The Gathering Place Where Family Matters

“Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: That you may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 15:5-6).

It is such a heartbreaking situation when the Lord’s children get into squabbles and refuse to resolve them. Three different situations were unfolding in three different churches. In the first church, several of the choir members were disagreeing about music. In the second church, several of the church folks were disagreeing about the color of the youth room. In the third church, a husband and wife were disagreeing with each other about every situation you could imagine.

In those three church situations and a thousand more, the Lord clearly speaks and reveals Who He is and what He expects. Who is He? The Bible reveals that He is the God of patience and consolation. In other words, He is the God of endurance Who comes alongside of us to help. What does He expect? He clearly states that we are to develop a like-mindedness and use our minds and our words to glorify Him. That is powerful.

For today: As the Psalmist well said, “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer” (Psalm 19:14). How will this play out in your life today? I want to share this same verse with you tomorrow, and I think you will smile. Be watching for it.

“Let them praise the name of the LORD: for His name alone is excellent; His glory is above the earth and heaven” (Psalm 148:13).

When the Bible refers to the name of the Lord, the idea of “name” reveals everything about the Lord. It denotes His attributes, Word, revelation, promises, and purpose. The Psalmist proclaimed that the name of the Lord is worthy of praise and worship. He alone is God. He alone is excellent. He alone is glorious. This is easy to do when all is well and going the way we desire. But as I shared yesterday, the song of praise is never quite as sweet nor is it quite as powerful as when it is sung on the worst of days when life is hard, really hard.

It makes me think of the situation that took place several years ago in Tennessee with the powerful and devastating tornadoes. USA Today recently ran an article entitled “Worship in the Rubble: Tennessee tornado ruined churches, but Sunday service went on!” The article went on to report, “Worship also looked a bit different on the first Sunday after seven tornadoes touched down in Tennessee. Congregations whose churches were in the path of the twisters gathered outside in the crisp, morning air against a backdrop of their wrecked buildings while others assembled inside borrowed spaces so they could still pray and sing.”

You might ask, “How can this be?” The answer really is profound. Our awesome God is worthy of praise and worship on the best of days as well as the worst. Let me encourage you, friend. Be honest about your situation, but keep looking up and praising the Lord for Who He is!

“Praise ye the LORD: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds” (Psalm 147:1, 3).

You can discover that our awesome God is still wonderful even on your worst of days. In the course of my nearly fifty-three years of ministry, I have shared the deepest and most profoundly difficult life experiences with hundreds and hundreds of people. I have known that statement to be true because God’s Word clearly declares it.

God is to be praised in every situation of life. The praise of our awesome God is always the right thing to do. I will be honest with you when I say that it is easy to praise the Lord when everything is going well. But what about when life is hard and the worst of days are upon you? I can tell you from my personal experience, the whisper of praise because of Who He is, feeble as that grief-filled whisper may be, when life is at the hardest moment, will produce the sweetest song. I tell you that I know this to be true from personal experience. Honest! I really do.

There are many things I don’t understand. But this I know to be true: I don’t know what you are facing at this moment. But I can tell you that on your worst days God is still wonderful and fully worthy of your praise. Trust Him! He wants to bind up your wounds and heal your broken heart.

“But they that wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).

Isaiah proclaimed to the ancient people as well as to us that it is very important and beneficial to wait on the Lord. The question is, what does it mean to “wait” on the Lord?

The Hebrew word for wait used in this text is qavah (ka-VA) which means to “look eagerly for, to bind together.” Isaiah is actually reminding us that when we are totally surrendered to the Lord, seeking His direction, looking diligently at His Word and putting into application what He is teaching us, great blessings and strength will result.

This reminds me of a conversation Lanae had with her pastor. “I don’t know how I would have come through the events of the past three months without the Lord’s tremendous help. If this had happened to me two years ago, I would have been a mess. While my heart has been broken, I can tell you, Pastor, that waiting on the Lord has been a great source of help and comfort to me. I am not living under my circumstances. The Lord is helping me, little by little, to mount up and soar spiritually.”

Wow! That was quite a statement. How is it with you? What circumstances do you face in your life today? If you know Christ and are committed to waiting upon Him and all that involves, it will be amazing to watch how the Lord will work to bring you through.

Here is my great desire for each of us today: May the Lord help us to soar as we trust, obey, and seek Him.

“Now the Word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it: for their wickedness is come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD” (Jonah 1:1-3).

Long ago one of the LORD’s prophets rebelled against God and tried to outrun Him. Without being harsh in self-righteous judgment of Jonah, we learn a valuable lesson from this Old Testament preacher. The great lesson is this. When a believer tries to flee from the will of God, it is all downhill from there.

Let me share with you what I mean. Listen to the descriptive language of Jonah’s flight downward.
First, he tries to flee from God’s presence and goes down to Joppa (Jonah 1:3a). Second, he finds a ship heading in the opposite direction of Nineveh, pays the fare and goes down into it (Jonah 1:3b). It doesn’t stop there. Third, he goes down into one of the compartments of the ship (Jonah 1:5). Fourth, as a result of defiant disobedience, he goes down into the sea (Jonah 2:6).

This truth is inescapable. Running from God’s will and defiantly disobeying His Word only results in life going downhill. We also need to learn the lesson that our God is awesome in His forgiveness and grace. As He brought Jonah to dry land eventually, He can work out the details of your life as well.

So there we have it. It is not only wise to obey the Lord; ultimately, it is a lot easier. You’ll save yourself many downhill experiences when you surrender and obey Him.