What do you do when you are overwhelmed or hurt? I’ve been thinking about this lately as I reflect on my relationship with my daughter. When she is scared or overwhelmed, she will look for Daddy or Mommy. When she bumps her head, she cries and then looks for us. But she doesn’t merely look; she crawls to us, looks up with her big blue eyes, and reaches out for us to pick her up. She wants to be held and feel safe. My daughter reminds me of how I should be with my Heavenly Father. When I am overwhelmed, I tend to stress over it, complain about it, and wallow in it. How about you? Like my daughter, what I should be doing in these moments, is looking to my Heavenly Father and reaching out to Him. Listen to these words: “The name of the LORD is a strong fortress; the godly run to him and are safe” (Proverbs 18:10, NLT) We’ve been looking at some of the names of the Lord. Hopefully, you are discovering that these names point to more than a name. It reveals his character and work. For Christians, God’s character and work is a strong fortress. A refuge in times of trouble. Why does my daughter look for me when she is overwhelmed? Because she knows me and understands that I care for her. She trusts me. Do you know your Heavenly Father? Have you come to the point where you realize that he cares for you? Do you trust him? Trace the story of Israel, and you will learn that this takes time. God showed that He cared for them by delivering them from Egypt. Yet, when they reach the blockade of the Red Sea on one side and a pursuing army on the other, they cry out, “Did you bring us here just to kill us!” God then shows his love by splitting the Red Sea into two, causing them to cross over on dry land. He then defeats the pursuing army by closing the sea upon them. They are grateful, yet, as they journey through the wilderness, with no water for three days, they cry out again, “Did you bring us here just to kill us!” God then shows his love again, this time by providing clean drinking water in the wilderness. They are grateful, yet as they continue on their journey, they get hungry and cry out again, “Did you bring us here just to kill us!” God again shows his love, this time, by providing manna from heaven. God meets their needs each time, yet they have difficulty understanding that God cares for them. Notice that each time they complain, it is because of a different need. God provided us with an escape from Egypt, but surely He can’t split a sea in two?! God provided us with a passage through the sea, but surely He can’t make contaminated water drinkable?! God provided us with water in the desert, but surely He can’t provide food for us?! Yet, at each point in the story, God shows He is capable of meeting the need. Our season in life has brought many new challenges. Can God meet the needs that come with these challenges? You bet! Listen to these words: “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” (Ephesians 3:20, NLT) My daughter has come to trust me; have I come to trust my Heavenly Father? Because she trusts me, she comes to me when she is overwhelmed so that I may pick her up. I’m reminded of the name of God - Yahweh Nissi - The Lord is my banner. It’s an intriguing name. We discover the name first in Exodus 17, where the Amalekites made an unprovoked attack on Israel in the wilderness. Israel was no match against these well-trained soldiers. Yet, they were not alone. God was with them and would fight for them. And He would demonstrate this in a pretty strange way. Moses would be on a mountain, and Israel would fight beneath it. When his staff was above his head, the battle would be in favour of Israel. When he lowered his staff, the fight would turn in favour of the Amalekites. You might be wondering, “What’s so special about Moses’ staff?” Nothing per se. The staff was a piece of wood, but what this stick represented made it a source of power. It symbolized the hand of God. God would use it as a visible demonstration for His people numerous times in the book of Exodus. Moses’ position of raising his hands is a demonstration of prayer. What’s the picture then? Moses is relying on the power and strength of God to win the battle. And Israel is led by God into victory. After this event, we read: “Moses built an altar there and named it Yahweh-Nissi (which means “the LORD is my banner”)." (Exodus 17:15, NLT) We discover this name again in the book of Psalms. And there we see its significance. “But you have raised a banner for those who fear you – a rallying point in the face of attack” (Psalm 60:4, NLT) What does it mean for God to be our banner? It means He is our rallying point. The one who we run to in times of difficulty. We run to Him because He is our refuge and strength, a very present help in times of trouble.
