The first words of the Psalmist leap off the page for me this morning.  “If God hadn’t been for us…” I stopped, pausing to consider my own life.  For all these years on earth, (yes, I’m a bit more mature than most of you), what if God hadn’t been for Randy and I, for me personally, for my kids and grandkids?  What if God hadn’t been working in our lives protecting us when Randy was sick enough to leave earth and almost did?  What if God was not there when our lives were threatened by evil at every turn? 

What if God hadn’t been for us when we were in dire need financially because of mounting hospital bills?  What if God hadn’t been for us when our hearts were broken by betrayals of people we loved dearly in our family and ministry work?  What if God hadn’t been for us, providing ways to rise above the troubles and setbacks? What if God hadn’t delivered us from evil and fought our spiritual battles for us?  What if I never knew the love of God?  What if God hadn’t been for us in our marriage of fifty years when all others said it would never last?  This list and line of thinking could go on and on.

I shudder at these thoughts. I’m shaking now to consider if God hadn’t been for us…

Worship and Wisdom, Psalms and Proverbs

Psalm 124, The Message

^1-5 If God hadn’t been for us
    —all together now, Israel, sing out!—
If God hadn’t been for us
    when everyone went against us,
We would have been swallowed alive
    by their violent anger,
Swept away by the flood of rage,
    drowned in the torrent;
We would have lost our lives
    in the wild, raging water.

⁶ Oh, blessed be God!
    He didn’t go off and leave us.
He didn’t abandon us defenseless,
    helpless as a rabbit in a pack of snarling dogs.

⁷ We’ve flown free from their fangs,
    free of their traps, free as a bird.
Their grip is broken;
    we’re free as a bird in flight.

⁸ God’s strong name is our help,
    the same God who made heaven and earth.

TRUTH:  The same God who made heaven and earth and parted the Red Sea for His people is there for us.  Count on it, believers!  Trust God.  Give God all the glory for all He has done, is doing and will do!

Proverb 5:21, The Message

WISDOM: “Mark well that God doesn’t miss a move you make; he’s aware of every step you take.”

Abba, Father in Heaven, Healer, Provider, Protector, Savior and Lord,

Thank you!  Thank you for always being at work for us.  Thank you for loving us so much you provided your Son to save us for eternity.  Thank you for growing and maturing us through our troubles on earth.  Thank you for creating beauty from the ashes of our burned-out lives.  Thank you for helping us rise like eagles with renewed strength and purpose each day of our lives.  Thank you for your mercy and grace.  Thank you for your gifts of joy and peace no matter what is going on around us.  Thank for not missing a move we make!  Thank you for providing what we need before we know we need it.  You are a mighty God!  Thank you, dear Jesus.  Thank you, Holy Spirit.

In Jesus Name, Amen