Life is marred by many things
and busy schedules
with phones that ring
and Lord I confess I forget You.
When worries increase
and time flies by
my space all leased
I am left wondering why…
why have I forgotten You?
These fears flood in
and hope leaks out
under-sieged by sin
and I’m without
why have I forgotten You?
Until on my knees I must bend
In prayer and solitude again
to reconnect with the Eternal friend
this is how is begins and ends.
1 Samuel 8:6-9 (NIV)
But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD.
And the LORD told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.”
God’s heart must have ached in hearing the pleas of His people. They demanded a king. They looked around at the other nations and coveted what they had. God had provided them food and protection in a barren land during the exodus, and He had provided them lands to call their own, but still they strayed from Him. Still they wanted more. Enemies were vanquished before His people, provisions were met and yet they took it all for granted.
When they cried out for a king in the setting sun of Samuel’s leadership, God reminded him that it was aimed at the Almighty. “It is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.” (1 Samuel 8:7) Imagine for a moment giving up the One who was their fortress of protection. Imagine saying to God, your wealth, though it outnumbers the stars in the sky, is not enough for me…we want something else. God had poured out His love upon His people and they had rejected it again and again.
If there was ever a governmental system in this world that could stand the test of time it was and still is God’s model. No other form of government has ever before or ever will prove more pure and selfless than His. No other form of democracy will ever remain without being tainted by man’s selfish ambitions for power, prestige and wealth. Yet His people chose a lower form of government because other nation’s systems looked more appealing. The lure of other gods and openly degenerate moralistic standards appealed to the people of God. How awful Samuel, God’s prophet must have felt. How hurt and heartsick with grief Samuel must have been.
Have you ever felt the sting of rejection? I have a time or two. It is an emotion that without a doubt begs never to be repeated in the human heart. Though this went much deeper than a single person being rejected, God was rejected by the entirety of His chosen people! They turned their backs on Him. They decided that He couldn’t support their needs any longer and so a king would better suit their pleasures.
I imagine through pain, disdain and hurt God tells Samuel to give the people what they want. But He also warns Samuel to tell them what the results will be of their betrayal and choice. “Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.” (1 Samuel 8:9) The idea of a king was far more appealing to the people of God than actually considering the consequences of their choice. The king would reign over them, not like a loving, understanding and all knowing God, but like a man driven by selfish intentions and sin this would be how they would be ruled over.
God allowed them to choose. We are a created with this free-will within us. We are not compelled or forced to love and serve God. Yet when we choose to reject Him and His hand upon our lives we soon find that in our folly the devastating consequences of life without Him! I am not advocating for one form of government over another today, nor am I renouncing any leadership within our government (Scripture clearly says: “Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.” (1 Peter 2:13-17)) But what I am saying is this; above everything choose Him. Don’t turn from the One who created us and has preserved our lives. Choose God. Serve Him, love Him and make Him Lord of your life above and before all else.
-Just a thought for today.
Walking down the street this morning, I was cold. With scarf wrapped around my neck and coat zipped as high as it would go, I walked to my destination, which was just at the end of the block. I almost missed it. It was purple in color…kind of hard to miss, and yet in my rush to get on with my busy schedule, I nearly missed a message seemingly intended for me.
Cars roared by, billowing out smoke and steam into the frosty air. School buses, full of students bemoaning the early mornings with backpacks full of homework yet uneaten by the dog, passed me by on their way to buildings of education near by. It wasn’t far now, my destination, just mere feet…then I paused.
There before me, printed on a stark concrete slab were words that I needed to see. In purple were the words, “Don’t take life so seriously”. In my whirl-wind day, as weeks would soon be upon me that would pull me in every which way, I needed those words. They spoke to me. They didn’t say to me “just ignore the priorities of life”, or “stop being responsible”…but instead those words rang out in my heart and shook me awake to the notion that I am not nor can I ever take the place of God in my life. I do have responsibilities and to quote Robert Frost “promises to keep”, yet I cannot control the outcome of this life and that of others around me.
I can be diligent and faithful as a Christ-follower, but there will be times where, though I can’t see the future I must willingly step forward and trust my Christ that He truly knows the way. This is extremely frightening to me…not to maintain that control on my life, but I’m positive that I am not the only one.
