The Paradox

 

How can we feel so rushed and hurried,

On every matter vexed and worried,

When time can confine us for but a season?

Tomorrow promises eternity and joys beyond reason!

 

How can we sit perplexed and confused

Over changing values and opposing views,

When Your word is truth, and the way is clear?

Your wisdom is sound, for anyone that will hear.

 

How can we rely on our own strength and might

To control our own lives without seeking your light,

When only You know the end from the beginning,

And your plan is the one that ends with us winning?

 

How can we spend our hard-earned wages

On possessions and toys that become like cages,

Entrapping our souls on a quest for more gain,

When we could save for heaven, our work not in vain?

 

How can we give our enemy the power

To distract and confuse us hour by hour,

When we know your love and the joys we’ll share

In heaven, once we join You there?

 

How can we be so slow to understand,

To see the touch of our Creator’s hand,

When all around us the evidence is clear?

You are ever close, so very near.

I wonder what it will be like, when

From beyond, we look back again.

When everything will be crystal clear,

And we finally see we had nothing to fear.

 

How crazy this will all seem then!

All our doubts and concerns that we thought wouldn’t end.

How could we be so foolish and blind,

With so much ahead and nothing behind?

 

Lord, open my eyes to your plan made for me,

I don’t understand; I can’t hear or see

Past the illusions and traps set by my foe

To keep me from heaven, ensnared here below.

 

Fix my eyes on the goal, help me follow the clues

Let me always remember and trust the good news.

Give me wisdom to see past the smokescreen

And strength to believe what is now unseen.

Trust

            I have two dogs, Kendra, and Kiesha.   They are very big dogs, weighing about 85 lbs each.  When they bark, they are really loud, and sometimes they can be scary.  You wouldn’t think these big, strong dogs would be afraid of anything, but they are.

            Not too long ago, the dogs were lying on the back porch.  It had been a clear, sunny day.  As it got closer to evening, the clouds started moving in.  Soon, it became quite dark outside, and we began to hear a rumbling sound.

            We saw lightning flashing in the hills around our house, and the thunder banged so loudly that the house shook.  We were having a summer lightning storm.  There was no rain, and it was warm outside, but it was a storm just the same.

            Our family was inside the house, but the dogs were out on the porch.  (They don’t get to come inside, because they get so excited that they knock over the furniture when they come in).  While we were listening to the sound of the thunder, we also heard something else:  there was a whimpering, whining sound coming from our back porch.  It started to get louder, and then we recognized that it was Kendra howling!  The dogs were afraid of the storm!

            We opened up the back door, so the dogs could see and hear us through the screen.  We told them it was only thunder and that they were safe.  We sat down to watch some television, when all of a sudden Kendra was standing in the living room!  She had pushed her giant head right through the screen, ripping it apart!  We tried to push her back out the door onto the porch, but she wouldn’t budge.  She just shook her head, “No” as we pushed and pointed.  The only way she was going to feel safe was to be in the house with her family.

            That reminds me that we, too, have a place where we can always feel safe.  It is with our Father, God.  We don’t have to go anywhere to look for Him, because He is always right with us, no matter where we are or what is happening.  If we are afraid of the storms in our lives, we can say a prayer to God, and we can be sure that He hears us and is right there with us, keeping us safe.  “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”  (Psalm 46:1).