LifeLink Devotional

Monday, December 07, 2015

Psalm 66:16   Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul.

Communications technology is amazing. From cell phones to computers with web cams we have the ability to talk to and see just about anyone anywhere in the world in an instant. Most people I know now have smartphones that offer all of the communication and connection possibilities. With my phone I can connect to my office computer from anywhere I am and retrieve and send emails. I can download files from my computer and work on them, then upload them back to my computer when I am done. This phone allows me to stay connected to my ministry and to people at all times – from anywhere – as long as I am within range of my network’s towers. I still experience dropped calls and weak connections because of my geographical location in relation to the signal carrier. Yet I have become somewhat dependent upon it to maintain a sense of connectedness to my world. I would feel a little alone without it, wondering if I was missing something or someone.

As amazing as cell phone and computer technology is, prayer beats it by a long shot. Long before man was able to communicate with people across the continents, God was able to communicate with people from across the universe. While cell phones may keep us connected to people, prayer keeps us connected to God. Man’s communication technology has limitations; prayer is limitless. Calls to people depend on their availability; God is always available. Internet connectivity provides us with seemingly endless information based on the finite knowledge of man; prayer provides us with limitless wisdom based on the infinite knowledge of God. Man’s methods of staying connected depend upon location; prayer can keep us connected anywhere because God is everywhere.

The only point of commonality between cell phone connectedness and prayer is the reality of dropped calls. I have learned where the “dead spots” are around our city. I know that I will not be able to stay connected by phone while driving through certain locations because of geographical interference with the network tower. The tower hasn’t moved, but I have moved in relation to the tower and it interrupts my connectedness.

In exactly the same way our connectedness to God in prayer is interrupted by sin. Geographical interference – our connectedness to the world – has broken our connection with God. God hasn’t moved, we have. We have chosen to travel through a “dead spot” of sin. The screen on our prayer phone reads “no service available.”

In God’s presence there is no sin. It cannot exist there. It is not welcome there. It is by the grace of God through the shed blood of Jesus Christ that we are able to enter into God’s presence as sinners who have been declared sinless. But when we attempt to approach God’s holiness while living in intentional sin, God limits our connection. When I lose connection on my cell phone I know it, and I usually blame the phone or the network. It is usually my fault for changing locations. When we have lost connection with God we also know it, and we tend to blame God, when in reality we are the ones who changed locations. When we choose to cherish sin in our hearts, (Psalm 66:18) God breaks the connection of prayer with us. This is serious, and we have minimized its truth for too long. We have no audience with the King when we have the audacity to attempt to come before Him covered in sin rather than with His blood. And one single treasured sin in our lives is sufficient to close the ears of God. We cannot expect God to listen to any of our prayers when they are communicated from a heart that has a secret room of unrepentant sin.

So if you’re feeling disconnected from God today – like your calls to Him are constantly being dropped – then check your position in relation to His holiness. You may be living in a dead spot. Get out of there, and move to a place of connectivity again – a place of repentance, forgiveness, and restored service.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, December 03, 2015

Psalm 65:1 Praise is due to you, O God…

Today’s Psalm is an amazing answer to yesterday’s issues. Yesterday praise was but a far-off hope. But today we are reminded that the praise of God is not based on the present circumstances, but on the worthiness of God to be praised for who He is.

I am over whelmed with the blessing of knowing that God is God, all the time. No, that is not a misprint. We often say “God is good, all the time.” But it is more appropriate to say “God is God, all the time.” He is constantly due our praise. Here are just four of God’s characteristics listed in this Psalm:

• He is holy – verse 4
• He is righteous – verse 5
• He is powerful – verse 6
• He is gracious – verse 9

When we grasp the reality of who God is, then the promises of this Psalm will also become the reality of our lives.