We all take life too seriously in the ways we conduct ourselves and in how we try to control all of the possible outcomes in this life. We try to micromanage this faith and we ignorantly try to tell God how things ought to be and in so doing we fail horribly in our attempts to play God.
What have you been trying to control in your life that ought to be placed under God’s authority? We need to stop taking control and being so serious that we fail to allow God to lead! Stop and allow Him to lead even though it might uncomfortable to let go…we will be better for it in the long and Eternal road.
Walking down the street this morning, I was cold. With scarf wrapped around my neck and coat zipped as high as it would go, I walked to my destination, which was just at the end of the block. I almost missed it. It was purple in color…kind of hard to miss, and yet in my rush to get on with my busy schedule, I nearly missed a message seemingly intended for me.
Cars roared by, billowing out smoke and steam into the frosty air. School buses, full of students bemoaning the early mornings with backpacks full of homework yet uneaten by the dog, passed me by on their way to buildings of education near by. It wasn’t far now, my destination, just mere feet…then I paused.
There before me, printed on a stark concrete slab were words that I needed to see. In purple were the words, “Don’t take life so seriously”. In my whirl wind day, as weeks would soon be upon me that would pull me in every which way, I needed those words. They spoke to me. They didn’t say to me “just ignore the priorities of life”, or “stop being responsible”…but instead those words rang out in my heart ad shook me awake to the notion that I am not nor can I ever take the place of God in my life. I do have responsibilities and to quote Robert Frost “promises to keep”, yet I cannot control the outcome of this life and that of others around me.
I can be diligent and faithful as a Christ-follower, but there will be times where, those I can’t see the future I must willingly step forward and trust my Christ that He truly knows the way. This is extremely frightening to me…not to maintain that control on my life, but I’m positive that I am not the only one.
We all take life too seriously in the ways we conduct ourselves and in our we try to control all of the possible outcomes in this life. We try to micromanage this faith and we ignorantly try to tell God how things ought to be and in so doing we fail horribly in our attempts to play God.
What have you been trying to control in your life that ought to be placed under God’s authority? We need to stop taking control and being so serious that we fail to allow God to lead! Stop and allow Him to lead even though it might uncomfortable to let go…we will be better for it in the long and Eternal road.
In my heart, dear Lord
there is room.
It is not as
Hospitable as it can be
But it is all
That I possess.
In Your hands, dear Lord
I want to stay
I am quite rough
Not polished
Not refined
But who i am now
Is not what I will be
when you have
completed this
great work within me.
In this world, dear Lord
I hear your calling
loud like thunder
yet soft as falling rain
“Who will go? Who can I send?”
You ask and
I must bend my knee
and put feet
To my little faith…
“Here I am, Dear Lord…
Send me!”
In just a few days another installment of Marvel’s Thor will hit theaters (Thor 2 The Dark World) . It will undoubtedly be #1 at the box office over the weekend. This time Thor returns to Earth to help save mankind from an evil force not of this earth. It will be an action packed movie with lots of special effects, some romance and the underlined theme that the World is in need of a savior. I find it interesting that Thor is the son of a god (Odin). Thor comes to Earth to save mankind from evil and death. To me there is a deep underlining parallel here to Christ.
Last year the Avengers was a world wide success and financial money maker. The entire Marvel franchise is well over a Billion dollar industry. Why has their movies received such international success and acclaim? Naturally people of all ages enjoy a good action film, but beyond that I believe there is this underlining innate longing to be saved and to have find a savior from life’s worries, fears and heartaches. Every person on earth can most likely relate to such a longing. There is something remarkably missing in our hearts that cannot be rectified from the inside alone. We need an external force to save us.
Jesus came to this earth seeking to save the lost (Luke 19:10). Why did He come? Because we could not, in our own power and strength, save ourselves from the trappings of sin and death. We needed an external force to grasp us by the hand and pull us to safety. Since the fall of our first parents, Adam and Eve, we have lived with sin in our world. We have all fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), and we are in dire need of one who can save us from certain death. This is why, I believe, we respond so passionately to superhero movies like Thor(2) and others before it. We crave saving. We long for deliverance. We look around us in our world and we see evil and hatred, sickness and death, and we pray for those life ending threats to end. We turn on the news and witness another violent shooting in a mall or another systematic genocide taking place on this planet and we wish such stories would end. We long for a savior to come and save us!
