Picture yourself walking alone on a sidewalk illuminated by pathway lights. The moon shines brightly. The night air is calm. The chirping of the crickets brings a sense of peace. You enjoy this quiet and serene walk and are in no hurry to go inside. In fact, you might just walk around the block a few more times, enjoying such a beautiful night. You feel safe even though it is dark all around you.

Now let me slightly change the scene. You are still walking on that same sidewalk. However, instead of a moonlit sky, it is raining. You are thankful that you thought to bring your umbrella. Otherwise, by now, you would be soaking wet. Lightning flashes in the sky. Chirping sounds are replaced by cracks of thunder. The night sky seems exceptionally black. The pathway lights do not seem so very bright. The mist caused by the rain causes the air to be damp. It is hard to see. There is nothing calm or peaceful in you or around you. Your imagination begins to run wild with negative vibes. Uneasiness settles into your soul. Your nerves are on edge. Your heart is beating, way too fast. Your pace picks up, almost to a sprint. You cannot get inside quick enough.

Life is often that same way. We find ourselves in situations that give us a sense of calm, serenity, peacefulness. We also find ourselves in other situations that make us uneasy and uncomfortable.

Sometimes the threat to us is real, while other times it is just perceived. You might have recently been diagnosed with cancer. Your spouse is nearing death, and you wonder if you can keep on keepin’ on once they are gone. Your finances are in shambles; the unpaid bills keep piling up. That family member’s addiction has wreaked havoc in just about everything. Or quite possibly, you continue finding yourself in the vortex of endless “what ifs.”    

In Psalm 138:7-8 we read these words – “When I am surrounded by troubles, you keep me safe. You oppose my angry enemies and save me by your power. You will do everything you have promised; Lord, your love is eternal. Complete the work that you have begun” (GNT).

In these two verses it sure seems clear that not only did the psalmist trust in God’s power and protection, but also has confidence in the plans and purposes of the Father, despite the worrisome and disquieting current conditions.

All through the psalms, David testified that God had been his fortress and refuge in times of trouble. He knew where to turn when stuff happened – “When I am in distress, I call to you, because you answer me” (Psalm 86:7).

God invites us to call upon him in times of trouble – “I am God Most High! The only sacrifice I want is for you to be thankful and to keep your word. Pray to me in time of trouble. I will rescue you, and you will honor me” (Psalm 50:14-15).

Regardless of what you are going through, or imagining that you are going through, you can rest assured that God is with you. Sometimes He will help you escape harm’s way while other times He sustains you through whatever it is that threatens you, walking stride for stride alongside you.

So, today, if the sidewalk you walk down is dimly lit and you find yourself uneasy about your surroundings, maybe even fearing the worst, allow yourself to be strengthened by the love and faithfulness of the One in whose image you were made (Genesis 1:26-27) and who created you to be who you are (Psalm 139:13-18). And rest assured that the Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth (Psalm 145:18).  

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During my childhood I was allergic to honeybees and yellow jackets. At age eleven I was playing in a neighbor’s yard when I inadvertently stepped on a nest of yellow jackets that had built their colony in the ground. I was stung over fifty times and spent several days in the hospital. For the next twenty or so years I received regular allergy shots, called venom immunotherapy. Most kids outgrow that allergy, and I did as well. While I am still cautious around bees and all their relatives, I do enjoy what those pesky honeybees produce… honey.

The production of honey is fascinating. The process begins when bees extract nectar from flowering plants. They then store this nectar in their extra stomach while transporting it back to the beehive. When the honeybee returns to the hive it passes the nectar to another bee by vomiting the liquid into that bee’s mouth, who then does the same to another bee, one closer to honeycomb. This process is continued until the partially digested nectar is deposited into the honeycomb.

However, this nectar is still a liquid, so in order to remove the excess water from this nectar, the bees fan it with their wings to speed up the evaporation process. Once most of the water is gone, the bees secrete another liquid from their abdomen, which hardens into beeswax, safely sealing the honey inside the honeycomb for the bees, providing them with a food source to be consumed during the cold months. That is, unless Winnie the Pooh, honey badgers, raccoons, or humans get to it first.

