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1 Hear us, Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock. You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth 2 before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh. Awaken your might; come and save us. 3 Restore us, O God; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved. 4 How long, LORD God Almighty, will your anger smolder against the prayers of your people? 5 You have fed them with the bread of tears; you have made them drink tears by the bowlful. 6 You have made us an object of derision to our neighbors, and our enemies mock us. 7 Restore us, God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved. (Psalm 80:1-7 NIV Bible)
A happy and joyous Thursday to you, dear Friend! May this find you well as it leaves me. I pray the Lord bless you with many blessings.
In my senior year of high school, one of my classmates got a part time job at a service station doing car inspections. He did so well, he bought himself a brand-new Dodge Cuda. It was purple with white interior. Later reports told me that he dropped out of school to work fulltime. My guess is that it was difficult to maintain his car payments and upkeep. I do hope he finished his educatiounal goals. That Cuda along with the muscle cars of my era, are now what we call restored cars, which I love. The Big Four of the auto makers made many boys, and yes, girls, break the commandment of coveting their products. The Camaro, the Mustang, the Road Runner, the Barracuda, and so many others, were on most of the guy's drool list. There was for some years in the town of Hempstead, Texas, a warehouse owned by an auto dealer that featured a lot of these, and other cars, and the price tags led to some thinking that coveting was one thing, robbing banks to buy a restored car was quite another matter!
What I love more than restored cars are restored persons, the kind the psalmist speaks of. As a pastor I have come to love the changes that God can bring to us when we turn to Him and ask for the "make-over." As a brand-new pastor in my first and only student appointment in Waco, I visited a lot of the members of the church that were on the church's Rolodex. (Remember we were in the pre-computer days!). One of the stops Nellie and I made was to a young man who had done what other kids only threatened to do, run away and join the circus. This young man, we'll call him Johnny, actually ran away from home, joined the circus and came home. He was a bearded man, wearing what he must have worn during his circus days. He had married and had two young children, and I went and shared with him the word of God and he accepted the Lord Jesus as his Savior that very evening. We prayed, hugged, and I invited him to church for the following Sunday. That Sunday a small family walked into our church and when I greeted them I was shocked to learn the father was none other than Johnny, whose whole appearance had changed! Christ had re-made him into a new creature, as He has done with you and me.
As you and I may seek restoration, we have to acknowledge the weight of our tears, the anguish that has filled our cups. We need to recognize our reality—feeling scorned by our neighbors, laughed at by our enemies. We truly don't have anywhere to turn, except to God, and we can plead for His intervention and for His face to shine upon us, and asking taht God bring to us salvation and deliverance.
In seasons of despair, we, too, find ourselves crying out for God's restoring presence. We may feel overwhelmed by adversity, surrounded by challenges that seem insurmountable. It's in these moments that our hearts echo the psalmist's plea for restoration and salvation. And the good news? It's available to all who ask. What are you waiting for?
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, Shepherd of our souls, we come before You, acknowledging our need for Your restoring presence in our lives. Shine Your face upon us, O God, and bring forth restoration where there is brokenness, hope where there is despair. Lead us in Your paths of righteousness, and grant us the strength to face our challenges. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! YOUR CALL TO ACTION: Seek the Lord now.
Receive my love and thanks to God for you,
Pastor Eradio Valverde, Jr.
