Get Your Girdle On

“I [am] the LORD, and [there is] none else, [there is] no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that [there is] none beside me. I [am] the LORD, and [there is] none else.” (Isa 45:5-6 AV)

The word ‘girded’ is the interesting word here.  Think about a girdle.  The same applies here.  For the Old Testament man, a girdle was a functional piece of clothing.  It was not used as an accessory to hide excessive weight.  A girdle was a very wide belt-type sash worn around the midsection to hold weapons, tools, or as a base onto which a coat of armor was attached.  The word ‘girded’ has the idea of encompassing and equipping.  The LORD is speaking of Israel as they wandered the wilderness.  It was in the wilderness that they began to learn who and what God was.  It took only a few months before the law was given.  It took the remainder of that first year to construct and erect the tabernacle.  Even though they had begun the process of worship, they would learn many lessons in their forty years of wilderness wandering.  They may have begun to worship the LORD.  But it took many generations for them to know the LORD.  In the interim, God girded the nation with strength, ability, and protection.  Their knowledge of Him did not dictate His girding of them.

The point of girding is revealed by what follows.  God girded the nation of Israel so that they could learn who and what He was to them.  The rising and setting of the sun is 24/7.  It brings to mind the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night.  Regardless of the time of day or the circumstances which they faced, God was there.  He was before and behind.  He was the leader and protector.  God girded them about so that they could learn and grow.  Sometimes, having constraints is a good thing.  A girdle would constrain.  It would constrain movement to the task at hand.  Having farming tools, carpentry tools, or weaponry attached to one’s girdle would place natural limitations on the movements and plans of the equipped.  Depending on the type and size of the girdle, movement itself could be constrained.  I don’t imagine someone girded with his work belt would run a marathon or dance a jig.  Being girded means having a purpose in life.  Being girded means having the ability to accomplish goals.  Being girded keeps us from taking on tasks or pleasures that are not good for us.

There is another thought that I cannot help but express.  A girdle is a garment of security.  Many years ago, I had to wear a back brace.  It wrapped around my midsection.  There were stiff metal plates the back.  The front was made of super-thick material and was attached by Velcro.  The manner in which it was worn was extremely tightly.  This accomplished two things.  It forced me to lift with my legs to protect my back.  But it also kept me from getting a hernia.  The brace took the brunt of stress so my muscle mass didn’t flop out where it didn’t belong.  The brace kept everything where it was supposed to be.  It was a type of bear-hug that gave security, knowing that pain would not follow as I undertook my duties.  God hugs us tightly.  Not to limit pleasures.  Rather, to add security.  God has girded us even when we did not appreciate it.  He girded us even when we didn’t understand His ways completely.  He gives us an infinite bear-hug so that we can feel secure and safe.

Strength From The Omnipotent

“Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, [that] the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? [there is] no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to [them that have] no might he increaseth strength.” (Isa 40:28-29 AV)

The preface to stating the omnipotence of God is important here.  God is everlasting.  He is eternally present and therefore indestructible.  If He exists eternally, there is nothing that can cause His existence to cease.  Next, Isaiah uses the title LORD.  This is the proper name of God.  In Hebrew, it is written Jehovah.  The name means the self-existent one.  He needs nothing to exist.  Put that together with everlasting and we learn that God exists in eternity by His own might.  He has no beginning and will have no end.  He is able to do this because His strength has no limits.  The manifestation of this eternal strength and existence is the entire material creation.  A God who can create more than is humanly possible to understand must surely possess all strength.  Upon these truths we can rest on the promise of strength from the LORD.

Not until you are faced with the battle of a lifetime will you ever realize just how reliant on the strength of the LORD we become.  These trials of faith come several times of an entire lifetime.  At times, we wonder if this is possible.  At times the water is so deep, and the sun has been dimmed that we wonder if God could ever strengthen in the midst of trials.  Some trials remind be of being lost at sea.  Some trials are like floating on a piece of wreckage, and all one can see is water.  The sun overhead, once seen as a comfort, is no as beast that seems to be focused right on you.  Every small sound is a flicker of hope.  Even the seagulls overhead are seen as a moniker of land somewhere nearby.  But you don’t know if you are floating closer or further away.  Hearing a whale or other vocal fish sounds like a boat horn no matter how far the stretch.  But it is not.  There is no fresh water.  There is no food.  It is just you and the open water.  Your soul wonders if you’ll make it out of there.  How will we go on one more day?  There is no strength.  There is no purpose.  There is no plan.  One simply exists from one day to the next.  That is the biggest goal one has.  These times cry out for the strength of our Creator.