Today we most often use sugar, or sugar substitutes, to sweeten our food and drink. But until the sixteenth century, when sugar became widely available, honey was the world’s primary sweetener. Since my prostate cancer diagnosis in 2017, I try to avoid as much sugar as possible, and honey is a good substitute. It is sweeter than sugar. While sugar only sweetens, honey on the other hand both helps to sweeten food and drink and has several health benefits as well. Not only do we consume and enjoy the sweetness of honey, we also oftentimes describe things good as “sweeter than honey.”   

Psalm 19 reflects in three separate motifs the beauty of God’s Works and His Word. It begins like this: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” The first motif (vv.1-6) describes the glory and wisdom of God through His creation, the second motif (7-11) reveals God’s law, and the final motif (11-14) is a three-verse prayer asking for forgiveness and acceptance. We find these powerful closing words in v.14: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.” 

In my opinion, the unrivaled beauty and transforming power of God’s Word is described in this psalm maybe better than any other place in Scripture. Let’s look at the second motif of Psalm 19: “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.”

Did you get that? God’s Word is sweeter than honey. So, I ask, are you taking time every day to ingest and digest His Word, allowing it to feed you, nourish you, and transform you?

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How do you respond when someone comes to you with a better way, at least better way according to them? Do you get defensive and think to yourself “Who made you the expert?” or do you listen to their advice? Admittedly, there are a lot of armchair quarterbacks who always seem to know the best way to do just about everything. But there are also times when the person is genuine in their desire to help us become more effective and efficient, or maybe to keep us from hurting ourselves or someone else.

I remember a number of years ago I hired a staff accountant who had just graduated from college a few months earlier. This young man had only been on the job one week when he presented me with a list of twenty things that we needed to improve on. Really?

Today I want to share a story from John’s Gospel that occurred about a week after Jesus had been crucified, buried, and raised from the tomb, and began to reappear to people in the area. The story begins like this – It is morning and Jesus’ disciples, who are also experienced fishermen, are sitting in their boat on the Sea of Galilee, disappointed that they had caught no fish all night long. (We find a similar story at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, found in Luke 5:1-11.)

Let’s continue the story by looking at the text, found in John chapter 21 – Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they answered. He said, “Throw your nets on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish (21:4-6).

The disciples did then recognize Jesus (v.7). The story ends by telling us that the men sat on the shore enjoying a breakfast of bread and grilled fish with Jesus. As a side note, in v.11, John tells us that 153 fish were found in the net, thus giving credibility to this story since he must have been an eyewitness to know the exact number of fish. I encourage you to read this entire account in its context, John 21:1-14.

Unlike the armchair quarterback who always has a seemingly better way, often without any expertise or involvement, Jesus calls us to be faithful and obedient to His way, which is always the best way. He calls us to faithfully cast out our nets, sending us into the world, to change lives, feed the sick, clothe the naked, heal the sick, to love the unloved and the unlovable. We are responsible to cast out the nets. Jesus is responsible for what comes back in.

So, will you cast your nets, not just in the best fishing spots, but also even in places where fishing doesn’t look too promising, and allow Jesus to work in you and through you?

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Have you ever felt alone and isolated? Invisible? Forgotten? It is as if you are walking alone on a quiet and empty beach. The vastness of the ocean makes you feel very small, very insignificant in the grand scheme of things. The only living creatures in sight are the dolphins swimming close to the shoreline, and you are sure they don’t know you are nearby. Even the seagulls are nonexistent.

Every winter my wife and I try our best to get to the beach. We so much enjoy walking side by side, hand in hand, barefoot, on a beach like I just described. For us, those moments are restful and peaceful. The “aloneness” is what we very much need.  

Maybe you keep getting passed by for a promotion at work. You wonder if management even knows you work there.

You moved into a new neighborhood several months ago, but no neighbors, not even one, have stopped to say hi and welcome you.

