URGENCIES AND EMERGENCIES
We live in a day of urgencies and emergencies. We have addresses but we may not be there. We have e-mail addresses but we may not answer. We have phone numbers but we also have answering machines to take our messages. Planned agendas often get bumped in favor of some sudden need either of our own or of someone needing us. In times like these, we find it incredibly difficult to “be still, and know” (Ps. 46:10) or as one translation words it, “cease striving and know.” I have found three things to be non-negotiable in these current circumstances. My time in God’s Word, the Bible, is invaluable. It really is my guide for faith and practice – “a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Ps. 119:105). Likewise I must have times – planned and unplanned – to communicate with God. Prayer is the priority of the Christian life. How can a student study without a teacher, an athlete perform without a coach, a musician play without a conductor, a worker toil without a supervisor? How can I serve without continual communication with my Lord? One thing more is needed. I must have the mentoring, advising, supporting, counseling, directing, of trusted friends. When the voices calling to me are many and diverse, not to mention mixed with the world’s voices, I need help in hearing and discerning. Of the three this is the one most easily overlooked. The key word is “trusted.” In these days of distrust and mistrust, “trusted friends” are hard to find and maintain. If you have them, rejoice. If not, seek them soon. May your urgencies and emergencies be few this week.
Most of us go through life praying a little, planning a little, jockeying for position, hoping but never being quite certain of anything, and always secretly afraid that we will miss the way. This is a tragic waste of truth and never gives rest to the heart. There is a better way. It is to repudiate our own wisdom and take instead the infinite wisdom of God. -- A. W. Tozer
When God moves into our lives, no obstacle can stop him. -- Jim Cymbala
We count on God’s mercy for our past mistakes; we count on God’s love for our present needs; but we count on God’s sovereignty for the future. -- Augustine
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