February 2021 – PJ's Monday Musings

When what you are looking for feels like a never-ending game of “hide & seek”

Presence and Power.

For me, those two words are the simplest and strongest daily reminder of my need for God…for His everyday presence and power in my life.

Over and over again in 2020 (and now 2021), I have witnessed God’s presence and power both in big, headline-grabbing ways and in small, more subtle (and personal) ways.

Over and over again, I have experienced His presence and power in the form of things that we all need, but can’t seem to find in anything (or anyone) else.

Here’s just the beginning of a list of things that we all need and are looking for right now…

We all need hope…and He is the God of hope. (Romans 15:13)

We all need peace…and He is the God of peace. (Philippians 4:6-7)

We all need comfort…and He is the God of all comfort. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)

We all need grace…and He is the God of grace. (Ephesians 2:4-7)

We all need wisdom…and He is the God of wisdom. (James 1:5-8)

We all need love…and He is the God of love. (1 John 4:7-8)

We all need strength…and He is the God of strength. (2 Corinthians 12:8-10)

I could go on, but the point I’m trying to make is this…

God’s everyday presence and power is real and we all need it.

Just stop for a second and think of all the ways we’ve been looking for these things outside of God just in the last twelve months…

We’ve looked for hope in our government.

We’ve looked for peace in our coping mechanisms.

We’ve looked for comfort in our personal idols.

We’ve looked for grace in our relationships with those who disagree with us.

We’ve looked for wisdom in our memes and social media feeds.

We’ve looked for love in our love of self.

We’ve looked for strength in our individualism and independence.

The bottom line in all of this is that when we look for these things outside of the everyday power and presence of God, we will never find what we are looking for.

And, our lives end up being like a never-ending game of “hide & seek.”

God’s everyday presence and power is real…

It’s real in the form of hope, peace, comfort, grace, wisdom, love, strength, and so much more.

What do you need today…what do we all need today?

You need God’s presence and power…and He’s not hard to find.

You just have to look in the right places.

“Seek the LORD while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near.” (Isaiah 55:6)

“¹²In those days when you pray, I will listen. ¹³If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. ¹⁴I will be found by you,” says the Lord. (Jeremiah 29:12-14a)

When God’s Everyday Grace Finds You

Grace.

Been thinking about that word since we sang about it in church yesterday.

“Your grace finds me” is the line that got me.

Last week, I was reading in the book of Exodus and I came across some verses that kind of got me too…

²³After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned because of their difficult labor, they cried out, and their cry for help because of the difficult labor ascended to God. ²⁴God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.

²⁵God saw the Israelites, and God knew. (Exodus 2:23-25)

God heard.

God remembered.

God saw.

God knew.

And, God’s grace found the Israelites when they needed it the most.

I don’t know about you, but I needed to hear that last week and yesterday and today (and most likely tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that and…well you get my point).

God’s grace finds me.

So, here’s all I have to say…

Whatever your circumstances are today, God’s grace finds you.

Whatever your feelings are today, God’s grace finds you.

Whatever your temptations are today, God’s grace finds you.

Whatever your pain is today, God’s grace finds you.

Whatever your fears are today, God’s grace finds you.

God’s grace finds you today and every day because He hears you, He remembers His promises to you, He sees you, and He knows you.

Today might be a day where you need to hit the “pause” button or the “refresh” icon of your life and pray this prayer of David as you wait for God’s everyday grace to find you where you need it the most.

Dear God…

Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me,
    for I am poor and needy.
²Preserve my life, for I am godly;
    save your servant, who trusts in you—you are my God.
³Be gracious to me, O Lord,
    for to you do I cry all the day.
⁴Gladden the soul of your servant,
    for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
⁵For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
    abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.
⁶Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer;
    listen to my plea for grace.
⁷In the day of my trouble I call upon you,
    for you answer me. (Psalm 86:1-6)

Monday Musings: where are your questions leading you?

Ah Monday morning…

So much is swirling around in my head right now as I try to focus on one thing to write about…to muse on.

I give up.

There’s just too many questions to focus on just one…

What is truth…or true when I turn on the news or scroll through my social media feeds or talk to my neighbor down the street?

What is normal…is it really just going back to the “good ol'” days of 2019?

What is freedom…is the freedom we really want tied to politics, religion, or personal preference (or is it all of the above)?

When will this pandemic go away?

When will people learn to disagree without making the people they disagree with their enemy?

When will I be able to work in a coffee shop again? (okay, maybe that’s not as big of a question as the rest, but I’m still asking it)

What will the people living in 2070 say about the people living in 2020?

When is Jesus coming back?

What are we as Christians supposed to be learning from the coronavirus, the recent elections, and anything and everything else that’s creating division in our country?

What is God thinking right now?

Does He have a plan or an end game for all of this?

Are we living in an intense (and in some ways, unprecedented) season of suffering as Christians in America or is it discipline…or both?

Is God pulling out the weeds right now…or is Satan sifting us like wheat?

You see, I’ve got lots of questions with no easy or clear answers…and I’m guessing that you do to.

And we both have to choose where those questions will ultimately lead us.

This morning, these questions led me to Romans 11, where Paul says…

³³Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!

³⁴For who can know the Lord’s thoughts?
Who knows enough to give him advice?
³⁵And who has given him so much
that he needs to pay it back?

³⁶For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen.

The truth is, I may never understand the answers to all my questions…

But, I know a God who does.

And that is good enough for me on a Monday morning.