The Things

If the things that have befallen us in the last while were nothing more than drops of rain, our lives would be a flood. The rain on the parade is more than simple raindrops, yet not so much as we see in the lives of others around us. Because of these troublesome things, my wife posted some cards with Bible verses on a wall of our house. At first I was a bit adverse toward this, but she was just more aware of the gathering storm than I. Now I have committed much of her posts to memory. That which I consider to be the most important lines of Romans 8:31-39, and Psalm 91 often come to the rescue of my mind.

As we have struggled with so many vexing things recently, I’ve begun to wonder at how appropriate the verses chosen by my wife have turned out to be. “What shall we say to these things?” This question in Romans 8:31 is answered; “If God be for us, who can be against us? He who gave his own son for our ransom, will he not also with him graciously give us all good gifts?”

Nagging doubts that may creep into the mind are answered in Romans 8:33, “Who shall bring any charge against God’s forgiven (his elect)? It is God who will justify.” Of course, I can always find plenty of personal failures to condemn myself over. We know that human beings sometimes must also answer to others, but there is a final authority greater than that of man. His greatest desire is to help us, change us, and convert us.

Romans 8:34, “Who is to condemn us? Christ has died for us, and is risen again, and intercedes for us at the right hand of God.” Jesus died to bring about the greatest conceivable changes to our world, and into the lives of as many individuals as possible. That is not saying that he is to blame for our misunderstanding and failures. He is not to be blamed for anything. He had to die to live with us, but the hard work of love that he did will have its effect.

Christ’s sacrifice is enough. The blood and the suffering of Jesus will ultimately answer for all the weakness, sin, and shame of those who will turn to him for forgiveness. God’s promise of mercy is dependent upon our turning to him however, and the farther we get from God, the harder it is to believe in his mercy. There is the danger of rejecting the Lord to the point where we have left behind our power to choose.

Never give up hope. For those touched by his love, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” “In all these things we are more than triumphant through him that loved us (Romans 8:35,37).” “I am sure that neither death nor life, nor beings from beyond our realm (angels) nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other creature, will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38,39).” In spite of the troublesome things of this world that demand our attention and attempt to take control of our lives, we must “think on the good things (Philippians 4:8).” There are yet things to be thankful for.

(Psalm 91:1-4) He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, he is my refuge and my fortress:my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

Nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Jesus the Christ, our Lord. It was foretold that God would visit us, that he would come to us as a son (KJV, Isaiah 7:14, 9:6,7) . Jesus is the Christ, the only begotten (John 1:14) son of the living God, the secret place of the most high.

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The Midnight Car Wash

If you awaken in the middle of a rainy night, look out the window, and see your neighbor out in the rain washing a car, don’t jump to conclusions. There could be a logical explanation, or semi-logical at least. Since I haven’t been able to go back to sleep, and I haven’t had time to write anything lately, I thought that I might as well try to explain how such a thing could happen.

I don’t sleep very well and often wake up briefly during the night. My awakening on this Sunday night should only have been for a minute or two, but it was raining pretty hard. I was suddenly reminded that I had left my car windows partially down when shuffling our vehicles around late in the evening. Throwing on a hat and trying not to disturb my wife or sons, I rushed outside. The moment I closed the door behind me, I realized I had just locked myself out of the house.

I was fully awake then. As I rolled up the windows, I decided that I didn’t want to beat on the house to get someone up, and possibly wake the neighbors also. I thought I would rather spend the night in our mini-van. My oldest son was supposed to be at church early for music practice with the praise band, and I prayed no one would miss me and start worrying before he let me back in. Here’s where it gets bad. I went to check his car windows and apparently a neighborhood cat had thrown up on the roof. It wasn’t raining hard enough to wash it away.

So that’s why I was washing a car in the dark, and in the rain, at a little after 4:00 A.M. this morning. Hopefully the neighbors didn’t see me. Some of them have to work different shifts such as I do, but I was actually outside only around 20 minutes or so. Maybe I wasn’t observed. I ended up waking all my family anyway, but at least they got a laugh out of it. My younger son had heard me go outside, and when I didn’t come back, he opened the door to ask if I was alright. Well, it might not look like it, but I’m okay. Jesus is Lord, regardless of the way this day on the earth begins or ends.

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