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| Does this waterfall look familiar? (see below for answer) |
In a recent article on grace, Pastor John Piper likens our walk
with the Lord to standing underneath a waterfall.[1] Wave after wave of water flows over
us. God’s disposition towards His
children is one of continual grace. This
just means that God always has grace in mind for us in every circumstance we
encounter in life. Just as when we
look upstream we see nothing but more water coming to us, life then is an
experience of seeing unending grace coming to us from God.
We see this very thing stated in Lamentations 3:21-25:
“But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never
ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is
your faithfulness. ‘The LORD is my
portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’ The LORD is good to those who wait for
him, to the soul who seeks him.”
Every morning is a fresh and new day, a new beginning with
God’s grace to experience and to look forward to. God’s love is steadfast, meaning it is loyal or
faithful. Is the Lord your portion
today? Are you relying upon Him
today for your joy and peace or are you seeking it elsewhere? I just want to remind you this morning
to soak in God’s goodness, to seek refreshment in Him, to hope and trust in the
Lord your God.
I love the daily resolution of a man named Clyde Kilby. He resolved:
I
shall not fall into the falsehood
that this day, or any day, is merely another ambiguous and plodding twenty-four
hours, but rather a unique event, filled, if I so wish, with worthy potentialities. I shall not be fool enough to suppose
that trouble and pain are wholly evil parentheses in my existence, but just as
likely ladders to be climbed toward moral and spiritual [adulthood].2
There are those of you who, in response to the above statements,
are refreshed and rejuvenated by the reminder of God’s grace. However, there are others of you that
the above statements feel like lemon juice; bitter words to your soul, because
you look at your current circumstances in life and just do not see God’s grace
and steadfast love.
It is so
important for you to know that when these words of Lamentations (meaning
expressing grief and sorrow) were written the author was in the midst of very
difficult circumstances. Look at
the two verses preceding his statements about God’s steadfast love.
“Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and
the gall! My soul continually
remembers it and is bowed down within me.” Lamentations 3:19-20
The truth is that God’s grace toward us will not always be
easy nor pleasant circumstances.
Often it is challenging or difficult circumstances that are God’s gift
to us. True love is not just all
pleasantries. Real love is not
just what makes us feel good. Let
me say it again, because it is so opposite what the world tells us: Real love is NOT just what makes us
feel good. God’s love is real,
which means it is steadfast. It is
faithful. It is loyal to what its
purpose is, to bring us into right relationship with God through Jesus
Christ. The most loving thing that
God does is the work of bringing us into a healthy reconciled relationship with
Himself. Sometimes that work is
accomplished through bitter circumstances. Perhaps our first prayer should not
be for God to change our circumstances, but for God to change our
perspective. Have we asked God to
forgive our hard-heartedness? Have
we asked God to warm our heart towards Him? Remember, Lamentations 3:25 says, “The LORD is good to those
who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.”
“My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you…Deep
calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves
have gone over me. By day the LORD
commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the
God of my life.” Psalm 42: 6-8
And yes the waterfall is blue hole, near Camp Carmel.
[1] John Piper,
Rebuilding Some Basics of Bethlehem: The Purifying Power of Living By Faith in
Future Grace. http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/taste-see-articles/rebuilding-some-basics-of-bethlehem-the-purifying-power-of-living-by-faith-in-future-grace
- retrieved October 30, 2012.
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