The word all is a short one but packs a powerful punch. As a result, “all” is in the running for my word of the year. In the days leading up to Christmas, I was especially drawn to the words “all” and “always” with regard to God. I find there is no middle ground with Him.
Have you ever taken a test or filled out a survey with the choices “always, sometimes, or never?” They can be tricky! Not so with God. Sometimes is not part of His equation. Unlike me, He is not wishy-washy. God is the same today as He was yesterday. And He will be the same tomorrow too. You can count on it! His character is always consistent, never swayed by circumstances.
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
Hebrews 13:8 ERV
God is…
all-powerful (omnipotent)
“Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”
Mark 10:27 NIV
There is NOTHING He cannot do.
all-knowing (omniscient)
“You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely.”
Psalms 139:1-4 NIV
There is NOTHING He does not know.
always present (omnipresent).
“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Matthew 28:20b NIV
There is NOWHERE we can go to escape His presence.
No matter what you are going through right now, I pray that these truths from God’s Word bring you comfort…always.
As I was driving to the pool one recent morning, I encountered a rainbow. What a great start to my day! It brought a smile to my face…and got me thinking.
Rainbows–God’s Brilliant Reminder
The Weather Conditions
Rainbows are only visible in the sky when certain conditions align. They require the presence of water droplets and sunlight. Often, rainbows appear after rain, and sometimes that rain comes in the form of a storm. The sight of a rainbow can provide a sense of calm and comfort after the unsettling effects of thunder and lightning.
Rainbows in the Bible
Rainbows are mentioned at various places in the Bible and have spiritual significance. The first such appearance is in the very first book—Genesis. God uses a rainbow as a sign of His covenant with Noah after the flood.
“The rainbow that I have put in the sky will be my sign to you and to every living creature on earth. It will remind you that I will keep this promise forever. When I send clouds over the earth, and a rainbow appears in the sky, I will remember my promise to you and to all other living creatures. Never again will I let floodwaters destroy all life.
Genesis 9:12-15 CEV
A Glorious Display of His Splendor
A rainbow appears in the final book of the Bible too—Revelation. The Holy Spirit gave John a vision into the throne room of heaven. He describes God’s glory and power with these words:
“And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne.”
Revelation 4:3 NIV
Can you picture that magnificent scene?
His Presence and Power on Display
From beginning to end, a rainbow is an important symbol of God’s presence and power in the Bible. To Noah, it was a reminder of God’s gifts of grace and mercy, a metaphor for faith.
My Personal Favorite
Throughout my life, I’ve witnessed many rainbows, but the most memorable one was photographed by my cousin after my father’s funeral. The photo was taken masterfully from behind my nephew’s headstone in the cemetery adjacent to the church where the service took place. The impact is in the details.
Photo Credit: Karyn Murphy
A rainbow, in all its splendor, appears only against the backdrop of a gloomy, rain-filled sky or when the sun begins to pierce through the clouds. For me, a rainbow serves as a symbol of God’s steadfastness during turbulent times. It is in the storms of life that I most need reminded of His faithfulness.
God’s Perfect Timing
About that rainbow that I mentioned at the outset—I saw it just after the sunrise on November 6. The significance—it was the day after an incredibly contentious and divisive election. Why did I smile at the sight of it? Because it served as a reminder that regardless of who occupies the Oval Office, God remains sovereign. He is still on the throne! No matter how you voted, or even if you didn’t, may this assurance bring calm and comfort to your heart as well.
I like numbers. No newsflash there. After all, I teach math. Numbers give me a greater understanding of so much.
Concerning Numbers
Thinking back 28+ years to the months leading up to my daughter’s birth, I remember meeting with the head neonatologist at Allegheny General to discuss her case in depth. It was all so overwhelming. All the medical terminology flew right over my head, but a few things stuck. Namely, the numbers!! I understood that much at least. Our baby girl had a 10% chance of surviving, unless she was born in the right place at the right time. I can assure you that we, along with our doctors, did everything in our power to make sure she WAS born in the right place at the right time, increasing her odds of survival to 50/50. Sometimes those numbers don’t tell the story that we want to hear, but, nonetheless, they do tell a story.
The Battle Continues
After months of battling a MRSA infection, I find myself searching for a number again. Please feel free to read my most recent blog posts if you need to catch up on that news.