• God hears our prayers – verse 2
• God forgives our sin – verse 3
• Satisfaction is ours as we dwell in the courts of the Lord – verse 4
• Joy is ours in every period of life – verse 8
• Provision for every need is guaranteed – verses 9-13

How magnificent is our God to hear our complaints one day and then to restore our joy the next day. Joy has returned in the morning.

David captures the essence of renewal and restoration in Psalm 65. God awaits the praise of a healed heart (vs. 1). God hears the prayer of a penitent person (vs. 2), and forgives their sin (vs. 3). God restores us to the fellowship of His presence where we are filled with all the good things of His grace (vs. 4). God responds to our every need with deeds of righteousness and restores hope (vs. 5). All of creation is under His control (vs. 6-7), and He declares that it will bring joy to our hearts (vs. 8)and blessing to our lives (vs. 9-13).

When I am discouraged, there is nothing more healing than the sounds and surroundings of nature. The soothing environment of a stream filled with rocks that serve as noisemakers causing the waters to roar with delight as they pass over them. The leaves on the trees applaud in the wind as the early morning choir of birds assembles and sings in their branches. In the spring, dancing drops of rain soften the dry dirt, and sprouts of new life burst through the decomposing death of last year’s growth. God’s creation not only shouts with joy, but brings praise to my heart.

What God does in nature He can do in our hearts each day. The same Lord who renews the trees with buds and blossoms every spring is ready to renew our lives with hope and courage. The same Creator who uses winter to prepare nature for multiplied growth is also using the winter experience of your heart to prepare you for a bountiful harvest of His life.

Joy is not a far off hope, but can be the present reality of life when our hearts are fixed on the fact that God is God all the time. Healing is coming. God will crown the year with His bounty; His wagon tracks overflow with abundance. The pastures of the wilderness overflow, the hills gird themselves with joy, the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy. (Psalm 65:11-13)

Join with all nature in manifold witness to God’s great faithfulness. Shout for joy!

LifeLink Devotions

Wednesday, December 2, 2012

Psalm 64:1  Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint;

My muscles are sore. My knee hurts. I have a headache. My wife is very sick with a cold. I didn’t get a deer during rifle season. These are the top complaints of my life right now.

Now before you go off in your mind into all the ways that your complaints are worse than mine, and start complaining about the fact that I am complaining, I really not complaining. I’m just making a point – a point that is profoundly declared in the sixty-fourth Psalm.

Psalm 64:1  Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint;

I learned two lessons from today’s Psalm. First, God’s love is so awesome that He allows me to come into His presence when I am at my worst. When I am emotionally distraught and need to vent, God listens to me. He doesn’t turn His back on me. He doesn’t send me away and tell me to come back when I’m feeling better. He doesn’t reject me.

His love for me is expressed in glorious compassion and care.

In His great grace he cuddles and coddles me.

He understands my hurts.

He opens His heart.

He offers His help.

The people of Yugoslavia have a proverb – complain to one who can help you. God is that One!

Second, I learned that my complaints are usually caused by my short-sightedness. The help that God offers me in times of distress is that He reveals more of His nature, character, and purpose to me.

In this Psalm King David started out complaining, but while he did God was working to show him the bigger picture. David had become overwhelmed by the immediate and God’s answer was to reveal to Him how it all ends. David’s problem, like mine and yours, is that we sometimes don’t look far enough ahead.

Eight-year-old Frank had looked forward for weeks to this particular Saturday because his father had promised to take him fishing if the weather was suitable. There hadn’t been any rain for weeks and as Saturday approached, Frank was confident of the fishing trip. But, wouldn’t you know it, when Saturday morning dawned, it was raining heavily and it appeared that it would continue all day.

Frank wandered around the house, peering out the windows and grumbling more than a little. “Seems like the Lord would know that it would have been better to have the rain yesterday than today,” he complained to his father who was sitting by the fireplace, enjoying a good book. His father tried to explain to Frank how badly the rain was needed, how it would make the flowers grow and bring much needed moisture to the farmers’ crops. But Frank was adamant.

“It just isn’t right,” he said over and over.

