39And he went on a little ways, fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me, but not as I will, but as you do.†40And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping and he said to Peter, “Weren’t you strong enough to wait with me for one hour? 41Watch and pray so that you don’t enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. 42He went to pray again, and said, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to pass unless I drink it, let it happen according to your will.†43And he came again and found the disciples sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44And he left them again, and went to pray a third time, saying much the same thing again. 45Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “
Are you still sleeping and resting? The hour is approaching when the son of man will be handed over to sinners. 46Get up! Let's go! Look! The one who will hand me over is near.†-- Matthew 26:39-46 I don't like to wait. I particularly don't like to wait for someone else to make a decision that impacts my life. I just don't like to be in that situation. But holy week, both then and now, is a time of waiting. It's a time to think about things that happen to us without our consent and out of our own control. The only question for us is just how we will react to these things, how we will act in the face of them. I see this great impatience in the way we conduct worship. Many United Methodist Churches, and I know others as well, don't hold Good Friday services. We don't like the darkness, the “down†feeling that goes with a commemoration of the crucifixion. I even felt that impatience last night as I attended the first service in holy week for our local cluster of churches. Several times one of the pastors who was leading the event said “He is risen!†We really want to get to Easter Sunday morning! And I don't blame us. I feel it too. But as we read in the creed, “He was crucified, dead, and buried.†We generally recite the creed so fast that we don't get the impact of the next sentence: “The third day he arose from the dead.†If we would take the time to pause after “crucified, dead, and buried,†we might get a little better idea of how the disciples felt. They didn't have the option of announcing “He is risen!†on Palm Sunday. On Palm Sunday they were feeling pretty good. Perhaps Jesus was going to become king after all. They were still not thinking of death on the cross. As the days of holy week rolled forward for them, things got more gloomy, until at the last supper they hear about betrayal, abandonment, and finally death. Now we know that Jesus is risen, so we can proclaim “He is risen!†every day of the year. But we also have that time of waiting. We await the final consummation, the final manifestation of the kingdom of God throughout the universe, and what is more important to us, throughout our world. So we need to learn how to handle anticipation and waiting as well. We have to live through times of tragedy, as we hear about people dying, or experience it in our own lives. We see moral and physical tragedy all around us. Will we be like the disciples as Jesus was praying, and fall asleep? Will we run and hide because we can't face the danger? Or will we stay awake with him and pray, as he did, “Not our will, but yours, Father, be done?†We know Easter Sunday is coming, but perhaps we should spend holy week practicing the spiritual disciplines that will help get us through the rough times and prepare us to meet the risen Lord when he returns.Watching and Waiting
Optimism vs Faithfulness
1On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early in the morning while it was still dark, and she saw the stone rolled away from the tomb. — John 20:1
What was it that got Mary up early on that Sunday morning? She arrived early, before it was light. In the other gospels we find that there are some other women who go to the tomb as well.
What got them up that early to go to the tomb? What we’d like to think is that the women expected Jesus to be rising from the dead and they wanted to be there when it happened. We’d like to think that they alone believed that Jesus was going to rise from the dead.
But no, what got them there was simple love and faithfulness. Now to us visiting the tomb may not seem like that big of a deal, but there was a reason the disciples ran away and were hiding out. When the leader of a movement had been crucified it was quite possible that some of the followers would be executed as well. Going out to the tomb was an act of courage as well.
The women weren’t optimistic. They weren’t looking for an empty tomb. They were looking for a body. But they were blessed by not finding one, and they have been recorded for posterity as the first folks to be witnesses to the resurrection.
This Sunday begins Holy Week with Palm and Passion Sunday. Palm Sunday is a bit of a high point, but it is a brief high before everything starts to go downhill. Finally, on good Friday, we commemorate the crucifixion. Then we wait for Easter Sunday morning. But unlike the disciples, we know what we’re waiting for.
It’s easy to understand what keeps people going during an event like the triumphal entry. It’s triumphant. Optimism carries you forward. But what will carry us through the intervening time? We don’t have to go through what the disciples went through, but we also have our times of difficulty.
The answer is simple—the same thing that brought the women to the tomb that morning. It’s faithfulness. The disciples got a blessing, but they didn’t get the same thing as the women did that morning, because they weren’t ready to get up early on that Easter morning. When they lost their optimism, they had nothing to go on.
