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Shelter

Have you ever watched a hen gather her chicks under her wings in a downpour? When the clouds burst, momma will spread her wings and the chicks will run to her, and in one fell swoop, she will gather all those babies under her wings and hunkered down in the storm. The chicks will literally disappear as the hen absorbs the maelstrom. In our time of storm, Psalm 91 says that God longs for us to find shelter in the shadow of his wings, too! And what love that Father has for us that he will absorb our storm through his son, Jesus Christ. Got a storm? Start running!

Making Life Work
Read: Psalm 91 // Focus: Psalm 91:1,4

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty…He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

My wife and I were celebrating our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary a few years back on the beautiful Hawaiian island of Kauai. It was in July, and we were on the rainier side of this lush island, and man was it raining. Throughout the day the clouds would burst and the downpour would send both man and beast running for cover.

We had a ground floor condo for the week that opened up into the grassy interior of the resort, and throughout the week, we noticed a hen and her brood of about five or six baby chicks that roamed the resort, and to our delight,  often took their leisure on our patio. Free range paradise chickens—what a life!

On one occasion when the downpour hit, we were in the room and the hen was right outside our sliding glass doors. When the clouds burst, it looked as if a firehose had been turned on; it was unbelievable. Then the most amazing thing happened: those baby chicks made a beeline for momma hen. I didn’t know chickens could run that fast. And old momma hen spread her wings like she had done it a million times before, and in one fell swoop, gathered all the babies under her wings and hunkered down in the storm. The chicks literally disappeared from sight for about 10 minutes, while mother hen absorbed the maelstrom.

As we watched this tender scene in amazement, my wife and I simultaneously commented on these tender verses from Psalm 91. As touched as we were by the mother hen’s love for her chicks, we were awestruck and undone by the Heavenly Father’s tender but protective love of his helpless kids—chicks like us.

What an awesome thing that we belong to a God who longs for us to find shelter in the time of storm under the shadow of his wings! And what love the Father has for us that he should send his only Son to absorb the storm of sin and protect us from the righteous wrath of the One who cannot tolerate that sin.

And the Son, Jesus Christ, still longs to gather us under his wings, as a hen gathers her brood: “How often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings…”

He longs to gather you, but here’s the deal: You’ve got to run to him!

Making Life Work: Got a storm? Start running!

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Time Flies

Are you as amazed as I am with the speed of time? What once seemed interminable when I was a kid—school, chores, the preacher’s sermon, winter—now seems to rush by like a speeding locomotive. I blinked and suddenly this sixteen year-old kid panting to get his driver’s license is now pushing sixty and panting just walking up the stairs. Watching my wife-to-be walk down the aisle has turned into the new adventure of grandparenting—overnight! Time flies, doesn’t it! I guess the best advice we will ever get as it relates to the speed of life comes in the form this prayer Moses’ offered: “Lord, teach me to number my days soberly, so that I might live each of them wisely.” Great idea: soberly assess the number of days you’ll have—then live them well .

Making Life Work
Read: Psalm 90 // Focus: Psalm 90:12

Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

True story: Kermit the frog was once heard saying, “Time’s fun when your having flies.” Okay, not true, but you get the point. Kermit got his idiom a bit garbled, but that is quite understandable when Miss Piggy is stalking you!

Kermit was on to something! The truth is, time does fly—whether you are having fun or not. Moses was reflecting on how relatively brief life was when he said in Psalm 90:10,

The length of our days is seventy years—
or eighty, if we have the strength;
yet their span is but trouble and sorrow,
for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

How true that is! Are you as amazed as I am with the speed of time? What once seemed interminable when I was a kid—school, chores, the preacher’s sermon, winter, life—now seems to rush by like a speeding locomotive. I blinked and suddenly this sixteen year-old kid panting to get his driver’s license is now pushing sixty and panting just walking up the stairs. Watching my wife-to-be walk down the aisle has turned into the new adventure of grandparenting—overnight! Staring in amazement at the mystery of life as our daughters were born seems like only yesterday. Now they are successful in their own careers, making their way in the world—quite well, I might add, and having an impact in this world.

Time flies!

You could certainly add your own experience to the narrative. And those of you who are older can definitely add an urgent witness to the speed of life even more than I can at this stage of life: Suddenly, the grandkids are getting married; great grandchildren are arriving; the body is not working quite like it used to even though the mind still thinks of yourself as a youngster, full of vim and vigor; you are facing life without your soul-mate—and something you never dreamed possible is now a gritty reality.

Time flies!

