Monthly Archives: September 2020

I Can’t Know That!

evie copyBy Judy Villanueva

“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?   Tell me, if you understand.  Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!  On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone?  Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place?  Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?  Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?  Tell me, if you know all this.” (Job 38:4-7, 12,15)

“How come you have five toes?  Why are your eyes blue?  Where do caterpillars come from?My 4 year old granddaughter and I were sitting crossed legged on the floor playing when I asked her these silly questions.  I suppose I was really teasing her but, without skipping a beat, she looked up at me and said, “Nana, I can’t know that.”    PAUSE     Do you ever have those times when God’s voice breaks into a moment?  This was one of those times, simple and unspectacular, but all of a sudden, HOLY.  Her words made me smile and invited me to a sweet peek at a child’s humility.  I could feel God pointing to her and saying,   “Judy, you can’t know what you can’t know, but you CAN rest because I know everything— all the time— perfectly!”

Questioning God, wondering if He’s watching, and even shaking a fist when life gets hard are all deeply human reactions to suffering.  It can feel contrary to the believer who wants to believe.  It can feel disloyal but if we’re honest, it’s just — part of being human.  Our perspective as finite creatures only allows us to see and understand from ground level.  When we are unable to make sense of pain or when  harsh realities slam into our lives it’s easy to become disoriented and disappointed with God.  We want to know why but we can’t know.  God described Job as blameless and upright so apparently Job wasn’t reaping what he had sown when he lost all that was good in his life.  What then?  WHY? 

After days of devastation, speculation, and accusation God answered Job with —  REVELATION!  

He didn’t explain the why of things to Job but instead summoned Job into His presence and, into the the sobering and awesome reality of the great I AM.   Where do we find the answers we crave when we have lost the ability to make sense of our lives?  Like Job,  we find them in the face of God— not in the WHY but in the WHO! 

God’s questions were REORIENTING to Job and each one declared a TRUTH bigger than  WHY.  

They revealed a cornerstone-laying, dawn-commanding, depth-of-the-sea walking God, whose very presence straightens us out and covers all our places of not-knowing with MIGHT AND MAJESTY — not to mention, a peace that passes all understanding. We cannot know what we cannot know, but we CAN trust God and fully lean on Who He is  —all the time.

“Thank you, Father, that WHO you are is a place of rest.  Help me find Your face when I’m lost or troubled.  Wrap me up in Your might and majesty.  I need Your peace that passes all understanding.  Amen.”

How about you?

Is your heart troubled?  Are you facing some harsh realities?

Have you ever felt disappointed with God?

How do you experience the face of God?  Have you bumped into His might and majesty lately?

Take time to know God.  Listen for His questions.  Watch for the ways He reveals Himself.   Rest in His love, might, and majesty.  “You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me” !   (Psalm 139)

Worship

Dwelling

fullsizeoutput_331cBy Judy Villanueva                                                                                    Photo by Nicole Villanueva

One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. (Psalm 27:4)

Tax prep-check, load dishwasher-check, shop for dinner-check, doctor appointment-check. Wait.  The man in the hospital elevator wants to talk?  He’s rambling about politics and then mentions that he is worried about a blood clot in his leg. What?  I become aware that I’m trying to maneuver away from him and suddenly feel compelled to look at his face.  I finally see him!  He says he has multiple auto-immune diseases and talks casually as he lifts his pant leg to show me the area on his calf that is causing concern.  Something holy sweeps over my heart and I finally set aside my “to do” list and hear the Lord say to me, “Dwell, daughter.  Stop.  Linger.  Make a place for Me.”

My favorite definition of the word, dwell, is “to linger over”.  It implies an interested pause whereby we allow ourselves to be still and ponder.  The challenge of the daylight hours is that they are filled with enticements to occupy and preoccupy our minds, hearts, and hands.  Then, of course, there is the voice of our 21st century culture that isn’t bashful about imposing the notion that we are what we do so, DO…and then, do some more!

If we are not careful and prayerful, we will forget how to linger over life…how to pause at God’s urgings, join Him in loving and discover the Divine presence that lingers over us…all the time.

How do we make our lives a place for Jesus?  Where might we dwell to cultivate a Psalm 27:4 heart that yearns for only One thing?

My best guess is that any place can become holy if we’ll linger there and give God our attention.  What if we slowed down as we read the Word and let it become a place of gazing at God’s beauty rather than simply reading a text?  What if, instead of rushing through days, we endeavored to set a sane pace so that we’d notice God’s movements around us?

What if God really was our One desire?

I wish I could say that I knew just how to minister to the man I met in the elevator.  To be honest, by the time I realized I was on holy ground, we had reached the parking lot and the moment was slipping away.  But, in dwelling there for just those few minutes I could feel the weight of God’s love for him and the beauty of it splashed all over me!  It made me tearful and grateful and eager to tarry with Jesus so that next time —  I might see the man and  become a place for him to find Jesus.

“Thank you, Father, for inviting me to dwell with you in my life.  Help me to make my life a place for you.   Shape in me a heart that wants only One thing.  Amen.”

What about you?

How do you do at dwelling?  in a moment?  a passage of scripture?  at a sunset?  with a stranger or friend?

Can you feel God’s invitations to be still and ponder?

How is the pace of your life?  Does it allow you time to stop, linger and make a place for Jesus?

God has made a place for you.  Take a moment and dwell with Him.

Worship