Optimism is nice. I like optimistic people. But the ones who make it through the dark times are the faithful.
I, I Alone, Am Left
9And he came there to the cave, and he stayed there, and the word of YHWH came to him, and he said, “What is your business here, Elijah?†10And Elijah said, “I have been very jealous for YHWH, God of Armies, for the Israelites have abandoned your covenant, they have torn down your altars, and they have killed your prophets with the sword. And I, I alone, am left, and they are seeking me to take my life.†. . .
18And I still have 7,000 people left in Israel, knees which have not bowed to Baal and mouths which have not kissed him. — 1 Kings 19:9-10, 18
Elijah is one of the good guys in scripture. In most of the stories we hear about him, he is the hero. He stands up to Ahab, to the 450 prophets of Baal, and until he finally breaks and runs, to Queen Jezebel.
But in his flight from Jezebel and in his time on Mt. Horeb, he doesn’t do nearly as well. As he begins his conversation with God there we find him complaining: He’s the only good guy left, and they’re looking for him so they can kill him.
God doesn’t immediately respond to Elijah’s complaint. He makes a few demonstrations, and then he gives Elijah a task to do. Once he has given out the marching orders he has an “oh, by the was.†Elijah, you’re not alone. I have 7,000 people who are on my side. It’s worthwhile reading all of verses 9-21.
We can read this story to learn about faith and fear, how we can be a hero at one moment, and then running the next. We can try to learn something about listening for God to speak. But today I want to talk a little bit about being right and alone.
You see Elijah is a good guy. He’s very, very right. But he’s gotten up on a mountain by himself, thinking that he’s the only right guy left in the whole country. “I, I alone, am left.†Have you ever felt like that after a church board meeting, or after hearing yet another report of something stupid that has gone on in your church? Have you ever thought that you’re the only person left with any good sense?
I don’t care if the issue is doctrinal, organizational, or even personal. And for today I’m not talking about when you’re actually wrong, but just think you’re right. I’m talking about when you’re right, but it seems that nobody else is listening or thinking. You’re sure you are hearing from the Lord. You’re sure you are thinking clearly. But nobody gets it.
The temptation is to join Elijah on Mt. Carmel, and say, “I, I alone, am left.†You might even feel good saying it. “Lord,†you say, “I have done everything I could, but people just won’t listen. I’m the last guy out there trying to do your work in my church, my community, my town, or maybe in my denomination. This is it!â€
Chances are—actually it’s a certainty—that God is going to come back to you the same way he came back to Elijah. “I’m not done with you,†he says. “Here’s your tasks. What’s more, you’re not the last right person left on earth, even though you’re very right—all but for this discouragement!â€
No matter what the issue, the “I, I alone, am left†theme is the devil’s handiwork. If he can’t get you to compromise, if he can’t get you to be wrong, he’s going to try to isolate you in your rightness. If he can get you out on the mountaintop, all by yourself, it’s fine with him for you to be as right as right can be. If you’re isolated, it doesn’t matter.
Remember that Jesus, the most “right†person to ever live, also knew how to forgive and show grace to people who weren’t right very much of the time. If you’re so right that you forget grace—the grace that’s necessary to keep on working with all those oh-so-wrong people who are driving you nuts—then perhaps you’re not really all that right after all.
When you get to the “I, I alone, am left†points in your life, remember that God still has a plan. God is still in control. God is still calling you. Even though you’re so wrong about being so right and hiding out, he’s still going to call you out of the wilderness and use you.
Wait for his voice!
Why Not Turn?
20When evening had come, he reclined for a meal with his disciples. 21And as they were eating he said, “I tell you truly that one of you will hand me over.†22And they were very grieved and each one started saying to him, “It’s not me, is it, Lord?†23But he answered, “The one who is dipping his hand with me in the bowl, he is the one who will hand me over.†24The son of man is going just as it has been written about him, but woe to the person through whom the son of man is handed over. It would be better for that person if he had never been born. 25Then Judas, the one who was going to hand him over said, “It’s not me, Rabbi, is it?†Jesus said to him, “You said it.†— Matthew 26:20-25
How well does your personal steering wheel work? I know that once I have made a decision, I’m a little hard to turn. I keep moving forward unless there’s an immovable object blocking the way. Jody knows that she has to give me some time after she has pointed out a problem before I’ll realize just what it is and react to it. I don’t like the plan to change in progress.