Then, about three o’clock, the rain stopped. Still time for some fishing, and quickly the gear was loaded and they were off to the lake. Whether it was the rain or some other reason, the fish were biting hungrily and father and son returned with a full string of fine, big fish.

At supper, when some of the fish were ready, Frank’s mom asked him to say grace. Frank did—and concluded his prayer by saying, “And, Lord, if I sounded grumpy earlier today it was because I couldn’t see far enough ahead.”

No doubt much of our complaining is because we “can’t see far enough ahead.” Or maybe we can but we simply choose to not look far enough ahead. Don’t let the current circumstances dictate your demeanor. Look ahead – God has big plans already in the works. Look ahead into what He is going to do and rejoice.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Good Morning.

Today I have nothing to write. I am completely and utterly blessed by the splendor of what the Holy Spirit wrote through King David while he was in the wilderness of Judah being pursued by enemies.

May God use His own words to encourage you, uplift your soul, and give you hope in whatever wilderness you find yourself right now.

Psalm 63:1-8

O God, you are my God;

earnestly I seek you;

my soul thirsts for you;

my flesh faints for you,

as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,

beholding your power and glory.

Because your steadfast love is better than life,

my lips will praise you.

So I will bless you as long as I live;

in your name I will lift up my hands.

My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,

and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,

when I remember you upon my bed,

and meditate on you in the watches of the night;

for you have been my help,

and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.

My soul clings to you;

your right hand upholds me.

LifeLink Devotional

Monday, November 30, 2015

Psalm 62:1  For God alone my soul waits in silence…

Recently I made a trip to Haiti with a mission organization named GoServ Global (formerly called Global Compassion Network). My brother Paul is the Executive Director of this Iowa-based ministry. I flew to the city of Les Ceyes with him and his wife Joan in a twin engine turbo prop plane that seats 8 people. The pilot of the plane is one of the two visionaries God called from their humble farms to start this incredible outreach.

While I was there, I saw intense human suffering. On the surface it would seem to be the result of multiple natural catastrophes, from earthquakes to hurricanes. But beneath the surface, at the root of all of it, is one thing – sin. Political and personal corruption fueled by greed has permeated every part of that culture. The suffering of the innocent is the most disturbing, yet that is where I saw the most hope.

GoServ Global is focused on meeting the needs of the suffering innocents. They have established a well-run orphanage that also serves as a public school for some 400 children. There is a medical clinic on the grounds that is permanently staffed. There is a new dental clinic that is staffed one week out of every month by American Christian dentists. There are plans to expand the services offered with an additional optical clinic to be staffed by American Christian doctors much like the dental clinic.

But what impressed me the most was this – they are meeting the needs of only a small percentage of the people in that country, yet they are doing exactly what God has asked them to do and no more. I was so impressed with the spirit of each member of the organization who cries out to God for the magnitude of suffering around them but silently waits for God to reveal what they are to do. And then they do it with excellence.

I have had trouble with that all my life. You see, I am a fixer. I want to make it all better. I want every problem solved. But God spoke clearly to me on this trip to learn to be silent and wait for Him to speak and act.

As I evaluated that, I didn’t like my conclusions. I am a fixer because of pride. I want to be noticed for my abilities. I choose to trust my experience and capabilities as my primary resource. I want to bring an end to problems, especially those caused by injustice, because it will validate my position as being the right one. IT’S ALL PRIDE! It takes humility to sit in silence and wait for God.

In the midst of all the suffering and corruption in Haiti, GoServ Global is focused on only the things God asked them to do. That’s why they are so productive, because it is God directing it and doing it through humble servants of Christ.

We all need to learn, as they have learned, that the pride of doing what we want cannot coexist with statements of faith in God. Listen to what King David said in Psalm 62 –

• verses1-2 For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.   He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.
• Verses 5-8 For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.   He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.  On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God.   Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Selah

Twice David says that he needs to wait in silence until God speaks. It is not faith to take refuge in our strength. It is not faith to try to stand strong on the sinking sand of our experience. It is not faith to solve problems our way. It is not faith to trust our own abilities. It is not faith to put our hope in our wisdom or resources.

