Matthew 10:31

I recently came across a song by Jason Gray called "Sparrows".  Based on the passage in Matthew 10, the song essentially is a reminder that God is in charge and caring for us, even in the midst of circumstances that may not indicate immediately that this is the case.  One of my favorite parts of the song says this:

If He can hold the world He can hold this moment
Not a field or flower escapes His notice
Oh even the sparrow
Knows He holds tomorrow

The first line is challenging.  How often do we wonder if God really has all things under His control.  And yet, this is the same God who holds all things together by the word of His power.  He can hang stars and planets and people in place and has done so since the beginning of time itself.  And I have the audacity to question Him.

The second line reminds me that it is ok to question so long as I do not question who He is.   He knows that we struggle, He sent His Son to feel our pain and heal our wounds.  He calls us to come close to Him and cast our anxiety on Him.  He tells us to call Him "Father."  And this perfect Father misses nothing.  His eye is always on His child and even the sparrow receive the blessing of His watchful eye.  Matthew 10:31 reminds me that I am far more important than a sparrow!

But it is the last line that is the most challenging I think to apply.  To confidently know that my God holds my tomorrow in His hands now.  My frame of reference is to think that tomorrow is unknowable.  I am so defined by my experience and I have never once experienced a single tomorrow earlier than experiencing it as today.  And yet this God who holds the world together and loves me so deeply that He knows the very number of diminishing hairs on my head, this God sees tomorrow and knows it completely.  And He knows the day after that.  He knows all of my tomorrows and as the song says He holds them - He is in control.  He reigns with a power that transcends my feeble understanding!  Praise be to this tomorrow-holding God!

Trust

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding."  Proverbs 3:5

I used to sing a song in Sunday School that I have enjoyed singing as an adult.  "Trust and obey, for there is no other way, to be happy in Jesus, than to trust and obey."  Sadly, a large portion of my life has been spent in the absence of trust.  Sometimes I wonder what it means to trust at all.  If I am trusting, does that mean I should do nothing to help myself and just let God do it all? 

And then I was reminded of this simple verse.  I want to make a few observations.

The command is simply to trust in the Lord.  The verse seems to imply that there are other places that your trust could be placed.  We can trust our bank accounts, our families, our church, we can trust a lot of thing and the command and the initial observation is that our trust should be placed in the Lord and no in anything else.  This is so similar to the first command to have no other gods before Him.  Trust the Lord, nothing else!

Secondly, we are to trust with all of our heart.  Again, the simple truth is that we have the ability to trust with less, but God calls for all of us.  We are not to trust when things are good, and worry when things are bad. We are not to trust with only half of who we are, we are to trust with all that is within us.  This reminds me of the summary of the whole law that we are to love God with all of our heart, and soul and strength. 

Lastly, and perhaps most challenging of all is that the antithesis of trust is not a lack of trust, but a trust in my own understanding.  Here is the hard part.  I have to trust only God, with all of who I am and none of my own understanding.  I get tripped up here because I bring my own understanding into the equation far too often.  I think that my own understanding is accurate and true and I have this conscious desire to tell God how to interpret the circumstances that I find myself in.  And this is precisely what I am to avoid.  I am to avoid leaning on my own understanding.  Notice that it does not say that I cannot have my own understanding, or even that my own understanding is incorrect, simply that I am not to lean on it.  Not to rely on it, not to trust it. 

May God give us the grace to be able to trust in the Lord with all of who we are and not lean on our own understanding!

Insight from our singing - part 16

I think that trouble is a universal part of human existence.  In point of fact, I know it to be true from my theology.  Sin brings death and toil and turmoil and the world that we live in is stained with sin.  People fight over fights.  We live in a world that is ablaze with anger and rage.  We live in world that looks at each event that occurs with such a skewed view that we cannot seem to see past the end of our own point of view.  We are no longer driven by truth, we are driven by opinion and fact-less emotion.  We have no desire for authority, no drive to be committed, no passion to be like Christ and I find myself spending more time bemoaning the world in which I live than actually living in the world as a light. 

What do we do and to what truth do we hold when we face these times of uncertainty? 

When I fear my faith will fail, Christ will hold me fast.
When the tempter would prevail, He will hold me fast.
I could never keep my hold through life's fearful path
For my love is often cold, He must hold me fast.

He will hold me fast, He will hold me fast,

For my Savior loves me so, He will hold me fast.

I love the truth of this song, written by Matt Merker just a few years ago.  Instead of floundering in the midst of an uncertain sea of doubt, I can trust the steady hand of God to hold me.  Christ is holding me fast.  I cannot be separated from His love (Romans 8).  I cannot be taken out of His hand (John 10) and I am permanently connected to a life-giving vine (John 15).  And while I cannot cling to Him with any strength of my own, I can count on the fact that I am held by His strong omnipotent hand. 

The last verse of this song gives me the eternal hope that provides and anchor to see me through the storms of life.

For my life He bled and died, Christ will hold me fast.

Justice has been satisfied, He will hold me fast.

Raised with Him to endless life, He will hold me fast.

Til our faith is turned to sight, When He comes at last!

Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus!

Insight from our Singing - part 15

One of the things that I think is important is the understanding that the style of the songs that we listen to pales in comparison to the content of what we are singing.  It is far more critical to me that we sing words that magnify the Savior and remind us of the truths of the Scriptures than worrying about what key we are in or if the song was written in the last 10 years.  One of the hymns that I remember singing when I was growing up has gained a new appreciation for me in latter years.

If I am being honest, most of the songs I remember from childhood were the ones that I liked, not the ones with deep truth, but the ones that have stuck with me and continue to minister to me this very day are the ones that have deep, deep truth behind them.  Such is the case with "How Firm a Foundation."

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word.
What more can He say than to you He has said
To you who for refuge to Jesus has fled.

I used to think of this like a marching song, one that we might sing if we understood we were going to war.  And this first verse literally lays the foundation for all else - the sufficiency of the Word of God.  God literally can say no more to us that what He already has, both through the written Word and the incarnate Word. 

Fear not!  I am with thee; O be not dismayed

For I am thy God and will still give thee aid

I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand

Upheld by my righteous omnipotent hand.

When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,

My grace, all sufficient shall be thy supply

The flame shall not hurt thee, I only design

Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.

These verses help me to understand the purpose in difficult times.  I have no need to fear, for there is no place that I can go where God is not with me.  And with him beside me I can better understand that in the trial He is simply purifying me and drawing me closer to Himself.

The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose

I will not, no will not desert to his foes.

That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake

I'll never, no never, no never forsake!

What a promise this last verse holds.  We can never be separated from the love of God shown us in Christ!  He will never forsake us.  This gives us the hope to keep going forward knowing that we have in Christ all we will ever need!