Your Mosaic of God’s Faithfulness
The Pause Before the Go: Finding the Presence and Faithfulness of God in Hard Times
Lesson 13: Your Mosaic of God’s Faithfulness
Psalm 23
When I was a boy my Mother was always the last one out of the house before church, and was known by my friends as the one to leave them waiting on our doorstep up to 10 minutes AFTER they rang the doorbell! Why such tardiness? Mom wasn’t slow, inefficient, or distracted. No, the reason was Mom wanted to be completely READY, Mom wanted to be PREPARED. Dad would be the most upset about waiting to go to church… “Paula, are you ready yet?” Mom would answer: “No one is ready until I say they’re ready!!” As for me, I can still hear the sweet sound of the doorbell ringing and see the fuzzy outline of my friends behind the thick glass window of our front door- waiting while Mom quizzed me over every detail of my room and the house’s preparedness for guests… “Did you clean your room? Are all your clothes put away? Are the shelves dusted? Did you comb the dog and give her a breath biscuit?!” “Aw, c’mon Mom!!”
Over the last 12 weeks we have been examining the “Pause before the Go.” We have been looking at the importance of the presence and faithfulness of God in our lives especially during hard and difficult times. We know that the presence and faithfulness of God- the presence and faithfulness of Christ is mission critical to our perseverance and weathering of life’s storms and crisis situations both individually, as families, as a nation, and as a body of believers. We have no witness, no testimony, no power, no peace, no joy, no authority without God’s presence and faithfulness. As we’ve discovered: God is ALWAYS PRESENT, God is ALWAYS FAITHFUL the question is not His presence and faithfulness, or even our own but our understanding and awareness of His nearness and dearness to us.
One conclusion I have come to as a result of our study is just how unprepared and unready churches and all of us have been in experiencing the presence and faithfulness of God until now. God is preparing and making us ready (kind of like my Mom’s example) to GO and make disciples, and ready to RECEIVE the blessings of His presence and faithfulness for the welfare of this lost world! As we deal with hard times in life, and especially “this hard time” let’s remember that God’s faithfulness PREPARES us for hard times, PLACES our hard times in a new perspective, and PUSHES us gently forward through them. Pausing before going sets the heavenly rhythm and pace of our mission. The results of this preparing, placing, and pushing develops a beautiful mosaic of God’s faithfulness in and over our lives- strengthening our testimony and witness, filling us with joy, gives us spiritual contentedness that comes from His constant presence and grants us confidence for going and making disciples! No better passage of scripture expresses this preparing, placing and pushing (the faithfulness of God) than the 23rd Psalm.
Psalm 23 first shows us how the Good Shepherd prepares us for hard times; look at the first 3 verses. Verse 1 tells us that “THE LORD is my Shepherd I shall not want.” There is possession, and there is provision in this verse. Sheep were valuable property in ancient Israel and just as much that God is my (our) Shepherd it is He that owns us (purchased by the blood of Christ) prepares us and provides for us as we follow Him on our life’s journey: He is ours and we are His! Is there any hardship that God cannot prepare us for as a result? The second part of this verse is equally important, “I shall not want.” There is an important distinction here between “I shall not” and “I do not.” We might think that all of our needs aren’t being met, that the Shepherd missed something especially as we experience hardship and things don’t make sense, but God supplies everything that we need, and the shall reminds us to have faith in Him and His loving provision (faithfulness) to and for us as the Shepherd and not fret over things we think we need but don’t have as we journey with Him through life. We can’t GO with Jesus if we continually fret and worry over our needs; if we think Jesus doesn’t know all of our needs and hasn’t or won’t meet them then we won’t follow Him we will be like “stubborn old goats” refusing to go down the path instead of like trusting sheep following His voice! Rest assured that Jesus knows and meets your needs as you face hardship… You shall not want!
The next two verses talk more specifically about His provision for our journey… Even in the midst of our hardships there will be green pastures for rest, and peaceful waters for us frightened perplexed sheep to drink from. Shepherds then, and even now know the RIGHT paths for guiding their sheep through danger to safety. Again, there is a strong element of our trust and faith in God as our Good Shepherd and His faithfulness in providing for us as His sheep as we go. Many of us have seen green pastures, and quiet waters, but how many of us have “laid down” in the abundance of God’s provision, or stood beside and experienced the quiet peace of His presence when our lives are in turmoil and our world is crumbling? How many times do we become “frantic” and “frenzied” in trying to escape and solve our hardships over holding still and letting the Master lay us down in the peace and provision of His trustworthy love? Jesus knows the “right paths” for us. All these provisions are in the plural form: green pastures, still waters, paths of righteousness meaning He constantly provides, not just once but always! When we “run around” and depend upon ourselves and not Jesus we are more likely to get on the “wrong” path but Jesus tells us that He IS THE WAY (John 14:3-6)! So many times we look at John 14:6 only in its future tense (Jesus is the only way to heaven and the Father when we die but we can handle today) but let’s not ignore the present tense- Jesus is our only Good Shepherd and He is here to guide us on right paths today! The path is Him and following after Him!
