God Does Not Just Wait. God Runs.

 

The LORD is good,

a stronghold

  in the day of trouble.

He knows those

  who take refuge in Him.

          Nahum 1. 7

(Even in trouble,

those impossible passages

   that seem so dark,

where there appears

     to be no exit

     or obvious solution,

the LORD is a stronghold

 from whence to go forth.

Furthermore,

 He has a strong hold on us.

     Action verb,

           present tense.

The door of His refuge

    is always open.

His porchlight is on.

Coffee brewing.

He does not just

        wait for us,

     or watch for us,

but God runs to us.

If we never experienced

  the difficult or broken,

or what is way beyond

        our own strength,

would we turn to Him?

Would we trust in Him?

Would we ever know

  His steadfast love?

The LORD is good,

          even in this.)

O LORD,

Help us not just to feel

  but to know

  Your strong hold on us.

Guide us into Your refuge

where we may be

  nourished and strengthened

to go forth,

walking not alone,

          but with You.

No matter where we are,

no matter the situation,

  empower us

  to dwell in Your stronghold.

Because It Matters, Because We Matter

 

The LORD will fulfill

  His purpose for me.

Your steadfast love,

          O LORD,

  endures forever.

      Psalm 137.8

(Even in this hard place,

the fog,

the mundane,

the "what am I doing here?"

   God is working in us

               and through us.

His redeeming is

   seamlessly woven,

the stitches invisible

    and incredibly strong.

This confusing situation,

this difficult work

   we are struggling with,

matters far more

        than we can know.

God completes

    and fulfills it.

Faithfulness

    just keeps doing

   what God has put before us.

Even if no one ever notices,

even reads it, hears it,

tastes it, uses it, sees it,

   or remembers it,

God's kingdom has been

     changed by it.

And so have we.

God knows exactly

  what we have been up to.

And He pours

  His goodness all over it.)

O LORD,

What has been made possible

   by our faithfulness

   in this never-ending task,

   this thankless job,

   this struggle,

even by a work well done?

You know, Almighty One.

You see it in light of eternity.

Help us this very day

  to do all things with

             excellence,

  as much as we are able.

Because You rejoice in it.

And that is always enough.

Dance In Impossible Places

 

Though the fig tree

     should not blossom,

nor fruit be on the vines,

the produce of the

             olive fail,

and fields yield no food,

the flock be cut off

          from the fold,

and there be no herd

        in the stalls,

yet

    I will rejoice in the LORD.

I will take joy in the

   God of my salvation.

GOD, the Lord,

       is my strength.

He makes my feet

          like the deer's.

He makes me treat

   on my high places.

          Habakkuk 3. 17-19

(Trust Me even in this,

   the barren and failing,

   the scary cliffs,

and when we cannot breathe.

God is already redeeming.

The Hebrew word tread

   literally means

       to dance upon.

God is sovereign

  and His steadfast love

is far beyond our comprehension.

We cannot just see

  the depth and breadth,

not just of what He has done,

          or is doing,

but Who He is,

     the Almighty.)

O LORD,

Please strengthen us

when our faith is small,

when the slope is steep,

when the cliffs loom,

when it is

       the darkest night.

Help us to

     trust You in this.

You have given us

   the word yet.

May we know and trust

  something astonishing 

         is about to happen.

And as the angels say,

      "Do not fear."

We bind ourselves to You.

Holy Is Not An Adjective

 

...and day and night

they never ceased to say,

"Holy, Holy, Holy,

is the Lord God Almighty,

who was,

and is,

   and is to come."

       Revelation 4. 8

(God doesn't need our praises

          to be God.

but in worshiping Him,

           God changes us.

We realize, comprehend,

      and acknowledge

    the Lord God Almighty,

past, present and future tense.

Holy is not an adjective,

describing what God is like,

   but a noun about who He is.

               God is holy.

Worship changes our hearts,

     our vocabulary,

     our way of living,

     how we work,

     how we treat others,

     and how we see God.

What if day and night

  we never cease

           to repeat out loud,

   not just these words,

   but the reality of them

      in a continual loop.

And what if others 

              overhear us?)

O LORD,

Great power is released

   when we praise You.

You alter our very being,

   softening our hearts,

   changing our minds,

       even our attitudes.

You are holy, O God.

And Your grace covers us.

May we repeat these words

     throughout the day

  and when we awake at night,

that we may know

       and stand in awe.

You are the Almighty One.

There is no other.

Please help others to hear

   and see through us

   that You are real

and You are holy.

Going Way Past The Ceiling

 

...golden bowls of incense,

which are the

    prayers of the saints.

         Revelation 5. 8

(When you think that your prayers

     don't go past the ceiling,

remember this verse.

Our prayers are so precious         

             to God,

He treasures each word.

He keeps out prayers

     in sacred beautiful bowls

     before Himself.

God continues to respond,

often in unexpected, unnoticed,

       and timeless ways.

His response gets

         all over everything,

and He never answers

     in singular outcomes.

Our prayers are all

         somehow connected.

Through prayer,

God may or may not

      change the situation at hand,

but He always changes us

            in the praying.

Incense was an act of worship

    --as are our prayers--

coming before His Presence.

And the aroma of prayer

              lingers far into

      our deepest nights.)

O LORD,

Help us to never discount

  Your power manifested

  in our prayers.

Thank You that

    we can come before You

with our joys and sorrows,

with the good news

   and what we cannot understand.

Help us to not just seek

          Your hand,

but Your Presence

             face to face.

May we too treasure

    our times in being with You,

not checking off "answered prayers,"

but abiding with You.

Because That Is Why I Put You There

 

But let justice roll down

           like waters,

and righteousness

 like an every-flowing stream.

            Amos 5. 24

(We cry out,

"O Lord, do something about

    this injustice and brokenness!"

And God replies,

  "That's why I put you there."

Changing the culture

  wherever God places us,

free-flowing, widely extended,

an unexpected cascade

    of love and grace

            in a weary land.

Justice is about

     treating others fairly,

protecting the weak,

standing faithfully

     in keeping our word,

respecting and

   seeking the welfare

   of those around us.

Righteousness is plain ol'

   doing what is right

   in the eyes of God,

living selflessly

      in how we relate to others

...whether we like them

   or they like us

                 is not the issue.

But love in tangible waves.)

O LORD,

Make us aware this day

of what is just and right

and the faithful thing to do.

Grant to us the courage

    to stand in the gaps

and bring Your glory here.

May we bring honor to You

  and blessing to others,

a stream of Your living water.

May other see

   something different in us.

And that would be You.

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Shooing Those Locusts Away

 

I will restore to you

the years that

the swarming locust has eaten.

...You shall know that

    I am the LORD your God

and there is no one else.

           Joel 2. 25, 27

(We can dwell in despair

    and devastation,

or consider what

    this makes possible.

Bottom line:  God redeems.

God works through

  and weaves His redeeming

  even in the really hard stuff.

There is not just hope

  but incredible wonders

  that are emerging,

even in ways we cannot

     yet see or imagine.

How can His goodness

           come from this?

Trust Me in that too.)

O LORD,

You do not just bring us through

        the impossible stuff.

You strengthen us

   for Your next appointment.

You are already restoring.

Help us to follow You

  into the next needful step

and be faithful to You

even in the disorder

and brokenness

and shattered pieces.

Because You do not

        leave us there.

You are doing a work

    in this time and place

      --and in our hearts--

we wouldn't believe,

                 if told.

The locusts in our lives

     do not prevail.

But You do.

And in that truth,

we can stake our lives.

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