During WWII, our nation had to conserve resources, and the government made posters saying, “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.”
It’s catchy, but it doesn’t really inspire confidence.
Now listen to what scripture says: “To Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think…to Him be the glory” (Ephesians 3:20-21). Note that, not only is God able to do more than all we ask, but more than all we ask or think, and far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think!
What a contrast between messages. What a contrast between powers.
We need government. But God offers us so much more.
God is here and God helps.
“I wish I knew that these things were pleasing to god!”
A poet* wrote these words thousands of years ago far away in the middle east; but even across all this space and time, you can still feel his distress. How sad. How depressing. How discouraging. What he would have given for just a little clarity in his life!
Listen to what another man (the apostle Paul) wrote: “By revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ” (Ephesians 3:3-4). Imagine how excited the poet would have been if he had read these words!
Thankfully, we can know what pleases God. How comforting!
God is here and God helps.
*The quote is line 33 of the "Ludlul bēl nēmeqi," as translated by W. G. Lambert.
There is a comic (Pogo) about some animals discussing a lucky rabbit’s foot. One of the animals is deeply moved that the rabbit gave up its foot so someone else could have good luck. But another animal suggests that they should be impressed with the foot instead, because, after all, the foot gave up its whole rabbit.
Life is about perspective. And sometimes our focus is off, especially in difficult times. Listen to this— which was written to people who themselves were suffering: “Pure and undefiled religion is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress” (James 1:27).
One of the best ways for us to thrive in our own trials is to selflessly think about other people.
God is here and God helps.
One ancient historian (Thucydides*), writing about the war between Sparta and Athens, said, “priests were giving out prophecies of all kinds, and everyone made the interpretation” he himself preferred.
It is so common for spiritual people to believe what we WANT to believe. And the result is chaos. But this is not God’s fault and it is not His plan. Consider what God says about the Bible: “Know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (2 Peter 1:20-21). When it comes to God and the Bible, our role is not to determine what it says but to discover what He means — whether or not it’s to our liking.
God is here and God helps.
(*In The Peloponnesian War, book 2, chapter 21; Hobbes.)
Albert Einstein wrote, “What does a fish know of the water in which it swims all its life?” We're not Einstein. But we’re not fish either: We want to know about this world — all of it.
One scripture says: “Our struggle is against the rulers the powers the world forces of darkness the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12 — though there is more to the text).
This is scary. But in another passage someone (Jesus!) says: “In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). This is comforting.
One more relevant quote: “Whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith” (1 John 5:4).
God is here and God helps.
After Edward, Prince of Wales, visited the United States one time, he quipped: “The thing that impresses me the most about America is the way parents obey their children.”
This may be funny to read about, but it’s not funny for the family spiraling out of control — it’s anguish for the mom, for the dad, and for the children.
One book, the Bible, says: “Children, obey your parents”(1) and “Honor your father and mother”(2) “so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth”(3) and “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger”(4) and “Her children rise up and bless her”(5).
It may not always be easy, but it is possible!
God is here and God helps.
*Quotes 1-4 are from Ephesians 6:1-4; quote 5 is from Proverbs 31:28.
After the ancient Athenians voted to begin one of their wars, one man who didn’t want the war suggested voting a second time. But the council would not, because bringing the same matter to the same people again would be considered treasonous for questioning their will.
(Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War, 6.14)
There is a similar situation in the Bible (Numbers 22) where God declares His will to a man, but later the man, who doesn’t like what God wants, asks God the same thing a second time. In the account, God becomes angry. We get this: God had declared His will; the man should not have questioned it.
We need to get this also: While the Athenians would have banished or killed their traitor, God allowed the man to live, giving him time to change. What a loving God: He gives us law and grace!
God is here and God helps.
High speed cameras have captured squirrels and cats that have been launched unsuspectingly, following their flight path and recording their bodily movements as they go from flailing to landing upright on all fours.
The pattern is the same: First, within milliseconds the animal identifies exactly where it will land and then never takes its eyes off this spot; second, the animal brings its upper body under control by either extending its front legs outward or bringing them in tight to control the direction and spiraling of the body (like an ice skater does with his arms); third, the animal’s rear legs come under control; finally, it lands exactly where it has been looking.
The point is, God created this system. And it works. Every time.
God also created His Word for humans. And it will work. Every time.
Try God’s word! (Consider Isaiah 55:10-11.)
God is here and God helps.
Recently there was a news story about a little Australian girl who wandered off alone in the outback and was lost for 35 hours.* The family dog that was mostly deaf, mostly blind, and mostly gimpy followed her, stayed with her, cuddled with her, kept her warm through the night, and then led rescuers to her. How amazing! How comforting for the sad little girl!
And the next time we see someone who needs comforting, maybe we shouldn’t be so quick to underestimate how much we can help them: Sometimes they just want to know that they are known. Sometimes they just want someone there. Of course, the best comfort is found in God’s Word, which says, “Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down, but a good word makes it glad” (Proverbs 12:25).
God is here and God helps.
(*Click here to learn more about this little girl and her dog.)
“Science” is supposed to be purely naturalistic: it looks for explanations in nature. This is why it does not allow any theory that includes God: God is outside of nature; so it is “unscientific” to talk about God.
But notice how “science” will talk against God: It forbids theories that assert God; but it allows critiques those theories.
So in fact, science does talk about God — it’s just that all the discussions are one sided: the side against God. Talk about a one-sided “debate”!
If you see this inconsistency, you’re not alone — even many scientists see it: for example, Elliott Sober, an evolutionist himself, said that the theory of intelligent design is “worth considering” and an object of “intellectual beauty.”*
God is here and God helps.
*Philosophy of Biology (2000), 2nd ed., page 29
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