Stooping Down

I threw my back out on Mother's Day. The hardest thing has been bending down to get things, put on my socks, etc. You take energy and strength for granted until you don't have it. I'll be more careful next time (famous last words).

At our mid-week Bible study last night we spent time digesting Psalm 113. It's a great expression of praise. When I got home the following truth just wouldn't leave me alone.

Psalms 113:5-6 (NIV) Who is like the Lord our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth.

God has to come a long way to get to us. We forget how godly God is, how holy, how pure, how righteous, how eternal, how other than us He is. He is not only above the earth, He is above the heavens. He is "on high" and I'm not sure we can even grasp the idea of "on high."

What we do grasp is life down here. We understand need. We know dust and the ash heap. We know barrenness and unhappiness. We are connected to down here.

God sees us in our life down here because He makes the effort to be involved in what we are experiencing. He "stoops down" to be involved in our lives. I think the NIV doesn't capture this quite well enough when it says He "stoops down to look." Other versions translate this He "humbles Himself to behold." He's not just bending down to look down on us. He is getting down at our level and seeing the world at the level we see it. In fact, in human form Jesus experienced life as we experience it.

God not only sees our lives, but He gets involved. He helps us to find happiness even when circumstances are terrible. He turns our circumstances around. He lifts us up. In all our heaviness, when we feel like we're buried under our circumstance, God can easily handle the lifting.

With my back in pain reaching down wasn't easy. I was motivated. What was "down there" was worth the pain. I wanted to get dressed and I needed socks on my feet.

God demonstrates His love by "humbling Himself to behold" our lives. We're worth it to Him. Our problems are worth His time. Our heartaches matter enough to Him for Him to stoop down through heaven and down to earth.

Our response is to trust and praise Him. Louie Giglio describes worship like this - to "gaze long upon the Cross of Christ, fully absorb His beauty and pain, respond accordingly."

Psalm 113:1-3 (NIV) Praise the Lord! Praise, O servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord! Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore! From the rising of the sun to it's going down the Lord's name is to be praised.

Not Easy To Follow

My wife and I were following some people in our car because we didn't know how to get to their house. We were in a large city with a lot of traffic. I tried to keep up, but eventually we got separated at an intersection. Fortunately, we were able to catch up by way of the cell phone.

I've had a few occasions in my walk with God where I felt like I lost Him at an intersection. He says "follow me." I've been preaching it for years. But there are some problems with following God.

He often leads in ways that are not easy for me to understand. His direction doesn't seem right. His timing definitely appears to be off schedule. Eventually, it all comes around. But in the mean time it can be a struggle trying to understand it.

He is unseen. God has been known to show up in a way that can be seen with human eyes. But for the most part He leads with whispers and gentle nudges. I have to be extra sensitive in order to follow Him.

He is always present with us. This is problematic in two different ways. First, I get so familiar with His presence that sometimes I'm just going along with my life and treat Him as a spectator or a travel companion. It's like He's just along for my ride. The second problem is that I think I need a little "me time" and that God is getting in the way. I've seen too many people fall in this way.

Exodus 40:36-38 (NIV) ³⁶ In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; ³⁷ but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted. ³⁸ So the cloud of the LORD was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel during all their travels.

I was thinking about what would happen if the Israelites left the camp and while they were gone the cloud moved. It would probably be easy enough to follow the tracks of a group that large. But they would have to pick up their pace and catch up.

In a modern scene we would get on the cell phone and triangulate our positions. With God, we just call on Him. We cry out for help. "Lord, here I am. I'm lost again. Help." And God shows up.

I don't always understand His ways and I can't see Him, but I know that He is always there, and that gives me comfort. I know that God is leading me according to His purpose and plans. And that is good.