Calvin Synod Herald, 2009 (110. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2009-09-01 / 9-10. szám
CALVIN SYNOD HERALD 3 How God Gets Our Attention “Come, behold the works of the LORD, how he has wrought desolations in the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear, he burns the chariots with fire! ‘Be still, and know that I am God. Iam exalted among the nations, Iam exalted in the earth!’” Psalm 46: 8 - 10 This psalm expressed the awesome power of God, and the psalmist recognized God’s complete control of all that happened in life. This is a tremendous psalm of praise, of affirmation of God’s presence. Many times it has been one that has brought me back to reality, a reminder that all things are in God’s hands, that it is not my responsibility to deal with all the chaos in life as my own personal burden. But most striking for me is the last part of verse 10, for it comes as a wonderful invitation, a reminder to us that we need to allow HIM to guide us in these times: “Be still, and know that I am God.” In the rather busy lives in which we tend to be involved, somehow Sunday morning remains the only time that many of us set aside just for God. The rest of the time we are often a little too busy even just to meditate - and it sometimes seems a little inconvenient. Sadly, this is true even when we have devotional booklets such as The Upper Room available in our churches. Just a few short Bible verses and a little reflection - sometimes we don’t even find time for these. God has a way of getting our attention when we get too busy for Him. In the Old Testament, when Israel got too busy for God, He would remind them of His kingship through various means. On occasion, this meant that He would allow an enemy to threaten the nation - and this seemed to work quite well! Suddenly prophets were coming to the people and the king to call the nation back to the LORD! The Hebrew people understood that God spoke through the prophets; during times of difficulties, prophets would be sent by God to instruct and chastise the people: that was an age when people looked to and listened to prophets, and understood that they were God’s messengers. It worked very well at that time. Today God gets our attention a little differently. As we are hurrying along in life, forgetting to whom we are ultimately responsible, He does get our attention! He does this in a variety of ways: 1. When we are pursuing our own personal life and are pointedly not seeking God’s input into our plans, we often discover that our best laid plans come to a screeching halt, and success eludes us. If this happens often in your life, it might be good to “be still”, and listen to what God has to say to you at that time. 2. Another time God speaks to us is when He puts a “pause” in our lives. A “pause” is a time when we are progressing normally, and suddenly our progress is interrupted. God doesn’t necessarily want us to change direction or course - though this may very well be why he slows us down; often He wants us to reconsider what we are doing, and how we are doing it. 3. Sometimes He literally stops us, looking to communicate with us. We need to listen to Him and what He has to say, when life is not going as we thought it would. Often it is because He wants to let us know that the direction in which we are progressing is harmful to us, to our health, to our families, to our future, to our eternity. When God approaches us in such a manner, it is good if we begin to understand that He is seeking to communicate with us. Actually, God is always reaching out to us - we tend not to notice His hand in our lives, we tend not to hear His voice. What is He trying to say, and why is He communicating with us? He is constantly reminding us that He is the Lord of Life, and the life He gives us is to be lived to its fullest as He planned it for us. He gives us pause at those times, He slows us down and says: “Be still, and know that I am God. Look to your Creator and Redeemer, listen to what I have to say to you.” As we go about our daily lives this coming season, look to God, speak to Him in meditation and prayer, and listen to the “still, small voice” of your Creator. Rt. Rev. Koloman K. Ludwig, Bishop Passaic. NJ - Oct. 10: Eastern Classes Meeting and Calvin Year Celebration Hope I. Hope Begins with Waiting A. Christian faith expresses itself through hope that God will do what is in the best interest of believers and that in turn cultivates patience. “For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.” (Romans 8:24-25) B. Rejoicing in hope forms a strong cord to God when it is braided with patience and continuing prayer. “Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;” (Romans 12:12) C. Scripture was written to comfort believers and cultivate hope. “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.” (Romans 15:4) D. Joy and peace are natural companions to hope. “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.” (Romans 15:13) Continued on page 4
