrorists do unspeakable things even to the most defenseless, and we feel helpless. Infighting in Sudan displaces over five million people from their homes; we can only ache for them. We are powerless. Or so it seems . . .

Isn’t it fascinating that some of Paul’s most impactful ministry arose from his time in prison, a plight in which virtually all control is stripped away? It was as “an ambassador in chains”2 that Paul wrote his epistles to the churches in Ephesus, Colossae, and Philippi—inspired writings that have taught, corrected and guided Christians as canon for two millennia hence. It was in the isolation of incarceration that Paul prayed fervently and continually for the churches he loved so much. Though devoid of control, the prisoner was anything but powerless.

The same is true of us. I have heard of prayer being likened, in a sense, to an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM): we can confidently launch petitions from anywhere in the world, for their range is unlimited, and no weapons exceed the power of their warheads. We don’t have to be in control, just faithful in prayer and confident in the One who hears us and is sovereign above all things.

When overwhelmed to the point of hopelessness, sometimes even unto prayerlessness, I personally find inspiration in a word of encouragement from Peter Kreeft, author and professor of philosophy at Boston College, and I share it here with you . . .

I strongly suspect that if we saw all the difference even the tiniest of our prayers make, and all the people those little prayers were destined to affect, and all the consequences of those prayers down through the centuries, we would be so paralyzed with awe at the power of prayer that we would be unable to get up off our knees for the rest of our lives.

May we be the faithful who unite in the power of prayer and trust in Him who hears us.

When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.”—Ephesians 3:14-15 NLT

Father, I trust in your wisdom, power, and love. Hear me now as I pray . . .

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

1 Philippians 1:3-4
2 Ephesians 6:20

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What Creation Says to Us

Of all the places Peggy and I have traveled, I would have to include Northern Michigan among the most beautiful. Sunsets over Lake Michigan are spectacular. Auras of red cradle a yellow sun as, dimming, it dutifully descends into the horizon’s waters. Each cloud is a palate of pastels, its hues ever blending in constant change. There is no silence, though it seems so. A breeze in the ear, the call of the gull, a child’s voice in the distance, muffled by wind and wave—this is the soft soundtrack in nature’s gallery where, though the Painter’s canvas never changes, His evening masterpieces are never the same. We can only marvel, “Where there is art, there must be an Artist.”

In last week’s post, we beheld in awe the authority in God’s words, “The Lord merely spoke, and the heavens were created.”1 Then who but God could possibly have conceived also of this: the creation He spoke into being now speaks His being to us? David pens to lyrics, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.”2 Creation proclaims God, yet in a language only our soul can understand. David continues, “[The heavens] have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”3 Mountains declare God’s power, and forests profess His beauty. Skies and seas laud His vastness; their storms roar His righteous fury. Surely, God’s “invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.”4

Speaking into being that which, in turn, speaks God’s being to us—this is intentional, this is purposeful, for it proclaims our value to Him. David reflects, “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet.”5

Do you feel lost in the universe, a small, insignificant speck? Nothing could be further from the truth, for just as God spoke us into creation when we were nothing, so now He speaks through creation to show us we are something. Only we were made in His image, and He goes too great lengths to tell us.

“He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind, and who reveals his thoughts to mankind, who turns dawn to darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth—the Lord God Almighty is his name.” Amos 4:13 NIV

For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy.”6 Amen.

1 Psalm 33:6 NLT
2 Psalm 19:1-2 NIV
3 Psalm 19:3-4 NIV
4 Romans 1:20
5 Psalm 8:3-6, emphasis added
6 Psalm 92:4

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And God Said

Taking advantage of a long college weekend, a friend and I drove to Kentucky to hike in Mammoth Cave National Park. We joined a tour and wound our way through the cave until, 140 feet below the surface, we entered the Rotunda Room, one of the largest open areas in this massive underground network. After a short talk, our tour guide requested we turn off all lights and to be completely silent, so to sense total darkness. It was, in a word, scary. After seemingly too long a pause, the ranger pierced the silence with his voice and asked someone to light a match. The soft glow from this one small source sparked as much amazement as relief, for it reached the entire room.

“In the beginning,” we read, “God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep.”1 In the complete absence of light, this must have been a blackness the extreme of which humankind has never known, suffocatingly frightening were we to experience it. What, then, did God do to dispel such darkness? He spoke. “‘Let there be light,’” He said, “and there was light.”2 King David marvels with us at the thought, “The Lord merely spoke, and the heavens were created, He breathed the word, and all the stars were born.”3 When there were no earthly creatures to hear Him, God yet spoke. Though there were no tympanic membranes vibrating from divine soundwaves, still God spoke, and what He commanded came to be.

What, then, do we make of One who speaks something into nothingness, only for nothingness to yield that something in return? What kind of power must He wield, and what kind of wisdom must He possess? Regarding His word, the Lord promises, “it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”4 For God speaks more than opinions, more than ideas, more than answers to the demands of others. God commands in authority and creation obeys Him; He judges in understanding and His pronouncements are established.

And just as God dispelled with a word the darkness at creation, so also does He speak light and life into the deepest caverns of our soul. Of Jesus through whom God created all things, John writes, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.”5 God does something no one else can do: He speaks light into our darkness. How amazing! What a relief.

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”6

Lord Jesus, how can we thank You for speaking light into our darkness, and life into our soul? We, in turn, speak Your praise, for You are worthy. Amen.

1 Genesis 1:1-2
2 Genesis 1:3
3 Psalm 33:6 NLT, emphasis added
4 Isaiah 5:11
5 John 1:4
6 John 8:12