What is it that you hold tightest to in your life? Money, health, appearance? Where do we place our hope and trust? This article was not written as a response to COVID-19 but from the time I first wrote it and began editing until now, I guess the message fits there too.
The inspiration for this post came from a moment in prayer during my commute to work a few weeks ago. I had a moment where the Lord showed me that I don’t believe that if I jumped into His arms, that He would be able to catch me. And it’s not just because I’m past the point of being three meatballs overweight – it’s because I struggle to consistently believe in the character of God. It just so happened to come while I was listening to the song, My Foundation by the Redeemer Church worship team.
There is a part of the song that goes like this:
“I cling, to you Lord
In the tempest, through the storm.
As waters rise, so my praise
Lifted ‘til the end of days.”
Then it hit me like a freight train: I think that if I jump in His arms, He’s going to drop me.
What it really boils down to is that in the hard times I wander in my trust of God. When I was talking to my wife about this later that night I told her that I had this image of someone running to jump into God’s arms and all of the sudden hitting a brick wall and falling to the ground. And instead of sitting there and saying “wow, what a hole” like Marv in Home Alone 2, you’d be saying “wow, what a wall.”
But the good news is, God is the farthest possible thing from that poor thought. When we read in Psalm 63, David reflects on the nature of God’s goodness.
6 when I remember you upon my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
7 for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
8 My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.
Psalm 63: 6-8 ESV
There was a point in my pastors most recent sermon in response to COVID-19, where he challenges us and says “do we really think we got here on our own? That America got to where we are just on good leadership?” His point was to emphasize the way great political and military leaders leaned and relied on the Lord for wisdom. For me, I feel like verse 7 of Psalm 63 is such a wake up call in my own life due to my tendency to take everything into my own hands. The word says in effect that YOU GOD, have been my help. NOT ME. NOTHING I DID. YOU have been my creator, sustainer, and lifeline in every bit of trouble. When we don’t make sense of the situation, He does. When we don’t understand why our family member is sick, He does. When we don’t understand why life won’t stop spinning, He does. When we don’t understand how we will get caught up at work, He does. When we don’t understand what God is trying to teach us in the crucibles of life, He does. He doesn’t just have the answer, He ordained it from the beginning.
C.H. Spurgeon says this in his devotional, Morning and Evening:
“Your Lord is very jealous of your love, O believer. Did he choose you? He cannot bear that you should choose another. Did he buy you with his own blood? He cannot endure that you should think that you are your own, or that you belong to this world. He loved you with such a love that he would not stop in heaven without you; he would sooner die than you should perish, and he cannot endure that anything should stand between your heart’s love and himself. He is very jealous of your trust. He will not permit you to trust in an arm of flesh. He cannot bear that you should hew out broken cisterns, when the overflowing fountain is always free to you.”
How many times do we allow our situations or feelings dictate our emotions? I can surely say that I do this more than I want to admit. How many times are we that person trying to dump out the last droplet of water from the bottle? We HAVE TO make sure we haven’t missed something. We cannot leave one drop there when the spring of life is never going to run dry and will never cease to keep us going. I’m pretty sure the thought I had before I had the revelation was that God couldn’t come through for me financially in a particular situation we are in right now. How many times have we looked at a diagnosis, a bill, a job, or family situation as absolutely hopeless. I mean, right now I’ve had customers coming in to my pharmacy saying that this is the end of the world. In my opinion that could not be farther than the truth. All we need to do is look back on the past and see all of the times that God has not left our side, all the times that God has allowed us to overcome, all the times that God has provided a way out to see that He is good. Not just good, but as my 2 year old says, SOOOO good. He is trustworthy.
So I guess my question is this: are you willing to be clingy?
I want to ask this mainly to men as they lead their homes, but, it truly is for everyone. I mean lets face it – when referring to my masculinity, clingy isn’t exactly the word I want Dominique using to describe me. I’d prefer something more like strong, courageous, etc. However, if when reflecting on the leadership of my home she is able to say Ben is the clingiest man I know and understands that I’m koala bearing the snot out of the Lord – then yes, by all means count me in. How can we cling to a God we can’t touch and see? We stand in an attitude of faith to the Lord. We trust in His faithfulness.
I am truly challenged in my life to hold as tightly onto the hem of His garment like it’s the last thing I do. My wife and kids need that type of clinginess from me – it is the only way we will be spiritually sustained. If the leader of the home is walking through life with a view of God that reveals Him to not be trustworthy, how will there be any fruit coming from the home? I implore you man of God to put off fear and view the Lord for who He is: worthy, good, loving, and enduring – just to name a few.
When I was a child, I never did much memorization of scripture. Our Sunday school services were not as regimented – or I just didn’t take it that seriously; and it was more likely that latter of the two. However, I remember so vividly as a child reciting Psalm 23 over and over and over again. Whenever I was nervous or anxious or laying in bed I would recite it over and over. I think it’s what made me so happy when a song on the worship album was the Psalm.
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Psalm 23 ESV
When our church wrote their song, Psalm 23, they have a line that states:
“though I wander and run faithless, all the days of my life, I am His”
The older I get, the more I am comforted by the thought of me being a sheep and God as my shepherd wrangling in my neck with his rod when I stray. The younger you are the more you don’t understand that it’s not punishment, it’s correction. It’s making sure I’m not wandering. He can be trusted. He doesn’t run from us, we are the ones running away from Him. I marvel at His faithfulness even when I am faithless. I pray this encourages you in a time of need and stirs your spirit to trust the Lord for provision in all things. He will not let you fall, He certainly hasn’t let me yet.
God bless you,
BMT
The Fire & The Flood 