Where's God

You're sad ... you seek comfort.   You're troubled... you pray. You're distressed ... so you cry for God to answer you.  Then you listen...

But all you hear in reply is silence--a silence so deafening it drowns out every thought but this: God isn't listening.

Psalm 77:7-9  

“Will the Lord reject forever?  Will he never show his favor again?  Has his unfailing love vanished forever?  Has his promise failed for all time?  Has God forgotten to be merciful?  Has he in anger withheld his compassion?”

Sometimes we forget that God is near. Sometimes we forget that we are not alone. Sometimes we forget that when we are sad, scared, confused, or disappointed, He is right there.

Have a look at this...

Isaiah 54:7-8

“For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back...I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord your Redeemer.

God's compassion for us is deep. He draws near to us with passion. He is watching, not from a distance, but with intense concern and attention to every detail of our lives.

Our every thought, every emotion, every word, and every act is the subject of His passionate interest. He feels our pain, and He delights in our joy.

... And He is kind...

He brings us back when we don't deserve it. He keeps us through all our stops and starts, all our double-mindedness, all our misguided efforts. 

God never leaves us, and, really, He is never angry with us, even though we are sometimes angry at ourselves. 

God's kindness carries us through the most difficult circumstances. 

God's kindness draws us back whenever we get off course. 

God's kindness let's us know that we are His chosen, that we are never without His love and care.  

His kindness says, "You are not alone!"

and you know ...I'm just Sayin'

Kelly

Hands

Psalm 63: 7 - 8

Because you are my helper,  I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings.  I cling to you; your strong right hand holds me securely.

Hands!  Look at them.  No, really, look at them.  French manicure's, (yes I know what that is - Brenda told me) painted nails, busted  knuckles, history, life.  

Remember when they didn't have all those spots?  Remember when we didn't call them spots and they were freckles? 

These are hands for folding and holding and working and playing and praying and praising ... these are your hands.  Hands for catching...

For us to catch God we must have the same heart as David.  We must seek after God with the intention and purpose of catching him.  We must be thirsty for God alone and realize that His hands are the only thing that can truly sustain and satisfy our soul.

His hands...look at them.  No, really, look at them.  Do you remember when they didn't have those scars?  Yes those scars ...those nail scarred hands!

In Psalm 63:8 the King James version says, "...my soul followeth hard after thee..."

Are you following hard after God ... God desires to be caught!  And if we seek him with all our heart he will let us catch him. David says, "not only will I catch you ...but I will hold on to you."  And when I have you I will sing for joy.

Listen....be still...be quiet...there it is again.  Softly at first...but if you really listen you can hear it - encouraging you, cheering you, calling you, that's the applause of heaven. 

The applause of nail scarred hands!  That applause is for you ...

God is saying catch me...with your hands...and hold on to me with all your heart.

I'm just sayin', that when we catch Him we will have all we need! 

...see ya next time...

Kelly

Storms

Storms are a certainty.  Howling winds, crashing waves ... sheets of rain and lightning bolts across the sky.  Storms can be messy and bad things often happen ... just like life.  However, every storm, every crisis is an opportunity to trust God.

God calls us to see the storms of life as He sees them - opportunities to see the hands and power of God ... at work.

Hurtful words, broken hearts, broken lives.  Marriages adrift, friendships ruined.  Shattered promises. Addictions, epic failure!

David had storms too, he cried, " Create in me a clean heart, O God ... and renew a loyal spirit within me." Psalm 51:10 (NLT)

 Are you kidding me ... a loyal spirit?  Really?  Even during the storm? 

To be loyal literally means to be faithful.  Are we, even during the most severe storm?

In 2 Corinthians 6:6 (NLT) Paul says, "...We have proved ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience..."

Purity first ...and Paul was no stranger to the storms.  The message from Paul is that integrity and power for daily life... "life during the storm" ...  is the result of a heart committed to purity, or as David says ...  a clean heart.

Then comes understanding.  Sometimes our greatest lessons are learned in the "heart" of the storm.  Every circumstance - every situation that we face will "eventually" bring understanding, a fresh view point, or the ability to "see" what God sees. We have the ability to face every storm with the confidence that God is there!

Patience ..  did you just step outside of your mind?  O.k. ...I confess, I am not the best example of patience.  Maybe that explains some of the storms in my life.  Take a look at what the scriptures say  in James 1:2 (NIV), "Consider it pure joy...when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance."

Patience gives God permission to work!  

Maybe, just maybe ... it is not about joy during the storm - maybe, just maybe ... it's about joy in spite of the storm.

Warren Wiersbe says, "When God permits his children to go through the furnace, He keeps His eye on the clock and His hand on the thermostat."

More heat anyone?  Just sayin'....

-Kelly

Caves!

In Psalm 61:1-2, David, finds himself in a cave…

1 Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer.

2 From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint;

    lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

In a dark, damp, dreary, depressing cave, David has experienced the loss of everything and everyone he has leaned on in his life.  He is alone, defeated and discouraged.  David is in one of the cave experiences of life.

Interesting isn't it?  The same things that David could not "see" are things we struggle to “see” for ourselves.   What David did not see at the time, but soon came to understand, was the fact that God was behind and in control of it all.  David did not know it at the time but God was going to use his time in the cave to help him grow stronger in the Lord. 

There are times when we too find ourselves in one of life’s cave experiences.  We think all of our help and strength is gone.  We feel alone, discouraged and deserted.  Occasionally...down right angry>  Ever been there?  Sure you have.  In fact, some of us are there right now! 

When needed…God will bring us to the place where we are alone with Him and shut off from the rest of the world.  We fear those times, but they often precede the times of God’s greatest blessings in our lives!  

Think about this…David alone in the cave; Jacob alone in his tent; Elijah alone by the brook; Job alone yet surrounded by his friends; Moses alone on the backside of that mountain; Jesus alone in the agony Calvary. 

Each of these experienced their greatest triumph after that time of being shut up and shut off by the Lord. 

Sometimes there are things that are learned in the dark that cannot be learned in the light!

We may not like it, and we may not understand it, but when the Lord has brought us to a place where we have no one and nothing but Him …we learn that He is more than enough!

Yep…just sayin’

See You in Church!

Kelly