Just as my daughter turns to me when she is overwhelmed or hurting, I need to turn to my Heavenly Father. And as my daughter comes crawling so that I may pick her up, I need to go to my Heavenly Father so that he may deliver me. He is to be my rally point. Now, does my daughter always come crawling to me? No. Sometimes she stays where she is and flails around. Does she still want to be held? Yes, but for some reason, she stays in the same place. It is during those moments that I come to her and pick her up. And so it is the same with my Heavenly Father. When you are overwhelmed or hurting, go to God. And you will discover that He is the refuge and strength that you need in times of trouble.
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Do your children always know the good that you are doing for them? My daughter is at a stage in her development where she loves to explore and discover. But that can sometimes be a dangerous thing. There are things she shouldn’t touch or put in her mouth. Sometimes when we take these things away, she screams. She doesn’t understand that we are taking these things away for her good. She reminds me of my tendencies regarding my relationship with my heavenly Father. God doesn’t merely give; sometimes, he takes away. Job reminds us of that truth. “I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The LORD gave me what I had, and the LORD has taken it away. Praise the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21, NLT) When He takes things away, it is not because He is unloving; instead, it’s the complete opposite. It is because He cares for us that He deprives us of certain things. We might be okay with the fact of God taking away something that would harm us. After all, this is what we do for our children. We cover the electrical sockets, put locks on doors, block off rooms or dangers with baby gates, take away small things they could choke on, even rip out garbage from their hands, all in attempts to protect them. But here’s the question we need to ask, “What does God believe is harmful to us?” You see, we often have a different outlook than our heavenly Father does. My daughter and I have different perspectives. If she could choose whether to cover the sockets or put locks on doors, she wouldn’t choose it. She doesn’t see the danger in them. We do, and that’s why we take them away. Like my daughter, I sometimes don’t recognize the harm in things that my heavenly father takes away from me. So, back to the question, “what does God believe is harmful to us?” I encourage you to grapple with that question as you study your bible this week. Right now, I want to present two things that may help us understand the situation we are facing today. First, God has determined that pursuits that draw us away from Him are harmful. “You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them…” (Exodus 20:3-5) A god or graven image is anything that takes God’s rightful preeminent place in our life. These gods can be physical or invisible. Money, luxuries, employment, education, politics, sports, popularity, beauty, health, positions of influence, and even family can become gods in our life. To pursue these things above God, spending our time, attention, and resources is to worship them. The list above may be full of good things. The question we need to ask, though, is this, “What is life all about?” I think John Piper puts it quite plainly, “The chief purpose of man is to glorify God by enjoying him forever”. These pursuits that draw us away from Him robs us of that pleasure. Therefore, God sometimes takes away these things so that we may once again pursue Him and find the most profound joy imaginable in Him. Second, God has determined that complacency is harmful. He says these words to the church of Laodicea. “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth” (Revelation 3:15-16) The church here was complacent in their faith. Complacency is the attitude of being satisfied with oneself or one’s achievements and possessions. The danger of complacency is that we stop pursuing God. Why do we need to seek him if we think we have all that we need? So, how does God confront this? He begins to remove those things in our life that foster this attitude so that we may continue to seek after Him. God doesn’t take things away to deprive us of life but to lead us into an abundance of it. Listen to this promise that Jesus made: “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10) The problem is that we equate life with stuff and privileges. But stuff doesn’t meet our most pressing concerns. Let’s be honest with ourselves. We struggle with anxiety, depression, loneliness, guilt, weakness, discouragement, emptiness. The person with even the most toys finds that these things don’t meet these needs. The life that God leads us into is one where we experience peace, joy, companionship, forgiveness, strength, and true satisfaction. And sometimes, God must take things away so that we may enjoy this life. In Psalm 23, David calls God - Yahweh Ra'ah - the Lord is my Shepherd. A shepherd