There is a purpose that burns within my veins.
Like the ebb and flow of the tide upon its vast ocean
it surges and swells only to slip away again.
I seek to grasp it, but it is like smoke
and my hand cannot contain it.
Like a word on the tip of my tongue
It dares me to discern it
but I cannot.
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Just Do It
The Puritans in their world view attributed both affliction and deliverance to the hand of God. Violent Indian attacks that took the lives of women, men, and children were attributed to the pervasive sin that beset the colonies. Inclement weather, sickness that took more than half the population, and widespread famine and death of livestock was also attributed to the chastening of the Lord. However, their world view did not include the wonders of scientific research and answers because the age of enlightenment had not yet dawned. I had hoped we would have travelled beyond this type of thinking. While we should submit to suffering and realize God is in control, and realize even as the Puritans, that the enemy can do nothing unless the Lord permits it, we should not lose sight of the grace of our loving Heavenly Father.
My own dear Dad would let nothing come nigh me if he could prevent it. His desire for me is to have deep joy and walk in blessing and live in peace. When trials come, he is sorrowful with me and encourages me to press on, reminding me there are brighter days ahead. The bible says that we, being sinful, desire great things for our children, and even more so our Heavenly Father, being perfect, desires the same 100 fold for His children.
Each and every one of us is created in the image of God and for fellowship with Him. Remember, "While we were yet sinners, He died for us." This is a far cry from the condemnation that others are heaping on the people of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, along with other flooded states along the coast. Surely God is the same from day to day and never changes. Yes, he chastens his children, but take note.
Joseph's captivity and slavery was not punishment for an inherent evil that resided within him or his brothers. It was his great plan for deliverance of entire peoples during a famine that could have wiped out Egypt and its servant peoples. "What you meant for evil, God meant for good," said Joseph to his brothers when he met them years later.
Instead of condemning, we should pray for, support, and minister to our brothers and sisters who now find themselves homeless. Surely they are now a strange people in strange lands, forced from their homes to take refuge in other cities. They have lost all and the rebuilding of lives is something afar off. I would venture to say that those who insist it is the hand of God moving against a wicked and perverse people are using that as an excuse to withhold funds and assistance with a clear conscience. Suppose it is the hand of God. We are also told in His word that His anger lasts but a moment but his favor endures for generations. So that being the case (if it truly is), the anger is passed and now is the time for healing and restoration.
We have had a storm of our own NC coasts for days now and it is finally turning inward. We should be saying, "There but for the grace of God go I." I have sin in my life that I treat like a pet because it feels good. Should I not be cast down and utterly destroyed, losing all and wandering like a lost child in the wilderness. We are also told our Shepherd will leave the ninety and nine and search for the one lost sheep. Our call is not to condemn, but to "Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and Son and Holy Ghost." The sin of another is like a splinter, and mine is a two by four that strikes me blind to the unmitigated grace of God over the lives of others.
Like a broken couple, we fight over whether aid is timely, or evacuations were available, or whether this was God or not, while the children are caught in the middle. This isn't about us anymore, it's about them. Take care of business and analyze it later. Instead of telling others that this was the hand of God, ask Him now to make your own hands His and minister in His name.
Hollywood movie stars, millionaire businessmen, and out of work laborers are putting us to shame, doing the work of God while we strain for the nat.
Just do it.
My own dear Dad would let nothing come nigh me if he could prevent it. His desire for me is to have deep joy and walk in blessing and live in peace. When trials come, he is sorrowful with me and encourages me to press on, reminding me there are brighter days ahead. The bible says that we, being sinful, desire great things for our children, and even more so our Heavenly Father, being perfect, desires the same 100 fold for His children.
Each and every one of us is created in the image of God and for fellowship with Him. Remember, "While we were yet sinners, He died for us." This is a far cry from the condemnation that others are heaping on the people of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, along with other flooded states along the coast. Surely God is the same from day to day and never changes. Yes, he chastens his children, but take note.
Joseph's captivity and slavery was not punishment for an inherent evil that resided within him or his brothers. It was his great plan for deliverance of entire peoples during a famine that could have wiped out Egypt and its servant peoples. "What you meant for evil, God meant for good," said Joseph to his brothers when he met them years later.
Instead of condemning, we should pray for, support, and minister to our brothers and sisters who now find themselves homeless. Surely they are now a strange people in strange lands, forced from their homes to take refuge in other cities. They have lost all and the rebuilding of lives is something afar off. I would venture to say that those who insist it is the hand of God moving against a wicked and perverse people are using that as an excuse to withhold funds and assistance with a clear conscience. Suppose it is the hand of God. We are also told in His word that His anger lasts but a moment but his favor endures for generations. So that being the case (if it truly is), the anger is passed and now is the time for healing and restoration.
We have had a storm of our own NC coasts for days now and it is finally turning inward. We should be saying, "There but for the grace of God go I." I have sin in my life that I treat like a pet because it feels good. Should I not be cast down and utterly destroyed, losing all and wandering like a lost child in the wilderness. We are also told our Shepherd will leave the ninety and nine and search for the one lost sheep. Our call is not to condemn, but to "Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and Son and Holy Ghost." The sin of another is like a splinter, and mine is a two by four that strikes me blind to the unmitigated grace of God over the lives of others.
Like a broken couple, we fight over whether aid is timely, or evacuations were available, or whether this was God or not, while the children are caught in the middle. This isn't about us anymore, it's about them. Take care of business and analyze it later. Instead of telling others that this was the hand of God, ask Him now to make your own hands His and minister in His name.
Hollywood movie stars, millionaire businessmen, and out of work laborers are putting us to shame, doing the work of God while we strain for the nat.
Just do it.
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