He Remains Faithful...

"…Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord cares for me.”

Psalm 27:10 HCSB

An earthquake almost flattened Armenia (a former Soviet Republic) in 1988, killing over 30,000 people in less than four minutes. On the morning of the day the earthquake occurred, Samuel had sent his young son, Armand, to school with a simple promise: "No matter what, I'll always be there for you!"

Samuel and his wife, Danielle themselves were safe after the earthquake but they couldn’t get any information about their son Armand. They had only heard on the radio that there were many casualties. So Samuel headed to Armand’s school only to find a pile of debris.

The ruin and devastation was enormous and the situation looked very hopeless. Other parents stood around crying but Samuel kept remembering his commitment to his son. He located the place where Armand’s classroom used to be and began digging through the rubble.

One of the other parents asked, “What are you doing?” and Samuel replied, “Digging for my son”. The man along with other parents as well as the Fire Chief and even the Police tried to stop him from digging the rubble making statements such as:

"It's too late!"

"They're dead!"

"You can't help!"

"Come on, face reality, there's nothing you can do!"

"You're just going to make things worse!"

"Fires are breaking out, explosions are happening everywhere. You're in danger. We'll take care of it. Go home."

"You're angry, distraught and it's over. You're endangering others. Go home. We'll handle it!" 

To each person, Samuel responded with one line: "Are you going to help me now?" And he just continued digging for his son, beam after beam, and stone after stone.    

Other parents brought flowers and pictures of their children on the ruins of the school but Samuel kept digging. He dug all through the night and into the next day. Eight hours, 12 hours, 24 hours, 36 hours, he kept digging.

Then after 38 hours, he pushed a beam out of the way and heard a faint voice. Then he heard a muffled voice, “Papa?” Samuel dug more furiously and finally he could see his son, Armand. “Come on out, son!” Samuel said. “No,” Armand said. “Let the other kids come out first because I know you’ll get me”. 13 other children appeared before Armand finally emerged from the ruins. Samuel held him in his arms and Armand said, “I told the other kids not to worry because you told me that you’d always be there for me!”

Being a father myself, this story is so touching. It is an illustration of the depth of a parent’s love. The story also demonstrates the power of commitment/faithfulness-14 children were rescued from the ruins of a collapsed classroom because one father was faithful. Despite the visible devastation, he did not allow anything or anyone stop him from following through with his promise to his son.

Even this most exemplary display of human love and faithfulness depicted in the story pales when compared with the commitment and faithfulness of our God as David expressed in Psalm 27:10-even if everyone else abandons us, God will not. It is a reality God confirms speaking through the prophet Isaiah:

“Can a woman forget her nursing child,

or lack compassion for the child of her womb?

Even if these forget,

yet I will not forget you…”

Isaiah 49:15 HCSB

As human beings we live in a world filled with uncertainties. Global and national economic recessions. People break promises. Leaders in government do not keep to their words. Friends and even family members sometimes fail us. Sadly, some marriages fail because somehow people change and circumstances don’t just remain the same.

However, we have a God who is faithful.

“Lord, Your faithful love reaches to heaven, Your faithfulness to the clouds.”

Psalm 36:5 HCSB

“Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for His mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness!”

Lamentations 3: 22, 23 HCSB

“Every generous act and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights; with Him there is no variation or shadow cast by turning.”

James 1:17 HCSB

“If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself”

2^nd Timothy 2:13 HCSB

This week dear one, I ask you to muse with me on this Psalm as we meditate on God’s faithfulness. Our God is steadfast in His affection and constant in His commitment. He is unchanging, He is unchangeable in fact. This was the ground of David’s confidence. This revelation of God’s character should inspire us to trust Him in every situation and draw our hearts in reverential adoration. Our God remains faithful.

My song for the week is "Faithful God" by Gateway Worship.

God Our Sufficiency

“God is our refuge and strength,

Always ready to help in times of trouble.

