Press the arrow to listen to New Life Worship sing “In Your Presence” while reading today’s devotion on contentment.

Scripture
O LORD, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty;
Nor do I involve myself in great matters,
Or in things too difficult for me.
Surely I have composed and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned child rests against his mother,
My soul is like a weaned child within me.
O Israel, hope in the LORD
From this time forth and forever. Psalm 131

Observation
One of the sure signs that we are growing up is that we are happy when our needs aren’t met. A mother and her small child are sketched in Psalm 131. The child is happy, not because he is getting the bottle. Instead, the toddler is content simply because mama is close.

I know I am maturing when I am content praying even if no answers come. All the selfishness of requests are set aside, and it is good just to be with the Lord.

Application
There is a place of rest for me somewhere between desire and fulfillment. Most will not be content until the answer comes. But the Father shows me a another option of satisfaction even when the bag is empty for me. I suspect in the current economic earthquake that there will be a lot more need to find contentment in the word “without”. That will spare me from overreaching. Instead, the instructions for me are clear: compose and quiet yourself. I must pull in my insatiable longings and find my contentment in just being with the Lord.

Prayer
Father, help me to really value what the word “present” means. It is not a possession that you offer me, like a boxed present. It is a relationship that you give me in the sense that you are present in the room. That is more than enough for me. Amen.

Press the arrow to worship while you read today’s entry.

Mercy Me God With Us 

Scripture
“Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Luke 24:5-6

Observation
Angels see life very differently from humans. The heavenly sentry at the tomb blurted out, “Why are you looking for among the dead for someone who is alive?” It’s an obvious question if you are an angel and see human life from heaven’s point of view.

But it is not an obvious question if one is a human. Cemeteries seem very logical places to look for the living when someone has died. It’s hard to understand until someone close to you has be placed into a coffin and dropped into the ground. Not an old aunt or old high school friend, but someone so close it is difficult to imagine life without them. The graveside can feel like the closest place to them.

Of course it doesn’t have to be death, it can be the loss of anything in life. It can be the loss of a friend, children, homes, income, reputation, position, relationships. When we lose something there will be some place of sadness that we connect with the loss. In our minds we think that if we can but return to that place something will change. But in fact we feel even sadder.

Application
There are times we need to be counseled by angels to see our lives from heaven’s point of view. If it is hope we are looking for we cannot find it by going back to the place of loss. Hope will be found among the living and not the dead. When we have a loss and want to retract back, we must force ourselves into the mainstream of life. There we will find the Lord. One thing is clear in the resurrection stories: the more they gathered together the more they found Jesus. If we are to find hope we must stop returning to what has been lost and plunge ourselves into the flow of human life. There we will find the Lord in the land of the living.

Prayer
Father, today I take the counsel of the angels. I want to see my life from heaven’s point of view. Show me where the living are so that there I may find Jesus who is truly alive. Amen.

Scripture
The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them. Exodus 2:23-25

Observation
I wonder if a baby thinks that parents disappear when they leave a room, for their cries sound so frantic. It’s been years since I’ve lived with crying babies, but the memories are still fresh. We would hear the cries from our bedroom in the middle of the night. Sometimes we would spring to action because we discerned the sound of the cry. But other times in kindness we let our children cry because we knew that the process of waiting would be good for maturity.

Crying does not sound dignified, but it is incredibly significant to God. If we want something to change he calls us to cry out to him. But he won’t answer as quickly as we think he should. Our Father is a good parent, so his delays have a purpose. He knows when to intervene.

Even if nothing seems to be happening, God is listening. The Jews cried out to God in their slavery but nothing changed. In heaven, however, God was listening like a parent laying in bed at night. Oftentimes we give up praying just when God is preparing to answer. There are times our relationship with the Lord is one way: he can hear us but we cannot hear him. It is in those times when we think our prayers are making the least difference that they seem to make the very most impression on him. Our persistence to ask even without answers brings out of us a faith that matters very much to the Lord.

When we cry out to the Lord we should not always expect his immediate action, instead we should be aware that we do have his attention. God heard the Israelites groan and so he looked on them. Often when we cry out to the Lord and nothing changes we can begin to doubt him and grumble to others. We should remember at those times hat the Lord is watching. It is as if he is the Invisible Man in the room. Our words and actions in difficult times matter much to him. We should watch our actions for the outcome may depend on our faithfulness.

When God meets human problems he usually works through people. There is often the reason for the slow down. The lack of response from God may have nothing to do with the willingness of God but rather the slowness of humans to say “yes” to him. Moses was the answer, but it would take a process to bring him to the rescue. God is at work bringing the answer to our cries, but we may have to wait on someone to say ‘yes’ to him. What should we do? Continue to cry out to him.

Application
May the Lord find me crying out to him when he brings the answer from heaven. This continued desperation is the greatest sign that I trust him. May I continually remind him of his promises because it is the promises that he has made that move him even more than my problems.

Prayer
Father, I continue to ask because I know you are listening. But do remember that while you are invisible, I am not. There are real problems I face that stare me in the eye. Show up and work on my behalf to rescue me. Amen.

Scripture
The Lord appeared again to Abraham near the oak grove belonging to Mamre. One day Abraham was sitting at the entrance to his tent during the hottest part of the day. He looked up and noticed three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he ran to meet them and welcomed them, bowing low to the ground. Genesis 18:1-2

Observation
Abraham ran to meet God. That doesn’t seem all that significant unless a few facts are brought to light.

First, Abraham was 100 years old at the time. I had a friend who died at 102 years of age. When I first met Norm de Vaus at the age of 96 he ran across the road in front of my car with eggs he had collected from the chickens.  The sight of a scrawny 100 year old jogger is not one quickly dismissed from the memory. Think of it: arthritic Abraham is sprinting down the driveway without a walker.

Second, Abraham was the boss of what we would call today a decent sized company. He had 318 male servants who were able to fight. Those men of course each had wives and with them children. Abraham’s entourage was well over a thousand or more people. They made quite a foot print in the desert with all of their tents. Abraham was Chairman of the Board with the confidence and aura of a great leader. It was customary at that time for servants to scamper about to serve the master. The head of a great estate did not run, others ran for him. But Abraham ran and everyone else sprang to action as a result.

Abraham was ancient and secure, nevertheless, Abraham sprinted to meet God.  This example challenges our familiarity with the Almighty. We so take the Lord for granted. Just as Michelangelo painted on the Sistine Chapel ceiling, God reaches a decisive arm out to us while Adam lifts a groggy finger toward the Lord. If Abraham ran then we should be running to God as well.

Abraham ran because he was living in expectation. Just the chapter before he had taken the last in a series of increasing commitments to the Lord. He had all of the 318 servants, plus himself and his son Ishmael circumcised. Abraham had taken a significant step and so he expected God to do something soon. Abe had his sneakers on.

Application
The determined steps of our obedience bring God to us and when we obey we should put our running shoes on. God is coming and we must run to him soon. I’m expecting the Lord to show up just about anytime now and when he comes may he find me ready to sprint.

Prayer
Father, I’m ready. Amen.