I guess the best advice we will ever get as it relates to the speed of life comes in the form this prayer Moses’ offered: “Lord, teach me to number my days soberly, so that I might live each of them wisely.” Great idea: learn to number your days aright, and therein gain a heart of wisdom.

Making Life Work: So perhaps it would be a good idea to follow Moses’ lead and pray that prayer today—and every day: ‘Lord, teach me to number my days soberly, so that I might live each of them wisely.’

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Promises

God makes promises. And, thank God, he keeps them, every one of them. He can’t help himself: “Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness—and I will not lie to David.” (Psalm 89:35) No, God will not lie to David, nor will God lie to you. Of course this psalm is specifically referring to God’s covenantal promise to King David, but it should be generally applied to God’s covenantal promise to all who are his people by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. That’s me, and that’s you, and that’s a very good thing! Even though the people around your may fail to keep their end of the bargain, and though you may not always follow through with what you have said you would do, you can relax with God—he will always come through for you.

Making Life Work
Read: Psalm 89 // Focus: Psalm 89:34

I will not violate my covenant or alter what my lips have uttered.

God makes promises. And he keeps them.

We ought to be grateful for that! You and I are alive today—saved, forgiven, adopted into God’s family, walking daily in an intimate relationship with Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit for good works, destined for an eternity full of unending purpose and indescribable fulfillment—only by virtue of God’s faithfulness to his promise.

The fact that God makes a promise guarantees he will keep that promise.

Yet that has not been our earthly experience, has it? We have been made promises only to have them broken. Parents, friends, teachers, bosses, politicians, preachers, and even our spouses—all have made promises, and chances are, most, if not all, have failed to deliver on their guarantees. In the realm of human relationships, our experience has taught us that a promise made is not necessarily a promise kept.

And we, ourselves, have made promises only to break them before the ink dried on our guarantee.

Not so with God. He makes covenants, and because he is a covenantly faithful God, he will do what he has promised to do. Even though we may fail him—and suffer the consequences of our failure, either through Divine punishment or natural outcomes, or both—God will stay true to his promise. (Psalm 89:30-37) God cannot help himself. Psalm 89:35 reminds us,

Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness—
and I will not lie to David-

No, God will not lie to David, nor will God lie to you. Of course this psalm is specifically referring to God’s covenantal promise to King David, but it should be generally applied to God’s covenantal promise to all who are his people by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. That’s me, and that’s you, and that’s a very good thing!

So here’s the deal: Even though the people around your may fail to keep their end of the bargain, and though you may not always follow through with what you have said you would do, you can relax with God—he will always come through for you.

__________________

Making Life Work: When was the last time you offered gratitude to God for his faithfulness to his promises? Maybe now might be a good time to do just that!
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Sad Songs

The motivation for so many of the songs we love have their origin in a broken heart or a dashed hope or a shattered dream. Tears are the wellspring of human inspiration. Perhaps you are crying over a persistent sadness in your own life today, and maybe it seems as if the stream of tears will never dry up. Try this: like the psalmist, put your experience into words. Then turn your words into a tune. And if nothing else, sing your own song to the Lord. You never know, someone may discover your sad song someday, and your lament may become a source of inspiration as they journey the highway of heartbreak.

Making Life Work
Read: Psalm 88 // Focus: Psalm 88:1-3

A maskil of Heman the Ezrahite. O LORD, the God who saves me, day and night I cry out before you. May my prayer come before you; turn your ear to my cry. For my soul is full of trouble and my life draws near the grave.

Country music isn’t the only genre to have an abundance of sad songs. The truth is, all types of music have their fair share of lament. It may not be obvious at first, but the motivation for so many of the songs we love have their origin in a broken heart or a dashed hope or a shattered dream. Tears are the wellspring of human inspiration.

The reason we keep coming back to sad songs time after time, generation after generation, millennium after millennium—and will continue to do so until sadness is banned from the created realm at the end of time—is because they work. As we listen to them, the singer skillfully pulls from us the very same raw-edged emotions of pain, loss, and disappointment described in the song, and somehow magically, mysteriously, inextricably, we become a part of it. Strangely, a sad song done well make us even sadder—and we love it.