That church you have been visiting, the one that advertises itself as a welcoming church, well, the only person to even make eye contact with you was the guy at the next urinal, as you both got rid of the coffee drunk during the service.        

You feel abandoned by the family and friends, by the world, and by maybe even abandoned by El Shaddai, Almighty God himself. You wonder if anyone knows or cares that you exist. Today I want to share the story of a woman from the Old Testament who felt that way, at least until she had a very personal encounter with God.

The woman is Hagar. In Genesis Chapter 15 God promised Abram that He would bless Abram and make him into a great nation. In fact, Abram’s descendants would outnumber the stars. Fast forward ten years. Abram and his wife Sarai were quickly aging and still childless. So, like most of us would do, they began to have doubts, deciding to take matters into their own hands. (It is not until Genesis Chapter 17 that God changes their names to Abraham and Sarah.)

It was a custom during those times that if a man’s wife was barren, another woman could have a child in the wife’s place. In Chapter 16 Sarai tells Abram to sleep with Hagar, their Egyptian maidservant, and perhaps it would be through Hagar that God would fulfill his promise of making a great nation. Abram, probably after wiping a big grin off his face, slept with Hagar, and she became pregnant (vv.1-4).

As you might imagine, this created a complicated relationship between the three of them. Sarai began to mistreat Hagar, so the maidservant packed her bags and fled, returning through the desert to her homeland of Shur (vv.4-6). As a side note, in the book of Exodus, we are told that the Israelites traveled through this same wilderness on their way from the Red Sea to Mount Sinai (Exodus 15:22).  

In the ancient Middle East, women got their value through their husband. An unmarried pregnant maidservant would be viewed as having almost zero societal value and worth. In Genesis 16:7, as Hagar sits near a spring in the desert, likely feeling very scared and very alone, an angel of the Lord shows up and has a conversation with her (vv.7-12). It is in those moments that Hagar comes to the wonderful realization that she is not invisible or forgotten. Here is what we read – “She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: ‘You are the God who sees me,’ for she said, ‘I have now seen the One who sees me’” (16:13).  

Hagar calls God “El Roi,” translated “the God who sees.” And then in v.14 we read, “Therefore the well (the spring at which Hagar sat) was called Beer-lahai-roi,” which literally means “the well of the Living One who see me.”

So, today, no matter how alone you feel, how small you feel, please hear this… God loves you, and not only that, He knows you, He cares for you, and He has plans for you. And just like Hagar, regardless of your current situation or circumstances, right here, right now, El Roi says to you, “I see you!”

Imagine the joy in knowing that God sees you! You are never out of His sight, even in your most lonely of moments, even on that deserted beach! Do you believe that today?

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When I was a child, the reality that life would be extremely hard wasn’t what I thought too much about. Instead, it was more like a hall of fame NFL career, a beautiful wife, well-behaved and successful kids. I guess, in the words of Meat Loaf, two out of three ain’t bad!

Your thoughts of what life as a grown up would look like, while maybe different than mine, were also probably of some idyllic version of happy, healthy, peaceful, charming, prosperity. There was no thought of serious health issues, unemployment, divorce, addiction, stress of dealing with aging parents, untimely deaths of loved ones, financial stresses, or any of the other challenges that we all have in life.

Maybe today, life looks and feels like nothing more than paint that seems to just be randomly brushed onto a canvas, chaotic and confusing, no rhyme or reason. You face some challenge, some struggle, some mess, that has you feeling disillusioned, discouraged, frustrated, maybe even hopeless. It could be ongoing challenges caused by a serious health issue. You have always found it easy to secure meaningful employment, but these days, as you look for a new job, doors just do not seem to open. Or possibly, as you look in the mirror, that young vibrant person who used to look back at you now looks older, grayer, heavier. You hope also wiser, but even that seems in question.

Your faith is strong. You know that God is in control and has a perfect plan and purpose for your life. But you do wonder what is taking this perfect plan so long to reveal itself. Your hands are raw from holding onto the rope so tightly, not wanting to let it slip through your fingers. Can I just say, maybe you need to let go and let God keep you safe and secure, rather than the rope.

The Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard said this, “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”

In 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 we read these hopeful words – “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” 

Those words are hopeful because in your pain Jesus reveals Himself to you. Those words are hopeful because through your pain Jesus is refining you. Those words are hopeful because out of your pain Jesus can bring beauty and value.

The Bible also tells us that it is during trials that we grow and mature. Not an easy thing to digest, but it is true. In James 1:2-4 we read this – “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

A few verses later we see this – “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him” (v.12). The crown of life referred to in this passage is not just referencing to eternal life, but rather, also life here and now, enjoyed abundantly and in greater fullness.

We find these often-misinterpreted words from an imprisoned apostle Paul in Philippians 4:19 – “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” That verse does not mean that believers will never experience times of need. It does however mean God provides what we lack, and sometimes that is nothing more than the grace and strength to persevere (2 Corinthians 12:9).  

So, will you allow the troubles of life, the chaotic mess of life, to be guided and directed by the only One who can meet your every need?

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We live in a world of broken promises. So often people, corporations, and government tell us one thing, then either do something else or nothing at all. When someone says to you, “I will come to your picnic” it often really means “I will come to your picnic if nothing better comes up.” Marriages break up because “as long as we both shall live” means nothing more than “as long as it is convenient.” And unfortunately, in the broken world in which we live, the conditional statement of “if X, then Y” is not always true.

For many years, the accounting firm Arthur Andersen had as its slogan “Think straight, talk straight,” yet went out of business after their alleged complicity and subsequent obstruction of justice conviction in the Enron scandal. (To be fair, that conviction was unanimously overturned by the Supreme Court a few years later.)

Presidential candidates have also been known to make campaign promises only to break them. In 1964, Lyndon Johnson, in a speech just two weeks before the presidential election, said, “We are not about to send American boys nine or ten thousand miles away from home to do what Asian boys ought to be doing for themselves.” Then, six months later, during his presidency, he sent U.S. combat troops to Vietnam. In 1988, George H. W. Bush promised, “Read my lips: No new taxes,” only to sign a bill raising taxes during his first and only term.

Because of so many broken promises we live in a “seeing is believing” world. You’ve probably said it yourself, “I will believe it when I see it!” Sadly, from experience, many of us have become skeptical of much of what we hear or read. If we cannot see it, hear it, touch it, taste it, or smell it, then we often have real doubts. Have you ever heard of Thomas, one of the twelve apostles, who is commonly referred to as Doubting Thomas? Thomas was not willing to believe that Jesus had been raised from the dead until he could see the nail marks and put his fingers into Jesus’ side (John 20:24-28).

We have become a society of Doubting Thomases. However, God tells us something totally different than seeing is believing. He calls us to a place of faith; a faith not dependent upon our circumstances (what we currently see). 2 Corinthians 5:7 says this – “We live by faith, not by sight.” Faith is about being confident in what we cannot currently see. In Hebrews 11:1 we read – “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

What God really is saying is that He wants us to believe in order to see. For most of us that really goes against our natural inclination of “I will believe it when I see it.” We cannot see God with our physical eyes (Colossians 1:15), but faith gives us assurance to believe that He exists (Romans 1:19-20), that He is a good (Psalm 107:1), and that He is faithful (Lamentations 3:22-23).

So, the takeaway for you (and for me) is that without faith that believes before it sees, when life gets rough, despair sets in if we only believe once we can see the outcome. Psalm 27:13 tells us – “I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.” And then verse 14 gives us this challenge – “Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.”

I will end with what Jesus told Doubting Thomas after he (Thomas) touched Jesus and finally believed that Jesus was raised from the dead. In John 20:29 we read this – “Then Jesus told him, ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet still have believed.’”

God please grant us all a faith that believes before it sees! Amen

[The painting in this post is by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, titled “The Incredulity of Saint Thomas”.]

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