I am running as fast as I can on the road that goes nowhere.
The Cheshire Cat lied as he smiled at me and said
If I ran long enough I’d get somewhere.
In this land where things are not what they seem to be,
I have forgotten who I am and where I am going.
If I don’t know who I am, then where do I go with all my running.
Who am I? A product of chance and the sod?
A dispensable taxi for disdainful DNA?
Does my life have meaning and purpose?
Or do I live to just pass DNA on?
Dust to dust, sending forth seed and then I am done?
If that’s all I am, then why do I run?
Why do I dream the impossible dream
Or try to reach the unreachable star?
But, what if the other story were true,
That I am the child of the Most High God,
Named and treasured, loved and cherished,
Nothing random about me at all?
Is it that the impossible dream, the unreachable star
Is found in the place of rest within My Creator’s heart?
Watchman what of the night?
Dawn gilds the skies.
On those who sit in the valley of death
The Sun of Righteousness shines.
Healing pours down
The outcast are gathered in
The broken-hearted comforted
The faint receive new strength
Hope breaks forth in seeking hearts
Shackles break
Awake O my soul and sing
Shake off the dust of guilt and shame
Throw off the ball and chain
The Daystar dawns grace
Mercy and truth are met together;
Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
My cup runs over with
Unstoppable songs of joy
As my spirit finds its Rest.
Peace be unto you!
Behind locked doors
Fears shake and rattle hearts.
What does the future hold
Persecution? Death? Trials?
Peace be unto you!
I, the Lord
Who holds the keys
Of death and hell,
Stand among you and say –
Peace be unto you!
Within locked hearts
Questions seethe and rage
Who am I? Where do I fit in?
What is my calling now?
Peace be unto you!
I called you by name
Before the world was made
To be my witness faithful and true;
As my Father sent me
So send I you.
Within locked minds
The pendulum swings
To trust or not to trust
Where can my mind find rest?
Peace be unto you!
Touch My wounded side and hands
Be at rest in the Truth
Abide in My love
Come alive in My Spirit
Peace be unto you!
Our God is merciful and tender.
He will cause the bright dawn of salvation to rise on us
to shine from heaven on all those who live in the dark shadow of death,
to guide our steps into the path of peace.
Luke 1:78-79
I give you peace,
the kind of peace that only I can give.
It isn’t like the peace that this world can give.
So don’t be worried or afraid.
John 14:27
May the Lord himself,
who is our source of peace,
give you peace at all times and in every way.
The Lord be with you all.
2 Thess 3:16
Broken alabaster jar
Perfume wisps and wraps
Blessing One who is to be
Broken and poured forth.
Abandoned water pitcher
Feet run to proclaim
Living Waters that drench
The parched and weary soul
Lifegiving Fount who would soon cry
‘I thirst’.
Embalming spices
Lie forgotten
The Promise Keeper
The Mystery of God revealed
Stands before me
Why indeed should I seek
The Living among the dead?
The Saviour calls my name
Rabboni, Master, King
My heart makes reply
My spirit hears the homeward wooing
And whispers back
‘Lord, I am Yours’
not my will
Yours be done’
People disappoint. Sad truth. No matter how close they are, and how much they love you, they disappoint. No one can truly be sufficient to meet the needs of our hearts, and so there is always a feeling of having been let down at some point or the other in time.
Some years ago, I was struggling with anger and loneliness. It was the strange kind of loneliness, loneliness in a crowd, loneliness in the midst of intense people contact and conversation. It is the loneliness that comes when the interactions seem to be superficial and one-sided, where the person talking to you is not really interested in you except as a forum to talk about themself.
At that time I came across this verse, “You are expecting _____ to help you, but that would be like using a reed as a walking stick—it would break and would jab your hand. That is what the ______ is like when anyone relies on him.” Is 36:6
True isn’t it?
We look to people for comfort, help, strength, support and they invariably break under our weight at some point or the other, because no one is equipped to be there unstintingly for another.
As I prayed about this verse, a picture formed in my mind of me standing under a clean, pure waterfall. A limitless supply of water. Refreshing, cool and clean. Yet, I had a small cup in my hand and was trying to fill my cup from a rusty tap that stood on the banks of this joyous, unceasing waterfall. A few drops fell occasionally from this tap, and I was trying to fill my cup from this tap, and I was getting frustrated because I couldn’t get enough to quench my thirst.
Looking at that picture, I felt rather silly.