That’s what the psalm is doing here. He is sad, and he has written a song about it that pulls us into the raw, jagged edge of his pain. This man despaired of death—perhaps from outside forces, or maybe from the inner pain of his heartbroken life. (Psalm 88:3) He felt abandoned by his closest friends, and all alone in the world. (Psalm 88:8,18). He was simply worn out with sorrow (Psalm 88:9) and was deeply disappointed with God for it. (Psalm 88:13-14) He had suffered a life-long devastation—with no relief in sight, and he was at a point of surrendering to the likelihood that his would always be a hard and sad life. (Psalm 88:15)

We know that this man, named Heman by the way, was a very wise man (I Chronicles 4:31)—among the wisest of the wise. Yet all of his wisdom, talent (he was also a singer-songwriter according to I Chronicles 15:19) and position in the king’s court didn’t prevent nor alleviate the pain that saturated his world. But Heman was wise enough not just to sit around and stew in his sad juices. Perhaps what made him so wise and talented was that he did something as therapeutic as anything else on earth to counteract his sadness: He wrote songs. He put his experiences and his emotions into words, and those words were set to music, and they were memorialized in the psalter of the human race, the book of Psalms. Maybe his pain never went away—we just don’t know—but I’m guessing—no, I’m sure—that he felt a whole lot better knowing that others would be inspired and find strength for their own painful journey through his music.

So why don’t you give it a shot. You’ve got pain, too. You have your fair share of sorrow, and disappointment. Sometime you wrestle with the sobering sense that your sadness over a matter may just be your lot in life. Perhaps it never will go away—I hope not—but that may be your reality. Go ahead and put your experience into words. Then turn your words into a tune. And if nothing else, sing your own song to the Lord.

You never know, someone may discover your sad song someday, and your lament may become famous. It wouldn’t be the first time.

Making Life Work: If sorrow, and disappointment have given birth to pain, and if it seems that sadness will be your lot in life, then put your experience into words, then turn your words into a tune. For sure, sing your song to the Lord, but stay open to the possibility that your sad song may enrich someone else along the way who is going through what you have gone through. Remember, your tears might be the wellspring that inspires another.

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Favorite Places

We all have favorite cities—the beautiful but quirky Portland, the iconic San Francisco, the bustling New York City. But did you know God has a favorite city, too? For his own reasons, he favors Jerusalem. And I can’t disagree with him—it’s pretty amazing. I hope you will get to go. It is absolutely breathtaking—physically and spiritually! And one day, Jesus will physically, literally reign there in his full glory—and the entire world will come to worship in the city of the Great King. And you will be there, too. As will I. So here’s the deal: Between now and then, pray for the peace of Jerusalem. (Psalm 122:6) Develop a passion for it, since God is so passionate about it. Start reading up on it. Plan a trip there before you leave Planet Earth. And just remember this: As spectacular as the view of the holy city is from this side of eternity; it ain’t nothing compared to what Jerusalem will be like when King Jesus lives there!


Making Life Work
Read: Psalm 87// Focus: Psalm 87:2

The LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.

There are certain cities that I just love. I’ll bet you have favorite places, too. I think San Francisco, for all its weirdness, has to be one of the most spectacular cities of all. The Golden Gate Bridge to the north, the Bay Bridge to the East, Alcatraz in between; North Beach, Fisherman’s Warf, the amazing skyline, the outstanding restaurants. What a cool city!

Denver is a great city in my book. The drama created by the Great Plains abruptly crashing into the snow-capped Rocky Mountains; the majestic front-range all the way from Pike’s Peak in the south to Long’s Peak to the north is nothing short of a never-ending Kodak moment. The spectacular panoramic view Denverites get every single day is second to none.

Portland is at the top of my list as well. There is nothing like the Great Northwest. The fall colors are every bit as wonderful as New England’s. The summers are indescribable. The fragrant blossoms on a spring day can almost make you forget the rainy winter you’ve just endured. The rivers, bridges, verdant hills, lush canopy and view of Mt. Hood will take your breath away, guaranteed. I am so blessed to live here.

And then there are cities I don’t like. I won’t mention any names, but, for instance, the initials of one such disliked city is, “L.A.” You figure it out. What were the city planners thinking when they laid that one out?

God has a favorite city, too. Did you know that? He has his reasons, and I am not entirely sure what they are, but I can’t disagree with him. Jerusalem is pretty amazing. I hope you will get to go there if you haven’t already. One of my favorite views of any city in the world is the one you get coming up over the Mount of Olives, and looking westward over the Kidron Valley, getting a glimpse for the first time of the Temple Mount of the holy city, Jerusalem. Breathtaking! Absolutely breathtaking!

God loves Jerusalem, and one day, when Jesus reigns in his full glory, the entire world will come to worship there. Even Israel’s mortal enemies will bow the knee in wonder in the city of God. And you will worship there, too. As will I.

So here’s the deal: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. (Psalm 122:6) Develop a passion for it, since God is so passionate about it. Start reading up on it. Check out the brochures. Plan a trip there before you leave Planet Earth. And just remember this: As spectacular as the view of the holy city is from this side of eternity; it ain’t nothing compared to what Jerusalem will be like when King Jesus lives there!