So we will not fear when earthquakes come

And the mountains crumble into the sea”

Psalms 46:1, 2 New Living Translation

Psalms 46 to 48 are considered by some to be a Trilogy of Psalms celebrating the same event. The precise historical origin is not exactly clear. Some scholars think it was composed when Jerusalem was under a siege by Sennacherib’s army (2^nd Kings 18:1-37) while some others think it is a reference to Jehoshaphat’s deliverance from the combined forces of the bordering nations (2nd Chronicles 20:1-37).

The lessons from the Psalm are however undeniable. The truth contained therein so comforting, bringing such assurance to the heart of the believer in a powerful way. So much so that this Psalm was one of Martin Luther’s favorite Psalms and it was the inspiration behind his hymn, “A Mighty fortress is our God”.

The scene seems to be one of deep turmoil and uncontrolled confused, noisy disturbance. The earth itself was trembling; the firm and lofty mountains were being toppled into the depths of the seas and the waters were roaring and foaming. Yet, in that wild tumultuous tempest, the Psalmist paints a picture of a tranquil city of God.

The ground of assurance for the Psalmist according to verses 1, 2, 5, 7 and 11 is in nothing else but the very presence and power of God. They could have trusted in the skill and might of their army or the strength of the walls surrounding their city. But no, the Psalm doesn’t celebrate any of those. The Psalm celebrates the sufficiency of God even in the midst of the most difficult circumstances.

I have seen that this truth is sometimes lost in our consciousness. Since the dawn of human history, humanity has prided himself in his ability to meet his needs by his own efforts. Adam and Eve’s attempt to cover their nakedness by sewing fig leaves seems to have set us into a pattern of drawing up man-made inventions and plans for every situation. There is however a limit to what our human strengths and abilities can achieve. This Psalm teaches us to continually place our trust in God as He is able to bring deliverance even in the most extreme adversity. He Himself is our refuge and strength.

This week I want to leave us with this thought from verse 10 of this Psalm:

“Be still and know that I am God!”

Muse with me this week on this Psalm. Gain freedom from anxiety, despair and worry in the midst of turmoil. As we meditate on this Psalm and other verses from His word, God’s Spirit produces in us a calm, trustful state of mind drawing confidence in the assurance of God’s presence and power in our lives.  

My song for the week is “Still” by Hillsong United

"Still" by Hillsong United

Transformed Speech (3)

In the last 2 weeks, we have been considering the topic of our speech and how our words are very important. We have also pointed out that God expects His children to have a new kind of speech which I termed a “transformed speech”. In this concluding post, I want to briefly address the issue of how we can develop the type of speech that God expects of us His children.

I will direct us to a few passages of the Holy Scriptures in this regard:

“A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad. You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart”

Matthew 12:33-35 New Living Translation (Emphasis mine)

“A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.”

Luke 6:45 New Living Translation (Emphasis mine)

These 2 passages are from recorded teachings of our Lord Jesus when He was on earth and they give us profound insight into the issue under consideration. Words are a reflection of the contents of our hearts and our speech will never rise above the state of our hearts. To say this in a different way: rotten words will come from a rotten heart and only a transformed heart will express transformed speech.

To be precise, it’s not only our words that spring from our hearts. Even our attitudes and actions are outflows of our hearts (see Matthew 7:21-23 and Matthew 15:19). This is the reason the Scriptures continually instruct us on guarding our hearts and keeping a watch on what we allow to dwell in our hearts:

“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”

Proverbs 4:23 KJV

“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”

Philippians 4:8 New Living Translation

I must stress it again: a transformed speech will only proceed from a transformed heart. This means we must continually allow the word of God settle and take root in our hearts. And as we fix our thoughts on true, honorable, right, pure, lovely and admirable things, the words that proceed from our mouths will be gracious words just as it was said of our Lord Jesus: “Everyone spoke well of Him and was amazed by the gracious words that came from His lips…” (Luke 4:22).

