By Pastor Greg...
 |
| Dykman Springs in Shippensburg, PA. |
Today
was a rainy day. It reminded me of a rainy day many years ago when the
girls were still young. One Friday
afternoon I decided to take them on a long walk down to the duck pond. It was a beautiful day. We took bread to feed the ducks and a packed lunch
for the three of us. We walked the back trail around the pond and played
Pooh Sticks in the creek. It’s one of those fond memories I have of when
the girls were younger, and our lives were less hectic. However, on the
way home, we got caught in the rain.
I mean it started to pour! We were getting drenched, and it was
ruining our day. As we rushed down
Garfield Street, it seemed God was not blessing this father/daughter time. Couldn’t He have provided a decent sunny day
for us? I mean, where was God in the
middle of this storm? That’s when we saw
the side entrance to our church; there is a small covered porch on the Garfield
street entrance. We ran up the steps and
found shelter from the storm. And as we
stood there watching the rain run off the roof and rush down the street, I
remember thinking how thankful I was for the shelter of my local church…
 |
| Garfiled Street Entrance |
And
for the promises of God.
Okay,
I know you’re thinking, “wait a minute; did God really promise to provide
shelter during a rainstorm?” Well… Isaiah, the Old Testament Prophet, said
something to that effect. Speaking about
God, he said, “You
are a tower of refuge to the poor, O Lord, a tower of refuge to the needy in
distress. You are a refuge from the
storm and a shelter from the heat” [1] (Isaiah
25:4). Okay, so God didn’t promise to
shelter them from actual raindrops, but He did promise to watch over them when
ruthless people from foreign nations try to destroy them, and he compared this
protection to a “tower of refuge” and a “shelter” from the storm. And if you know anything about history, you
know that God has faithfully kept this promise.
Although many nations have tried, Israel has stood firm, despite overwhelming odds. [2] Even during the End-Time tribulations, God
has promised to hold a remnant under His
protective care (Revelation 7:4).
One
of the most important lessons we need to learn is that God is Faithful. We can be confident when God makes a
promise. When the Lord promises us
eternal life because of our faith in Jesus, we can be assured that it will
happen; we will be set free from the sin that has handcuffed us throughout our
life. God is a faithful God; His word is
unfailing. As the hymn writer suggests,
“There is no shadow of turning with Thee.” (#139)
God
is faithful to His promises because it is who He is. In describing God to the people of Israel,
Moses said:
7 “The Lord did not set
his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other
nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! 8 Rather, it
was simply that the Lord loves you, and he was keeping the oath he had sworn to
your ancestors. That is why the Lord rescued you with such a strong hand from
your slavery and from the oppressive hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. 9 Understand,
therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who
keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love
on those who love him and obey his commands” [3]
(Deuteronomy 7:7-9).
What
promise did God make to Israel’s ancestors?
Pointing to the land we now call Israel, He said to Abraham, “One day
son, all this will be yours” (compare Genesis 13:15). And to fulfill that promise, He guided Israel out of slavery and into the
land He had promised. He promised to
make that land a permanent possession for Abraham’s descendants… which was also
an issue. How can a childless man have
descendants? This was Abraham’s question
to God. “O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your
blessings when I don’t even have a son?” [4] So, the Lord promised to give this old man
and his wife a son. Isaac would be born
to this aged couple – Abraham was 100, and
Sarah was 90 – and through him, God’s promise would continue (see Genesis
17:13-19).
The
number of Abraham’s descendants continued to grow, so by the time we reach the
end of Genesis, there are approximately 1 million of them, and they are slaves
living in Egypt. As God rescues these
people through Moses, He walks before them as they make the journey from Egypt
to the land of their inheritance… the Nation
of Israel.
God
is faithful; He keeps His promises.
Even
when Israel was scattered in 70 AD, God’s promise did not change. The land would be theirs. And although Rome chased these people out
into the world, God promised to bring them back one day. This was the land God had promised to give
them; this was an everlasting covenant God had made to Abraham and his
descendants. And to prove that he is
faithful to His word, those descendants were given back their land in 1947.
God
is faithful; He will keep His promises.
So…
what exactly are those promises? There are many. He promises Wisdom, Joy, and Hope. He promises His Protection and His Love. He promises Everlasting Life. I could go on (which I will, in the weeks
ahead). But the main point is this: when
God makes you a promise, He will be faithful in keeping that promise…
Which
takes me back to that stormy Friday 25 years ago.
I
know God has never promised to keep me from getting wet, but He has promised to be my refuge during the storms of life.
And in the shelter of that porch, I was reminded of this. Life has a way of beating against us;
sometimes it seems like the world is trying to knock us down. Sometimes it seems
like the world wants us to fall or
fail or give in to temptation. But, God
has promised to walk with us through the trials in life; we are not alone. He will not abandon us during difficult and
trying times. The Apostle Paul writes, “If God is for us,
who can ever be against us”?[5] (Romans
8:31). When it seems like life is about
to crush us, God is nearby. It is “The Holy Spirit
[who] helps us in our weakness”[6] (Romans
8:26). When we are tempted to lay down
our sword and shield and give in to the pressures in life, God has promised to
show us a way through. “He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can
stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure”
[7]
(1 Corinthians 10:13).
God
is faithful; He will keep His promises.
“Does it mean he no
longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry,
or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 37 No, despite all these
things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us” [8]
(Romans 8:35,37).
God
has been faithful in the past; He will be just as faithful to you and to me.
He will not abandon us, reject us, or crush us. Nothing “will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is
revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord” [9] (Romans
8:39).
I
pray you are reminded of this when facing your own storms of life.
[1] Tyndale House
Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation
(Is 25:4). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
[3]
Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation
(Dt 7:7–9). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
[4]
Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation
(Ge 15:2). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
[5]
Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation
(Ro 8:31). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
[6]
Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation
(Ro 8:26). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
[7]
Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation
(1 Co 10:13). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
[8]
Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation
(Ro 8:35,37). Carol Stream, IL. Tyndale House Publishers.
[9] Tyndale House
Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation
(Ro 8:39). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
No comments:
Post a Comment