Fortunate sons (and daughters)

Fortunately for us, God has a way of taking our question marks and straightening them out into exclamation points.” – Philip De Courcy

When waters of life begin to get rapid, when the shores are lined with jagged rocks, when we come to what we feel is the edge of a precipice with the infinite abyss below; we all come face to face with the reality of ourselves and our deep questions of purpose and action for survival. When we encounter situations which are ambiguous or we are stretched to the limits of anxiety, we long for understanding and identification of purpose. In our times of distraction and confusion in life, we hunger and thirst for clarity and revelation. There is a variety of actions we pursue when we experience frustration, apprehension or disarray in our lives which centralize our attention to suffering that we might readily master it and conquer the danger. We internalize, we blame, we commiserate, we accuse and we lock ourselves away in the tower of self; where we either do our best to put our head down and bully through circumstances until we regain our sense of security, or turn the focus of the world around us in on ourselves and revel in the misery. The moments we experience the displacement of our peace and understanding and we long for direction may be short or long-suffering. Fortunately for us, we have a God whose specialty is revealing Himself to his creation as the trundle through their experience in this life.

If there is a consistency to the Lord God of the Bible, it is that he is in the business of revealing Himself to his people and restoring hope to the lost. This is the Father who gave his Son to reveal his true love for his beloved human creation and our hope inside our fleshly confines embodied in the Christ who was crucified. This is our revelation of the depth of God’s love for us, and his promise to care for our needs. Our hope is secure in Him who did not even spare his Son for our benefit. This is the resolution of the level of provision God is willing to provide for his people. This is the joy of the Father, not to just sustain his beloved, but to overwhelm their hearts with gladness. The gift which He has given us so freely, that we might find our hope and identity in being children of God. In Christ, the blind are given sight, the condemned are forgiven, the beaten and disparaged are returned to a place of dignity, and the disheartened are encouraged; He reveals Himself to us in our need and repairs our brokenness with his gentle love.

The revelation of the Father is not only of Himself to us, it is also who we are in our true manner of value to Him. Understanding ourselves as the beloved sons and daughters of the Father is pivotal in knowing Him. We are the objects of his affection and He desires us to seek Him. The blind were not given their sight to view the world for their own purposes, nor see themselves nor their desires as the essential things to be devoted to. The guilty and condemned were not forgiven and granted freedom so they could return to their folly. The beaten down and disparaged were not restored so that they could return in kind to their tormentors. The sustenance in encouragement was not given to God’s people that they might merrily wander on in their life, forgetting the source of their strength. This is the source of the promise made in Romans 8; in our limitation, the Lord intercedes and works to bring all things to the good of his purpose. And what is his purpose – that we might know Him more deeply and love and glorify Him. There is joy in the knowing Him as He reveals the mysteries of who we are and who He is for the overflowing joyfulness in our hearts. There is hope in understanding who He is, acknowledging his sovereign power in preservation of our hearts and his perfect timing which knows how best to renew the well of hopefulness in our souls.

As we experience the revelation of the Father, we know the growth of our relationship with Him and maturity in Him. The joy which overflows in our hope is based in our hearts being filled by the Lord of Love, and experienced in the fulfillment and contentment that is only known in the essence of communion with the everlasting God. As we understand the experience of lasting joy in Him, our hearts become filled with hope and peace. The joy in our hearts, especially in this Easter season, is experienced in the risen fulfillment of the Living Christ who defeated death so we might live forever in the revelation of God. And this is the crux of why we have hope and joy in our daily existence; we need not rely on ourselves to validate our own existence or manufacture restoration, sustenance, understanding or peace. God is God and justly acts in his sovereignty. He does not ask his limited creation to save, enlighten or uphold themselves. Fortunately for us, God is in the business of revealing Himself to us. We do not carry the burden to mystically comprehend the ways of the Almighty. As Isaiah says, “Who has known the mind of the LORD?” He is worthy of trusting our security to be only in Him and his sovereign control over all created things. When we submit ourselves to Him in prayer, silence and praise, He focuses the question marks we offer to Him on the peace of his omnipotent control. The details of his working are largely elusive to us, as He is always up to way more than meets the eye. Our confidence is in the promise of his care for his creation. He will never leave us nor forsake us. This is the Yahweh who goes out before the armies of Israel, the Father who did not spare his Son for our salvation, the Lord of our hearts who gave us the Holy Spirit to dwell within us everywhere we go. Our joy in hope is sourced not in the details of knowing his plan, but in the exquisite love of knowing Him.

