AWSMGOD

“How awesome is the LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth!”  Psalm 47:2

Not all that long ago I was working my way home through rush hour traffic, and got to a point where traffic is always particularly bad.  Well, that day the traffic was even worse than usual, and I sat on the ramp just to get into the main lines of traffic for what seemed like forever.  I listened to the radio and all I could hear was how bad the traffic was everywhere, and what a mess the world was in.

Really?  I needed the radio to tell me that?  Tell me something good, for Pete’s sake!  After all, I needed to hear something good after a long day that seemed only to be getting longer by the minute.

Traffic inched along, and finally I was nearing the actual entrance point to the highway.  At a near stand-still, I was preparing myself mentally for the fight to squeeze in somewhere.  A woman in an SUV  was in the main lane along side of me, and there was a gap in front of her car.  I looked at her and smiled, hoping she wouldn’t mind if I tried to get into the lane at that point.

Apparently, I was wrong.

I looked carefully around and just as I started to make my way into the spot, she gunned her SUV and closed the spot.  Are you kidding?  What was that all about?  I wasn’t trying to push her over, just trying to get into the lane at a point where there was enough room for my car.  I wasn’t happy at all, but I refrained from offering up any gestures.

Thankfully, the truck behind her must have seen what just happened, and the gentleman driving kindly let me in.  Now I was behind the woman who was just so rude to me.  I unclenched my teeth, and when the oxygen made its way back to my head I noticed her license plate: AWSMGOD

Oh, please… this woman really had the nerve to put that on her license plate?  HAH!  Apparently either her name was God and she loved herself, or she forgot that a license plate like that might just hold you to a little higher standard.  Either way, I was compelled to laugh at the whole thing.  The truck driving who let me in probably got a good laugh, too.

After I stopped laughing, I started to think about the fact that the reason I’ve never put a Christian decal or anything on my car is because I know I behave badly when I’m behind the wheel.  Seriously.  I’m not going to lie and tell you that I think all of these perfect, Christiany thoughts when I’m driving.  On the contrary.  I’m a nasty sinner behind the wheel.  I tend to be a lead-foot, always on the lookout for … “the man”, my hands are clearly not in God’s will when someone cuts me off, I yell (as if the other guy can hear me), and yes, a few not so nice words come out of my mouth from time to time, too.  Consequently, I never thought that a Christian bumper sticker would do me, or God, any good.  That got me to thinking.

If I love God, why do I behave so badly?  After all, isn’t He exactly what David described in his Psalm?  Isn’t He awesome, most high, and King over everything?  He is indeed!  And I do want to be more worthy of Him.  I know it isn’t easy to behave well all the time.  And God knows that too.  After all, didn’t he also tell us to be angry but sin not?  Paul struggled with it.  Remember when he said that the things I don’t want to do are the exact things I do?  Well, me too.  I don’t get in my car hoping to throw a fit.  I don’t drive along looking for people to annoy with my own bad behavior.

When we tell the world we are Christians, like it or not we are held to the standard set by Christ.  No one expects us to be as perfect as Christ, but they do expect us to behave a bit better than those who don’t know Him.  The more we know, in our hearts, just how truly awesome God is, and how amazing it is that He sent Christ to die for us, then we want to behave better, in a way more fitting of being His child.

Next time I get on the highway, I have to remind myself of how blessed I am to be a child of an awesome God, and that makes me a child of the Most High.  And hopefully, if you accidentally cut me off, I’ll remember that you’re His child too.

Lord, thank you for reminding us every day of your awesomeness and perfect holiness.  I praise you, and thank you for being so loving toward me… toward us.  Thank you for forgiving me when I completely screw up, and for being able to turn every moment of my life, especially the bad moments, into times that I can learn to be more like Christ.  I ask for your wisdom and love, and thank you for every blessing that you’ve given me.  I thank you for the unending abundance that you’ve graced me with, through Jesus your Son.  In His name I pray.  Amen.

Copyright ConnieD. 2013.  All rights reserved.

 

Safe and Protected

“”Because of the oppression of the weak and the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says the LORD. “I will protect them from those who malign them.”  And the words of the LORD are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace of clay, purified seven times.  O LORD, you will keep us safe and protect us from such people forever.  The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honored among men.”  Psalm 12:5-5

It is so easy to feel like God just doesn’t hear our prayers – that he’s forgotten who we are when we need him the most.  And let’s face it, trying times are getting much more common for so many of us.  Who of us hasn’t felt the pinch of a bad economy, even if we have a job?  Who doesn’t cringe when you watch the news and hear so many horrible things going on in the world – and not just in faraway places, but even in our own neighborhoods?  Who doesn’t feel alone when a spouse turns a cold shoulder to them, or distance grows between you and a child that you love with all of your heart?  Who doesn’t worry when that job you’d hoped for doesn’t happen, or when the job that you do have consumes you with dread?  Where is God when all of these things are swirling around you and you feel like you’re about to be sucked into the eddy of hopelessness at any moment?

Huh?  Where?

Believe it or not, our plight is a very familiar one.  And where was God when people thousands of years ago, and in the years since, have been needy, weak, oppressed and under the thumb of the wicked?  Unbeknownst to them, and us sometimes, God was right there all along.  Through his word, God tells us that he sees and understands exactly what we go through.  He knows our pain.  God never said that we would live lives free from all of these things.  But He is indeed there for us, despite our hardships.  David told us that over and over again – and he was a king!  Even a king understood what we go through.  David saw the evil in this world.  David had a heart for the oppressed and the needy.  And David knew that God saw these very same things, and completely understood that God’s heart be touched by these things as well.

So when does God get around to all of this help He promised?  In short, his help comes at the perfect time.  I think that’s the hardest thing for us to understand and appreciate.  I’m terrible at it.  I’m willing to admit that I’m a spiritual brat – I want what I want, when I want it.  But God doesn’t see things that way.  He gives us exactly what we need, exactly when HE decides when we need it.  And yes, there are times when His timing still leaves us in tears.  And yes, there are times when His timing leaves us asking “why?”.  The hardest part is to take God at his word, because the people in this world fail us so often.  We have to get beyond the earthly expectation of being disappointed by others, and put our faith in God’s word, especially when thing seem impossible.  We have to know that the things that bring us to our breaking point, are the things that God can use to bring about his greatest glory.

Lord, we thank you for your promise of love, and your promises of safety and protection.  Not necessarily the earthly kind, but the kind that will keep us safe and secure in your love for all of eternity.  Lord, we ask for reminders of that love, so that we don’t lose heart when life is hard, and the world is difficult to understand and handle.  Thank you for blessing us with so many things, and for giving us the kind of hope that only comes from you.  Lord, bless all of those who may be hurting today – fill their hearts with hope, make them strong, and fill their needs, whatever those may be.  Lord, I ask you to ease the burdens of those whose trust is in you – give them peace of mind, mend their families and marriages, provide for their financial and physical needs in amazing ways, and show them the evidence of your love that they so desperately need.  Keep them safe and protected in you.  Thank you for all of these things, Lord.  In Jesus’ name I pray.  Amen.

Copyright ConnieD 2012.  All rights reserved.