I was attending a funeral in Portland, Oregon, and afterward I had to help my cousin deal with some of our aunt’s belongings. We were storing them at this place that was somewhat difficult to find, and the first time we tried to find it, she drove past it three times. Now the fact is that the place was almost impossible to pick out in the dark, and we were both at the end of a stressful day. But she was getting pretty concerned.
She turned to me and said, “I’m really sorry, but I think I’ve missed it again.†Sometimes the Lord gives responses even when our brains are too tired to process them. I said, “That’s OK! That’s what God made steering wheels for!†So we turned around again and found what we were looking for.
Our spiritual lives are much like that car. We get invested in a particular course of action. There are plenty of jokes about men not wanting to ask directions, but we back up a few moments, and ask whether the most humorous thing isn’t the unwillingness to admit that one is lost or has taken a wrong turn. That’s the real problem.
We try to live our lives like trains when we really need to live them a bit more like bumper cars—willing to notice that we’re going the wrong way and able to turn the steering wheel and find the right way.
Judas was in such a situation. Why doesn’t he turn even at this late date when Jesus points out the situation to him? Is he so invested in his scheme that even the revelation of his plan by Jesus can’t shake him from his track?
How about you? Can you turn around when you need to? Can you recognize the signs that a turn is needed?
A Paranoid Prayer
9 Have mercy on me, Yahweh, for I am in distress.
My eye, my soul, and my body waste away with grief.
10 For my life is spent with sorrow,
my years with sighing.
My strength fails because of my iniquity.
My bones are wasted away.
11 Because of all my adversaries I have become utterly contemptible to my neighbors,
A fear to my acquaintances.
Those who saw me on the street fled from me.
12 I am forgotten from their hearts like a dead man.
I am like broken pottery.
13 For I have heard the slander of many, terror on every side,
while they conspire together against me,
they plot to take away my life.
14 But I trust in you, Yahweh.
I said, “You are my God.â€
15 My times are in your hand.
Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, and from those who persecute me.
16 Make your face to shine on your servant.
Save me in your loving kindness. — Psalm 31:9-16 (WEB)
Today, instead of using my own translation, I’m using the World English Bible, which is a completely public domain translation of the Bible based on the American Standard Version. There’s no particular reason for doing this other than to make you aware of this online resource that can be freely quoted without concern about copyright and licensing.
The Psalms are of great comfort to me and to many people because they are so very human. Often we spend all of our time discussing the divine aspects when we talk about the Bible. But very much like Jesus, who is all human and all divine at the same time, so the Bible shows us both people and God. It’s that connection that makes it possible for us to hear God, and it makes it possible for us to understand the message he has given us in his word.
But the Psalms have a special place. I like to teach about prayer, but I’ve found that almost any principle I can state about prayer will be contradicted somewhere in the Bible. Some one of God’s great servants will have offered a prayer that sounds theologically wrong!
I don’t like to teach people to use their Bibles as charms, such as opening the Bible randomly, pointing to a text, and getting their guidance from that text. Yet people in scripture ask God for signs regularly, even though they don’t use that particular form. In the days before the Bible was a book, it would have been difficult to do! In modern times, I know of stories where people have gotten good guidance in this way. I still don’t think it’s the ideal way, but I know that God honors prayers.
Now here in Psalm 31 we have a prayer that sounds almost paranoid. People turn the other way on the street when the Psalmist comes by. Everybody’s after him! I recall the saying, “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t after you!†Well, that would go with this Psalm. It fits well with Jesus, which is why it’s one of the current lectionary passages for holy week. Everybody really was after him!
Now the teacher in me would like to suggest that he stop whining, be content in all circumstances, and present his petitions with thanksgiving to God. But yet here we have one of God’s great servants praying in a way that doesn’t fit the theological mold. I think that is tremendously important.
You see, all through scripture we find that God is able to answer our prayers better than we pray them. We worry about how to pray. God is just waiting for us to pray. Whether your prayer is paranoid, simple, or you even think it’s silly, go ahead and say it. God really can handle it.
Drying Out the Bones
1The hand of YHWH grabbed me and took me by the spirit of YHWH and set me down in a valley. The valley was full of bones. 2He made me pass over them all around, and there were very many of them all over the valley and they were very dry.
