Reaching the limit as to how far you can go
Meeting that margin and coming to know
That for all of our bluster and confidence bold
That we are all to often by circumstance controlled
If left to our own strength and devices
We would soon be overcome in crisis
But we have a helper to lift us and guide
If we turn to Him and surrender our pride
Padre
Proverbs 18:24
There is a process and a plan
The completion of which lies not with man
Though the world seems chaotic – unsure
All things in God’s hands – will endure
Be not discouraged or give up hope1
For the Lord has promised that you can cope2
For evil will never have its own way3
The Lord has promised with you to stay4
Do not be down heartened – you will prevail5
With the Lord we are conquerors – we will not fail6
Padre
1Romans 8:28
21 Corinthians 10:13
3Psalm 21:11
4Matthew 28:20
51 John 5:4
6Romans 8:37
I will be your God
And you will be my people
And we will have a relationship
To which there is no equal
I will be there for you
Even when you stray
And I will pick you up
Returning to My way
You will often scorn Me
Looking for pastures seemingly more green
But you will surely discover
That their promises are bleak and lean
So I will redeem you
And show you once more the way
Though it will cost Me
More than I can possibly say
Padre
In the current climate of perceived self-privilege, “Karen-ism,” and taking personal affront to anything that we don’t like hearing or seeing, it’s easy to resort to complaining. “I want to talk to your supervisor,” seems to be the general topic of hundreds of YouTube videos. But be careful at complaining too readily.
Sometime shorty before the siege and capture of Jerusalem in 586 BCE, the prophet Habakkuk had his go at the complaining game. He calls on God to do something about the evil, injustice, and idolatry in Israel. When he finished his litany of grievances, God replies. God says that He knows of the corruption of the leaders, and of the problems that Habakkuk has laid out. He continues to say that He will indeed act. In fact, God will allow the Babylonians to come and conquer the land.
This response catches Habakkuk on the back foot. “They are worse than we are!” is essential Habakkuk’s reply to this news. God nonetheless tell the prophet that this is what will come to pass, but to remember that it is God’s hands, not in men. He tells Habakkuk that the righteous will live by faith, and in His appointed time Babylon will be brought down and punished for their evil.
Sometimes the cure for ills is not in our comfort, or in our “rights and privileges.” Personally, I think that the pandemic has proven that. The greater good, such as masks or self-isolations, outweighed individualism. This is not a polemic for blind acquiescence to governmental authority, but instead a call for us to keep perspective. Like Habakkuk we can rest assured in the end God’s will shall be done.
For those who may still pondering governmental links (if so, sorry I brought them up), remember that the “woes” that Habakkuk cited: unfair economic practices, human exploitation, corrupt rule, and the worship of power, will all be remembered by God, and the perpetrators will be held accountable.
Next time then, before you head to the Complaint Department, or demand a manager, remember to weigh the situation in perspective, and the possibility that you might not like the answer.
Padre
Rise with me from ashes
To build and start again
Putting reliance in the Saviour
And not in mortal men
Politicians they shall fail us
The rich seek but there own
But those of faith shall prosper
And achieve an eternal home
While this world seems bleak –
Full of darkness
And troubles seem immense
He will bear His children’s burdens
And true justice He will dispense
Padre
This life here below is full of toil
Tears oft moisten our face
But there is One who true comfort grants
As part of His enduring grace
While mortal strains give rise to points to ponder
There are answers and rest just over yonder
Padre
In the bleakest of midwinters
On the coldest of cold days
The sun still keeps its promise
And light will have its way
No matter how drear the prospects
Or the forecasts doom and dread
Look for the light at the end of the tunnel
There are better times ahead
Padre
The conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn has just passed after an absence of hundreds of years. Some call this the Christmas Star or the Bethlehem Star. In this year of fires, floods, racial and social unrest, and a world-wide pandemic it is perhaps a time to take stock and to reflect on the story not of this planetary alignment, but of the star of the Gospel account. It was a harbinger of the coming of Emmanuel, God with us. It marked a transition in our relationship with the divine. The age of the Fall of Adam was coming to an end, and a promised saviour, the Messiah had come.
That did not mean that wars and rumours of wars, or fires, floods, and misfortune were coming to an end – 2020 surely shows us that. What it does say is there is a hope that is greater than those trials that is opened to us.
As I was reflecting on this I picked three YouTube videos to share which capture some of my thoughts. The first speaks of the coming of Emmanuel. The other two of the stresses and strains that Mary, the mother of Jesus may have faced in her obedience to God’s call. That obedience in the face of uncertainty and surely fears is a telling example for us all.
I wish all of you a happy Christmas, and pray that what ever the future holds for us, that we might cling to the Emmanuel – God with us.
Padre
A dwelling among us – by design temporary
A symbol of our journey below
You accompany us through wilderness we travel
Reminding us that to a permanent home we go
Padre
Sometimes it’s hard to see what to expect
When we look at our life ahead
Elijah from a brook did drink
And by ravens he was fed
This is no gospel of prosperity
That great wealth will your way slide
But rather that your needs are known
And God is on your side
As long as we have life and breath
Opportunities He will bring
For those who diligently trust in Him
And praises to Him sing
Padre
1 Kings 17
Padre's Ramblings 