For a Monday morning

Life kicks into gear for a new week. Millions are headed back into classrooms at start of a new school year. In the middle of it all, we can feel small, insignificant.  Senator John McCain, who died on Saturday, was an important man in the estimation of many.  But, in a speech replayed after his death, he emotionally remembered the privilege of ‘playing a bit part’ in the human drama that swept around him!  If, by human standards, a man like McCain, nationally known, a 2 time US Presidential candidate and a leader in national policy debates, feels that he is relatively unimportant, what of the rest of us?

The worst kind of ‘forgotten’ however is not about our accomplishments or recognition. It is when we suffer deep disappointment in life and, as faith wavers, questions arise about the love of God. Isaiah, writing to those ancient Jews who heard his sermons of pending judgment, spoke to their questions about the faithfulness of God.  "Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God”? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom." (Isaiah 40:27-28, NIV)

When you feel forgotten, remember these things-

God is everlasting.  Our lives are bounded by beginnings and endings, birth and death, carried along in the inexorable current of time.  With the help of pills and potions we might hide the evidence of age, but sore muscles and lapses in memory are constant reminders of the relative brevity of our journey on this globe!  But, the God we trust is eternal. He is without start or stop, unrestrained by time as we experience it.  When life does not make sense to us, will we hold onto hope in the Everlasting One?

God is not tired of us or worn out by life.  General George S. Patton, rugged and fearless, reminded his soldiers of a stealthy enemy – fatigue!  “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.”  What task does not look more difficult, what hard situation does not take on dimensions of impossibility when you are at the end of your strength, exhausted?  But, God does not experience that. He does not decide that the effort is not worth the outcome. He is unchanging, constant. We can be confident in this.

God’s reason is beyond our logic.  The Mind of God is infinitely greater than yours or mine! “So—who is like me? Who holds a candle to me?” says The Holy. Look at the night skies: Who do you think made all this? Who marches this army of stars out each night, counts them off, calls each by name —so magnificent! so powerful!— and never overlooks a single one? " (Isaiah 40:25-26, The Message)  

And yet, the revelation is that He knows you and He knows me intimately.  Jesus’ word on this – right down the detail of the number of hairs on our head.  Will you humble yourself to worship without demanding answers?

We are not forgotten by Him. Hang onto that today. 

Meditate on this passage, inviting the Spirit to make it living Word for you.
 "Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. ...
I am the Lord, your Redeemer. I am the Holy One of Israel.’   …

When the poor and needy search for water and there is none, and their tongues are parched from thirst,
then I, the Lord, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will never abandon them.
I will open up rivers for them on the high plateaus. I will give them fountains of water in the valleys.
I will fill the desert with pools of water.

Rivers fed by springs will flow across the parched ground. I will plant trees in the barren desert— cedar, acacia, myrtle, olive, cypress, fir, and pine.

I am doing this so all who see this miracle will understand what it means—

that it is the Lord who has done this, the Holy One of Israel who created it."

 (Isaiah 41:10-20, NLT)

__________________

Build My Life

Worthy of ev’ry song we could ever sing

Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring

Worthy of ev’ry breath we could ever breathe

We live for You

Jesus the name above ev’ry other name

Jesus the only one who could ever save

Worthy of ev’ry breath we could ever breathe

We live for You

We live for You

Holy there is no one like You

There is none besides You

Open up my eyes in wonder and show me who You are

And fill me with Your heart

And lead me in Your love to those around me

I will build my life upon Your love

It is a firm foundation

I will put my trust in You alone

And I will not be shaken

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