He Looks Down

Posted on May 1, 2017 by Pete

I read something this morning that was written specifically for me. Penned centuries and centuries before, the author, as well as the Divine Author, had me in mind. And so, as I chew on it this morning, I’m savoring the implication of a God who looks down.

Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD: that He looked down from His holy height; from heaven the LORD looked at the earth.

(Psalm 102:18-19 ESV)

It was recorded for a generation to come, a people yet to be created. Referring, no doubt, to subsequent generations of those whose lineage is found in the tribes of Israel. But I can’t help but think that “a people yet to be created” foreshadows a new tribe. Not a bloodline people, but a blood-bought people. Not based on their birth certificate but on their rebirth certificate.

Redeemed through the finished work of the cross, they are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession” (1Pet. 2:9). They are new creations in Christ, sins forgiven, hearts of stone replaced with hearts of flesh, robed in the righteousness of the Son, sealed by the Spirit, the life they now live they live by faith in the Son of God who loved them and gave Himself for them (Gal. 2:20).

And they are my people. Not because of who we are, but because of what Jesus has done. Not because of what we’ve done, but because of who He is. And to this generation, to this people yet to be created, the ancient writer wants it known, He looks down.

From the holy heights of heaven our God graciously peers over the balcony. His ear attentive to the prayers of His people. His attention captured by their cries. His compassion ignited by their groanings. He looks down.

And ours is to look up. To believe what the inspired author says is true is, in fact, true. To pray even when our prayers seem to go no higher than the ceiling, because we know the LORD knows. He has eyes on what is happening down here from up there. And He will act as He sovereignly determines . . . according to His promise, fulfilling His purpose, so that His name will be praised.

Comfort and awe. Those are the “flavors” I’m tasting as I chew on the truth of a God who looks down.

Comfort, because the Almighty knows our estate. Familiar with our weakness. Aware of our struggle. Supplying living water without end “that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16).

Awe, because He cares. He who is in need of nothing, cares enough to look down upon our need. So loves His people that He listens to our voice. So anticipates the day when we will be in His presence that He patiently works with us, through all our circumstance–both mountaintops and valleys–to form in us the image of His Son through the sanctifying work of His Spirit.

He looks down . . .

. . . that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD . . .

For His grace. For His glory.

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And He Played the Harp Too

Posted on April 28, 2017 by Pete

To quote Admiral Boom from Mary Poppins, “A word of advice, young man. Storm signals are up at number 17. Bit of heavy weather brewing there.” Number 17, in my reading this morning, was anywhere Saul was. The ego-driven king had spared the sheep, disobeyed the command, and rejected His God. Thus God had rejected Him from being king, determined the throne would be removed, and the Spirit had departed. Storm signals were up. And a “harmful spirit” came upon on the king-to-no-longer-be and tormented him. Dark clouds hung over the rebellious king.

But music has a way of soothing the troubled soul and so Saul’s servants encouraged him to bring in a capable musician so that when the clouds of depression descended, the music of the heart might lift the heaviness. Saul agrees and a musician is identified.

One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, and the LORD is with him.” Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.”

(1Samuel 16:18-19 ESV)

David’s resume caught my eye as I read it this morning. Not only did he meet the minimum qualifications of being skillful with an instrument, but he was also known to be a man of courage and a brave warrior, as well. What’s more, he was articulate and well-spoken. And even his looks were fit for the courts of a king. But beyond his capability, his character, and his comeliness, David had something else that set him apart–Jehovah.

The LORD, the self-existing One, was with David. The presence of the Creator was especially found on His chosen creation. The Spirit of heaven’s glory had come upon the soon to be sovereign of Israel’s throne.

And as I chew on it, that’s what really mattered. The LORD was with him.

No matter how much talent someone has, there’ll always be someone a bit more skillful. No matter how brave, someone else braver. No matter how well-spoken, someone else more eloquent. And looks? Well they’re pretty fleeting. Today’s beauty becoming tomorrow’s wrinkles. The 6-pack abs we work so hard for now, looking more like a keg before we know it. But a man or woman whose constant companion is the LORD? That’s eternal.

Sure David’s playing would sooth Saul’s troubled soul. And the fact that he could handle a sword and debate a Rhodes scholar couldn’t hurt. But what the son of Jesse really brought to the house of Saul was the presence of the LORD.