leads his sheep into good pastures. He removes certain things that could cause his sheep to get sick or die. Yet, he always makes sure that his sheep have what they truly need. And that is the way God leads us. Now there are two ways we could respond. We could be like my daughter and complain, or we could thank God and trust that He is doing what is best for us. How you respond shows who you believe God to be. With the continuation of the regulations placed on our province, times continue to be challenging. Some have lost their jobs, some are on the verge of losing their jobs and business, and many are worried about providing for themselves and their families. And there are other needs as well. Is there hope? Is there anyone who can provide for our needs when we are unable to? Today I want to share with you a story that addresses this question. Remember Abraham and Sarah? They were given a promise that they would have a son. Many years after the events of what we looked at last week, Sarah bears a child. It occurred 25 years after the promise was made. And it happened at a time in her life when she was long past being able to have children. God is the one who opened the womb and provided. One of the many blessings that God gives is children. When Thea came into the world, it was one of the best days of my life. She arrived into my world healthy, whole and full of energy. Aimee and I called her Theadora because of the meaning behind the name. It is the female equivalent of Theodore which means “Gift of God”. She is our gift from God, and though parenting can be challenging, and there are times we want to pull out our hair, we remember the blessing she is. I can imagine then to some degree what Sarah and Abraham must have experienced. They are filled with joy and now they get to see their son grow up. It’s incredible to see Thea grow. She is growing far quicker than I could imagine. She’s at a stage now that she is standing, furniture walking and trying to scale the baby gates. I love her spunk, determination and giggles. I can only imagine what I will see as she continues to grow. Abraham and Sarah see their son Isaac grow up from a baby, to a toddler, to a young child, to a teenager. And then God calls Abraham to do something that for us seems outrageous. "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you". (Genesis 22:2) If you skip to the end of the story, you will discover that God didn't intend for Abraham to carry through the whole way. He is against human sacrifice. Something greater is taking place. But we will get to that shortly. Was Abraham privy to this? No. So, could you imagine what Abraham must have experienced at this moment? His heart must have sank. Yet, Abraham obeys God. He wakes up early, prepares the wood, saddles the donkey and brings Isaac and two others to go to Moriah. They travel for three days. That must have been the longest three days of Abraham’s life. But notice his faith. "Then Abraham said to his young men, 'Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.'" (Genesis 22:5) Abraham is convinced that somehow God would provide and make a way for both of them to return. And they head out. Along the way, Isaac realizes that they have the wood and fire but they don't have a sacrifice. Notice again Abraham's faith. "Abraham said, 'God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.'" (Genesis 22:8) Abraham is convinced that God would provide. And he continues on the way. On the mountain he builds an altar, lays down the wood, and places Isaac on the altar. Isaac doesn't fight and try to flee. I imagine at this point Abraham is wondering whether God would provide. As Abraham plunges the knife towards his son, God calls to him to stop, for he has provided a substitute. A ram caught in the thicket by his horns. Abraham takes the provision and Isaac is spared. And Abraham calls the name of that place.. . “The Lord will provide” (Genesis 22:14) The question we started with was, “Is there someone who can provide for our need even when we are unable to?” The answer is yes. God can and does provide. He is Yahweh Jireh - the God who provides. When we think of the word “provision” we often think “the action of providing or supplying something”. However, if you look of the etymology of the word you will discover that it carries the meaning of “providing beforehand” or “the action of arranging in advance”. It’s not simply that God provides, but he arranges in advance what we need. In this case, a substitute sacrifice. How is he able to do this? Simply put, he sees our need before we need it. And he gives us what we need when we need it. So trust God and wait for His timing. Here's the thing though. It is one thing to know that he can meet our needs, its another thing to know that he cares enough to meet our need. Does he truly care? Yes. "Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you" (1 Peter 5:7) How can I know that he truly cares about me? I mentioned earlier that there is something greater happening in this story. It's not merely a testing but a