Photo by Eradio Valverde
No Better Place to Be Than Taking Refuge with God.
From Psalm 2: 1 Why do the nations conspire, and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and his anointed, saying, 3 "Let us burst their bonds asunder, and cast their cords from us." 4 He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord has them in derision. 5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, 6 "I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill." 7 I will tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to me, "You are my son; today I have begotten you. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." 10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. 11 Serve the Lord with fear, with trembling 12 kiss his feet, or he will be angry, and you will perish in the way; for his wrath is quickly kindled. Happy are all who take refuge in him.
This psalm at first reading made me think of the saying and Broadway play, "Your Arms Are Too Short to Box with God." Yet, sometimes we find ourselves trying to box with God only to discover that our arms are indeed too short. The psalmist knew that sometimes people, even nations find themselves thinking they are greater than God and God's purposes for His creation only to discover their arms are too short as well. I think, as did the psalmist, that God laughs when we think we have the answer or the plan and we got it on our own. There is no plan greater than the plan of trying to get us all to form a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. The starting point was the passage from the gospel that spoke of Jesus' Transfiguration where God declares that Jesus is His Son sent with a holy mission, and through Jesus we find that which we need for our lives. Our sole job is, and here's another song title, "Trust and Obey." God stands with us and walks with us, relying on us to do our part in getting His message to all. And when times seem rougher we can find no better place in which to hide than in God.
The human experience is a tough one at times. This past Sunday the preacher shared how a young man had made his plans to end his life and simply went to church to say goodbye to God. He sat on the last row and sat next to an elderly lady who noticed the young man was not doing well. She said, "You look sad young man, but you know it's going to be alright." She then did what the young man did not expect, she put her arm around him and continued to assure him that whatever he was facing was going to be okay. The young man thanked the woman and then waited to talk to the pastor to share how he had already laid out his guns on his bed, a tarp on the floor to minimize the mess the bullet would cause, and wrote his farewell letter to his mother, only to discover that because of this lady's hug and kind words, life was worth living. Nothing should ever convince us that life would be better if we ended it. Nothing can ever convince that life is lived best through self-medication or vices and habits that we think get rid of pain or experiences; we only discover that we are deeper than we thought because of the solutions and remedies we sought. Jesus told us that His enemy came only to "steal, kill, and destroy." (Jn 10:10). He came so that we might have life and that in abundance.
You can try to hide in things of this world, but you'll be discovered. Hide in God and you'll be blessed. It's your choice.
PRAYER: Loving God, for warm embraces and kind words, we are thankful. Help us to share those with those we think are in need. Grant to us that spirit that shares life and life in abundance. This we ask in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