Making Life Work: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Everyday, include her in your prayers. As you do, you will be praying for a place and a people who are dear to the heart of God. And he will bless you for it.

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Signs

We don’t normally encourage people to pray for signs, somehow thinking that true faith doesn’t focus on physical answers. We teach faith over sight; that it’s more spiritual to believe in the invisible than to grasp for the visible. But in Psalm 86, David’s faith led him to believe God for and boldly ask for a literal, physical sign that would prove to the whole world that he was living under Divine favor: “Give me a sign of your goodness What is so bad about that?” So go ahead, pray for a sign of God’s goodness today. David did! I am, too!

Making Life Work
Read: Psalm 86 // Focus: Psalm 86:17

Give me a sign of your goodness, that my enemies may see it and be put to shame, for you, O LORD, have helped me and comforted me.

I have taken to praying Psalm 86 over the past couple of years. Not so much the second part about my enemies—I may be naïve, but I don’t think I wrestle with people who are out to get me quite like David did. It’s the first part of that verse that I love: Give me a sign of your goodness.

Here is the way some of the other translations put it:

“Send me a sign of your favor.” (New Living Translation)

“So look me in the eye and show kindness…Make a show of how much you love me…” (The Message)

“Show that you approve of me!” (Contemporary English Version)

That is a great prayer to pray in any version—and even better if God so happens to answer it. What was the sign David was looking for? For sure, David needed protection (Psalm 86:2), but he wouldn’t mind if God threw in a little mercy, too (Psalm 86:3,16). David wanted God to give him reason to laugh ((Psalm 86:4), perhaps from the knowledge that yet again he had been forgiven of his sins (Psalm 86:5,15). And in general, since David had fully devoted himself to God (Psalm 86:2), he wanted his life to be living proof that God loved him.

We don’t normally encourage people to pray for signs, somehow thinking that true faith doesn’t focus on physical answers. We teach faith over sight; that it’s more spiritual to believe in the invisible than to grasp for the visible. But David’s faith led him to believe God for and boldly ask for a literal, physical sign that would prove to the whole world that he was living under Divine favor. What is so bad about that?

So go ahead, pray for a sign of God’s goodness today. I am! I am asking that God will show me a literal, physical sign of his favor today. I, unapologetically, want the whole world to know that he approves of me. I am requesting that God will look me in the eye and make a show of how fond he is of me—not tomorrow, but today!

Who knows, maybe God will grant our request today!

Making Life Work: Why not pray for a sign of God’s goodness today. I am! Who knows, maybe God will grant our request today!

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Hear—And Do!

There is no deep, mysterious secret to a revival of Divine favor in your life. There is no complex set of rules and regulations a believer must master in order to live in the blessing of abundance promised in the Bible. It is so simple even a child can get it. In fact, all good parents drill this into their children early and often: Listen and obey! When I get to the end of my life, I hope that I will have so lived that on my headstone are inscribed these words: He listened to God—and obeyed!

Making Life Work
Read: Psalm 85 // Focus: Psalm 85:8

I will listen to what God the LORD will say; he promises peace to his people, his saints— but let them not return to folly.

I don’t believe formulas are ever possible with the Lord, but if we can distill his Word down to one, here is a simple prescription for Divine favor: Hear—and do!

Listen to God, then do what he says. Hear and do! James echoed that command in the New Testament when he said, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” Then, for the one who hears and does, James added, “He will be blessed in what he does.” (James 1:22,25)

There is no deep, mysterious secret to the revival of favor that the psalmist is seeking in Psalm 85. There is no complex set of rules and regulations the believer must master in order to live in the blessing of abundance promised in the Bible. It is so simple even a child can get it. In fact, all good parents drill this into their children early and often: Listen and obey!

You have no problem with that—right? Neither do I! So here’s the question: Why aren’t you doing that?

I am not trying to be judgmental or confrontational, I am just asking a serious question. You have areas of your life where you are either not listening to God, or not obeying what you hear—or both! So do I. And that may be the very reason you and I are not living in the full abundance of God, spiritually, financially, physically, professionally or relationally.

So what are you going to do about it? I think I will do a little evaluating today—some listening, first, then obeying. I plan on getting this one right. You can hold me accountable on that one. And when I get to the end of my life, I hope that I will have so lived that on my headstone are inscribed these words: He listened to God—and obeyed!

Making Life Work:  What is the area where you are not fully obeying God? Evaluate—do some listening first. Let God reveal your heart and his heart on this matter. Then second, repent. Ask God to forgive your incomplete obedience. And third, obey. Getting on it right away. From here on out, listen to God—then quickly and fully obey!