Multiple infectious disease doctors have told me that once the infection reaches the bone/hardware, it is really hard to eliminate. They are all in agreement on that. If it does return, the doctors say that they will have to open my neck up yet again and remove the hardware. You can imagine how appealing that is after having had 3 cervical spine surgeries in 4 months.
The Million Dollar Question
My question—how hard is REALLY hard? Give me a number so I can better understand what I am up against! When I posed that question at my most recent infectious disease appointment, my doctor could not (or would not) give me a number. She only replied, “I don’t know.” So, I am left wondering. Are the numbers in my favor? If not, how badly are the odds stacked against me?
Achieving (Im)balance
While I have been left pondering this question, the Holy Spirit led me to a passage in the Bible about numbers to give me some much-needed perspective. For the complete story, check out Judges Chapter 7. I am going to limit my deeper dive here to the numbers. In this chapter, Gideon is leading an army of Israelites into battle against the Midianites.
The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me.’ Now announce to the army, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.
Judges 7:2-3 (NIV)
Calculating
If you do the math, that means Gideon’s army started with 32,000 men and was quickly reduced to 10,000. That is nearly a 70% decrease! Why? Because God did not want the Israelites to take credit for their victory.
However, God was not yet finished…
But the Lord said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will thin them out for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”
Judges 7:4 (NIV)
Outnumbered
Minus all the details, God pared Gideon’s army down to 300 men. For perspective, there were 135,000 men in the Midianite army. Whoa—talk about outnumbered! There is no way the Israelites can pull this off, right? That was God’s whole point. When they defeated the Midianites, God wanted them to be certain of why they were victorious. It was because He was fighting the battle for (and with) them! Ultimately, the battle was God’s. And you know…
With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”
Matthew 19:26 (KJV)
Instead of searching for a number to which I can cling, I would be better served by clinging to the all-powerful God of the universe. At the end of the day, the number is not very important. If you are in a battle where the numbers are not in your favor, remember this story about Gideon and find comfort in this truth.
As always, I wait on God to supply the material for my blog posts. That, and the time to write. Sometimes I just have to reprioritize all that is vying for my attention and move that which is more important to the top of the list. Thus, this new post.
Helping a Friend in Need
I have been reading and discussing a great book, “Faith, Doubt, and God’s Mysterious Timing,” with a friend over the last several months. It is written by Laurie Polich Short. Within each chapter, she generally uses three stories from the Bible to drive her point home. In a chapter titled, “When in Doubt, Look at Jesus,” Laurie used the story of four friends going to great lengths to help their paralytic friend. I think great lengths might be an understatement. They dug through the roof where Jesus was teaching and lowered their paralyzed friend on a mat to get him to Jesus. That’s how badly they wanted healing for their friend. Imagine their surprise when Jesus’ response was “Son, your sins are forgiven.” I have a feeling they looked at one another with a puzzled look. “Huh?”
A Greater Need
Jesus, of course, was using this as another teaching moment. You see, there were teachers of the law in attendance, and He knew that they were silently accusing Him of blasphemy. Jesus wanted them to know that He, the Son of Man, had the authority to forgive sins on earth. Jesus also knew that it was more important that the man’s sins be forgiven than his ability to walk be restored. So, even though the latter was the intention of his friends, Jesus addressed what was more important first—the forgiveness of sins.
Physical Healing
Once Jesus made his point, he addressed the paralytic again:
“I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
Mark 2:11-12 NIV
Wait–what?
I got a surprise, much like the paralytic’s friends, recently. I, too, went looking for one thing and found another. A headache that won’t quit has had my attention for nearly 3 months now. In my quest to solve that problem, another one has been uncovered that is apparently more important. It isn’t life-threatening, but it IS life-altering. This new discovery has rocked my world, but, at the end of the day, I need to look at it as a blessing. Jesus ALWAYS knows what is more important. So, I pay attention, and rearrange my ducks yet again.
In case you are in need of a reminder too:
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV
The Blessing of Community
On a side note, I am touched by the effort put forth by the paralytic’s friends to help him. I have an equally dedicated collection of friends and family who have gone to great lengths to help me as well. That brings me great comfort in the midst of such uncertainty. They are such a blessing to me. I pray that you are also blessed with a wonderful support network on which you can lean in good times and in bad. After all, we were made for community.