Photo credit: http://www.carolecgood.com

Final Thoughts…

Sometimes we only hear good things being said about people at their funerals. We call such speeches eulogies. The word “eulogy” come from the Greek word “eulogia” which means “good speech” or “fine language”. It means that the word eulogy itself is not necessarily tied to funerals or to dead people though we generally only associate it to these. We can actually “speak well” of the living. We can “eulogize” our family members, friends, colleagues and neighbours.

Someone I respect once said “Our parents were generous with criticism and frugal with praise or commendation”. Apparently, the assumption is that if you commend people, they will become conceited and full of themselves. But I think when we hold on to such mind sets, we are robbing ourselves of the powerful positive effects of our words. Those words of commendation (or eulogies) will go a long way in creating a healthy milieu for children and also provide needed affirmation in peoples’ lives.

Think about this.

Transformed Speech (2)

I recently read the true story of a Music Teacher who made a difference in a student’s life by speaking the right words to him. Unknown to the teacher and even his own family, this student had been suffering verbal abuse at the hands of his older brother and this had severely affected the student. His academic performance had been poor all through the year and even his social functioning had become quite impaired. It had become so bad that he had decided to commit suicide on the last day of the school year. He left a suicide note at home but decided to meet his teacher for a final time to receive the result of his end of year assessment.

In the teacher’s words, the student looked terrible. He had sunken eyes with dark circles under them. He appeared pale and was wearing the clothes he had worn for the last few weeks of the school year. He then said to his teacher: “I know that I am getting a low grade on my final. I realize that I have not been participating in class and that I am an embarrassment to others. I am lazy, selfish, stupid and an ugly no-good-for-anything person. I have no place on this earth and what’s more, no one can ever love a person like me. I am a hopeless case with absolutely no future.”

When he finished, the teacher faced him and said to him, “Edward, your final grade is an A”. The student was completely surprised. “You are giving me an A? Me? Why would you give me an A when I did such a poor job in class, on my assignments and on my final exam. Why would you do that?”

The teacher’s answer to Edward was this: “You may appear to be a D student, but you are an A person. I believe in you now and I will always believe in you. I am here for you now and I will always be here for you. Never, ever forget that. Now, go and create the life you dream of. Believe in yourself. I will be watching. And by the way Edward-I love you”.

Later that night, the teacher got a call from a Priest in Edward’s Church thanking her on behalf of Edward’s family for saving his life. The words the teacher spoke to him that day changed Edward’s life. He had left the teacher’s office feeling positive and uplifted for the first time in his life. Even though he already had a rope hanging in the closet for his planned suicide, Edward abandoned the plan after hearing those words from his teacher.

According to the story, Edward re-enrolled in the Music Theory Class the next semester and worked hard, passing his final exam this time 100% and had a genuine A+. All these happened in the 1970s.

By 2010, Edward had become a successful Dentist in California, married to a beautiful wife with 4 sweet children. He was also volunteering with abused children, helping them to find love, acceptance and hope.

This story is a powerful illustration of how we ought to use our words. Can you just imagine what would have happened if Edward never heard those words from his teacher? Each day, life presents us with countless opportunities to use our words (our 16, 000 words, remember?). You have a choice on how you will use your words but I will direct our hearts to some verses of Scripture from the New Living Translation:

“The words of the godly are like sterling silver…”

Proverbs 10:20

“The words of the godly encourage many…”

Proverbs 10:21

“The mouth of the godly person gives wise advice…”

Proverbs 10:31

“The lips of the godly speak helpful words…”

Proverbs 10:32

“Wise words bring many benefits…”

Proverbs 12:14

“Kind words are like honey-sweet to the soul and healthy for the body”

Proverbs 16:24

“Do not use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them”

Ephesians 4:29

Rather than engaging in “rotten” speech that tears people down and destroys relationships, I encourage you to adopt a transformed speech that brings health, healing, encouragement and life in every sphere of human existence. This week, whether at home, with your spouse or children, with neighbours or at work with your colleagues, say the right words.

To be continued…

Note: The full story of Edward and his Music Teacher can be read on https://letterpile.com/creative-writing/The-Power-of-Words-An-Amazing-Story