Month: October 2022

Morning Dew #7

God, my Security

The above message came through Isaiah to a people who were filled with anxiety as they looked at the social and political chaos of their time. Had their God forgotten them? Could they find assurance despite their circumstance? 

The Caribbean islands are subject to hurricanes. When these hurricanes come through, dry gully beds are turned into raging channels of water ripping away at the soil turning it into thick churning mud that carry coconut trees, banana trees, roofs, doors, splintered houses and lifeless bodies into the sea. It leaves behind devastation and scarred lives; tired people left to pick up the remains, replant, rebuild, and move on. 

When I was but weeks old, one such hurricane swept through the island of Jamaica. As the winds strengthened and howled against the frame of the house and the rain beat down in sheets my parents bundled me up, emptied a drawer, placed me in it and hid that drawer under the bed. As the winds and the rain beat down they stayed alert keeping anxious watch while I, oblivious of danger, lay asleep in complete comfort and safety.

“For the mountains shall depart And the hills be removed, But My kindness shall not depart from you, Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,” Says the LORD, who has mercy on you. Isaiah 54: 10.

Dear Lord, Today’s circumstances make me anxious and I need Your reassurance that You are with me. Please help me to take the words of Isaiah as a message directly to me. Help me to know that nothing can take me from Your hand or prevent Your watch-care over me. Help me to share this wonderful  assurance with all whom I meet. Amen.

Morning Dew #6

– God, our Peace –

God, our Peace

This was the message given to Isaiah for a people who had become indifferent to the blessings of their God. They were looking around them and all they saw was the chaos, war, and destruction. It was a time when peace seemed unattainable but God sent a message of hope. His promise was that even when everything is going wrong we can confidently hope in Him and he will wrap us in His peace. 

Dear Lord,  Everything around me seems to be falling apart but You have promised that if I trust in You I can face my challenges with confidence. Please replace my anxiety with calm, remind me that You know my tomorrow and there is nothing too hard for You. Help me to trust and believe that You will lead if I will follow. Amen.

Morning Dew #5

– God, our Hope –

El Roi listens

Hagar was going through hell-on-earth. Her life had taken an unexpected, cruel turn and left her a single parent. She was now a demoralized, lonely, and frightened outcast. The hunger cries of her son grew fainter and she knew death was near.  To whom could she turn? In her anguish she called out to El Roi, the God who sees, who listens, who cares, and provides. Today our situation may seem hopeless or grim but like Hagar, we can call on El Roi who has promised to be our “strong tower” of safety. Call on Him, He will provide! 

Dear Lord,  I have nowhere to turn. I have made short-sighted , even bad decisions. I have sought to do things my own way and now they are unraveling. I am asking you to guide me now even as you guided Hagar. Give me the humility to listen and the willingness to obey. Amen. 

Morning Dew #4

God’s Faithfulness is New Every Morning

Jeremiah wrote these words while he was in the midst of deepest despair. All around him was rubble and destruction, his health was affected and there seemed no hope of change. But despite his painful circumstances Jeremiah continued to believe that he was in God’s hand and He would make a way. Jeremiah knew that all was not lost because God’s love and mercies “are new every morning” and great is His faithfulness! 

Dear Lord,  You have promised to give me no more than I can bear. Today my challenges are great but I will stand in Your strength because of Your promise to be with me. Help me to fix my gaze on You and in hope, follow close in Your steps. Amen.

The Conclusion of the Matter

This planet on which we live started off as a pristine, beautiful place where God and His creation were at one. There was no fear, no death. Today we see only traces of that world as disease and violence wreak havoc on our environs and the psyche of humans. 

 Interestingly, it is at Earth’s lowest that scientists have used their knowledge to turn our gaze to deep space where we are awed by the beauty, the majesty, and order of the worlds we can only glimpse. 

Some have justified the splurge on space exploration explaining that it will open-up new worlds where droughts, disease, and wars are absent. But is that possible? Are we not the purveyors of this carnage that we seek to escape? So wherever we go will we not take with us the seeds of greed, discontent, and violence? 

Deep Space an Answer to Earth’s Problems?

I submit that the answer to the present predicament is not to be found in deep space but in a change of our DNA and mindset— a change we are incapable of effecting. The Apostle Paul suggests a solution, 

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”  2 Corinthians 5: 17. 

The promise here is not only to change us into new beings with noble, caring minds but also to restore our planet which now is almost in shambles. 

So, in conclusion of my celebration of the new and wonderfully breath-taking discoveries of worlds beyond our own, I am calling for a more radical change, an all-encompassing change that God has promised that He alone can do. 

“Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.” Revelation 21: 1-3. 

I am no scientist but I so believe that we can experience the reversal of all this pain and devastation if we ask the architect of all the worlds to do the same in our lives— what do we have to lose?!

Morning Dew. . . #3

– My Refuge and Strength –

Dear Lord, 

Even as the day dawns fresh and the sky in tinged with the blues and sliver from your paint-brush, may I rise with joy in my heart. May I grow strong from yesterday’s falls and run with purpose and confidence to face today’s challenges because you are with me. May Your spirit, in me, bring cheer and strength to someone today. Amen

Cosmic Stewardship

Headlines proclaim, “New Evidence About the Universe Suggests Einstein Was Wrong”; another— “Black hole image supports Einstein’s theory of gravity . .”; yet another— “Einstein’s ‘Biggest Blunder’ Turns Out to Be Right”. Today— Einstein is wrong; tomorrow— Einstein is right! Telescopes of all complexity are available for amateurs as well as serious astronomers who seek answers from our universe and beyond. With the rapid expansion of knowledge, the best of scientists are overwhelmed by new discoveries. 

Will Einstein’s theories give way to new ones? We have seen Copernicus and Galileo’s theories give way to Newton’s theory which yielded to Einstein’s encompassing General Theory of Relativity. They press the question, why does our universe expand the way it does in defiance of gravity? Not to be ignored is Stephen Hawkins’ contributions to these explanations. 

New lingo– “space-time”, “black holes”, “dark matter”, “string-theory”, “quantum hair”

From these studies come such terms as “space-time”, “black holes”, “dark matter”, “string-theory”, “quantum hair”— lingo ranging from vast cosmic dimensions stretching billions of light-years, to sub-atomic levels of electrons, quarks, and tiny “strings” with measurements a trillionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of a meter.

There is absolutely nothing shameful about making mistakes. Mistakes are the building blocks to discovering truth. Deep space pictures of billions of galaxies and trillions of stars are bolstering or confounding our understanding of the mystery called our universe.

I applaud and I am excited by these discoveries that provide tangible evidence for the Biblical proclamations that I wonder about: 

“When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet. . .” Psalm 8: 3-6.

But even as we take great pride in our successes we must remember, we are only the observers of these things not the creators. There is a Creator who only can answer the questions: 

“Can you tie the bands of the Pleiades, or release the cords of Orion?  Can you lead out the constellations in their seasons . . . ? Do you know the laws of the heavens, or can you set up their rule over the earth? Can you raise your voice to the clouds so that a flood of water covers you? Can you send out lightning bolts, and they go? Will they say to you, ‘Here we are’? Who has put wisdom in the heart, or has imparted understanding to the mind? Who by wisdom can count the clouds, and who can tip over the water jars of heaven. . .” Job 38: 31-37. 

I’m no scientist but I think we are made stewards of an unbelievably vast and complex world.