Scripture

God Seeks and Gathers, Always

In Psalm 107:3, the writer shares with a very basic reason why we should praise God.

and has gathered them from the lands — from the east and the west, from the north and the south. (Psalm 107:3, CSB)

God’s lovingkindness is active. His grace, mercy and compassion cause Him to move. He seeks out and gathers those who need Him from every corner of our world and in every condition where we find ourselves.

East and west are opposite directions on our globe. We are constantly living in day or night and within 24 hours, we experience both. East and west never end and they never meet. Day and night, light, darkness, awake or asleep, working or resting, doesn’t hinder God’s grace. He never says to us, “Okay, you’ve had enough,” then refuses to extend more. God’s grace compels Him to continually seek, gather, redeem, and restore.

North and south are different. They are directions with limits ending at our globe’s poles. In physical terms, both can be bitterly cold, isolating and deadly. In the original language, often the world translated into “south” here is translated as “seas”. The sea, too, can feel cold, lonely, and life-threatening. 

North and south have secondary meanings. Our hearts and minds and souls can travel in these north-south directions. North is often associated with dark, hidden, quiet, still places. South, especially seas are associated with loud, roaring, stormy places. Neither condition  – hidden, quiet, alone in the dark or open, exposed, troubled in the midst of a storm – neither condition hinders God’s grace. He is active in these places and every point between them, continually seeking, gathering redeeming, and assembling. 

His grace, His lovingkindness never changes. It never gives up. It never runs out. The Lord God Almighty continues to seek out broken pieces in our lives, gather them up, buy them back, and put the best parts back together.

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for not giving up on me. When I ask for Your help, You always show me what You want me to do. Sometimes it’s to wait and sometimes it’s to move. Sometimes when I haven’t moved, You give me space and time to experience the breaking parts of my life. Your goal is not my ruin. You know I need to recognize You want to redeem every part of my heart and mind. Help me to bring my broken parts to You so that You don’t have to chase me to the ends of the earth to help me. Thank You for not giving up on me.

Give Thanks. No Words Needed.

Heartfelt thanksgiving is first expressed in our posture. The Hebrew word for “give thanks” in Psalm 107:1 and verses 8, 14, 21, and 31 describes hands completely extended and hands open. Think about what happens naturally with your arms and body when you see a dearly loved family member or friend after a long separation. Or consider the posture small children take when they want to be in their parent’s arms. The feeling is expressed fully by the body posture.

יָדָה yâdâh, yaw-daw’; a primitive root; literally, to use (i.e. hold out) the hand; physically, to throw (a stone, an arrow) at or away; especially to revere or worship (with extended hands). [from the Blue Letter Bible]

God wants to hear our voice and our words, but more important to Him is the thanksgiving that comes straight from our hearts. The heart of worship, the heart of His child fully yielded and vulnerably open needs no words.

Heavenly Father,  Thank You for understanding when my gratitude has no words. Thank You for doing for me what I could not and cannot do for myself. Create in me a heart fully yielded and vulnerable to You.

Do you recognize the work already done?

Psalm 107:1, 2 – Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His faithful love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the LORD proclaim that He has redeemed them from the power of the foe.

Verses 1 and 2 of Psalm 107 indicate the psalm was written to a specific group of people – the redeemed. “Redeemed” is a word that disappeared from our vocabularies when World War II Ration Books and Green Stamps vanished. Keepers of ration books and collectors of Green Stamps knew their value. These little pieces of paper could be traded, redeemed for needed things (like food or gas) or desired things that were simply beyond the budget (like small kitchen appliances, cooking gadgets, Christmas trees, or kids’ toys). Ration cards or stamps allow you to have something you could not get any other legal way.

Before God redeemed us, we had no choice but continue down the path everyone starts on. This path was chosen in the Garden when humanity doubted the faithful love and goodness of God. As children of humanity, we cannot get off this path. The enemy of our soul hurries us past the free gift of grace by distracting or entrapping us with new, shiny, sparkly things. Some of us fare better than others, others of us experience the slow devastation of the enemy’s work. Either way, the path is filled with heartache, sorrow, chaos, and the final destination is destruction.

But God redeemed us. His gift of grace opens an opportunity for us to make a different choice. His path brings joy we can’t explain with words and peace that is beyond what we can understand. And, all along the way, He teaches us more and more about Him and asks us to draw closer to Him. The transformed life doesn’t necessarily happen overnight (although it can), but He is patient and kind with us. He never forces us to decide. He simply asks us to stop and look at the differences between His path and the other, then listen to the difference His voice and words make, and take one step toward Him.