It is faith to be silent. It is faith to be still, and know that He is God. He is our rock and our salvation. He is our refuge. He is our hope.

When trouble comes – BE SILENT, and put your hope in God. That’s what real faith does!

LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Psalm 61:2  Lead me to the rock that is higher than I…

If it has happened once, it has happened literally hundreds of times. I can think of at least three times it has happened just in the last month.

You see, I’m in way over my head most of the time when it comes to helping people resolve their issues. I am not a trained counsellor. I do not have a working knowledge of psychological issues nor do I profess to know all of the proper response techniques to draw those issues out of people. I certainly don’t claim to have any personal wisdom that can lead them to finding a solution.

But I do know this – when I listen to someone, I am nothing more than an earpiece of the Holy Spirit so that I might become His mouthpiece of wisdom. I cannot begin to count the number of times that I feel overwhelmed when a person begins to share the details of their experiences and troubles. Yet I also cannot count the times that I am overwhelmed with words of wisdom that have only one possible Source – the Holy Spirit of God.

Every one of those experiences is an illustration of what the Psalmist declares in Psalm 61:2 –

Lead me to the rock that is higher than I…

The obvious meaning of this verse is that God is higher than we are. BUT, the more subtle truth that really gripped my heart is this – God will lead us to a place we could never have reached without Him. One translation states it this way – thou wilt lead me on to a rock which is too high for me.

Ever since I read this early today, I have been overjoyed to realize that God is constantly leading me to places that are beyond my reach. No longer do I need to be satisfied with the results I can accomplish. No more do I need to try to generate a sense of security based on my abilities. Never again do I have to try to solve a problem based on my limited experience or my inadequate knowledge of the situation. God is leading to a rock of refuge and strength that is beyond my abilities. It is a place that will completely bring the solutions and the satisfaction I seek.

But this place of refuge is beyond my personal reach. Not to worry, for my LORD is leading me there. All I need do is to release from my grip any of my personal resources, and grasp His hand. Nothing that I have trusted to solve the issues of life can compare to what He will do for me in the place He is taking me. He is the Rock that is higher than I.

Oh friend, do you not long to be led to a place where the promise of provision and protection will be completely fulfilled? It may seem to be out of reach, but listen. God will lead you to the Rock that is higher than you. Just let go of all you have tried to do, and take hold of His hand.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Psalms 60:1 You have rejected us, O God, and burst forth upon us; you have been angry—now restore us!

Some people make messes; some people clean up messes. I’ve been told I’m good at both. However, my heart is most fulfilled when broken things get fixed.

I was always looking for creative ways to make things work better or even work differently. When I was in 6th grade I wanted to play golf, but we had no golf clubs. I took my dad’s saber saw and cut off the ends of all our croquet mallets at different angles and made my own clubs. Dad said I was destructive. I thought I was creative.

The desire to fix and restore things has never ended. In my younger days, so very long ago, I was a manager of retail clothing stores. I was specifically transferred from North Dakota to Iowa to clean up a mess in a store and get it back on the profit track.

The first three churches I pastored were struggling ministries that needed restoration. It is so fulfilling to watch God take what was declared dead and resurrect it to life. It is so humbling to be called to be the instrument of his grace.

Such was the call of David to succeed Saul as the King of Israel. Saul had made a mess. David was asked to clean it up. Because of Saul’s rejection of God, God had withdrawn His power and protection from Israel. In the latter days of Saul’s reign the nation of Israel was decimated by sin and military defeats. The people were despondent. Trouble was overwhelming them. Their hope was severely dimmed.

Then David arrives on the scene to begin the restoration process. The steps he takes can be applied to our personal and business lives as well as we seek to restore broken things or people.