Why would I turn to a rusty tap
When I stood under the waterfall of His love and grace?
Why do I seek crumbs from the table
When He anoints my head with oil at His banqueting spread?
Why do I lean on a reed that’s easily broken
When the Rock of Ages holds me by His mighty hand?
I think probably it is the lie that a human being is more tangible, and therefore what we receive from a human is more real.
What a terrible lie.
John, in exile on the island of Patmos encountered the Lord who would stoop to lift him up and reassure him. In his loneliness, he discovered the fullness of the reality of the Risen Lord Jesus Christ in a way that he probably could not have experienced in a prayer meeting.
Paul, left alone in the midst of his trial found that the Lord stood with him and encouraged him. It was in his loneliness that he discovered the fullness of the sufficiency of the Grace of God.
Is satan attacking you with this lie that there is no brother, sister of Christ to come alongside you, listen to your story, speak an encouraging word to you? Rebuke that lie.
God has not forgotten you, and will never abandon you. He is at work in the midst of your circumstances to work all things together for good. He is ALWAYS with you. His Spirit can speak to your heart as no human can.
His love, His grace comes down like a mighty lavish waterfall – richly, joyously – satisfying, refreshing, healing, strengthening, restoring, comforting…
Jesus still invites you to come to the waters and drink freely…
whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.
The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.
John 4:14
Today morning this verse leapt out at me.
For He has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and He has not hidden His face from Him, but has heard, when He cried to him. (Ps 22:24)
Or as the Message translation puts it –
He has never let you down, never looked the other way when you were being kicked around. He has never wandered off to do his own thing; he has been right there, listening. (Ps 22:24)
The last several months have been challenging. Nothing serious. Just me – wrestling with various issues and trying to make sense of certain people and issues, wondering what really God wanted me to do – I guess you could say I was going through an existential crisis of sorts.
One thing I learnt with absolute clarity through these months is that God NEVER despises my doubts and wrestlings. In fact, He delights to bring truth and settle foundations.
Others may trivialise your pain/ wrestlings but God never does. Others may distance themselves from you in your moments of weakness, but God enters into your pain and pours His strength into your emptiness and lack.
I don’t know where you are at (for that matter I don’t know where I am at) but today I know with certainty that God does not hide His face from us, but He offers us His right hand of fellowship and strength to lift us up and strongly support us.
Incidentally this is the Psalm Jesus quoted from on the cross. It begins ‘My God, my God why have you forsaken me.’ But it has this beautiful reminder midway, that God does not turn His face away from the afflicted one but hears his prayer.
It carries a beautiful promise –
The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD! …(Ps 22:26)
Mind the gap.
We look at it
Measure it
Assess it
Don’t want to be swallowed by it
And yet, looking at the gap
Sucks us into it.
Mind the gap.
The distance between
What is
And what should be.
Baal-Peor
Lord of the Gap
Demands our worship
In tithes of discontentment
Resentment
And rage
But the gaps remain
Unfilled
Till One came
Laid down His life
Filled the greatest Gap of all
Gave us hope
That every valley will be exalted
Every mountain brought down
Every crooked place made straight
Every rough place made smooth
That we will see
True
Fraternity, Equality and Liberty
Established
May His kingdom come
His will be done
On earth as it is in heaven
Your love comes
Dripping like honey
Gold and soft and sweet
Flowing over my jagged edges
Covering and hiding
My stony places
Dripping into the
Deep dark wells of my heart
Soft Balm of Gilead
Pouring into me
Holding nothing back
Emptying Your fullness
Into my emptiness
Changing my bitterness
By Your sweetness
Jonadab was sick of it all. For a while it seemed there was meaning and purpose in all the killing. Unjust regimes and rulers were being cast down and a righteous king was taking over. At least that was how it should have been. But that was not how it was going.
Jehu had done his bit in cleaning things up, but not enough to turn the hearts of people back to God. Neither did Jehu himself seek to follow God with his whole heart.
What was the point of it all? All this jockeying for power and lands, did it make life better for the weak and the exploited?
Jonadab thought of Ben-Hadad challenging Ahab in a moment of drunken bravado. Then the ignominious defeat which followed.
Ahab, now that was another guy who was not content with what he had. Cedar-inlaid-with-ivory palaces were not enough for him, nor all the flourishing vineyards he owned. No, he had to murder Naboth to get his vineyard. Well… Jezebel arranged it to coax Ahab out of his sulks and pouts.
