For such a time as this!

I began my morning with my bible app and a cup of tea overlooking the most spectacular view.  Dramatic hills in the background, opulent sky, the cascading blue waters of Samana Bay splashing against the rocks and the sun warming my face.  We had dodged the last snow storm in Toronto and were sunning in a beautiful resort in the Dominican Republic.

I have been reading through the book of Esther, in the Old Testament.  If you haven’t read it, I encourage you to do so.  It is a wonderful book. As I was reading, on this beautiful day, this verse struck me:

For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?  Esther 4:14

This verse was spoken to Esther because she found herself in a position to rescue her people, the Jews, from death. But, if she followed through with her plans to intervene, she put her own life at risk because of the laws at that time. Esther was reluctant, but she trusted that God sovereignly put her in that position at that time to do what needed to be done.

This is true for each of us as well. God has a plan for you and for me.  And there will be times when God will ask us to do things that are difficult. But could it be that all we have experienced, the very place where God has put right now is for such a time as this? It’s not that God can’t accomplish His plans without us, God most certainly can. But God invites us to participate because in doing so it strengthens our faith.

As we continue to walk with God and abide in God, may we like Esther be found faithful.

Get ready to change the world!

This morning as I turned on the news I was reminded of the utter turmoil in the world. Violent acts of hatred were being reported and it made my heart ache. Unfortunately that anger and hatred is not only a news story, it can be closer to home. I turned off the news to speak with an individual who told me of repeated abuse in their home. That conversation was quickly followed by another disturbing and heartbreaking call, and while on the phone with that individual a text came in from a colleague sharing how difficult things had become in their context. This was all before 11 am!

Awful things all around us…how do we show grace, love and compassion when everywhere we turn we see or experience the exact opposite?

Mahatma Gandhi is credited in saying, “be the change you want to see”. The reality is, Gandhi never actually said that, though I don’t think he would disagree. What Gandhi actually said was much more profound:

“We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do.” – Mahatma Gandhi

I love that: “As we change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change.” But we know changing ourselves is hard, particularly with the distractions the world throws our way.  How can we change ourselves, much less the world?

In Acts 1:8, Jesus promises to give us, as he promised his disciples, the power to do it. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.”  When we ask Jesus into our lives, we receive His power and His mission.

Jesus believes we can be part of changing the world. I believe it, do you? We must believe it.  As we show grace, love and compassion to those who don’t show it or even deserve it, things will change.  The world can change.

As we are faithful to Jesus, God will change our world — one step and one person at a time.  Empowered by the Holy Spirit, God will use each of us. Be ready to change the world!

As the deer

A few weeks ago, Jo-Anne, one of our faithful and talented elders at Amberlea, blessed the congregation with a message straight from her heart. She was amazing. To support her message she requested that the band play the song “As the deer” taken from Psalm 42.

If you were a church person in the late 80’s, you would know this Psalm because it was put to music and sung all the time, particularly around campfires and youth meetings!

As the band played the song on Sunday, the Psalm came flooding back.

As the deer pants for streams of water,
    so my soul pants for you, my God.

I remember singing this Psalm when I was in my early twenties and thinking then how I understood the desire for God the Psalmist speaks off.  “My soul” he says, “pants for you.” However now, many, many years later with the benefit of experience and life, this verse means so much more.

A deer pants for a few reasons. Perhaps the obvious is thirst. I understand thirsting for God. Thirsting for the peace and comfort that comes with a closeness to God.

But perhaps a more striking reason is that a deer pants when it is being chased by a predator. As soon as a deer escapes and knows it is safe, it will immediately look for water to replenish its depleted inner stores. But, if a deer runs for too long from an enemy and cannot get to water, the panting from lack of water will cause the deer to collapse and die.

The Psalmist, David, wasn’t being poetic when he wrote “as the deer pants for water”. He was an experienced hunter and outdoorsman. He was being very real in his cry to the Lord.

“As the deer pants for water“, meant that David was becoming exhausted, worn out and depleted from being pursued by the enemy and he had reached the point inside of himself that he wanted to lay down and just give up and die.  Not to sound overly dramatic but there have been seasons in my life where that has felt true for me, as well. Something I didn’t truly appreciate in my early twenties.

Have you ever felt that way?

David wrote a very deliberate cry to the Lord: As the deer pants for water, Lord!!! So my soul pants after YOU!!! He is saying, Lord, my soul thirsts for You, the Living God!

Not only in the good times, but in his most desperate hours, David turned to the Lord. He longed for the Lord. He sought the Lord. He worshipped the Lord.

As the deer pants for the water, does your soul pant after God?

As we enter the season of Lent, the time of reflection and prayer before Good Friday and Easter, I pray your heart and mind will lean into God, in fact, pant after God. As you do, may you be filled with awe and wonder of all God has done for you!