Ready, Willing, and Able

"Daddy, can you hold me for a minute?" It seems like such a simple question, an innocent question. And yet the question itself suggests doubt on the part of the child. Maybe daddy's too busy. Maybe he's angry. Who knows which of our actions will cause a child to doubt their value?

These kinds of questions demonstrate a child's growth in understanding. They show a growing awareness of responsibility and priorities. These questions hint a fear and uncertainty. Children who asks these questions know their parents have responsibilities and priorities, but they aren't sure where they fit into those. They want to know they still count.

Sophia's question made me think. At first I just wondered how she could even think I wouldn't hold her. We had spent better part of the afternoon cuddling on the couch, watching movies. Maybe she feared I didn't want to hold her anymore. Maybe she just needed me to hold her a little tighter or little longer.

Something hit me as I pondered on the question. My mind turned to prayer and the struggles I am having at the moment. I approach God with the same sort of timidness Sophia approached me. "God, can you help me?" The words are earnest and hinting of fear. I'm afraid that he is too busy or that my most recent struggle with sin has angered him.

As I scooped up my little girl in my arms, I couldn't help imagining my heavenly Father scooping me up in his arms. I felt him saying, "Abba's here, my little one." Jesus once told a crowd to consider the reality of parenthood. Human parents are fallen, frail creatures with sin prone hearts, yet they know how to love their children. How much more does our heavenly Father love us, especially when we consider that his holy, perfect, and compassionate.

 I think I need to mediate on God's willingness to love, and more importantly his willingness to show it. He has made us his children and given us the task of having and raising children, so that we might better understand what his Fatherhood means. We don't have to ask "if" he will hold us, only that he will. He is ready, willing, and able.

The Confident Heart

Do you think you can pass any test? Are you confident? Where does you confidence come from? David was confident that he could pass the test. He saw himself on solid ground. Psalm 26 captures David's confidence.

In Psalm 26:1, David asks for vindication. He wants the Lord to show others that he was right to trust in the Lord. David calls himself blameless. What does it mean to be blameless? David can't mean sinless, because only Jesus Christ was sinless. He must me mean something else. He clarifies his statement with the words, "I have trusted the Lord without wavering." David's righteousness rested in his faith in the Lord.

More amazing than David's claims is his request for God to test him. To paraphrase, he says check me from top to bottom. David is asking for a test. Most of us shy away from tests, but not David. He knew that his heart was prone to sinfulness, why ask God to search him. David wanted to where error was so that he could repent of it.

David was confident that he could stand up under God's scrutiny. But why? David's confidence wasn't in himself, but the Lord. As we read through Psalm 26:3-8, David tells us the reasons for his confidence. He kept the Lord's love before him. Whether David meant God's love was an ever-present reality in his life or that he continued to meditate on the reality of God's love for him, David was mindful of God's love. David walked in the Lord's truth. The truth here refers to God's Word. Walking in the Word, lead David to lead a holy life. David's life also centered on sincere worship of the Lord.

David's confidence was the work of the Lord in his life. He could see how God was working in him, and he knew God would continue. To that end, David asked God to keep him. Psalm 26:9-11 records David's prayer. In essence, he says, "Don't throw me away with the bad people."

David rested in the knowledge of God's faithfulness. He knew the Lord delights in showing mercy, so David trust in the Lord. That trust gave David the confidence to face any test? Are you trusting the Lord?

Be Still, and Know

"Be still, and know that I am God.  I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" (Ps. 46:10, ESV).

I find these words both convicting and comforting.  They convict me because deep inside is a tempest of doubt raging.  I see a culture on the downward slide of the slippery slope.  I see my own half-heartedness.  I see a unbelievers listening to the message of Jesus without flinching.  I see all these things and I wonder how it's all going to work out in the end.

I'm so caught up looking at the trees that I don't see the forest.  I fail to see the bigger picture.  Sometimes, it is easy to think God isn't at work, because we don't see any immediate results.  We are wanting a burning bush, but God is moving in subtler ways.  We want to hear a still small voice, but God is speaking through message of Christ.

"Be still," he says.  Stop struggling. Stop squirming.  Let your mind take a breather.  Relax. "Be still, and know I am God," he commands.  Stop fretting and realize that he alone is God.  He is in control.  There is nothing going to slip past him.  There is nothing that God cannot handle. 

This passage comforts me with the words, "I will be exalted among the nation! I will be exalted in the earth!" He will be exalted.  There is no stopping it.  The devil may rage, and the nations with him, but to no avail.

We can pray with confidence, as Jesus taught us to pray, "Our Father in heaven, hollowed be you name.  Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  We are confident because we know that his will, ultimately, will be done. 

We don't have to worry when we don't have all the answers.  God is in control, and he will be exalted.  Be still, and rest in the knowledge that he is God.