Jezebel. All that scheming, plotting, manipulating – where did that leave her? Or rather what was left of her? Not much, after the dogs were done.
He thought over Jehu’s offer to be part of his trusted team of advisors, now that Jehu was king. No doubt Jehu would compensate him handsomely if he said yes. But was it worth it? For how long would it last? Till the next drunken invader, till the next revolution?
Cedar-walls-inlaid-with-ivory palaces? Soul leeches!
Back at home in his tent, surrounded by his loving family, he distilled all the learning he had garnered into two simple instructions.
‘Don’t ever drink wine or alcohol. Keep your wits about you. Don’t desire to build houses and plant vineyards. It’s like a drug. It takes over your soul. You build a shelter, then you want to beautify it, so you look to get more out of your vineyards, then you realise it’s too small or not rightly placed and then you try to get the right one by any means possible… there is no end to it. So my sons, promise me, that you will live a life of contentment and prudence with what God has blessed us with. Promise me that you will teach your children like-wise and bring them up in like manner.’
His sons were faithful to their promise, and generation after generation abstained from drinking, and they all continued to live simple lives in the tents. Right up to the time of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah.
During Jehoiakim’s reign Nebuchadnezzer began his invasion of Israel and Judah, and gradually swallowed up the countryside.
At that time Jonadab’s descendants – the Rechabites – entered into Jerusalem seeking shelter and safety from King Neb’s armies. For nearly a century and a half, the Rechabites had remained faithful to the promise they had made to Jonadab.
All this had not escaped God’s eyes. He directs Jeremiah’s attention to them.
“Go to the members of the Rechabite clan and talk to them. Then bring them into one of the rooms in the Temple and offer them some wine.” Jer 35:2
Jeremiah is amazed to learn from the Rechabites of their promise and their faithfulness in keeping it.
In the whole grand scheme of things, seemingly insignificant people, and yet God noticed them. He noticed Jonadab turning away from worldly honours and office and being content with what God had blessed him with. God noticed the Rechabites and the way they honoured their word.
There are times when I wonder whether is any point in doing the things I do. Do they make a difference to anyone? Won’t the world continue to spin on its axis even if I give up doing the things I do? It will.
But that doesn’t take away from the fact that God sees. El Roi the God who sees.
In Sunday School we used to sing this song ‘Oh be careful… what you see/say/do… for the Father up above is looking down in love…’ And it left me with an almost indelible impression of a God who watches merely to find fault.
Oh yes, He watches over us with love and He does see where we are going off track, but it so that He can speak the right word in the right season to keep us from getting hurt. That is what the whole of Jeremiah is all about. God looking in love, speaking the right word of warning, well in advance so that His people might get off the road leading to destruction.
But His are Holy eyes of love. Here we see the God who sees and records the little acts of faithfulness.
Do you, like me, get discouraged and fed up with doing the ‘right thing’?
Well, let us take heart and courage from this little story of the Rechabites, pull ourselves up to our full heights and keep going. God watches over us. He sees. He notices. He does not forget.
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
Gal 6:9 ESV
For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love…
Heb 6:10
*** Two very small incidents. The first part of my post is purely conjecture on my part. All we know from the Bible is the Jonadab (or Jehonadab) in 2Kings 10:15,23 is that he helped Jehu in his war against the sons of Ahab and the prophets/priests of Baal. The next we hear of him is in Jer 35:6 where the Rechabites explain their vow and the reason for their lifestyle.
In and out of situations
that tug of war at me
All day long I struggle
for the answers that I need
But when I come into His presence
All my questions become clear
And in that sacred moment
No doubts can interfere
In the presence of Jehovah
God Almighty, Prince of Peace Troubles vanish, hearts are mended
In the presence of the King
Through His love the Lord provided
A place for us to rest
A place to find the answers
In our hour of distress
Now there’s never any reason
For you to give up in despair
Just slip away and breathe His name
You will surely find Him there
In the presence of Jehovah
God Almighty, Prince of Peace
Troubles vanish, hearts are mended
In the presence of the King
In the presence of Jehovah
God Almighty, Prince of Peace
Troubles vanish, hearts are mended
In the presence of the King
*** I think we owe this song to Cathy Goddard, but I was not able to get any clear information about it. If you know who’s the author/singer of this song, please do let me know so that I can give the right credits.
speak peace always 