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“Never Alone”
In a recent morning devotional, my sister writes she quoted from the Psalms.
“The wicked in his proud countenance does not see God; God is in none of his thoughts... why do the wicked renounce God? He has said in his heart, ‘the wicked prowl on every side when vileness is exalted among the sons of men.’”
And of that quotation she then asks, “Do we exalt violence by what we watch on TV? What would you watch if Jesus was sitting beside you? Did we forget He is?”
Stop and think about that for a minute. Sometimes we forget that as our Lord and Savior, He is always with us. Always! When we are running late, when a co-worker berates us, when someone we love chooses not to love us, when we make the excuse, “Everyone needs to let his hair down once in a while.”
When these things happen, do we remember they are not just happening to us? They are happening to Jesus as well, because He has assured us, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” It’s not all about me. It’s Jesus and me. Jesus and you. We are like biscuits and gravy, like hearts and flowers, like two peas in a pod.
I have recently gone through a few issues. But I was never alone. I just had to remind myself that He is always with me. And underneath are the Everlasting Arms.
I was recently reading in the old classic by Helmut Thielicke, “The Waiting Father.” One quote from it I have loved for many years. I may have shared it with you before. This is his discourse on the parable of The Cost of Building a Tower. He wrote:
“That is why great theological thinkers of the Middle Ages said that half-Christianity always led to dejection. Indeed, they said that depression always had its roots in a divided heart. Only the simple and single-hearted are happy. For only the single-hearted man has a whole, unbroken, unambiguous Savior. [This is my favorite part of this quote.] The man who wants only a bit of God always finds God to be a brake, an impediment, a pain, but he who wants God wholly learns that He is the source of power, that He gives a man freedom and verve. That following Him is the most joyful thing in the world because He frees a man from all the things that tempt and torment the half-hearted, and tug and toss them to and fro. If a man is having a struggle with the shadows of sadness and depression, he must ask himself whether the reason may not be this division in his heart.”
Let us all remember that when we give our hearts to Him, it can’t be a half-hearted effort. And in that giving, it does not leave one heartless. It leaves you double-hearted! Yours and His!