And isn’t that the x-factor any believer should bring into the house of their employer? Beyond their skill, they’re also accompanied by the Spirit. The job get’s done and something of Jehovah is made manifest. While they may be employed by their boss, they ultimately work for their Master.

. . . but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me . . . For in these things I delight, declares the LORD. 

(Jeremiah 9:24 ESV)

David was a man known for the LORD’s presence with him . . . and he played the harp too.

All because of grace. All for God’s glory.

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Swallowed Up by Life

Posted on April 27, 2017 by Pete

Said it before, will say it again. Sometimes the best way to deal with the here and now is to pause and refocus on the there and then. Paul did. Reading in 2Corinthians 4 this morning and Paul’s “afflicted in every way”, perplexed, persecuted, struck down, and constantly brushing up against death. Yet, he writes, “We are not crushed, nor driven to despair. We don’t feel forsaken, nor are we dismayed.” How come?

Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into His presence.

(2Corinthians 4:13-14 ESV)

Paul could go through all he went through and still not lose heart because, by faith, he knew that just as God had raised Jesus from the dead, so too, Paul would overcome death and one day be in His presence. Though his outer man wasted away with the eroding burdens of doing life, yet his inner man was being renewed daily as He anticipated being “away from the body and at home with the Lord” (4:16, 5:8). And when home, he anticipated “an eternal weight of glory” that made what was going on down here but a “light momentary affliction” in comparison (4:17).

He could deal with all the trial, tribulation, and all the suffering; he could put up with the spectre of death that hung over his mortality, because he knew that one day it would be swallowed up by life.

For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened–not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always of good courage.

(2Corinthians 5:4-6a ESV)

Swallowed up by life. That’s the phrase that I’m chewing on this morning. Doesn’t matter what translation you read, it reads the same. Literally, our mortality is drunk down, and so, it is swallowed up. Devoured, destroyed, absolutely and fully consumed. And by what? Life. According to my Greek lexicon, the state of one who is possessed by vitality. The real thing, genuine and full. Life active and vigorous.

All the burden is lifted. The clouds are forever removed. The weight on your chest, never to be experienced again. All because it will be swallowed by life. The handicap of aging and illness, consumed forever by vitality and vigor.

No wonder Paul saw the valleys of the here and now as light momentary afflictions. Because, by faith, and through the inner witness of the active, life-guaranteeing Spirit of God, he could anticipate something of what life would be like in the presence of the glory of the Author of Life. He could sense something of the joy to be known in a place where every tear is wiped away and there shall be no more “mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Rev. 21:4).

All because it will be swallowed up by life.

And so, we don’t lose heart. Our inner man, our inner woman, is being renewed day by day. We groan, not so much because we again need to carry the burden of the day, but because we can’t wait to put on the weight of glory that will be ours in a soon to come tomorrow. And so, by faith, we keep on keepin’ on.

By His grace. For His glory.

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How Do I Smell?

Posted on April 25, 2017 by Pete

If I’m correctly applying what I’m reading this morning, then I have an odor. If, what Paul says concerning himself is also true of me, than I emit a particular scent. Not a literal aroma (though some of us do), but a spiritual emanation. Not one picked up by one of our five senses. But one that registers before the throne of God. So, I guess the question I could be asking this morning is, “How do I smell?”

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.

(2Corinthians 2:14-15 ESV)

In describing his ministry, “to preach the gospel of Christ” (2:12), Paul likened it to God diffusing, or manifesting, “the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere.” The knowledge of God has a certain “air” about it. It possesses a distinctive savor, a particular aroma.

For some, those who have eyes to see and hears to hear (and, I guess, noses to smell), the fragrance is very attractive. It draws them to the Source. Creates a desire to fill themselves with the enticing aroma of the love and grace of God as shown in and through His Son. For others, though, it is a distasteful smell. It repels them. It is the smell of death (2:16). A foul odor that causes them to hold their noses and seek escape. But, regardless how it was received, Paul saw himself as a vehicle through which God emitted the fragrance of the knowledge of Himself.

But not only did Paul see himself as having a fragrance to those around him, but, led by the divine authorship of the Spirit, Paul writes that He also had a certain bouquet before God. That to God he possessed the aroma of Christ. Different Greek word used here. While a general term for savor or odor is used in verse 14–we emit a certain odor which is the knowledge of God–in verse 15 the word is literally “a sweet smell” or a “sweet savor.” It’s the same descriptor attached to the Old Testament sacrifices, a thing well-pleasing to God.

