I will
lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made
heaven and earth. (Psalms
121:1-2)
What an
uplifting verse! But the question arises; Do you, do I, truly look to the Lord
in times of trouble? Or do we look to other resources. When there is financial
stress, where do we look for the help we need? When there are relationship
problems, where do we look. In times of sickness, where do we truly go first
for help? Or do we treat him like technical support, and after we have tried
all other resources then we call on God.
After reading
this passage Russell told a story that is found in II Chronicles 16; about Asa
king of Judah, that God wanted to bless, but he would not turn to God. Instead
he took the gold and precious stones from the temple and bribed the ally of his
enemy. This worked for that present situation but God sent his prophet to Asa
and told him that because he did not rely on God he would have wars for the
rest of his life and it was so. For the eyes of Jehovah run to and fro
through the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of those whose
heart is perfect toward him. (2 Chronicles 16:9) Asa was so angry that he put God’s prophet in
prison. Later when his feet were seriously infected he still would not call on
the Lord. And so he died.
In Luke 7 we
see two stories that were extremely different. In Capernaum there was a Roman
centurion that had a servant that was ill, and that servant was very dear to
him. When he heard that Jesus was coming he sent some of the leaders of the
synagogue to him requesting that he would come to heal the servant. The Jewish
leaders said that the centurion was worthy because he loved the people of
Israel and had built them a synagogue.
Russell
pointed out the contrast between the two men. Asa was a king in Judah and
should have logically called upon the Lord for help, but he refused. The
centurion was part of the occupying army of Rome and considered the enemy of
God’s people. The centurion turned to God’s people to request help from this
Jewish prophet, Jesus. And he did not seek help for himself but for a servant.
Jesus said he
would go and as he was going the centurion sent some of his friends to Jesus to
say that he was not worthy that Jesus should even come into his house, and he
did not feel worthy to even come to Jesus. But if Jesus would just say the word
he knew his servant would be healed, because he was also a man under authority.
He understood that authority only comes from submission to authority. And Jesus
authority was derived from his submission to God and therefore he had authority
to do this without being with the servant.
It says that
Jesus marveled because of this man’s faith. Russell pointed out that there is
only one other time that it says Jesus marveled and that was in Mark 6:6 where
it says he marveled because of their unbelief. But in this case Jesus said, “I
have not found so great faith, no not in Israel.” What a profound
compliment for this man.
God is not
impressed with anything we can do or accomplish. God is impressed when we have faith.
But
without faith it is impossible
to please him: for he that
cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)
Russell said,
“faith is a conclusion we come to based on examining the evidence before us. We
follow that evidence toward that which we do not see.” Faith and action go
together. We do not impress God by our actions but at the same time our faith
that pleases God will result in action.
Russell told
a story of faith that occurred in our own church family. Samantha and Matt were
expecting a baby. After the doctors did some tests and then did some of them
again they came in and told them that their baby would surely have problems if
he could even be born alive. He would be disfigured and probably mentally
handicapped. they advised that she have an abortion. Sam and Matt prayed about
this for a while, but came to the conclusion that they would let God decide and
she would carry this baby as long as God wanted. Rylan was born with many
complications but he lived to go through many procedures and miracles. Finally
there was a problem with his liver and he was sent to Portland. In Portland
they were told that Rylan would have to have a very dangerous procedure and
probably would not survive. It worked out that Russell and David Wise were in
Portland and stopped by the hospital to visit and heard the news. They gathered
around Matt and Sam and prayed that God would glorify Himself in baby Rylan in
such a way that the doctors would have to acknowledge it. The next day the
doctors informed them that somehow Rylan’s kidneys were functioning normally
and the procedure would be unnecessary. Rylan is home in Medford and was at
church yesterday. To the glory of God!
They believed
in God and cried out to him for help, then went toward the help they sought. God
can go where we cannot go and do what we cannot do. We need to rely on him in
all of our need and trial to help us in ways no one else can.
Further on is
the story of the widow whose son had died. (Luke 7:11-16) This is another
amazing story of Jesus miracles, but the thing Russ pointed out here was that
it says of Jesus, “He had compassion on her.” What a wonderful thing to think
about. What a wonderful truth to realize, and apply in our daily life. God
cares for us. (1 Peter 5:7
This last
week has been difficult for the Vaughn family. Shannon was planning to go with
the team to India this week, but her back went out and there seems no help for
it. They prayed and called the elders but it is not any better, so she will not
be going. This was a big disappointment, but they are believing that God cares
for them and knows what is best.
And this is
the challenge for the week. Seek to have a renewed and increased confidence in
God’s love and care.
Rest in
Philippians 4:4-8
No comments:
Post a Comment