Running on empty does not mean strength is unavailable.  Look at the promise above.  When we are ready to faint and have no might, Jehovah can bring us back.  When we cannot go on another moment, the Spirit is able to help us along our path.  When we face the hardest times of life, God is more than capable and willing to bear our burden with us.  It is good to be all tapped out.  In our weakness, He is made strong.  As long as we survive in our own might, God remains distant.  Come to the end of oneself, God becomes very real.  It is unfortunate that life has to be this way, but we tend to draw closer to the Creator the more adversity that we face.  The promise in Isaiah is a real one.  It is a sure one. 

Simply Because You Exist

“Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul [delivered it] from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.” (Isa 38:17 AV)

The words above are from Hezekiah, king of Judah, upon his healing from a fatal diagnosis.  The pit of corruption is death.  For him, anyway.  God granted Hezekiah fifteen more years of life and service.  Two years after his healing, he fathered his firstborn, Manasseh.  It would be the actions of his son who, while reigning as king, led Judah to their deepest idolatry to date.  In a way, his illness was his deliverance.  Had he passed when the LORD struck him, the doom of Judah would not have been from his house.  In our passage, we want to consider something that is far more important this day; that is, God’s love for the human soul.  Note that Hezekiah says it is the love God had for his soul.  Not his body.  Not his life.  Not his family.  His soul.  That is the deepest anyone can love another.  Love to the very being of another is the deepest love possible.  This love for the human soul runs so deep that God offered His Son to be our sacrifice for sin and offered that salvation to all who desire it.

Hezekiah attributed his fatal illness to sin.  We have no indication other than his word that his illness was a consequence of sinful behavior.  The infliction of illness could have been a mercy more than a judgment.  Regardless, we will never know.  What we do know is that because God did something for Hezekiah, he was convinced that God loved his very soul.  This is of great comfort to anyone who might be struggling.  Life brings trials.  Life brings impossible situations.  Life brings illness and death.  These things are common to all people.  What gets us through it is the love of God.  Knowing that in spite of what we might face, we have a God who loves us simply because we exist, and for no greater reason, is the stability we need.  He created us.  We are the work of His hands.  Therefore, He loves us because He made us.  That is a love that cannot be understood and is hard to describe.

It is a testament to the love of God that I am struggling to come up with a comparison.  Every time an anecdotal idea comes to mind, the obvious jumps out.  Most of our relationships are, to some degree, quid pro quo.  That is, we love others, but if they react with vengeance in the opposite manner, love becomes a challenge.  Even those relationships that are deepest, there is still a slight expectation that love will be returned.  To have pure divine love is our hope and goal.  Attaining it means emptying Self of all pretense, expectation, and motive.  To love the unlovable simply because they exist is a God-thing.  It is something that we yearn for.  We seek it in human relationships.  We can get close.  But no love matched divine love.  To know that God loves my soul for no greater reason that my existence and that anything I do or fail to do will not change that love is the security for which every human soul seeks.  Unconditional affirmation and value are what we want.  We can get it from none other than our Creator.  What a comfort to rest in the knowledge of God’s love!  What a treasure!  What a comfort!  What a reason to get up every morning!  What a hope!  What a reason to live for Him more and more each day!

Little Is More Than Enough For Someone Who Has None

“[If] thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength [is] small.  If thou forbear to deliver [them that are] drawn unto death, and [those that are] ready to be slain; If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider [it]? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth [not] he know [it]? and shall [not] he render to [every] man according to his works?” (Pr 24:10-12 AV)

Verse ten is often used on its own.  A mere statement of fact.  However, if we look at it in context, the king might be saying that our strength is perceived to be small, yet there is still some expectation of rendering aid.  The ‘out’ of ignorance is played.  If strength is small, then ignorance could be a way to avoid spending what little strength we have left.  The point is simple.  If we have any ability to assist others, regardless of our sense of ability, we are ethically required to do so.  This is Solomon’s instruction here.

The word ‘forbear’ is significant here.  It means the one who was of small strength had some strength to share, but chose to remain idol as someone with a greater need suffered.  That which is also concerning is that the one with small strength has the ability to deliver.  He can deliver the one drawn unto death or is ready to be slain.  He simply chooses to hold back the little strength he has for his own care.  The troubling thought that follows is that God knows our failure to help those in greater need than ourselves.  Our strength may be small.  But it is God who keeps us.  We will never run on empty. We will never burn all the fumes.  We will never crash and burn.  God keeps us.  If He keeps us, then although we have small strength, that strength is infinitely provided to do His will.  Need an example from scripture?

