"O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge. Common people are as worthless as a puff of wind, and the powerful are not what they appear to be. If you weigh them on the scales, together they are lighter than a breath of air. Don’t make your living by extortion or put your hope in stealing. And if your wealth increases, don’t make it the center of your life. God has spoken plainly, and I have heard it many times: Power, O God, belongs to you; unfailing love, O Lord, is yours. Surely you repay all people according to what they have done. Psalms 62:8-12 NLT
In today's Upper Room devotional, the writer highlights a very important truth that there are countless events in life that may cause us to feel forgotten or abandoned or lonely. During such times we may forget God's presence and search for comfort in all the wrong places. We need to experience the truth that St Augustine of Hippo found:
“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”
The current Covid 19 pandemic is, to quote C.S. Lewis, God's megaphone to rouse a deaf world:
"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."
Watching the plight of the poor and homeless is depressing and heartbreaking but it opened my eyes to the truth in Psalm 62 this morning:
"Common people are as worthless as a puff of wind, and the powerful are not what they appear to be. If you weigh them on the scales, together they are lighter than a breath of air."
The poor are struggling to live in the face of poverty while the rich are worried to death from the economic collapse of the world's financial systems. It is a time to remember our common fears and needs and that all of us, rich or poor, are precious in God's sight:
"What are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor." Psalms 8:4-5 NLT
The good news is that through Jesus Christ, God wants us to remember that we are His beloved children and He is waiting patiently for us to return to Him like the prodigal son - for us to take time away from our diversions and distractions of modern life and to spend time with Him so that we will find true peace - peace with God and peace in God.
It is a time for us to confess that we have forgotten God's unfailing Love and that we have let our love for God grow cold. We are all guilty of living a life that is obsessed about getting and taking instead of waiting on God so that we can receive His mercy and grace in order to give His mercy and grace to others. This is the fifth key to the Kingdom of Heaven:
"Great blessings belong to those who show mercy to others. Mercy will be given to them." Matthew 5:7 ERV
The Kingdom of Heaven is an upside down Kingdom which even the disciples did not comprehend when Jesus was with them. Even after hearing Jesus telling the rich man to sell all his possessions to give to the poor so that he will have treasure in heaven and as Jesus was preparing them for his impending death on the cross, James and John saw life in heaven from a totally self centred perspective:
"Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came over and spoke to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do us a favor.” “What is your request?” he asked. They replied, “When you sit on your glorious throne, we want to sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.” Mark 10:35-37 NLT
This is a temptation all of us face for we are all driven by our egos and we edged God out. We seek honour for ourselves instead of seeking to bring honour to God. Jesus died on the cross to turn the world upside down and to empower the disciples to live out His commandments of love:
"So Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:42-45 NLT"
The Christian faith is not about trying to get love from others or from God but to receive love from God so that we can give God's unfailing Love to others. Life is for giving and not for getting. Only then can we learn to share and not to hoard, to care and not to condemn, to forgive and not to forget the countless times when we have failed to be the person that God wants us to be. When we forget God we cannot forgive. So let us pray:
"Abba Father, Let Me Be
Yours And Yours Alone.
May My Will For Ever Be
Evermore Your Own.
Never Let My Heart Grow Cold,
Never Let Me Go.
Abba Father, Let Me Be
Yours And Yours Alone."
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