First, evaluate the situation and look for a cause. Don’t allow this to become a blame game, but there are real reasons why things break and unless we know the cause we can never really fix anything. The cause of Israel’s mess was their own sin which resulted in God’s rejection.

David first addresses the cause of Israel’s brokenness in Psalm 60, and then proclaims the truth that for those who fear God, He has raised a banner to be unfurled against the bow. They were not being victorious over their enemies because they had stopped fearing God. Humbly returning to God would restore their national dignity.

When things are going bad in your own life or business, evaluate the presence of sin in your life as the first potential cause.

Second, David calls out to God in prayer and confesses the nation’s need of His intervention. Save us and help us with your right hand, that those you love may be delivered. David didn’t try to be the super hero. He didn’t arrogantly proclaim that he was the savior sent to rescue and restore the people. He humbly called out to God.

As you develop your strategies for fixing the broken things in your life, make sure God is the source of all your information. Saul’s pride is what caused Israel’s mess. David says in verse 11 that the help of man is worthless. David made sure that God was the source of all wisdom for the restoration project. The mess you have to clean up in your life has been caused by pride and self-sufficiency. Don’t multiply the problem with prideful motivations. Make sure God gets all the credit and not you.

Third, David looks outside of the nation and evaluates what forces are working against them that need to be handled. Shechem, Gilead, Manasseh, Ephraim, Judah, Moab, Edom, and Philistia were all evaluated based on their positive or negative influences upon the people, and their fate was determined accordingly. Tough decisions had to be made, but the negative outside influences had to be eliminated.

We need to consider what outside negative influences are hurting our lives or businesses and then eliminate them.

Finally, David casts an achievable vision for the people to grasp and pursue. With God we will gain the victory, and He will trample down our enemies. David understood the importance of keeping people’s eyes focused on the finish line and not on all of the hurdles in the way.

Satan loves to send us sprawling by overwhelming us with obstacles. We don’t make much progress while we are laid out on the ground, and we don’t feel like getting up when all we can see from down there is the next hurdle and everybody else running past us. We must realize that God goes before us in every race and has already personally approved every hurdle and verifies that we can jump it.

We’ve made some pretty big messes of our lives in some areas, haven’t we? It’s time to clean them up. You don’t have to stay in your current situation. Cry out to God and surrender to His plan. He will restore you.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Psalms 59:13 …that they may know that God rules over Jacob to the ends of the earth.

It may seem overly simplistic, but life boils down to a choice between two objectives – we either live to make ourselves known or we live to make God known.

These two objectives are the result of a choice between two preliminary desires– to know self or to know God. Those who long to know self will live to make self known. Those who long to know God will live to make God known.

King Saul was a man who desired to know self and make himself known. In contrast, King David was a man who desired to know God and make God known. We see that contrast expressed in Psalm 59.

Saul’s fame is being threatened by David’s popularity. Saul orders David to be killed. Undercover agents set up a stake-out at David’s house, waiting for the right opportunity to kill him. David knows they are there, and he’s aware of their intentions. He calls out to God to rescue him. His call to God includes three very important things that demonstrate his desire to know God and to make God known.

1. He makes sure his own life is pure and holy before asking for the threat to be removed. For behold, they lie in wait for my life; fierce men stir up strife against me. For no transgression or sin of mine, O LORD, for no fault of mine, they run and make ready. Psalm 59:3-4

We cannot expect trouble to be removed from our lives if God has designed the trouble to reveal our sin to us. At times, trials are a test of our faith and the purifying fires that remove our sinful desires. Those who desire to know God will first ask what God is trying to teach them before they ask for the difficulty to be removed.

2. He makes sure that his request fits within the nature and character of God and is able to be universally applied. You, LORD God of hosts, are God of Israel. Rouse yourself to punish all the nations; spare none of those who treacherously plot evil. Psalm 59:5

David prays not only for his own situation but that the principles he wants God to employ on his own behalf are also applicable to all people. Whatever we ask of God for ourselves we should be willing to ask of God on behalf of others. Whatever we want God to do for us we should believe that He will also do it for others. We must not customize God to our own specifications. Our lives must be conformed to His nature and character.

