Day 351 - Shine On Us

Click here to link directly to the audio file.

**********

It is so easy to believe we are victims when we expect God's hand to be what we exclusively see in our lives. I equate God's hand to the goodies we want from our God. Blessing, prosperity, health, a good life, these and other important things are absolutely something God provides. His hand is in our lives in some pretty significant ways.

It is when we don't get what we thought blessing would look like that God's hand seems to be absent. Those are the days victim thinking can take over in ways that might cause victims in our wake. Today's reading points out a different way to look at God. Let's look at our reading now.

Many, Lord, are asking, “Who will bring us prosperity?” Let the light of your face shine on us. Fill my heart with joy when their grain and new wine abound. Psalm 4:6-7 (NIV)


I believe the psalmist is allowing us to see the comparison of God's hand to His face. The many who are asking about who will bring prosperity have settled for God's hand as being enough. They are the ones who are dealing with the challenges this world provides in ways that make it very easy to see God as being absent and maybe even a victimizer.

Contrast this to those who seek God's face. It is that light that radiates as we see God's face, that often times makes the darkness of this world tolerable. When God's hand seems to be missing, His light can be what makes it possible for us to take one more step into that light. The light of God so much more of what the victor needs in this life than is His hand. Trusting what we think God's hand looks like is a failed strategy. Leaning into the light that shines from God's face is a strategy that makes whatever comes our way in this life something that we are able to move though with power and purpose

Of course we still need God's provision. Our reading asks God to fill the psalmist's heart with joy when those asking for God's hand see Him move in mighty ways. We are to look to God for provision. What makes victim thinking a distinct possibility is when our expectation of what provision is to look like doesn't happen quite the way we thought it would. It is when we are trapped in that place of victim thinking that God can begin to take on a role in our lives that just doesn't match up with who He actually is. Those are also the times when who we are comes into question in troubling and debilitating ways.

I think it really comes down to this interesting fact. Our expectation is easy to describe. It is simple to quantify what we need and even what we want God to provide. In that sense, it gets easy to box God in when it comes to who He is. When we consider God for only the things He provides, it is easy to paint a picture of God's Hand that is simple for us to understand.

Problem is that God isn't all that easy to comprehend. He can't be reduced down to a single human's ability to describe with words based on personal wants and needs. At times, this fact brings me great comfort. When my wants and needs go unmet, this fact frustrates and scares me to no end.

The comfort comes as I realize I really don't want a God that I can easily describe and understand. I want a God that is big, certainly larger than what I might be able to comprehend. Why? Because, we live in a universe that is big. I need a being that is bigger than all I know in order for me to trust that there is a plan. This is especially the case when things don't go the way I thought they would. I need to know God's bigness is there directing all things to help me endure the challenges that might come my way.

Light takes on a very different meaning for me when I consider who God is. Light isn't all that easy to describe. Light can be a challenge to understand. Light has a power over darkness that is unmistakable. Light paints God in a view that allows room for His bigness to be experienced in a  personal and intimate way.

It's really hard to live a life focused on being satisfied with the Light of God over the Hand of God. I am growing in the understanding that light trumps hand in the long haul of life. Of course I want the goodies God might be able to provide. However, the light of His presence is what promises to sustain us even when the goodies we expect don't come about quite like we thought they would.

How do we live a life that leaves room for the entirety of God to operate? In other words, how do we balance our need for God's Hand with our desire for God's light to be there? I think that comes as we allow God to be God in our lives. At any given moment, He might need us to call for and see happen powerful works of His hand. At other times, His light might be what He knows is needed for us to impact this world in world changing ways. We just aren't that good at knowing when His Hand or His Light is needed. It is when we allow God to be God in our lives that our victor status takes on the power we want and need.

Look for God's Hand in your life today. Celebrate it's presence when you know it is there by the blessings that come your way. But, don't let the seemingly absence of the goodies of life equate with the absence of God. He is there. His light is shining on you whether you receive what you want or not. His light is always more powerful than His goodies. Live in that place of power as God's light illuminates your victor status more an more in your life today,