3And he said to me, “Human! Can these bones live?â€
And I said, “My Lord YHWH, you know.â€
4And he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, ‘Oh dry bones, hear the word of YHWH! 5This is what YHWH says to these dry bones, “Look! I’m bringing breath among you and you will live! 6And I will put sinews on you and I will bring up flesh on you, and I will cover you with skin, and I will give you breath and you will live and you will know that I am YHWH.â€â€™â€
7So I prophesied as I had been commanded, and there was a sound while I prophesied and a clatter, and the bones were gathering together, one bone to another. 8And I looked and sinews were placed on them, and flesh rose up on them, and skin on top of that, but there was no breath in them.
9And he said to he, “Prophesy to the breath! Prophesy human! Say to the breath, ‘This is what the Lord YHWH says, “Come from the four winds, oh breath, and blow into these dead bodies that they may live!â€â€™â€
10So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath went into them, and they lived and they stood on their feet, and very, very large crowd. — Ezekiel 37:1-14
I apologize for the irregular devotionals for the last couple of weeks. It started with the flu and went downhill from there, but now it is all getting back into shape. I didn’t help fill a valley with my bones, but I did need a little healing and revival!
Yesterday I presented the message at the 11 AM service at Gonzalez UMC, and my title was “Drying Out the Bones.†Now this is a somewhat different way of looking at this passage. Normally we just assume the bones, and we look for the miracle experienced by Ezekiel in vision as the bones come together, receive flesh, and then come back to life.
But I started to ask myself just how it is that a valley gets filled with all these bones. What dries them out?
In several stories from the Bible I found three ‘D’ words that I think tell us how the bones get dried.
- Discontent – just like the Israelites in Exodus 17, we get dissatisfied with what God is doing and instead of taking action to make things better, we complain.
- Dissension – once there is discontent, dissension will always follow. People who are complaining need a target, and it doesn’t have to be a logical one. The Israelites complained first against Moses, but eventually they wound up complaining directly against God.
- Disobedience – enough dissension, and we decide to do things our own way. In the story of Exodus this came to a head in Exodus 32 with the making of the golden calf.
These three D’s lead to the valley of dry bones over and over again in scripture. So is the story always negative? Does it end badly?
Not at all. God’s Spirit, with which we are all baptized into one body (1 Corinthians 12:12-13) is the source of new life and revival. We may have to see rock bottom before we realize it, but whenever we’re ready to let God’s Spirit renew us and bring us new life, He is ready.
The coming two weeks in the church calendar are about the sacrifice of Jesus, and then about that resurrection power. He was crucified, dead, and buried, but on the third day he arose from the dead.
Dry bones don’t have to stay dry!
Depression
Depression may arguably be the most common malady of the human body. Doctors are prescribing more anti-depressants and mood stabilizers now than any time in history. Self-help books crowd our book shelves and TV talk show hosts bring in ‘experts’ on a weekly basis to advise their listeners on how to overcome their feelings of depression. Even a well-known television preacher says that one of the reasons he makes no apology for his “feel good sermons†is because people are depressed by what is happening in the world and need a positive word when they come to church.
What is a Christian to do when depressed? Is depression even ‘allowed’ in the life of a Spirit-led disciple of Jesus Christ?
By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.
Psalm 137:1 (NIV)
I am worn out from groaning; all night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. Psalm 6:6 (NIV)
Three times I pleaded with Lord to take it away from me.
2 Corinthians 12:8 (NIV, emphasis mine)
I can see many in the Bible that went through difficult ‘seasons’ in their lives. I imagine that Adam was a bit down when he had one son that murdered the other! I imagine that John had his cloudy moments on the island of Patmos before and after his visions. In these passages, I see the writer of the two psalms crying out to God, even using the word ‘flood’ to describe the amount of tears he has cried. Paul verbalizes his feelings with saying that he has ‘pleaded’ with God to release him from his pain and torment. These people saw their cups – half empty!
What can I do when I am down in the pit? How do I take a step when all I seem to be able to do is sleep or stare into space? How did the ‘greats of faith’ pull themselves up? They didn’t.
God did. That isn’t cheesy. It isn’t just a good answer from Sunday School. It’s the truth. Just as I took that first tentative, I-have-no-idea-if-this-is-going-to-work step to accept that I was a sinner and I couldn’t fix that and so I stepped toward Jesus, I take that tiny, tiny step that says I am choosing God to fix my depression. God does the rest. Mine was a tiny, tentative step toward Him, admitting that I was too weak to do anything. In my depression, I reach for my Bible Promise Book that sits on my bedside table. I look at the index under ‘Belief’ or ‘Guilt’ or ‘Hope’ and read what is on the page. It’s a tiny step. It’s an admission that I choose God. He does the rest.
