Pastor’s Column 3/16/2025

PASTOR’S COLUMN

13 “The Lord looks down from heaven and sees the whole human race. 14  From His throne He observes  all who live on the earth.  15  He made their hearts, so He understands everything they do. 16  The best-equipped army cannot save a king, nor is great strength enough to save a warrior. 17  Don’t count on your warhorse to give you victory – for all its strength, it cannot save you. 18 But the Lord watches over those who fear Him. those who rely on His unfailing love. 19 He  rescues them from death and keeps them alive  in times of famine.”   Psalm 33:13-19, NLT                                                                        

Second Sunday in Lent - “Relying!”

It is true that we humans long to  perceive the presence and work of God during the most difficult times in life. This desire isn’t because God is absent, but because we allow too many of our issues to eclipse His presence. On this earth we live a horizontal existence. We are either looking ahead of us or behind, to make sense of life. It is David who tells us we need to also think vertically. He says, “I will lift My eyes to the hills - Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord,who made heaven and earth.”(Psalm 121:1-2, NKJV). In its poetic language, the Hebrew says, “I will raise my eyes…” The psalmist is intentional about where His help is derived. In a portion of Psalm 33, verses 12-19, we witness the stunning contrast between reliance on self and reliance on God. Try as we might, our efforts to control and manipulate our earthly domains are feeble compared to God’s sovereignty. We pray for our leaders, realizing that their time in the halls of poweris limited.   The efforts of one nation to contain or cripple the  just efforts of another will not last. As we seek to live a mature Christian life, the truth will haunt us. We cannot completely rely on ourselves in this world. However educated, sophisticated, wealthy or privileged, a person may become; only God determinesthe end of all things. Life has many wonderful benefits and blessings. But, when calamites visit the human family, we are all staring at the possibility of death or famine. We must trust God and rely on Him for all our needs. He is our help!