September 17
Isaiah 25:1-28:13 | PS 61:1-8 | Prov 23:17-18 | Gal 3:10-22
My wife and I recently celebrated our anniversary. I gave her a present because I love her and I want her to enjoy it. It is not for anyone else. Our relationship with God is often the same way. There are those times that He will come alongside us privately, like He is putting His arm around us and sharing something for us personally. Occasionally it is shared, but He gives it to us because He loves us and we need it. I have difficulty sleeping on airplanes. When on call at the hospital, on occasion I’m woken up so frequently that with the adrenaline pumping I can’t go back to sleep. I used to start looking at the clock and start thinking how difficult my next day might be if I can’t get to sleep for an hour or two. Over the past year or so, instead of pondering my lack of sleep, I meditate on verses of Scripture, sometimes the words of a worship song. I have felt such intimate conversations evolving with the Lord at these moments. I used to get frustrated that when I eventually got up, because I often fell asleep, though I remembered the comfort and intimate feeling, I forgot the substance of the interaction. But I realize and appreciate that God gave me what I needed at that moment and it was just for me.
When the initial viral outbreak occurred in 2020, being in New Jersey, we were literally ground zero. Panic was setting in all around me as our group handled hundreds of cases involving our pregnant patients. But surprising to many I felt peace as the Lord put this verse in my mind in Isaiah 26:3, “You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.” This was not a verse that I meditated on frequently before, but it was as though God put His arm around me and whispered to me for this season. When we enter into a relationship with God we can experience peace with God, as we become His friends rather than not considering Him. But we can also experience the peace of God, as we read in Philippians 4:6-7, “ Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
When do these moments occur? We read in Isaiah 26:9, “With my soul I have desired You in the night, Yes, by my spirit within me I will seek You early; For when Your judgments are in the earth, The inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.” In many ways I have so much to learn in my relationship with the Lord. He is always available, yet how often I render myself unavailable. These times in the night or on an airplane are quiet times that I used to exclude Him. They are now opportunities. When we feel alone, may we remember that we don’t need to be alone. He is available: in His Word, in prayer, in worship, and during quiet times alone.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: