GOD WILL TAKE CARE OF WHAT IS HIS

I've been struggling a little emotionally and spiritually with these first couple days of school. It seems the enemy has come at me with the same old strategies. I'm going to mess the kids up. I'm not doing enough. Our kids won't know what they're supposed to know. Etc, etc, etc. So I've been sharpening the sword and lifting the shield of faith ruthlessly the last two days. But victory is not instantaneous. I'll compare it to the scene in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe where they push their way through the coats. It's hot and stuffy and you're not sure where you're going. You pray and fight for faith and the right affections just aren't following. Then the Lord in His grace gives you some light and you're in the bright, clean air just like first entering the cold crispness of Narnia. This morning this happened to me when I read the first chapter of 1 Samuel. Hannah promises to give Samuel up when she has weaned him. I'm sure she knows what kind of father Eli has been since she has gone up to the temple with her husband year after year. Eli's sons are wanton and disobedient. Yet Hannah brings Samuel to Eli. The key I think is that she gives Samuel not to Eli but to God. She entrusts him to God. I had written something in my Bible at this part that really struck me and was my gateway to greater faith and light today. I wrote, "God takes care of His own property." Samuel became God's property when Hannah devoted him to the Lord.

Who am I to think that I have that much control over the fate of my children? I have tremendous influence, yes, but I am not God. Thankfully, praise God, He takes the influence I have and molds it and uses it for each child's needs. And if I continually surrender them to God and they're truly His, He will take care of His own.

GOD, OUR EVERYTHING

From the hymn, "O Worship the King", comes this line -

Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer and Friend.

That line hit me this morning. I'm glad, because not much was penetrating this distracted heart of mine this morning in worship. Some days are just like that. Had I not taken the time to prepare my heart beforehand? Probably, since I stayed up late the previous night and was reading Runner's World in the car on the way to church. So let me stay with this line for a while, meditating on its significance...

Our Maker - "And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." Genesis 1:27 "For Thou didst form my inward parts; Thou didst weave me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made..." Psalm 139:13-14

Our Defender - "The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent." Exodus 14:14 "Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns?" Romans 8:33-34

Our Redeemer - "I have wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloud, and your sins like a heavy mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you." Isaiah 44:22 "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine!" Isaiah 43:1

Our Friend - "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13 "...and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, 'And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,' and he was called the friend of God." James 2:23