So Paul saw himself emanating a particular scent both to those around him and to heaven itself. For those encountering it on earth, it was either a life-giving aroma or, it had the stench of judgment and death upon it. But to those who picked it up in the heavenlies, it was a sweet smelling savor. The God who saved Paul and called him to represent the kingdom of heaven could breathe deep and take in the wonderful aroma of a life given to sacrificial service for the One who saved him. God detecting that Paul had put on the aromatic nuance of His Son, the One who “loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Eph. 5:2).

So I gotta ask myself, “How do I smell?”

What kind of scent am I emitting to those around me? What are they picking up in the air when I’m around. Is it fresh and alive, and gospel-scented? Or, is it kind of stale, more like moldy religion?

And how about the God who so loves me? What’s He picking up? Is He breathing deep of that sweet smelling savor of sacrifice? The sacrifice of a life surrendered on the altar? (Rom. 12:1) The sacrifice of praise, the fruit of my lips offered in constant thanksgiving and praise? (Heb. 13:15)

Sounds a bit intimidating to be asking such questions, doesn’t it? Yeah! To Paul too!

Who is sufficient for these things?    (2Corinthians 2:16b ESV)

Not us. At least not on our own.

While we can seek to cultivate the right mix of ingredients which might result in a pleasant and enticing perfume, God is the Perfumer. He takes the unique composition of “ingredients” we willing give to Him, and He works it to create a spiritual, one of a kind, “Designer” fragrance for us to wear. The ingredients we bring to the table are mixed with His grace and enhanced by His Spirit and are turned into an aroma worn for His glory.

Might we beware of the fragrance we emit. Might we desire to be a sweet smelling savor! That those we come in contact with would pick up on a certain scent coming off us. Something not quite of this world. Something that hints of the God who so loved the world. And, might we continually be an aromatic offering ascending to the throne. That God would detect the fragrance of His Son on us.

An aroma infused by grace. An aroma worn for His glory.

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Smart Thinking

Posted on April 24, 2017 by Pete

Paranoia is just smart thinking when everybody’s against you. Heard that years ago from a colleague. Made me laugh then. Still causes me to chuckle now. And I kind of think that, overall, our culture is full of “smart thinkers.” If not full-blown classic paranoiacs, then those who exercise a “healthy level” of distrust. Ours is something of a society of cynics as we assume that everyone is working an angle. While there’s truth that we need to be discerning on the one hand, and willing to earn other’s trust on the other, I fear that all too often we start at a deficit position because our culture assumes everyone is working some sort of personal agenda, be it political, ideological, theological, ecological, physiological, or, from our point of view, simply illogical. And maybe that’s just smart thinking when you’re living in this world. But what if your peer group is of another world?

For our boast is this: the testimony of our conscience that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you.

(2Corinthians 1:12 ESV)

Paul did what he did with simplicity and godly sincerity. Whether it was suffering for the faith or apparently meddling in the affairs of one of the churches he had planted, his motives were born of a “mental honesty” and free from pretense and hypocrisy. His actions were spurred not from a preconceived agenda he put together but from a divine stewardship he had been given. His motives were pure. His actions were consistent. And his barometer for knowing this to be true? His conscience.

And while I get that when going out into the world we need to be “wise as serpents” (Matt 10:16), I’m also thinking that when hanging out with the family of God we should know such security that, when it comes to our brother and sisters, we receive them being as “innocent as doves.” Without malice of intent, on the up and up, seeking to live by the grace of God in simplicity and sincerity for the glory of God.

But I fear that too often we embrace the world’s “smart thinking.” We convey that even believers have to be received with a measure of “godly suspicion.” That while they are new creations in Christ we don’t really think they’re all that new. That we need to assume they too have an agenda and already know the answers they want, even if they say they are simply asking questions.

Sure, there’s a level of risk in starting from a point of trust with another believer. But isn’t it a risk worthy taking? If when, by determining to behave ourselves in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, and believing that others seeking the kingdom are doing likewise, we portray something in our community which refutes “earthly wisdom” and instead puts on display the grace of God.

Simplicity and godly sincerity, that’s how Paul determined he would govern all his actions. But especially, supremely, those directed toward the people of God.

Sure there may be a place for “smart thinking” as we sojourn, but there’s even more a need for sanctified thinking.

May God’s people be marked by simplicity and sincerity of purpose and may we be known for how we love, and trust, one another.

