Sometimes we Cry

 

Dear friends, 

I’ve been thinking about the fact that God is, according to the Scriptures, always present.  The word that theologians use is Omnipresent.  Omni, the Latin meaning, all or every.  God is present everywhere, every time.  But sometimes we can’t get our minds around that truth, since we see things from a human point of view. I tried to put myself in a place where doubt in His constant presence lives, so the following are those thoughts. 

If
When I’m heavy-hearted
or when dreams terrify,
or when the world seems broken
I cry 
"God, please tell me Why!"

If
Tears fall on my pillow
as the darkness rules the sky,
if
my plans and hopes are shattered
I can’t but wonder why, 
and I cry. 

I wonder
if God is a God of love 
but still my life feels gray.
If I’m a child of His,
but He seems so far away.
If He doesn't see my face,
from His great hiding place
beyond the heavens’ darkest space.

Or  

if God was absent now, today,
if on this path He wasn’t here 
and because of that I lost my way.
If that were true, I could but cry

“My God, Oh God, please tell me why?” 

But praise be to God 

HE IS PRESENT
GOD IS HERE 

He is filling, presiding, powerful and wise. 
He is always, eternal, the limitless King.
He is God above all, and to Him I will bring
Songs of rejoicing, my God and My King. 

I can give Him my worries, my cares and my sin.
I can trust His forgiveness again and again.
He’s the God who is close and will not move away.
He’s the God who will walk with me day after day. 

“God’s alive and He’s here!”
So, this I will sing
 "Almighty and present, my God and my King!"

1 Peter 5:7 (TLB) Let him have all your worries and cares, for he is always thinking about you and watching everything that concerns you. 

Jeremiah 23:23-24 (ESV) “Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord.
 

To Rescue Me from Me

Today, I read some truly challenging words in a devotion book that my husband and I enjoy each morning.  The book is "New Morning Mercies" by Paul David Tripp.  Thank you, my friend Darla, for the gift of this book.

This morning's message focused on James 4:1-20.  The beginning sentences in today's  chapter speak of the sin in one’s heart - anger, bitterness, discontent, jealousy; sins that may result in difficult people problems.  Although the author didn't mention them, those sins can also result in health issues.  Those problems cannot always be laid at another door.

One of the important statements in this study is that much of the time the problem is me.  I'm desperately in need of the grace of God.  And, as Mr. Tripp says, "If I confess this, I am saying that I don't so much need to be rescued from people, locations, and situations.  I am in desperate need of the grace of God that alone is able to rescue me from me." 

I love what David asked of God in Psalm 51.  "Create in me a clean heart oh God and renew a right spirit within me." 

It's about the heart, isn't it?

It's all about what's in my heart
and how I think and feel.
It's not another's sins set free
or the way this evil world I see.
It's not those things that hinder me
from knowing grace is real.

When trials come, when anger lives, when bitterness is there,
when discontent and jealous thoughts are more than I can bear,
God's grace is still available.
His love can set me free.
When I kneel with all my heart and mind
in contrite humility.

And then I must depend on Him
to rescue me from me.