Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Walking Toward God

In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise--in God I trust, I will not be afraid.  Psalm 56:10

The morning headlines shouted, "Dow drops 777 points!" The tabloids used 72-point font to make their argument, "America in Crisis."  Here in NYC, where the bear on Wall Street has been roaring, people are scared.  You can see it in the eyes of young professionals, fireman, single mothers and husky construction workers--everyone!  What we thought was secure, has suddenly lost its mooring.
That same day at the train station found me staring down the tracks in wonder at a sapling pushing its way up through the gravel.  Imagine the odds of a seed borne upon the wind coming to rest on an elevated bed amidst chunks of stone, and then sprouting!
The hand of God, I smiled.  For a moment He took my face, and gently turned it toward Himself.
David says in Psalm 55:13, that God has delivered us from death, and our feet from stumbling, "that I may walk before God in the light of life." The phrase 'walk before God' literally means to walk facing God.  Out of a narrative of desperation God uses prayer to keep our eyes facing Him, and our hearts open to a steady stream of revelation.  Lasting peace can be found in no other way.
In 1939 England faced imminent invasion by Hitler's war machine.  It was Britain's greatest threat and their king's most harrowing days.  On Christmas day King George concluded an address to the nation with the following; "I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year, "Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown." "And he replied, "Go out into the darkness, and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be better than the light and safer than the known way."
In the posture of prayer there is no room for fear. Ask God to cup your face in His hands, and allow you to walk facing Him.  Ask God to cup your face in His hands, and allow you to walk facing Him.  In so doing He'll enable you to walk facing Him, and find His hand in the light of life.

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