Tuesday, March 22, 2022

           Practically any conversations about God are limited at best.  After all, we are humans and God is, well God.  Last Friday, as I attended a Baptist gathering in Raleigh, I was fortunate to be part of a workshop where the convener stated that we can confidently say two things about God.  God is God and God is good.  And God is good all the time.  In the Old Testament, Joshua had a chance to see both the goodness of God and the power of God on display.  He saw the goodness of God in the generous gift of the Promised Land that God had set aside for His people.  He saw the power of God in fighting for Israel in the conquest of taking the land.  The power of God was on display even for pagan nations.  Joshua 5:1 says, “Now when all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the coast heard how the Lord had dried up the Jordan before the Israelites until they had crossed over, their hearts melted in fear and they no longer had the courage to face the Israelites.”
            “Their hearts melted in fear.”  Wow!  Have you ever been that afraid?  Afraid to the point that you felt like your heart would melt or fail you?  When we consider the power of God, we have reason to feel overcome or even overwhelmed.  God spoke the creation into existence.  God placed the stars and heavenly bodies in place.  God brought life into existence from a state of nothingness.  God possesses no needs.  He is perfect. He is whole.  He is immutable and unshakable.  God is God.  And that is where we can anchor our faith.  We attach our faith to the anchor that is God—the God who causes kings to fear, fail and fade away with heartache.  We attach our faith to the God who came in the form of a man, born as a baby to a teenager named Mary in Bethlehem.  God is God.
            Romans 8:31 reminds us that if God is for us then who can be against us?  God wins battles.  God gives victory.  We can trust our battles to Him and seek our victories from Him.  God parted the Red Sea and dried up the Jordan River.  Joshua noted that God gave Israel safe passage across the Jordan so that “all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God” (Joshua 4:24).  God’s hands are a safe place and the perfect place to entrust your life, battles and struggles.  He is a way-maker and a divider of water.  We find our peace and joy in Him.  We find our security in Him.  Faith is knowing we have all the grace we need for today.  Hope is knowing we will have all the grace we need tomorrow and for the days that follow.  We live by faith and hope, not by sight or human might. 
            When those who oppose God see their hearts fail, may our hearts be blessed and encouraged by what God has done for us and continues to do.  God is God and we rest in that reality.  God is good and we lean into His goodness when we have our own seas and rivers to cross.  May the God who causes the wicked to fail and faint be the God who inspires and encourages you in the living of these days!  Have a great Tuesday!  And remember you can share our worship any time at youtube.com/FirstBaptistKannapolis.