In a Dry and Thirsty Land ...

Reflection:  As human beings we have a pretty strong ability to deceive ourselves.  We can rationalize behavior and find ways to cover our tracks.  Sometimes we can even do the right things, but have less than admirable motives in doing them.  This is what caused Paul to cry out as he realized his innate ability to deceive himself, “What a wretched man I am!”

Sometimes we also “over-plan” things and get so concerned with planning and outcomes for our plans that we forget to see what God is really doing. I know I do that.   

Proverbs 16:1-3 reminds us:

“To humans belong the plans of the heart,
    but from the Lord comes the proper answer of the tongue.

² All a person’s ways seem pure to them,
    but motives are weighed by the Lord.

³ Commit to the Lord whatever you do,
    and he will establish your plans.”

Martin Luther used to get so caught in confession and making sure that he was confessing everything he had done wrong, that he would even catch himself sinning while he was confessing so he had more to confess!  Or he would start thinking his motive wasn’t quite right for confessing, so now he not only had to confess what he did wrong from before, but also how he was confessing what he did wrong!  You can almost hear him say, “Oh what a wretched man I am.” 

I was comforted today by the words in the psalm when the psalmist writes, “You gave abundant showers, O God; you refreshed your weary inheritance.”  Sometimes I think we grow weary from “over-thinking” and “over-planning” things. We need to hear this word and also the word from Proverbs 16:3, “Commit your way to the Lord and your plans will succeed (or be established!)”  That’s pretty simple huh!

What I think this is saying is that if my heart is right and I am seeking God and allowing Him to shape the plans that I can let go and know that it is in His hands, and He will do with it what He will.  God help us to let go of planning and strategizing and trying to control what only you can do.  As we truly commit and keep our eyes on you, you will shake the earth, and pour out your rain from the heavens in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water! 

Psalm 68:7-18

⁷ When you, God, went out before your people,
⁸ the earth shook, the heavens poured down rain,
    before God, the One of Sinai,
    before God, the God of Israel.
⁹ You gave abundant showers, O God;
    you refreshed your weary inheritance.
¹⁰ Your people settled in it,
    and from your bounty, God, you provided for the poor.

¹¹ The Lord announces the word,
    and the women who proclaim it are a mighty throng:
¹² “Kings and armies flee in haste;
    the women at home divide the plunder.
¹³ Even while you sleep among the sheep pens,
    the wings of my dove are sheathed with silver,
    its feathers with shining gold.”
¹⁴ When the Almighty scattered the kings in the land,
    it was like snow fallen on Mount Zalmon.

¹⁵ Mount Bashan, majestic mountain,
    Mount Bashan, rugged mountain,
¹⁶ why gaze in envy, you rugged mountain,
    at the mountain where God chooses to reign,
    where the Lord himself will dwell forever?
¹⁷ The chariots of God are tens of thousands
    and thousands of thousands;
    the Lord has come from Sinai into his sanctuary.
¹⁸ When you ascended on high,
    you took many captives;
    you received gifts from people,
even from the rebellious—
    that you, Lord God, might dwell there.

Proverbs 16

To humans belong the plans of the heart,
    but from the Lord comes the proper answer of the tongue.

² All a person’s ways seem pure to them,
    but motives are weighed by the Lord.

³ Commit to the Lord whatever you do,
    and he will establish your plans.

⁴ The Lord works out everything to its proper end—
    even the wicked for a day of disaster.

⁵ The Lord detests all the proud of heart.
    Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.

⁶ Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for;
    through the fear of the Lord evil is avoided.

⁷ When the Lord takes pleasure in anyone’s way,
    he causes their enemies to make peace with them.

⁸ Better a little with righteousness
    than much gain with injustice.

⁹ In their hearts humans plan their course,
    but the Lord establishes their steps.

¹⁰ The lips of a king speak as an oracle,
    and his mouth does not betray justice.

¹¹ Honest scales and balances belong to the Lord;
    all the weights in the bag are of his making.

¹² Kings detest wrongdoing,
    for a throne is established through righteousness.

¹³ Kings take pleasure in honest lips;
    they value the one who speaks what is right.

¹⁴ A king’s wrath is a messenger of death,
    but the wise will appease it.

¹⁵ When a king’s face brightens, it means life;
    his favor is like a rain cloud in spring.

¹⁶ How much better to get wisdom than gold,
    to get insight rather than silver!

¹⁷ The highway of the upright avoids evil;
    those who guard their ways preserve their lives.

¹⁸ Pride goes before destruction,
    a haughty spirit before a fall.

¹⁹ Better to be lowly in spirit along with the oppressed
    than to share plunder with the proud.

²⁰ Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers,
    and blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord.

²¹ The wise in heart are called discerning,
    and gracious words promote instruction.

²² Prudence is a fountain of life to the prudent,
    but folly brings punishment to fools.

²³ The hearts of the wise make their mouths prudent,
    and their lips promote instruction.

²⁴ Gracious words are a honeycomb,
    sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

²⁵ There is a way that appears to be right,
    but in the end it leads to death.

²⁶ The appetite of laborers works for them;
    their hunger drives them on.

²⁷ A scoundrel plots evil,
    and on their lips it is like a scorching fire.

²⁸ A perverse person stirs up conflict,
    and a gossip separates close friends.

²⁹ A violent person entices their neighbor
    and leads them down a path that is not good.

³⁰ Whoever winks with their eye is plotting perversity;
    whoever purses their lips is bent on evil.

³¹ Gray hair is a crown of splendor;
    it is attained in the way of righteousness.

³² Better a patient person than a warrior,
    one with self-control than one who takes a city.

³³ The lot is cast into the lap,
    but its every decision is from the Lord.

2 Corinthians 1:1-11

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

To the church of God in Corinth, together with all his holy people throughout Achaia:

² Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Praise to the God of All Comfort

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. ⁵ For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. ⁶ If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. ⁷ And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort. ⁸ We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. ⁹ Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. ¹⁰ He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, ¹¹ as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.

All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever. Isaiah 40:6,8

Christ says, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” Luke 21:33

Almighty God, when we are bogged down by the petty matters of life, give us perspective. Remind us that our real home is with you and we will worship and enjoy you in the heavenly kingdom forever! Amen.