Rising high at noonday
And now reflecting as the day parts,
I have to ask myself once again
Do I have anger in my heart?
Fury, resentment, bitterness and rage
Have to quiet themselves at the disappearing rays.
Blowing tempests, harmful thoughts,
Into captivity these rogue ways are caught.
Troubled emotion into oblivion must fade,
It’s to the Lord’s command you must obey.
It’s time for the storms of the mind to rest
With healing and newness to come at sunset.
“Our motto must continue to be perseverance. And ultimately I trust the Almighty will crown our efforts with success.” – William Wilberforce
When we think of the vastness of God’s power stretching from history to history, and eternity to eternity it can leave one with an awe-inspired feeling. As I read through the Word I am always left in amazement the strategy and planning God did to bring certain events into place, including our salvation.
When God first called Abraham out to establish a people for Himself through him, God did not rest in the satisfaction of just having one people or nation as His. He wanted it all. He wanted the world.
Isaiah 49:6 tells us, “It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.” Instead of the words “light thing,” the New King James Version says, “It is too small a thing” which means the same thing but shows us a deeper level of God’s plan and His heart. It wasn’t enough for God to be content with the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, to touch and affect the lives of a single race or family. God wanted more!
God’s thinking for salvation was too big in scope and depth for His heart to settle for reaping the souls of just a single kindred or nationality of folk. As far as His love (which can never be measure by human standards) reaches – that’s how far He wants to grab a hold of people, and love them as His own. He couldn’t rest with just saving “some,” but He wanted the “sum” of humanity to have a chance to experience this awesome deliverance.
God always wanted more. His intention was that all the families of the earth be exposed to this offer of salvation (see Genesis 12:1-3). I don’t know about you but I’m glad God wasn’t satisfied with “some.” In His high degree of love for people His thinking was bigger. Because of that, everyone has the opportunity to be in the “sum” of the saved; to be a part of that heavenly number if they will answer His call.
You, my friends, are the “more” that God has always wanted.
Our God operates beyond expectations. “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,” Ephesians 3:20.
As I sit here working on another writing project I glance out my window to ponder a thought. Upon doing so, a squirrel captures my attention and I am altogether fascinated by what I see. He is hopping in mid-air from branch to branch without what seems to be care or thought in the world.
What I mean is he doesn’t stop to measure the distance to see if he can make it, nor does he seem to contemplate the physics involved that would put a web-slinging Spiderman to shame as he sails through the air, grabbing hold of the next limb, and going again with ease of effort.
Instinctively he knows and is wired to map out the trees and to venture through them without slip or fail in a matter of seconds.
Every creature of God has ingrained instincts. We are all born with a sense of knowing. For some those senses are geared toward survival and protection. Some naturally know how camouflage to ward of predators or to find food. Others are excellent skill building machines that know how to make stable houses for their families in the harshest of climates.
Back to our friend the squirrel. As he meanders through the trees with his ingrained knowing, not worrying or stressing over life, I must ask, dear child of God, are we navigating life with the same confidence? He, the squirrel, is wired to know what to do and how to live by what’s inside of him. What of us?
The Bible tells us, “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world,” (1 John 4:4). As we are going about life we are to know to whom we belong. “You are of God!” the Word tells us. Therefore, because of our holy lineage; because of how we are wired through the blood of Jesus Christ, you and I are to instinctively operate like the “greater” is in you.
When faced with the adversities of life our holy intuitiveness should kick in; faith should carry us into our spiritual survival mode and say, “Hey, wait a minute! I am more than this! I won’t give in! I won’t quit! I KNOW to whom I belong! I KNOW He that is on the inside of me, and He is greater than anything and everything I am facing!”
Our friend the squirrel went from branch to branch without worrying because he knew what was inside of him. Do you know Who is in you today? If you are a child of God you have the greatest living inside of you and you have to instinctively know within yourself that you are His. Let that knowing empower you as you swing through the trees of life today.
Photo Credit: Pixabay