foreshadowing. On this same mountain, God would meet our greatest need - salvation. And he did that by providing the lamb that takes away our sin - Jesus. As the ram takes Isaac's place, Jesus takes our place. He dies for us. There is no greater love than this. So, does God care? Yes, and the cross proves it. Since he met our greatest need, we know he will meet our lesser needs. But we sometimes wonder what needs he would meet. Is it the more significant things? What about minor needs? Hear these words... "And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:19) For those who have responded in faith to Jesus, God has taken it upon himself to preserve and provide for us. And He has at his disposal all that we need to get through this current crisis. So, turn to him in faith and cast all your concerns upon him, for he cares for you. When I'm mistreated, does God see me? When I'm hurting, does God see me? When I'm going through a difficult year, does God see me? Have you ever asked those questions? If you have, I have good news for you...God does in fact see you. In the bible, there is a story about two women - Sarah and Hagar. Sarah was Abraham's wife. Sarah and Abraham were given a promise that they would have a son. Ten years pass by, and that child hadn't come. Now, think about that for a moment. Infertility is a devastating thing. It's painful when month after month you are reminded that you aren't able to have a child or be a parent. I know this, because I have travelled this path. My daughter Thea came after a couple years of trying purposefully to have a child. Each month we would have hope and each month that hope would be dashed...and then the cycle would continue roughly another 24 times. It was a difficult road to travel, and it was short compared to how long other couples wait. I couldn't imagine waiting ten years. Sarah wonders if she heard right. She is beyond the years of bearing children. Maybe what God meant was they would be given a son. In now enters the second woman. Hagar, Sarah's servant. Sarah gives Hagar to Abraham and Hagar becomes pregnant. This makes things worse. Jealousy creeps into Sarah's heart. I've experienced this too. While my wife and I were trying and praying that God would give us a child, we would hear of others around us having babies. One lady, who we thought was incapable of having children due to medical reasons, became pregnant. It stung! I remember wondering, "God are you aware of us? Do you see what we are going through? Do you see how we are struggling?" Sarah is not just jealous, she is bitter. And she takes it out on Hagar. Hagar isn't entirely innocent, she in some way shows contempt towards Sarah. The result is that there was heated friction between these two women. And Sarah turns up the heat, treating Hagar harshly. And what does Hagar do? She runs. This doesn’t seem like a reasonable thing to do. There are many dangers that she could have faced. There would have been wild animals that could have attacked her. There would have been men who could have taken advantage of her. There would have been a beating hot sun and rugged terrain to endure. And she was pregnant at this time! She could have lost the baby. But she wants to escape the mistreatment, the hurt, the difficulty. She wants to put space between her and Sarah. But by doing so she runs from one hardship to another. She must have been thinking, "Does anyone see me? Does anyone care about what I am going through?" It is in that context we read these words: "The angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the sping on the way to Shur" (Genesis 16:7) God sees her and finds her. He is concerned about Hagar and tells her to go back to Sarah (a very challenging thing to do) and encourages her that she will be blessed. After the dialogue between the angel of the LORD and Hagar we read: "So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, "You are a God of seeing",for she said, "Truly here I have seen him who looks after me" (Genesis 16:13) The Hebrew name she calls God is - El Roi - which is translated "The God who sees". God is not blind to what happens in our life. At no point does God ever think, "Wow, I didn't know that. I was unaware you were going through that in your life". He sees everything! There is a verse in Proverbs that reassures us of this. "The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good”. (Proverbs 15:3) Notice three things in this verse:
God sees all things in all places at all times. Depending upon your relationship with God, that could either be very reassuring or very scary. As for me, I am comforted by these words. Especially when I bring to minds these words: “The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him..." (2 Chronicles 16:9, NLT) So back to the question we started with. Does anyone see what we are going through? You bet! God see's us. And for those who are committed to Him, His eyes are always watching us so that he may strengthen and keep us. And that is something that gives us hope.
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