The Works of God

At Desiring God every morning we pause to have devotions.  We have been going through Proverbs verse by verse for the past several months.

Yesterday morning, we started in Proverbs 30, and these verses jumped out at me:

The words of Agur son of Jakeh. The oracle.

I understand weariness.  I expect that you do as well.  And I understand feeling ‘too stupid to be a man.’

Why are those of us dealing disability weary so often?  Because it doesn’t stop.

And God in his infinite mercy included verse five in Proverbs 30:

Every word of God proves true;
he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

EVERY word!  The omnipotent creator of the universe says he will be our shield – if we take refuge in him.  Not if we perform perfectly.  Not if we muster up enough strength on our own to do the next hard thing.  But if we take refuge in him who knows how weak and weary and stupid and unwise we are.  What a comfort!

Then, later in the day I read a Facebook entry from Justin Reimer, creator and executive director of The Elisha Foundation.  This is an organization worth paying attention to.

He had a good word for me in his most recent newsletter:

One word does well to summarize the day in and day out of families of people with special needs – RELENTLESS. Think about that word, what does it speak to?

Webster’s dictionary defines it as: showing or promising no abatement of severity, intensity, strength, or pace.

The effects of disability do not let up. They are daily, they are hourly, they are there offering challenges by the minute at times. There is no end in sight, there is no cure, there is no healing in the broader sense. But what sweet balm of ultimate healing they will meet if their eyes are turned to Christ. When they know about receiving “resurrection bodies” on that Day, the Ultimate healing!

Read this from the heart of a father:

“Though at times our path in life with our special blessing of a child seems relentless, we see there is hope in God alone. Relentless, never letting up…not a momentary inconvenience but a life of need each day with our child deeply dependent on us. We understand this now as a unique blessing and an opportunity to make much of Christ in our every day whether in caring for our child or in a simple cup of coffee with a friend.”

And the heart of our Father is found in I John 3:1&2

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.”

A good word, Justin!

So, weary friends, let us all take refuge in God as beloved children.  And he will provide the strength for all that we need to do today.