When the prophet came and needed a meal, the poor widow woman was picking up sticks to fry them with a little bit of oil.  It would be the last meal the two of them would have.  Famine had overtaken the land, and the woman was left destitute by her husband.  Yet, the prophet would not relieve her of her duties of hospitality.  She followed his orders.  She made a little cake for the prophet.  Then the prophet told her to make something for herself and her son.  The barrels should have been empty.  They were not.  There was just enough to make another meal.  They at one that ‘just enough’ for weeks if not months.  The little she had was sufficient to the need.  Had she refused, the LORD might have judged her for her unbelief.

The same is true above.  Solomon challenges his children to use up what they have for the sake of those who need it more.  If charity and compassion are freely given, God provides for the need.  The little strength may remain little, but the little strength is more than enough.  Don’t tire.  Don’t give up.  Don’t stop helping.  There are those in far worse situations who could use the little we have to offer.  The barrel will not run dry.  The cruse will not run empty.  Our God holds our souls.  He knows what we need.  Spend the little you have, and God will increase you more and more.

God Has Your Back

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.” (Ps 23:6 AV)

I like what my wife said when I sent her this verse.  She observed that mercy and goodness follow, and are not out front.  Then she said, goodness and mercy have our six.  They have our backs.  That is a good way of putting that.  There is another observation here.  What lies before us may not seem as though goodness and mercy are a result, but they are.  We may face the hardest waters we have ever faced, and we cannot see God’s goodness and mercy through it.  But when we look back on it, goodness and mercy were there.

I have spent many hours on a motorboat.  I have spent many hours on a few different types and sizes of boats.  I have been on charters for smallmouth bass, lake trout, and other such fish.  If you have ever noticed a boat motoring through the water, you notice the wake that follows.  The speed of the boat determines the size of the wake.  The slower the boat, the smaller the wake.  If you have ever watched others waterski or ride a raft towed behind the boat, you will notice that most of the time, they remain in the wake.  It is the smoothest part of the ride one can get.  What is not necessarily evident is the ride from the driver’s perspective.  I have been on a few of those rides.  Cutting through the water is a jarring experience.  Each little wave hits the boat like a jackhammer.  It doesn’t matter if they are only a few inches high, or more than a foot.  The larger the wave, the harder the hit.  It is surprising what a three-to-four-inch wave will do to your boat ride.  The point is, what lies before us in not indicative of what follows.

David was a shepherd.  He is leading his sheep up the mountain to the summer fields.  Goodness and mercy follow him because there is no wolf or lion waiting to attack.  God has his six.  We cannot handle more than we can handle.  Maybe we can handle three-inch waves.  Maybe a foot.  Regardless of the size of the adversity, there are always calmer waters behind.  Praise the LORD that He has our back.  If He didn’t, we would have adversity from all directions.  And that is something I would rather not face.

Where Are They?

“A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.” (Ps 22:30 AV)

A seed here is a specific generation that awakens to a deeper commitment to God.  This promise points to Israel’s reclamation.  It points to the generation that will enter into the reign of Jesus Christ.  The last a final revival experienced upon mankind is coming at the return of Jesus to His Earth.  Yet we do not have to wait for this to be a micro-realty.  The people of God have experienced revivals all throughout our history.  Israel’s history is littered with times of disobedience, repentance, and refreshing.  It was more of a pattern than it was the exception to the rule.  If that be the case, then the same should be true of the church.  And it is.  Sacred history books tell of times of refreshing.  The same history books tell of equally great apathy.  There are times when a generation falls away from God.  There are times when younger generation sees the apathy, and it stirs them to spiritual awakening.  We exist in such a time as this.

Our news outlets are speaking of an awakening.  They believe we are in the midst of one right now.  I sure hope they are right.  They speak of younger generations showing an interest in spiritual matters and make the leap that this interest transfers to a revival.  A spiritual awakening does precede revival, but it doesn’t always cause it.  The mystic movement of the mid to late 1800s, which lasted for almost 75 years is a good example.  Spiritualism and mysticism were rampant following the Civil war.  However, much of the result was the formation of cultic religions that spoke heresy.  There was a great awakening and spiritual revival under the likes of Finney and Billy Sunday.  In the late 70s to the early 80s, following the Vietnam conflict and the hippy revolution, there was a period when churches exploded in attendance and growth.  Christendom became a counterrevolution to the growing cultural changes that had happened a few decades earlier.  Perhaps we are seeing the same thing today.  Perhaps we are seeing a younger generation respond to satanic forces over-playing their hand with deviant corruption which cannot be stomached.  Perhaps the young men who are starting to return to church know that biblical masculinity is not something that should be shunned.  Maybe we will see young ladies return to the LORD once they realize the emptiness of worldly feminism.  What will true revival look like?  How will we know this is genuine as opposed to the mysticism that spawned the cults of the late 1800s?