The reality of his care is in his sovereign engagement of his creation; He is the Lord God who clothes the lilies more elaborately than kings, the Omniscient One who has enumerated hairs on his creations head, and knew his beloved from the womb. He knows you to your core. He knows you in the light and in the darkness. He is not surprised by any set of circumstances which befall you, nor your actions, nor your ideas. And He has given Himself, Father, Son and Spirit, for the preservation of your heart. This is the God of the psalmist who chronicled vocal wrestling, discouragement and restoration as real pain, fear, distraction and correction all work together to show the ever working hand of the Father in all circumstances. David, who intimately knew the heart of God, experienced preservation of his heart and soul, even when his body was in danger. He lamented, he exalted, he sinned, he repented, he gloried and he was dependent upon God. His life was full of blessing and disaster, but was marked by rich experience in the knowledge of the heart of God. As we read the Psalms we vividly see God revealing Himself to David over a lifetime; and David’s response exemplified in the 23rd Psalm.

In our experience of Him, we must find what we do not understand to be viewed in the light of his provision in revealing Himself to us. As our focus shifts from ourselves, our needs, our desires and our agenda to what He will reveal to us about Himself, we come to understand ourselves and our lives in the correct context of our identity. When our self-definition is based in success, power, popularity, position, accomplishments or feelings, our identity is an illusion. The illusion of who we are, that we cling to, distracts and confuses us from the revelation which God has intended for us. As a result, we experience disillusionment and feel lost. Fortunately for us, this is where Christ causes the blind to see, the deaf to hear, and the mute to speak; where He restores our joy and leads us to hope defined in knowing Him. He calls us out of confusion in our lives marked by a lack of understanding and misdirection of focus, and emphatically stamps our hearts with his love and purpose. He brings us to the revelation of who He is and who we are in Him. And in Him we are secure and we are whole. He reveals our true identity as sons and daughters of the Most High. In Him our questions about ourselves and his interaction are satiated in the promise of his Lordship in all circumstances. He reveals the richness of a life embodied in knowing Him. In Him, we see that our lives are about pursuing his desires instead of our own. In the pursuit of Him we find pleasure in purpose as He does not return our hearts empty. In Him there is contentment, grace and love. We have hope and joy in the Sustainer of those He loves.

In the moments of questions and concerns or when the anxieties of direction and life come crashing into your life; remember that He has adopted us as fortunate sons and daughters. Take comfort in the Almighty God of the universe who was and is, and is to come. He is preserving you for his sake and encourages us with his omniscient perspective. Listen to the words He speaks to our hearts: The nations are but a drop in a bucket, and the rulers of the earth count for nothing. I am not indifferent; I am constant and eternal, and my understanding is far beyond your own. I am the Creator of all you can see or imagine and I know everything, inside and out. I do not get tired out, nor pauses to catch my breath. I revitalize those who are exhausted, and give new strength to those who have been emptied of their hope and sustenance, with the love, grace and power of my Spirit. For even young people tire and break down, in their prime they stumble and fall. But take comfort and wait upon The Lord; you will know fresh strength as you are renewed from within. You who trust The Creator will be upheld by my right hand of care. You will spread your wings and soar like eagles. You will run without getting tired. You will continue to press on in my provision which will keep you from being diminished until the Day I call you home.