A tiny candle, a tiny light is lit to push back the darkness of my pit. I read on. Maybe now I have the courage to call my friend or email my friend and say, “Pray for meâ€. Nothing else. No explanation. That’s all right because a friend doesn’t need details. Prayer begins. I find that helped and so I do it again the next day. And the next.
Depression can be an illness like any other. God can use anti-depressant medication in the same way He uses antibiotics. Medication can be a part of God’s treatment plan. I don’t believe medication is the only answer.
God wants us to turn to Him and seek His truth. In depression, my eyes are too often turned toward myself and what is wrong in MY life. I focus on the ‘I’ of my life and not the ‘Faith’ in my Creator. It is in God that I find balance and peace and more reality than any TV show can invent!
Trust in the LORD with all that I am, choosing not to lean on my limited understanding. I acknowledge God in everything and He will point out the best path. Proverbs 3:5-6 (my paraphrase)
Personal notes:Â
This devotion was posted on my personal blog at www.jodyneufeld.com entitled “Depression…Win, Lose, or Draw†on February 26, 2008.
Life here in this world may serve up some lemons. It’s always best to grab some sugar and make some lemonade when that happens!  Henry has been battling sickness but is recovering very well now. If you do not receive a devotion, PLEASE do not allow that to derail you from spending time with the Lord each morning. Just stop and allow God to bring His Word to your mind and encourage you, teach you, with His LIVING Word. Thank you for your prayers and His grace. BLESSINGS!
Critic or Participant?
14And blind and lame people came to him in the temple and he healed them. 15But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things he did, and the children shouting in the temple, “Hosanna to the son of David,†they got angry. 16They said to him, “Do you here what these kids are saying?†But Jesus said to them, “Yes. Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants you have ordained praise?’†17So he left them and went out of the city into Bethany where he spent the night. — Matthew 21:14-17
One way to learn from Bible stories is to try to put yourself into the story. Where do you feel most comfortable. I see several groups here, once the money-changers have been driven out. Jesus is here. There are blind and lame people coming to be healed. There are children rejoicing, and making a lot of noise doing it. We assume the disciples are watching and learning, though it may take them awhile to get it. Then there are the temple leaders, the folks who are in charge, and who are responsible to make sure things go according to appropriate denominational standards.
Well, denominational standards is a bit anachronistic. There was only the temple and its priesthood. But the principle works out quite well.
So we could transfer this situation to a church congregation when something wonderful has happened. Let’s suppose there’s a report of answered prayer. Someone in the congregation for whom everyone has been praying is home from the hospital and on the mend. People start talking about what’s happening to them. The service is disrupted! People yell “Hallelujah!†They get out of their pews and talk to each other in the center aisle. The order of service is abandoned. They start praying together in groups around the sanctuary.
Suddenly one of the church elders speaks up. “Pastor,†he says, “Shouldn’t we get things under control? Who knows what people are doing and saying in these small groups? What will happen if a visitor walks in while all of this is happening? It’s too noisy. You see those people still in the pews? They came to worship, and they can’t do it because of all the noise and confusion.â€
OK, let’s hold it right there. Now where are you? Where would you fit in most comfortably? Were you the one who reported an answer to prayer? Did you shout hallelujah? Are you in an excited group enjoying what’s going on, and perhaps praying for one another?
Or maybe you’re sitting in your seat grumbling to yourself and God that you can’t worship properly because things have gone right off the rails and there’s all this unseemly misbehavior. Perhaps you’re one of the church elders and you’re going to ask the pastor to get this cleaned up as soon as possible so no visitors see the mess.
Now I don’t like to divide things too simply. There are lots of considerations in setting up worship services, and lots of different ways people can worship. But here’s what I’ve observed: No matter what the form of worship, in every worship setting, there are some people who are worshiping and some others who are criticizing.
I’ve seen it with a formal worship service as well. There are worshipers involved in coming before God, feeling his presence, and then there are folks who are off criticizing them for being dead. But more commonly I see it with people who start worshiping at an unexpected time or place, or in an unexpected way. Then the critics come out.
