I recently saw an article entitled “The Everything Shortage.” It reminded me of the song written by Gary S. Paxton, “No Shortage.” In it he writes:
There’s a shortage on corn, There’s a shortage on wheat, There’s a shortage on beans and there’s a shortage on meat. Things that we’re needing we just can’t hardly buy, Soon we’ll be asking if we’re all gonna die.
The second verse includes these lines:
There’s a shortage on fuel oil, there’s a shortage on gas, There’s a shortage on wood and there’s a shortage on glass. Things that we’ve wasted are now precious to buy, You know there’s even a shortage on the air in the sky.
Sounds like it could have been written yesterday. But in was 1975. If he had penned this recently, he might have added toilet paper, matches, ammunition, computer chips, chocolate chips, common sense, and honest politicians.
Yes, we see inflation all around us. It affects us all. Crying won’t help. Maybe a little humor will.
Inflation is when you sock something away and the sock shrinks.
Inflation is when you have money to burn and you can’t afford matches.
Maybe the only way to slow down inflation is to send through the US Postal Service.
But, thankfully, inflation can’t touch everything. You can still use a dime as a screwdriver.
Yes, there may be a shortage on a million things, but I agree with Gary Paxton, THERE’S NO SHORTAGE ON GOD’S MERCY, THERE’S NO SHORTAGE ON GOD’S LOVE!
Nana took 6 year-old Rachel on a drive across Cowee Mountain a couple of weeks ago, when the fall color was at its peak. It has been a magnificent fall.
Nana said, “Just think, God painted all this!” “Yes,” replied Rachel, “and He did it with His left hand.”
Puzzled, Nana asked Rachel what in the world she meant.
“Well, I learned in Sunday School that Jesus was sitting on the right hand of God.”
Sitting on. Sitting at. Close enough, huh?
We talk about the “hand of God.” Of “the shadow of His wing.” I’m not certain that God has hands, after all, He is a Spirit. Jesus sure did. In fact, I am fairly sure God does not have hands, but I think we understand the personification and what it means.
Isaiah 49.14-16
“But Zion said, “the Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me.” Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands; your walls are ever before Me.”
Many in the church are losing hope. Living in despair. Many have concluded that the Deists were right – God is like a clockmaker who made the universe and then, upon completion, folded His arms, sat on His hands, and “sits” there today allowing it all to run on its merry way like a clock. No involvement.
The Lord has forsaken us! The Lord has forgotten us!
High prices, empty shelves, riots, climate change, Covid, wars, rumors of wars, attacks on morality, attacks on Christianity, persecution. And all the while God “sits” there doing nothing.
Is that us today? Is this the way I feel? The way I believe? Are you wondering, “Where is the God of Elijah?”
But I say this, even if you have the tiniest of faith, even as small as the proverbial mustard seed, it is enough.
Because He Still Has the Whole World in His Hands!
No, a woman is not going to forget the child suckling at her breast. And neither is our Father.
Behold! Open your eyes! Know this! He has inscribed us on the palms of His hands! He has engraved, He has written, He has tattooed us!
Psalm 139, which is too long to reproduce here, beautifully describes the relationship between Our Father and His human creation. Yes, we are wonderfully made. He knows our every thought, in fact verse 4 tells us that God knows me so intimately that “before a word is on my tongue, You know it completely.”
He knit me together in my mother’s womb. And since that time, every breath, every motion I have made has been in His presence.
“His hand will guide me, His hand will hold me fast.”
I don’t know what you believe. But I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord. I believe that He was conceived by Holy Spirit, born of a virgin. I believe that Jesus was crucified, dead and buried. I believe that He rose again, appeared to His disciples, and ascended into heaven. I believe that Jesus “sits” at the right hand of the Father, and that one day, He will return to judge the living and the dead.
If God is not alive today, then He never was.
If God is not involved in the daily life of our world, then He never was.
If God is not in control of my destiny, then He never was.
So I will not be shaken, and I will not be moved! He STILL has the whole world in His hands!
In Matthew 14.22-33, we have the episode of the stormy night and Peter walking with Jesus on water.
Jesus orders His men into the boat. When we are born again, in a sense, we are placed in a boat. And it is this boat that Jesus has ordained that will take us “to the other side.” There is safety in the boat. There are numbers there.
But Jesus does enter this boat with His disciples. They row on ahead.
I have been on the Sea of Galilee, where this event took place. In favorable conditions, skilled oarsmen would take perhaps an hour to get “to the other side.” But this is night, and the weather turns sour. The wind is whipping every which way but the right way. The waves are trying to capsize the boat.
And there is no Jesus insight.
Maybe God has abandoned us. Maybe the Deists were right. Does He not know that we are about to die?
I’ve been reading EUROPE, by Norman Davies. It is 1365 pages long. As of today, I’m on page 509. I might finish next decade.
So far, approximately 50000 Christians have been killed – by other “Christians.” Evil Popes. The “Holy Inquisition.” Kings and Queens. Some of the revered “Fathers of the Faith” had their heads removed. Burned at a stake.
John Calvin, yes he of Calvinism, once recommended that a certain man named Severtus be beheaded.
Martin Luther once approved of a bigamous marriage of a king and told him to “Tell a strong lie” about it.
These men were just that – mere men. With all the great things they may have proposed and achieved, they had their flaws.
We think times are bad today? Any of us could have been on the wrong side of a doctrine if we had lived in the 1300-1500s. And, you know, we may yet face such persecution here in America.
Already many across the world are facing persecution. It has never ceased. And here I am, complaining about the price of ground beef.
For at least 6 hours the men in the boat tried valiantly to hold onto their faith in the face of terrifying conditions. Some mountains are meant to be moved. Others must be climbed. (Remember James 1?)
And then Jesus comes towards them, walking on the Sea of Galilee. Maybe it was foggy. It was certainly the middle of the night. They did not recognize Him. “It is a ghost!”
Jesus may not always arrive when I THINK he should. But He is never late.
What about us? Have the weeks and months and maybe even years piled up on us? Weeks and months without SEEING GOD DO SOMETHING about my situation? I am forgotten! I am forsaken!
Remember, these disciples had just hours earlier had an active role in the miracle of the feeding of about 7-8000 people with only 5 loves and 2 fishes on hand.
What have you done for me lately, Jesus?
“Take courage! It is I!”
“If it is you, Lord, bid me come to you.”
You can say what you want about Peter, but I have never heard of any other human walking on water. Now I admit, I have not googled it.
Peter walks on water. I don’t know how many steps he took. 5,10, 24? But then his “senses” got the better of him and he loses focus on Jesus and turns to his circumstances.
I am certain that I would have as well.
Faith. Faith in the power of Jesus.
Then, he begins to sink, and it only the saving power of Jesus Christ that saves him.
Apart from Christ, we all sink. “Lord, save us!”
Do I care about the circumstances I live in? Of course. Do I care about what the price of gas will be next year? You bet I do. Am I concerned about whether or not the United States government supports Israel? Indeed. Am I concerned about the coming day when the federal government will try and control what is said from the pulpit? I am. Do I wish Covid would end? Certainly.
These waves and these winds will rock the boat and I cannot control them. But I know the Master of the Wind. I know the Maker of the Waves. And He is saying to me, “Why do you doubt?” “You are written on the palm of My hand.”
So I stretch out my hand to Jesus. And He takes it, and if he chooses to dive down into the depths of the sea, I go with Him. If we stay underwater for an hour, I am safe in Him.
He’s got you and me, brother, in His hand.
He’s got you and me, sister, in His hand.
He’s got everybody here, in His hand.
He’s STILL got the whole world in His hand!