Always look for the green pastures and quiet waters in the midst of your hardships and trust God enough to hold still for him to lay you down and provide for you and remember He is your only path in hard times! Sheep without the Shepherd have no path!
We’ve ignored the presence of Jesus in our churches to our own detriment for far too long. We’ve been BUSY, we’ve been ACTIVE, we’ve been GOING, we’ve been going for the RIGHT reasons, but have we been going in the right way? Have we been going without attention to the presence of Christ? That’s why it’s important to “pause” before we “go” and gaze at Him there in His strength and confidence, to listen for His calm and quiet voice, to feel the safety of His staff guiding us to and in His righteousness and the right paths along life’s way. Paths that are not just for our wellbeing but for “His name’s sake” to show a hurting world what kind of God we serve.
The last three verses deal with the scary times, the hard times of our journey with the Good Shepherd. The King James starts verse 4 with “Yea” a declarative statement. Will you face the shadow of death in your lifetime? Will there be danger, hardship, persecution, sorrow, confusion, strife, loss, terrible things happening all around you? The answer is yes. No one is immune to the effects of sin to the dark and shadowy valleys of death (Romans 6:23). You will walk through hard times as a believer. The Bible even promises that you will have more of them as a result of your faith (Matt 5:10-12, Jn 15:20, Ro 12:14, 2 Tim 3:12, Heb 11:37) BUT GOD IS WITH YOU! And the glory of the LORD can be seen in the contrast between your hardships and the beauty of God’s grace, power and presence that covers and comforts you in them as you go. We can fear the evil and shadows around us or we can “fear” God. We can look at our enemies and hear their ravenous howls as they lurk around us or we can trust the strong hands that anoint and heal our wounds (the illustration in verse 5 is a “table of rock” a raised flat safe place on the trail where the Shepherd would place the sheep to protect them from predators. To destroy and devour the sheep the wolves would have to get through the Shepherd first!)
Verse 5 ends with “my cup runs over…” a picture of God’s abundance and blessing, but look where it is placed! This isn’t a “good time” this is a wounded sheep placed on a table of rock in the presence of enemies that want to completely destroy the helpless animal. With one eye the sheep can see the fangs of the wolf, with the other the hands of the Shepherd… The sheep places his/her head in the Shepherds hands and is anointed- being healed and blessed in the midst of the danger! Have you ever experienced God’s blessing in the midst of shadow, of a hard time? God loves you, “the Ancient of Days is your shield and defender!” Even in the worst of times you and I are blessed because of Him. Hard times will come, hard times are here and hard times will eventually go, but we can either focus on their hardness or on God’s goodness and blessing even in the middle of it, because He is with us, He is blessing us, and we dwell as it says in verse 6 in the “House of the LORD” (where every good thing, good plan, and perfect gift of God is found). Hard times are just that- they are “times” they have a beginning, a middle and an end, but our dwelling with God is forever. Heaven is coming but our dwelling with God has already begun- nothing can separate us from God’s love (Romans 8:37-39) how then should we live? How can God being our Shepherd change us in the way we face the hardships and dangers of this life?
After 13 weeks I just want to share with you why God’s presence and faithfulness means so much to me, and why now. First, many of you are hurting, this is a hard time and it has not been easy on any of us, but especially y’all that can’t get out because of COVID. I have been so encouraged by your faith and trust in God’s presence and faithfulness and for your fervency in prayer for each other, the lost, and our community. You have been an inspiration to me in my own struggles as a result. Don’t quit now and please know you are not alone!
Secondly, I have seen God’s faithfulness and experienced His presence over and around me in many ways just as I know many of you have experienced in your own life and we just need to continually remind each other and testify to His faithfulness; this 13 weeks has been my poor attempt at doing just that. One way I truly experienced His faithfulness personally began in 2006 when I was hit head on by a drunk driver and nearly killed. I ended up losing my leg, my ability to take care of myself for a long time, and my schooling (seminary came to a stop for three years) but I think the worst thing I thought I lost was the presence and faithfulness of God. I felt so alone and abandoned. I felt God had left me and with Him went my present and my future and I wanted to die. Could God truly put the broken pieces of my life back together and would He? The answer is YES, and I am convinced that if His faithfulness and presence can do such a work in my life He can do it in anyone’s and He can and will do it in ours as a community of believers together! I know y’all have testimonies that are just as and even more powerful of God’s faithfulness in your life; share them and encourage one another with them! I know I am more alive today than I was then, I know He is faithful, we have hope, I am grateful to be here, and I praise His name! May we be able to praise His name with joy and share together in each other’s presence soon! I will bring the cake! Until then, remember He is creating a Mosaic of faithfulness over your life; look to Him, don’t give up, know His promises, experience His presence, pay attention to the leading (gentle pushing) of His staff and pray. And know that I am praying with you, alongside you and for you! I can be reached at dray@wyliebaptist.org. In His love, Darrin.