True revival makes a priority of repentance and holiness.  True revival is not entertained.  True revival causes the saint to evaluate his or her life against the standards, principles, and laws of the word of God.  True revival produces humility and selflessness.  True revival has a healthy fear of God and will recognize sin as the Bible labels it.  True revival in the pews is not contained therein.  True revival is moved with compassion on a lost world that faces an eternity in a devil’s hellfire.  True revival believes the word of God is perfectly pure and without error.  True revival treats the sacred things of God sacredly.  True revival offers worship that is God-centered and not man-pleasing.  True revival results in holiness as the standard for a nation.  Regardless of personal belief in God, behavior is changed in all.  Not merely in the believers.  We need a generation!  We need a generation that will fall on their knees before they wave their arms in the air.  We need a generation that has boldness to speak the truth even if it means persecution will follow.  We need a generation that is not afraid to love the lost, seeking their conversion, but maintaining a balance wherein righteousness is the commitment of a lifetime.  We need a generation that refuses to be entertained unto spiritual death but sees the doom of a human soul far more important than the latest social media post.  We need a generation that awakens to reality rather than be lulled to sleep by fantasy.  Where is that generation?  It is yours?

Sing In The Fires

“They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the LORD, they shall cry aloud from the sea. Wherefore glorify ye the LORD in the fires, [even] the name of the LORD God of Israel in the isles of the sea.” (Isa 24:14-15 AV)

The fires of which Isaiah speaks are the fires of God’s wrath and judgement upon a disobedient people.  It would be rather difficult to lift of the voice and sing for the majesty of the LORD as they are enduring the hardship of severe correction.  But it must be done!  There are other fires that the child of God faces.  There is the fire of temptation.  There is the fire of persecution.  There are the fires of trials of faith.  What about the fires of sin and the consequences of sin?  Life is full of fires.  There are bigger ones.  There are smaller ones.  Being able to sing of the majesty of the LORD when life is unbearable is important.  It is often one key of enduring the fires of life.

Sometimes, the most memorable examples of a soloist singing a hymn or song of praise to the LORD are not someone with an incredible voice.  Sometimes the most memorable singer is not classically trained.  Sometimes the most incredible example of an instrumental might have missed a few notes.  Almost all the time these dear saints have, or are going through, some hot fires.  In fact, recollecting all of those special numbers I have heard down through the years, the only ones I remember are those offered by saints who were enduring some severe circumstances of life.  There was a couple who sang beautifully who were going through some deep financial troubles.  They came from backgrounds that limited how they could serve the LORD, and some self-righteous saints made them feel underappreciated.  Yet, our pastor asked them to sing quite a bit.  The pain of rejection from those to whom they sang came through in their praise to the LORD.  Then there was the young lady who had a physical handicap.  She was extremely godly, but often overlooked.  Then one Sunday, she sang during the offering, and the whole church of thousands of people couldn’t help but weep at the beauty of her offering of praise.  There was a handicapped evangelist who was a cripple on both legs.  He would sit at the piano and sing in a deep baritone voice some of our well-known gospel songs.  It changed the lives of many.

I have to admit, offering a voice of majesty and praise is difficult when things are unbearable.  Our eyes get focused inward instead of upward.  It is hard to praise the LORD when the pain is so deep that it is all that is on our minds.  It is hard to remember to praise the LORD when tomorrow looks bleaker than today.  It is not that we don’t want to.  It is not that we resent the LORD for the trials we face.  Fire is a hard thing to ignore.  Anyone who has been around a campfire knows this.  Anyone who has suffered serious burns knows that the pain inflicted by the fire is lasting and impossible to avoid.  God would not command us to do something for His ego’s sake.  He doesn’t have one.  He commands us to offer songs of majesty and praise while in the midst of fires so that our eyes are off our situation and on the one who can get us through the fires.  By turning our eyes upward and outward instead of inward, we can refocus on someone greater than our fires.  Like the three in the fire with the son of God, they endured because their attention was on the Son of God and not the flames that surrounded them.