Pratt: God wins when all is said and done
Although I may be a bit late getting around to making a resolution for the Year 2024, this one came to me unbidden but recognized as exactly the right thought for the struggles of our times: “This is the day the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it.”
At this moment, I can’t even give you chapter and verse on this biblical wisdom stored somewhere in my memory. But of late true wisdom seems too often covered with a little dust and a few cobwebs as the anxiety of the world reaches its claws into our consciousness via our systems of instant information.
So, I pick up the Bible closest to my desk right now and it falls open at Psalm 37, which begins in the New Living Version, “Don’t worry about the wicked or envy those who do wrong. For like grass, they soon fade away. Like spring flowers, they soon wither.”
Then, the psalmist reminds us: “Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.”
It goes on to remind us to be patient. And perhaps in one of the best lines of advice: “Do not lose your temper – it leads only to harm.”
There’s no pretense here that life will be easy, but reassurance that God wins when all is said and done. In the very next Psalm, David recites some of his serious issues. Try reading this next psalm, the 39th, and see if you have a better grasp on the human condition, which at its best, is inadequate alone, and at its worst is disastrous to the point of no return.
We talk about the effects of being depressed at the confusion of the world at large. Surprisingly, others who have gone before us have felt the same terrors and found strength to survive and thrive. We are not alone, nor have we ever been alone in the Universe. It just “feels” that way when we center our thoughts only on our failures, whether physical, emotional or circumstantial.
I read these cries of David with a real sense of familiarity and am embarrassed that I forget so quickly to keep my mind fixed on the promises of God rather than on the failures of humanity, including my own.
I don’t know the origin of the old saying about “giving a man enough rope and he will hang himself,” but in our politically fractured populace there are plenty of illustrations of its truth. But there is also this important truth: “Whatever dream journey you’re on, you have to take it one step at a time,” says Mark Batterson, author of “Chase the Lion.”
“And if you keep doing the right things day in and day out,” he adds, “one day God is going to show up and show off.”
I am also rereading the classic daily devotional book compiled by admirers of the writings and lectures of Oswald Chambers from 1911-17. His words and biblical interpretations are as timeless and as fresh as tomorrow.
No matter what century in which people are born, humanity finds itself in great need of faith in God. We also need wisdom to recognize the difference between a great variety of “religious” answers that attempt to explain the mystery of our existence as humankind.
“My Utmost for His Highest” as a devotional book never gets old. For example, Oswald addresses an over-looked issue of discipleship. “Our Lord,” he notes of Jesus Christ, “never proclaimed a cause. He proclaimed personal devotion to Himself. No man on earth has this passionate love to the Lord Jesus unless the Holy Ghost (Spirit) has imparted it to him…” Chambers says.
Consistency in devotion is the key to the Christian rather than blind adherence to a creed, he notes because “men pour themselves into creeds and God has to blast them out of their prejudices before they can become devoted to Jesus Christ.” (a devotional titled “The Conditions of Discipleship.”)
As humans we like to follow our own “way” rather than focus on God’s way, just as the story of the Garden of Eden reveals when Adam and Eve decide to take the word of the beautiful serpent and eat from the forbidden fruit. We haven’t really changed, which is why the world is in constant turmoil. But still, God loves us and gives us opportunity to choose our destiny through his forgiveness.
My wish for 2024 is that we all take a breath, send a prayer for those here and around the world who are in difficult circumstances and turn our attention to make the world a better place by being more conscious of our own attitudes and behaviors, seeking God’s help in attitude toward our fellowman.
Beth Pratt retired as religion editor from the Avalanche-Journal after 25 years. You can email her at beth.pratt@cheerful.com.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Pratt: God wins when all is said and done
