| God Still
Renews Us
A beautiful illustration is written for us in the beginning of Psalm 40:
What slimy pit have you found yourself in? Holiday depression? Wintertime blues? Bad stuff happening to you? A man I know lost both of his parents in 2000. He considers the year to have been "the pits." Can't say that I blame him. What is your slimy pit? A broken heart? A broken relationship? Lack of power to break away from that illegal drug, that vice, that anger, that laziness? Whatever it is, King David, the author of Psalm 40, has an encouraging word for you this New Year. God is near to help; God is able to help; God is willing to help; God is sure to help. God is near to help. God is never out of earshot from the person in the pit. Call out to Him. Call persistently. Excuse the following analogy if you're offended by gun talk, but learn from it. Pray like one who shoots a rifle, not a blunderbuss. That is, take aim at the very heart of God with your prayer. Don't just fire away some words and hope some of them hit God here and there. God is near to help so speak clearly of your need for His help. God is able to help. Notice that David never insinuates that God too is in the pit. God is not in the pit. Now someone might wonder: how can God sympathize with me if God is not in the pit with me? Do you want sympathy or do you want out? God is in no way coldhearted, but God is much more concerned with getting us out of our pits than comforting us in them. That would be kind of cruel, wouldn't it - to lessen your discomfort while in the pit when God has the power to lift you out? You and I might sympathize with each other. Sometimes we don't have the power to do anything but embrace one another in the midst of the pit. But not God! God is a savior - no, THE SAVIOR - not a sympathizer. God is not in the pit helping you cope with "pitness." God is reaching in from the outside, able to lift you out. God is willing to help. It is not too difficult this time of year to imagine trying to walk on a slippery, uncertain surface. Nor is the sigh of relief we all breathe when we step onto a dry, sure floor a distant memory to any of us. Such is the experience of the one who trusts in God's ability to save him/her. God will not only lift them up out of the mud of shame the mire of discouragement, but will set them upon sure footing. When God lifts us out of our pits, it is to firm ground He brings us. There is no shame so muddy that God cannot wash us clean to the core by the Word of His truth that the forgiveness with which He forgives us is a strong forgiveness; able to cast our offenses as far from us as the furthest point eastward is from the furthest point westward (Psalm 103:12). How many times must one go around the earth in an easterly direction before one is going west? Think about it, for in that answer we learn how eager God is to forgive us. And to put us on the firm ground called living faith. God is sure to help. No one who has been brought out of their despair by the powerful love of God will be singing the same ol' tune. Once God helps, once God brings us out of our pits, once God sets us upon the firm ground called living faith, a joy bubbles up within us that must be set free, or we just might pop. Once a person has been powerfully brought to wholeness by their God, they will not be able to stop the flood of praiseful celebration that will pour forth from their mouths. There is no doubt when the Spirit of God has done a work in one's life. With every work He gives a bonus: a song of praise to Him. Prayer: O, God, lifter of my soul, from this pit of lift me. To the solid ground of living faith send me. Upon my tongue put a new song of praise to You. Cause me to know the renewing power your Holy Spirit brings and to take one more step of faithfulness today. In Jesus' name, Amen. May God bless you with a joyous New Year, Pastor Cliff |