Because of grace and by His grace. That it might be for His glory.

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Being a Comforter

Posted on April 21, 2017 by Pete

Kind of a crazy week. A dear sister and her husband eerily walking a similar path to what we walked over five years ago. Word that an associate of mine from the past recently lost a daughter who was just starting to live her life. And a friend whose friends suddenly find themselves dealing with the loss of an active 16 year old son to a hidden medical condition. Like I said, crazy. And all this layered onto the stuff we’re working through in our own little piece of this mosaic called life. And don’t even get me going on all that’s going on in the news.

Sometimes, trying to deal with all the suffering, ours and others, can feel somewhat overwhelming. Honestly, I think I can kind of get those who decide to tap out. I understand, at least to some degree, why someone might choose to retreat. To put themselves in a self-directed, indefinite time out. To try out hermit-hood for awhile.

But, while we don’t always have a lot answers for the trials we go through or for the suffering around us, as I start in on 2Corinthians this morning, I’m reminded of at least one answer for our many “Why?”s.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

(2Corinthians 1:3-4 ESV)

Affliction. Also translated tribulation, troubles, hard times. Literally, pressure, a pressing together. A weight on your chest. A burden bowing your back.

And our God, the Father of mercies, is the God who comforts us in those afflictions. The One who alleviates some of the pressure. The One who draws alongside and helps carry the burden. Who quietly speaks words of comfort and hope so as to restore some level of equilibrium. Who tilts the chin upward so that we refocus on things above and not obsess only what’s below. Who provides a sustaining grace and a supernatural power to help us keep on keepin’ on.

So, at least part of knowing hard times is that we would also know divine comfort. And having experienced that, then be available to comfort others who are dealing with the weight of their own sufferings.

Maybe that’s why, when it’s still so fresh and you’d rather just hang out by yourself in a cave, the Lord makes you aware of opportunity to pass it on. To draw alongside others and empathize. To listen with a bit more understanding of what others may be experiencing. To maybe say a word in season that might be used as a bit of balm in the hands of the God of all comfort.

I don’t really know. And, after all, it’s not about me.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort . . .

But there is something about having been comforted that qualifies you, at least in some measure, to being a comforter.

Only by His grace. Always for His glory.

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The Redeemer Who Redeems

Posted on April 20, 2017 by Pete

When’s a redeemer not a redeemer? When he is unable, or unwilling, to redeem.

In ancient Israel it wasn’t enough just to have the right to redeem another’s land, but the next redeemer in line also needed to have the means. He needed to be able to pay the price. But as I read the last chapter of Ruth this morning, I’m also reminded that even having the right and the means to redeem doesn’t necessarily make you a redeemer if you’re not willing to pay the price . . . if you’re not really willing to redeem.

While Boaz was a relative of Naomi’s late husband, Elimilech, and therefore had the right to redemption, there was a closer relative who legally had the first right of refusal on acquiring Elimilech’s estate. And it’s evident that this closer relative would have no problem coming up with the cash. So, when Boaz pulls him aside at the gate in front of many witnesses to offer him first dibs on the estate, potential redeemer No. 1 is all in. He’ll take the land Naomi has put up for sale.

But then Boaz points out that what’s to be redeemed is a package deal. That the field was to be accompanied by a female. That keeping the land in the family was only part of the deal. But that the greater priority was keeping the family on the land. And so, according to Mosaic precedent (Deut. 25:5-6), and the condition of sale insisted upon by Naomi, to buy the land also meant taking a wife–Naomi’s interest being not only for her own welfare, but for Ruth, her widowed daughter-in-law, as well.

At that the point, the redeemer isn’t. While he has the cash, it’s too high a price to pay. Taking on another parcel of land is one thing, but taking on another person? That’s a totally different matter. Though the transaction might increase his assets, it would dilute their value and impact his plans for his own inheritance. And so he passes.

Did he have the right to redeem? Yes. Able to redeem? You bet. Willing to redeem? No way! And so, the redeemer is really no redeemer at all.

Enter the true redeemer . . . the redeemer who redeems.

Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and to Mahlon. Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place. You are witnesses this day.”

(Ruth 4:9-10 ESV)

Boaz was ready to redeem. He was able to redeem. And he was willing to redeem. Willing to pay the price for the real estate. Willing to invest his life in the relationship. A redeemer who redeemed.

And as I chew on Boaz’s act of redemption, I get a fresh taste of the redemption secured by another redeemer, Jesus, the Greater Boaz.

