Have you ever stumbled upon an individual who had it all figured out. You know! They jabber on about their plans, their purpose, their excitement with their lives, their oozing overwhelming love for certain things; and they just know, that they know, that they know, that their way and their life is so blessedly different than all others before them, and they are so special because they have figured out exactly what they want to do for God. And...and … and … on and on they go. (while we are looking for an excuse to be distracted from their run on sentence self-life testimony).
These folks, many times are sweet and sincere people who seem to be oblivious about their own appearance, and unaware of the expressions on the faces of those within hearing range. In a room full of people they can raise their voices and make wonder proclamations of how marvelously wonderful their choices have been and will be, while their friends nearby roll their eyes as if to say “here they go again”. {Now, please don't get this confused with speaking out with conviction about what you believe, especially if it is Word or Faith based – there will be resistance.}
We will all step in and out of this roll of the self-promoter. We are always fishing in the crowd for someone who will appreciate us. We want value to be placed on our past, present and we want admiration for where we may be going in the future. (And rightly so to a certain extent, because we are people whom Christ died for.) We just don't want to get lost in this whirlwind world of chaotic placement of value and seemly misplaced admiration. We all would like to have people love us ...just for who we are. We all need to recognized for our contributions to life.
Psalm 139 has always caught my eye because of the revelation of the value that we find that God places on our lives even before we are formed in the womb as a fetus. I love the poetic pictures that describe the fact that I can't go so high, so low or so deep that God no longer sees me. However … I did stumble over a couple of verses that made me cap the notion of “me” as the center of the universe.
The first six verses of Psalm 139 became an amazement to me as I dug just below the surface:
“1.O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. 2. Thou knowest my down-sitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. 3. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. 4. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. 5. Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. 6. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.”
Here is the amazement in a nut shell: In His Searching and knowing Me, He blows a purposeful “winnowing” wind through my plans and through my dreams to serve and clarify of my direction in life. This “winnowing” allows for a sorting of the beneficial and harmful elements that affect me. He adds necessary constraint and pressure via my daily activities so that I begin to long for the refreshment that I find in the hollow of His hand. I begin to realize, day by day, that this journey is too wonderful to be captured purely for mere personal gain and enjoyment, but when given for the service of pointing others to His awesome care … I will be fulfilled and continually filled with the Wonder of His love.
Once again I want to wrap my arms around the yammering individual, and say along with His still small voice - “Hey Jesus loves you without all your hype, He loves you in spite of your noise, He is eternally interested in you, He is not ashamed, disappointed, or impatient with you if you have placed your faith in Him”. Trust the winnowing as it creates wonder, not just the whining of our voices!!
HLFA,
Jeff