3. He makes sure that this is not just a quick fix for himself, but an opportunity for God to be made known to all people. Kill them not, lest my people forget; make them totter by your power and bring them down, O Lord, our shield! …that they may know that God rules over Jacob to the ends of the earth. Psalm 59:11, 13b 

Having his enemies killed would have solved his immediate problem. But David’s main concern was not to know God for the betterment of self, but to submit to whatever God would do to make Himself known to all people. Many of the trials we endure are not about us, but rather they are about God using us to make Himself known to others. Those who truly want to know God and make Him known will submit to God’s solutions.

So much more could be said about each of these three principles, and I trust that throughout the day today you will listen to the Holy Spirit as He teaches you to apply these truths to your life.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotional

Monday, October 26, 2015

Psalms 58:4 – 5 Their venom is like the venom of a snake, like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears, that will not heed the tune of the charmer, however skillful the enchanter may be.

On April 16, 2007, a student at Virginia Tech University went on a shooting spree, killing 32 people and wounding 16 others before killing himself. The first person he killed was a former girlfriend.

What causes a person to feel so desperate and alone that his only solution is to inflict pain and death upon others before ending his own life? Is there anything that could have been said to him to change his heart?

At the risk of sounding extremely pessimistic and fatalistic, the answer may be nothing. It is a sad truth that evil has invaded the human race and so totally deceived and depraved mankind that from birth our hearts are desperately wicked. So wicked, in fact, that it cannot be understood in human terms.

Psalm 58 is a description of the condition of the sinful heart, and it is not pretty. In our natural, sinful, depraved state, we devise injustice, and mete out violence on the earth. We speak lies and our hearts have become so hardened by sin that we cannot even hear the voice of the One who could change it all.

The Psalmist describes our condition by using the analogy of a cobra – you know, the snake that appears to stand up and dance when it hears flute music. We are like cobras that have stopped up their ears and will not heed the tune of the charmer, however skillful the enchanter may be.

Mankind is in a totally deplorable condition. There is no escape, even in death…EXCEPT through the shed blood of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sin. But man is not listening to the Eternal Charmer of his soul, who is playing the sweet music of redemption.  Our sinful state we are not capable of hearing unless God’s grace penetrates our heart. Even though we are in a totally sinful state deserving of death, God’s love initiates contact.

God’s love is unique and distinct from what we understand. His love is demonstrated in this – while we were still in our sin, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8) Then Christ sent the Holy Spirit to the earth to convict us of their sin and draw us to God so that we could be saved.

Imagine that – God touched the untouchable. He loved the unlovable. He died for the dying. Not because we earned it or deserved it, but because He is love, and the full expression of His love is the gift of His own Son Jesus to die our deserved death. The grace of God is truly amazing.

How awed we are at the marvelous grace of God. How can we ever take for granted what God did to rescue us from the humanly inescapable grip of sin? May our ears never be stopped up with the wax of worldliness so we cannot hear the Holy Spirit speak the words of God’s unconditional love and forgiveness.

I cannot help but repeat the words of this great song of worship.

Marvelous grace of our loving God,

Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt,

Yonder on Calvary’s mount outpoured,

There where the blood of the Lamb was spilt!

 

Sin and despair, like the sea waves cold,

Threaten the soul with infinite loss.

Grace that is greater, yes, grace untold,

Points to the refuge the mighty cross.

 

Dark is the stain that we cannot hide,

What can avail to wash it away?

Look! There is flowing a crimson tide;

Whiter than snow you may be today.

 

Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace,

Freely bestowed on all who believe!

You that are longing to see His face,

Will you this moment His grace receive?

 

Grace, grace, God’s grace,

Grace that will pardon and cleanse within!