He had the right to redeem, as all things were made by Him and for Him. He possessed the means to redeem, by virtue of the fact that His blood shed as the Lamb of God was sufficient to pay the wages owed for the sin of the world. But, here’s the thing that moves me this morning. His willingness to not only pay the price, but to take on the relationship, too.

The spotless, pure, and holy Son of God willing to be yoked with a sinner, though a redeemed sinner, such as I. Not just to tolerate me abiding in His presence, but desiring, even more, to come in and sup with me in all my work-in-progress imperfections. Not only willing to be the Shepherd of often fickle sheep, but to have paid the price so that He might call us His brothers and sisters. Looking way beyond us as just those redeemed to be part of His inheritance, but willing, even desirous, that as His precious possession, we might one day share with Him in the glorious inheritance that will be His from the Father.

Jesus the Christ . . . the Redeemer who redeems.

Ready, able, and willing to save to the uttermost.

Shedding His blood that I might have life, even life to the full.

O what a Savior!

Such amazing grace. To Him be all the glory!

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Favor for the Foreigner

Posted on April 19, 2017 by Pete

She had made the call. She was all in. Ready to leave her home and her homeland. Prepared to venture into the unknown. A Moabite by birth, she was now prepared to be an Israelite by choice. If her mother-in-law was determined to go back to her people, then Ruth would go too, and Naomi’s people would be Ruth’s people.

But I’m thinking this morning that these sort of things are not usually a unilateral decision. You don’t just get to choose the team you want to play on. The team has to choose you too. There’s no joining the club, if the club won’t have you. There’s no going to the party, unless someone let’s you in at the door. And, even if you should sneak in unawares, there’s no staying once your discovered unless the host will have you.

So, big risk on Ruth’s part. But, by faith she follows Naomi. Devoted to her as if to her own mother. Ready to exchange her people and heritage for Naomi’s. All in, owning Naomi’s God as her God. But would Naomi’s people receive Ruth? Would their God own her? That, as they say, is the question (or, the questions, as the case may be).

Fast forward to a field owned by a man named Boaz. A man of wealth and reputation, of influence and power. And Ruth makes another unilateral decision, “Let me go to the field and glean” (Ruth 2:2). His field, will be my field. Yeah, but only if he let’s her stay.

So she goes and picks up the leftovers. And when Boaz sees her, he picks up on her. He finds out it’s Naomi’s daughter-in-law. And then the rich and powerful man of Israel addresses the nobody from Moab.

Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Now, listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.

(Ruth 2:8-9 ESV)

Boaz give her’s a place, “Stay here, don’t leave this field.” He gives her a peer group, “Keep close to my young women.” He gives her protection, “I’ve ensured the young men won’t touch you.” And he promises on-going provision, “When you’re thirsty, drink freely.”

She picked his team. And he picked her. She asked, he gave. She knocked, he opened the door. And the privilege is not lost on Ruth.

Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?”

(Ruth 2:10 ESV)

I hover over these words and they are my words. For I too was a foreigner, “separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12). And like Ruth, I too found favor in the eyes of a Redeemer. But here’s the thing, before I picked Him, He chose me. Before I determined to seek Him, He was already drawing me. Before I knew enough to even want to enter His field, He had made ready a place, a peer group, sustaining protection, and an eternal provision.

My name having found a place written in His book. Adopted as a son, counted as one of the Family, and wired in as a member of the Body. His seal of protection on me–the power that raises from the dead inside me, making me an overcomer, “for He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1Jn. 4:4). And springs of living water forever available, every thirst satisfied, every hunger met in Him.

Spend but a few minutes considering it and going facedown just seems the right thing to do.

Why have I found favor in Your eyes, that You should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?

Favor for the foreigner. Blessing for the beggar. Grace for the gleaner.

Behold, the Redeemer. To Him be all glory!

Amen?

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Bitter Theology

Posted on April 18, 2017 by Pete

Started in on Ruth this morning. And, not too surprisingly, found myself entering into Naomi’s story a bit more personally than in the past. Not an easy road for that lady. Went through tough times and famine, but at least she did it with her man, Elimelech. They then make the call to relocate with their two boys to a foreign land in pursuit of a better life. But her husband dies way too soon. And though she sees her boys grow up and take wives, she never sees grandchildren from them as they both die prematurely, as well.