This command to give thanks is our response to the sigh and whisper of God’s heart, “Oh, if those I have redeemed would recognize what I have done for them and thank Me, things would be so much better for them. I have already poured my grace and lovingkindness out on all of them. I have some much more goodness to lavish on them. If only . . .” (Psalm 107: 8, 15, 21, 31)

Heavenly Father, Thank you for redeeming me. Thank you for giving something that I couldn’t give so that I could have a personal relationship with You. You made my life so much better than it was, so much better than it would be without you! Thank you for showing me a better way! Your faithful love endures forever! Thank you!

Choose Intentionally

I’m still in the first parts of Genesis and have come to this conclusion:

Many times we tend to think of the world God created and His rules like this:

When we look at the world this way, it doesn’t appear to be very free or joyful.

But in reality, God’s rules are much simpler. In Genesis, when He presented choices to Adam and Eve, He said, “You can have every green thing to eat, except this one.” And He explained why. “When you eat this one, you will die.”

The truth is:

  • We always have the opportunity to decide between what God says to do and what He says not to do.
  • Once we make a choice, it is easier to make the same choice when the opportunity arises again.
  • There are always consequences to our choices. Sometimes one of the consequences is that making a better choice can be painful.
  • The choices we make reflect what we believe about God and ourselves.
    • Do I trust His word?
    • Do I trust that He knows what I need and like?
    • Do I trust Him to give me what’s best for me and warn me about what’s not?
  • His “Not” list is purposeful. What’s on that list is deadly!
  • To make a better choices, decide who always tells the truth and listen to what that One has to say.

Let’s Talk about Light

It’s time to go back to Genesis and start reading again. Each time I return, I see something different that speaks to my heart.

Verse 2 of Genesis 1 – The earth was unformed and void, darkness was on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God hovered over the surface of the waters. Look at all the descriptive words: unformed, void, darkness, deep. I went to my favorite concordance and found these notes:

  • Unformed comes from the root meaning to lie waste, a desolation. Figuratively speaking, this word means a worthless thing.
  • Void comes from the root to be empty and also describes a lack of thought or intelligence or an undistinguishable ruin. Lack of thought or intelligence? Empty-headed?
  • Darkness means literally dark or obscure. Figuratively speaking, it refers to misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness.
  • And deep? Think of an abyss covered with uncontrolled, surging water.

Have you ever visited this place? I have. Sometimes I arrived there because of my own choices. Sometimes others invited me to go along and I was too naive to refuse the invitation. And I’ve been dragged there a couple of times because of choices others made. No matter how we get there, it felts like a deep, dark hole full of nothing good. The reality is that there are plenty of these deep dark, worthless holes full of misery just waiting for us to step or fall into.

This is just the second verse of the Bible. But there’s hope! See the phrase that finishes the sentence? “And the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters” – those deep, dark waters.

He hovered. He moved in an ever-so-gently, relaxed way. He wasn’t in the deep. He wasn’t a part of the darkness. The desolate, empty, miserable, uncontrollable space didn’t bother Him. He was there, hovering, just above the fray – with a plan. His plan involved lighting things up.

Genesis 1:3 says “Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.” In the space right above the darkness, He hovers and calls to us. “What can I do for you? My child, what do you want? Can I turn on the light for you?” Light can be scary because we see what is really there. What if our imaginations have gotten things right? What if things really are as bad as we feel and think they are?

But He knows we need light to see the truth of the situation and act in more thoughtful (less empty-headed?) ways. Misery and darkness will not move until the light is turned on. And when we let Him, He separates the darkness and light in our lives and calls us to walk in His light each step of the way.

Do you need light today? Simply ask Him for His light. “Heavenly Father and God Almighty, turn on the light. Let me see Truth. Help me walk in Light. Help me to deal with any darkness by moving closer to You and walking humbly with You.”

Do you know someone who needs the light turned on? You can ask for that too. He is hovering over the darkness where they are. “Almighty God, in the beginning, You said, “Light” and the light appeared. Speak light into the life of the one I love and help me respond as You do with mercy, grace, and truth as they begin to see the reality of their circumstances. Help me humbly walk in Your Light as well.”