Grace, grace, God’s grace,

Grace that is greater than all our sin!

 

Grace that is greater than all our sin! No matter what the level of discouragement or despair, turn your eyes upon Jesus, and look full in His wonderful face. The things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Psalms 57:7  My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music.

In October of 2007, a huge storm called a nor’easter hit the east coast of America. Heavy rains, high tides, and strong winds destroyed homes along the coast and flooded coastal towns. From Florida to Maine people living near the Atlantic Ocean were affected. Even professional sports took a hit. The final round of the PGA golf tournament in Hilton Head South Carolina had to be cancelled because the winds made it impossible for the golf balls to stay in place on the greens. Several golfers were blown off their strides as they walked, and crashing tree limbs injured the tournament Marshall and put spectators and players at risk. Everyone had to come in from the storm.

Living part of my life in the Dakotas, I know what strong winds are. I’ve been on the golf course while the winds blew at 35-40 miles per hour. I’ve actually had to adjust the line of putts at the hole just to play the wind. I’ve had to lean heavily to one side or the other as I walked just to stay standing. But while all external forces from above and around me were attempting to knock me off of my feet, I knew that the ground under me wasn’t going to fail me and that I had a solid foundation upon which to stand.

That may have been true of the part of South Dakota where I lived, but it isn’t true everywhere. Imagine what it must be like to live in an area prone to earthquakes. When the ground itself begins to shake, where can we stand? At such times, how can we consider ourselves to be steadfast?

Soon-to-be King David must have felt that way when he was pursued by King Saul in an attempt to eliminate the apparent successor to his throne. God had promised David that he would be King, but here he was, hiding out in a cave in the rocks seeking to avoid detection. While deep in the cave, struggling to find meaning and purpose for this latest attack on his life, David wrote the fifty-seventh Psalm – a Psalm filled with confidence in the steadfast love of God. David was so convinced of God’s faithfulness that he said, “My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music.

I dare not pretend to have reached that point in my life yet, where I can sing and make music when under attack. Yet when the storms of life begin to influence us and shake us to our foundation, we can say with King David that we are steadfast.

The Hebrew word that God chose for David to use here to describe his spiritual condition is the word kun, which means to stand erect. I know there are many times in my life when I am not feeling very steadfast and I am certainly not standing very straight. But one thing remains constant – the foundation upon which I stand cannot be shaken or moved.

No matter who is pursuing me or persecuting me, God’s love is greater and reaches to the heavens.

No matter what falls apart or fails in my life, God’s faithfulness reaches to the skies.

No matter how shaken my emotions and how uncertain I am of my ability to stand against the forces that oppose me and hurt me, my heart can remain steadfast because it trusts in God who is exalted above all else.

When storms hit, we seek refuge. Wise people seek refuge in storm-tested places of security. When the waters rise, only fools go into the valleys. When tornadoes strike, only fools go to the top floor. Only a fool builds a tree house and calls it a hurricane shelter. Wise people know where to go for the greatest security.

The same is true spiritually. When the storms of life hit and a crisis occurs, only fools climb into the tree house of their own knowledge for solutions. No matter how well-equipped the tree house is with all the latest innovations of man to solve man’s problems, it is still only as strong as the tree to which it is nailed. Someday a storm is coming that will destroy your tree.

Maybe your tree is being shaken pretty hard right now. Be wise. Climb down from your precarious perch of pride and run to the Rock that cannot be moved. God is the refuge that cannot be penetrated. His love and faithfulness are unending and unfailing. While the winds howl and the trees are broken apart, our hearts can be steadfast – we can stand upright when all else around us is being blown away.

Our ability to stand depends in part on what we decide to exalt in our lives. If we exalt self and our solutions, then we will be shaken and stunned to silence. But if we exalt God in our lives just as He is exalted above all the heavens, and if we live for His glory on the earth, then we will sing and make music because we are steadfast.

The choice is ours. Let’s cancel our plans, and come in from the storm.

Pastor John