Or was it prematurely? My wife would have said no. That no one dies early. That God has numbered all of our days according to His plan. Sue acknowledged it confidently and without fear. Even hopefully, believing fully that the end of our days here is only the beginning of an eternity in His presence. Naomi also acknowledged that God was sovereign not only over all of life but over death as well. But her’s was a bitter theology.

Though her widowed daughter-in-laws wanted to return with her to the homeland, Naomi’s seeks to dissuade them:

“Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the LORD has gone out against me.”

(Ruth 1:12-13 ESV)

“The hand of the LORD has gone out against me.” That was Naomi’s cut on her life circumstance. Can’t really blame her for feeling that way.

But one of the girls, Ruth, pledges her love and devotion to Naomi and determines she will faithfully remain with her mother-in-law until nothing but death parts them. But even that bit of sunshine in her cloud-filled world isn’t enough to re-direct Naomi’s perspective on God’s sovereignty. When she and Ruth return to Naomi’s home in Bethlehem, she insists she no longer be called Naomi, which means “My Delight”. Rather, she wants to be addressed by something more in line with her worldview, “Bitterness.”

She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the LORD has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?” (Ruth 1:20-21 ESV)

The hand of the LORD against her. Her God deciding to swap out her fullness with emptiness. Having set Himself against her, the Almighty determining to bring calamity upon her. The Sovereign having sovereignly determined to fill her life with bitterness. What’s to delight in? Just call me Bitter. And I get it . . . to a degree.

But I know the end of the story. That a nobody Moabitess, Ruth, would be redeemed by a wealthy suitor, Boaz. That a baby would be born and a bitter grandma would be blessed. And that through that baby a royal line would be established, a forever throne promised, and a soul-saving King sent. That sin would be atoned for, death would be conquered, and joy never-ending made available.

And so, while I get the bitterness, I’m also reminded of the better-ness . . .

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

(Romans 8:18 ESV)

For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

(2Corinthians 4:17-18 ESV)

So don’t call me Mara . . . I’ll take Naomi.

Because of grace. For His glory.

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Shadow Living

Posted on April 17, 2017 by Pete

Usually, we don’t think of living in someone’s shadow as a good thing. We tend to connect living in the shadow of someone else as feeling unsuccessful in comparison with their successfulness. If I live in the shadow of my dad, it’s because he’s viewed as the accomplished one and I feel like I am perpetually coming up short of who he was or what he did. To be in his shadow usually means that everyone knows his name, and they know me just as his son. No, shadow dwelling isn’t something we aspire to in our culture.

But as I read Psalm 91, it occurs to me it’s all about whose shadow we’re talking about. And if it’s the Almighty’s, then why would we desire anything other than shadow living?

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

(Psalm 91:1-2 ESV)

There’s no competing with the glory of God. No usurping His might and power. No place for the creation to boast before the Creator. Such thinking is folly. So, in that sense, everyone is in God’s shadow, whether they acknowledge it or not.

But for those of us who seek His shelter, who desire to pitch our tent in His presence, and determine to take a seat and abide at His feet, we know something of the full blessing of shadow living.

We know the cool of the day, regardless of how much things heat up. We find refuge, even in the most severe of tempests. We remain secure, despite the attacks of the enemy. There is protection in shadow living. Amen?

For the One who casts the shadow has promised to deliver those who find refuge in Him. To deliver, first and foremost, from the wages owed because of sin. To rescue from a debt no one has any hope of repaying. To provide payment in full through the finished work of Christ on the cross so that all who seek the shadow of the cross might know deliverance from sin and death.

But beyond that, because we have made the Lord our dwelling place and the Most High our refuge, though the going may get tough, we’re still able to keep on going. Not in our strength, but in His power, the power of shadow living. Not because of how good we are at enduring, but because of how great His grace is towards meeting our need. Not by our might or power, but by His indwelling Spirit. Delivered once from sin and death, carried on His wings daily as we deal with trial and temptation.

And there’s another thing about shadow living. It’s transitory. Our lives are but a shadow. The toil, trial, and testing are but for a relatively short period of time when we consider that He has wired us for life everlasting and redeemed us for eternity. The shade will give way to light. The clouds will pass. Times of darkness we know are fleeting. And, in knowing that, we whose lives are but a mist find all-sufficient strength for the day as we rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

Shadow living. No place I’d rather be. Happy should those around me know of His greatness more than my own. Blessed if I’m known only as His son.

By His grace. For His glory.

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