Psalm 39
Life is so short. Recently, there has been the news of tragedy. No, I am not talking about the death of celebrity. These names you probably do not know. The result of a car crash and in a matter of seconds a young mother is removed in death. A flash and a young teen in seemingly insurmountable problems chooses death for himself. What’s the point?
Life is short. This is the question of the ages. Literary and philosophy have wrestled with the meaning of this brief life. King Macbeth sighed these despairing words:
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day, to the last syllable of recorded time; and all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more; it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing (act 5, scene 5 Macbeth by William Shakespeare).
How long do we have anyway? Is there a number on our days? As surely as there is an exact measure on the ruler and an exact weight on the scales there is an exact timeframe for our lives.
King David is no Macbeth. But apparently David considered in the time of trouble the same question as our fictional king. However, he does not do this in the same manner. “Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days, that I may know how frail I am. Indeed you have made my days as handbreadths, and my age is as nothing before you; Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Selah” (Psalm 39.4-5).
Instead of Macbeth’s despair King David looks to God to lift his burden. David wrestles with the question of mortality realizing his frailty, his weakness, even his vulnerability and comes to the conclusion that his entire life is in the hand of God. God is in the one in control. The life we live here while brief is to be lived for Jehovah.
So what’s the point? Since we know how short life is and the fact that we simply are not in control of the next breath lets live with intentionality. Do not get caught up in the meaningless, in the mundane, or even the trivial. Don’t let the small keep you from the enormous. Don’t allow worry to rob you of the opportunity of praise. Don’t be limited by your fragility and forget to live for God and eternity.
Make the most of today: love, laugh, lean on Jesus! Praise Him today. Present him today to a searching soul. Today really can be the best day to serve the Lord.
“And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in you. Deliver me …” (Psalm 39.7-8a).
Always Enthusiastic,
Dr. Rusty Newman
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
The Land of the Between
Psalm 27.7-9
I’ve just received a phone call from an appliance repair shop. They are coming to fix a problem with an appliance they installed. A problem they created. Did you get that? A problem they caused.
Here’s the deal. With no appointment, no concern for my schedule, no thought about what I am doing the receptionist informed me (the customer) that I had to be at the house to let them (the serviceman) in right now. When I asked about why there was no appointment made with me I was informed that they (the store) do not make appointments with the customers. I get a warning call!
Trials are along those lines too. They give you no appointment. You do not get a friendly reminder on your calendar that notifies you that in three weeks you will have a flat tire on the interstate.
On days like this the Bible gives us a recipe, wait patiently. This recipe goes against our nature. But it fits wonderfully into the divine nature that Christ provides to his children. It is the balance between this world and the next.
That is where we live by the way. We live in the land of the between. We experience the things of this world knowing that with Christ as our Savior we have the experience of heaven awaiting us. It is the message Habakkuk received from the Father while he was protesting that God was not doing anything about the troubles of this world. The Lord simply reminded him that he needed to wait. (Habakkuk 2.3).
Oh man! Wait? It is so difficult but necessary living in the land between. You may be in-between today. It is okay, you can now activate the power of God while you wait. Look at these powerful words and apply them to your time in-between. “REST in the LORD, and WAIT PATIENTLY for Him; do not FRET because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. CEASE FROM ANGER, and forsake wrath; DO NOT FRET – it only causes harm. For evildoers shall be cut off; but those who WAIT for the Lord they shall inherit the earth.” Psalm 37.7-9 (emphasis mine).
Always Enthusiastic – Always Between,
Dr. Rusty Newman
I’ve just received a phone call from an appliance repair shop. They are coming to fix a problem with an appliance they installed. A problem they created. Did you get that? A problem they caused.
Here’s the deal. With no appointment, no concern for my schedule, no thought about what I am doing the receptionist informed me (the customer) that I had to be at the house to let them (the serviceman) in right now. When I asked about why there was no appointment made with me I was informed that they (the store) do not make appointments with the customers. I get a warning call!
Trials are along those lines too. They give you no appointment. You do not get a friendly reminder on your calendar that notifies you that in three weeks you will have a flat tire on the interstate.
On days like this the Bible gives us a recipe, wait patiently. This recipe goes against our nature. But it fits wonderfully into the divine nature that Christ provides to his children. It is the balance between this world and the next.
That is where we live by the way. We live in the land of the between. We experience the things of this world knowing that with Christ as our Savior we have the experience of heaven awaiting us. It is the message Habakkuk received from the Father while he was protesting that God was not doing anything about the troubles of this world. The Lord simply reminded him that he needed to wait. (Habakkuk 2.3).
Oh man! Wait? It is so difficult but necessary living in the land between. You may be in-between today. It is okay, you can now activate the power of God while you wait. Look at these powerful words and apply them to your time in-between. “REST in the LORD, and WAIT PATIENTLY for Him; do not FRET because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. CEASE FROM ANGER, and forsake wrath; DO NOT FRET – it only causes harm. For evildoers shall be cut off; but those who WAIT for the Lord they shall inherit the earth.” Psalm 37.7-9 (emphasis mine).
Always Enthusiastic – Always Between,
Dr. Rusty Newman
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Ready or Not Here I come
Psalm 32.7
When my children where little they loved to play hide and seek. There was always something fun about hiding from me. But I think the fun for them was the security that dad would look for them.
If you have small children they most likely played the game the same way. You start to count and then they go hide in the middle of the room. Or hide behind the sofa with their faces sticking out to see you when you come their way. And of course, who can forget the giggles and snickering erupting with every close step.
As I was reading this morning’s P.O.D. cast from God (Psalm Of the Day), I was taken back to these incent games of summer. Would you like to go back and play hide and seek again? It maybe that right now you are in desperate need of hiding away for a moment.
Stress, pressure, pain, emotions of the past and even shame bombard us. Enemies, tragedies, and the inequities of life can seemingly surround us. Where do you go then? What is your safe place? Who is your refuge?
The world announces loudly, “Ready or Not – Here I COME!!”
Have you found your hiding place?
King David wrote, “You are my hiding place; you shall preserve me from trouble; you shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.” (32:7). So go ahead and hide in plain sight – as long as you hide in Jesus. Now that you are secure in Him relax, enjoy, and let yourself go in Him. What is that I hear? Did you just giggle? Its okay I did too.
Always Enthusiastic,
Dr. Rusty Newman
When my children where little they loved to play hide and seek. There was always something fun about hiding from me. But I think the fun for them was the security that dad would look for them.
If you have small children they most likely played the game the same way. You start to count and then they go hide in the middle of the room. Or hide behind the sofa with their faces sticking out to see you when you come their way. And of course, who can forget the giggles and snickering erupting with every close step.
As I was reading this morning’s P.O.D. cast from God (Psalm Of the Day), I was taken back to these incent games of summer. Would you like to go back and play hide and seek again? It maybe that right now you are in desperate need of hiding away for a moment.
Stress, pressure, pain, emotions of the past and even shame bombard us. Enemies, tragedies, and the inequities of life can seemingly surround us. Where do you go then? What is your safe place? Who is your refuge?
The world announces loudly, “Ready or Not – Here I COME!!”
Have you found your hiding place?
King David wrote, “You are my hiding place; you shall preserve me from trouble; you shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.” (32:7). So go ahead and hide in plain sight – as long as you hide in Jesus. Now that you are secure in Him relax, enjoy, and let yourself go in Him. What is that I hear? Did you just giggle? Its okay I did too.
Always Enthusiastic,
Dr. Rusty Newman
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