So here’s the question: When the opportunity to worship arises, are you a participant or a critic?
Which is Your Agenda?
3So his sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.†4When Jesus heard that he said, “This sickness is not terminal, but is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God might be glorified through it. 5Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus. 6So when he had heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed in that same place for two days. 7Afterward, he said to his disciples, “Let’s go into Judea again.†8His disciples responded, “Rabbi, just now the Jews were planning to stone you and you want to go there again? — John 11:3-8
Supposing you had an opportunity for service that came up suddenly. Let’s suppose it’s a response to a natural disaster, and you would have the opportunity to join the first responders and really do some good. The resources are there. They’ve identified a skill you have and they need. It’s time to grab those overnight items, and jump on the bus, the truck, or maybe a helicopter and go serve.
What’s your first thought?
Now let’s all be honest here. I think any of us with families would have to give thought to our family’s safety and their economic needs. We’d want to know that everything could be taken care of while we went to serve. The professional first responders think about those things and have plans for those they leave behind under such circumstances. Before I had a family, it was much more likely that I would jump up and volunteer than it is now.
People who are oriented to service solve those problems in most cases and manage to make the call to go serve. We should always be grateful to those who do, both the professionals, and those who get called in to provide additional support at the last minute. Both groups have to be able to order priorities and accomplish the most important goals, often in the face of difficulty and danger.
The disciples have a similar situation here. If you look at the response of the disciples when Jesus proposes to go to Bethany (v. 7-8). They believe it’s too dangerous to go there. It appears to me that for the two days that Jesus delayed, the disciples assumed that he was not going to Judea because of the danger.
It doesn’t say that explicitly at the beginning of the chapter, but since that is their immediate reaction when Jesus says he is going, I suspect they spent those two days in relief that Jesus had chosen not to go to Lazarus, even though he was sick.
But when Jesus announces that he will go to Bethany, the disciples suddenly realize that Jesus is not on their program. He has a kingdom agenda. He is going to do the thing that brings glory to God. Ultimately, this trip is dangerous–so dangerous that it leads to the cross.
The question for each one of us is this: When we come to that fork in the road, which agenda is first for us: personal safety or advancing the kingdom?
[Note: Part of this post was extracted from a post I wrote earlier on the Participatory Bible Study Blog.]
Turning Corners
5His anger lasts just a moment,
In his favor is life.
In the evening there is weeping,
but joy comes by morning. — Psalm 30:5
I was reminded of this text early this morning when I got out of bed feeling refreshed and ready to go. Yesterday I was tired out and really rather annoyed. Some substantial things had gone wrong with a couple of our web sites. The web host restored databases for two of my blogs from two week old material. I do have backups, and I will be able to restore the missing two weeks, but it annoyed me. It was also far from weeping—it was just intensely inconvenient. But still I noticed the difference a night of sleep made. I’m ready to go again.
At my graduation from college, longer ago than I feel like mentioning, we broke with tradition by inviting one of our own professors to speak. Dr. Alden Thompson, a professor of Biblical Studies, talked about “riding the pendulum.†He said that various things in the church swing back and forth, and you have to be able to work with it. The pendulum keeps swinging. It doesn’t stay where it is.
Many of us become pretty tense about these swings of attitude within the church, but one thing we can be certain with a group of people—they will change yet again, even if they try to prevent it, and even if they pretend it’s not happening.
But our speaker made another point. The further up the pendulum you go, the less the swing. In the Christian life, the closer you get to God, the more time you spend in his presence, the less you get waved around. If you hand onto the very bottom of the pendulum you may be violently shaken. So climb up.
And in fact, the psalmist in our text today is talking about much the same thing. Quoting just verse five, the emphasis is on how quickly things can change. But the overall emphasis of the Psalm is on how close you stick with God and how much your day to day happiness is dependent on him.
When things are going badly, even if it’s just a bad day at work, we tend to get stuck in the moment and to forget that “joy comes by morning.†We feel like we’re stuck in the problem we have forever and ever, and that nothing is ever going to change it. If we keep thinking just about the current situation, that can get very discouraging. A small situation, perhaps extremely inconvenient, but not life and livelihood threatening, becomes a major issue.
That’s the time to put your focus on God and remember that these things all pass, and something better can be just around the corner. Of course, don’t forget the physical rest as well. When you’re very tired, it’s often hard to think around the next corner.