This life isn’t easy, sin is still very present and real, hatred and sickness at times still prevails; and yet there is hope. The hope of the world entered earth some two thousand years ago and with Him, brought deliverance, salvation and the promise of new life for all who sought after Him. God’s one and only Son, Jesus Christ still says to us today “I am the way the truth and the LIFE, no one comes to the Father except through me .” (John 14:6)
We are all in need of a Savior. Though we enjoy a good flick about Superheroes now and then, we can recognize that we have already been saved and that new life can start today with our love and devotion towards God and His image reflected towards those around us.
-Just a thought for today.
“You will be missed!”
I utter from scornful and
mournful lips
on my tip toes I attempt to
peer past the horizon and beyond
the curvature of the world
so that I can glimpse
her fire
one more time.
Statue-still waters ripple and lap
gently onto pebbles slick with melancholy
as cold breaths of winter
glimpse in on us
inquisitive yet oblivious to our
mourning there.
I skip one more stone
with warm days of August
still lingering to fingertips
now growing deathly cold…
turning, I exhale one last time
and reluctantly embrace
these colder days once again.
photo & poem by Scott E. Strissel 11/5/2013
Sometimes tears fall like rain,
Other times like heavy
drifts of snow…
Drifts as deep and as wide
As a January burst.
We still miss you, you know,
How you laughed and loved
Often, when memories like
Blankets warm us, we
With watery eyes
Imagine you there with us
Doting on Grandkids
Giving until fingers are
to the bone…
Sometimes tears fall like solace
No longer empty
But warm and fresh
With sunlight
Spilling down upon us
We miss
Yet we soak it up
Lapping up salty tears
Like draughts of fresh
Water…just to remain
Closer, for one more
Lingering moment.
Sometimes all at once
We know
We see
We are enveloped
Again…
And we shine.
Sometimes tears fall like rain,
Other times like heavy
drifts of snow…
Drifts as deep and as wide
As a January burst.
We still miss you, you know,
How you laughed and loved
Often, when memories like
Blankets warm us, we
With watery eyes
Imagine you there with us
Doting on Grandkids
Giving until fingers are
to the bone…
Sometimes tears fall like solace
No longer empty
But warm and fresh
With sunlight
Spilling down upon us
We miss
Yet we soak it up
Lapping up salty tears
Like draughts of fresh
Water…just to remain
Closer, for one more
Lingering moment.
Sometimes all at once
We know
We see
We are enveloped
Again…
And we shine.
Hey fellow writers and avid readers! I would like to announce a writing competition that I would like to conduct right here on this blog site: http://www.scottstrissel.wordpress.com
I am looking for your entry submissions for the following categories:
Photographs:
Submissions to this category MUST be your own work and not cut and pasted from someone else! These photographs should represent elements of “Thanksgiving” not just the holiday but the emotion, family, Christ, Salvation, our spiritual journey. Please limit your photo entries to five photos.
Poetry
Submissions to this category MUST be your own work and not cut and pasted from someone else!
Again the topic is Thanksgiving and as mentioned above should include some of these thematic elements. Please utilize a total of 750 words, less is fine , but no more that 750 words.
Prose (Story form or article format):
Submissions to this category MUST be your own work and not cut and pasted from someone else!
Again the topic is Thanksgiving and as mentioned above should include some of these thematic elements. Please utilize a total of 800 words, less is fine but more will be rejected.
Winners:
Of each category will be announced on November 29th (the day after U.S. Thanksgiving, AKA Black Friday)
The winners will be post here on this blog site and will receive a bag of Starbucks Coffee (hey I wish I had cash prizes to give you but I’m a broke Pastor with four kids to feed).
I will accept international submissions and if chosen I will post your submission here, but I WILL NOT be able to mail you coffee (sorry).
DUE DATE OF SUBMISSIONS:
November 23rd, 2013 by NOON CST (US central standard time)
HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY:
Please submit your entry to: scottstrissel@yahoo.com
Please, also label it on your e-mail “Thanksgiving Writing Competition”
Pastor's Ponderings 