While You Were Sleeping... (Psalm 3)
Psalm 3.5 I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.. [tniv]Will Shriner, an American comedian from the 1950's once said, “I want to die in my sleep like my grandfather... not screaming and yelling like the passengers in his car.”
For many years now I have always thought that when my time comes, dying in my sleep would have to be one of the most peaceful ways to go. The prospect of being blown apart, shot, stabbed or eaten by some prehistoric monster has never really held any fascination for me.
But then as a teenager I saw Nightmare on Elm St and that ruined everything. I remember screaming at the TV set during the whole movie, "WAKE UP!" The minute you fell asleep you entered the nightmarish domain of Freddy Kruger. What followed was a graphic demonstration of just how many ways a human being can be diced and sliced by Freddy's razor sharp blades. It was then that the realisation dawned on me... when I'm asleep, I am vulnerable!
I was reading just the other day that we sleep for one-third of our lives. So for one-third of my life I am not in control. Think about it, while we sleep, we are unconscious, dead to the world yet we continue to breathe, our heart pumps, our organs operate. All on their own! Anything could go wrong and we can't do a thing about it!
At home right now I am reminded just how vulnerable we are. My wife has been waking up in the middle of the night gasping for breath. It is a frightening experience. She has been reluctant to sleep because of it.
I think David knew exactly what this felt like. With so many people out to kill him, I am sure he understood better than most the feeling of vulnerability while he slept. For him to sleep and to wake each morning was nothing short of a minor miracle yet he says that this was possible because God sustained him. In fact his view was the same God who sustained him during the day will also sustain him in the middle of his darkest night.
He trusted God. He rated God's ability to sustain him higher than man's ability to destroy him. And it gave him peace. These days I would choose Psalm 3 over Nightmare on Elm St any day. Just wish I'd had this same conviction when I was a teenager.
Is God evil? (1 John 1)
1 John 1.5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. [tniv]
A University Professor once challenged his students to a question, "Did God create everything that exists?" One bravely answered, "Yes, He did!" The professor answered, "Does evil exist? If so, then God must have created it, therefore based on the principle that our works define who we are, we can assume that God must be evil!"
The professor now quite pleased with himself, boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth.
From the back of the room came a nervous voice, "May I ask you a question professor?" a young student asked.
"Does darkness exist?"
The professor responded, "Of course it does!"
The young student responded, "Haven't you taught us that darkness is in reality the absence of light. In fact using Newton's prism to break white light into many colours, we can study the various wavelengths of each colour. You cannot measure darkness. The only way to know how dark a space is would be to measure the amount of light present. Darkness is a term used to describe what happens when there is no light present!"
So the young man asked the question to the professor, "Sir, does evil exist?"
A little hesitant, the professor responded, "Of course. We see it everyday in man's inhumanity to man. We see it played out in crimes and violence everywhere in the world!"
The young man replied, "Sir evil does not exist or at least not unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. Just like 'darkness', 'evil' is a word man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. Like the darkness which comes when there is no light.
Upon hearing this the professor sat down.
It has been said that the young man's name was Albert Einstein!
Who'd Want to be a Man! (1 Timothy 2)
1 Timothy 2.13-14 For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. [tniv]I wake up every morning thanking God I was born male. I am not trying to be sexist or chauvinistic but I see what women have to go through in life, and I don't think I could do it. Just the thought of childbirth alone makes me want to grab my crotch and thank the Lord for His goodness to me!
Physical pain aside, what about the degradation women have had to endure right down through the ages as being seen as a lesser being. It still takes place today! Take for instance the role of women in the Church. In some denominations it still is a very touchy subject. There are many who take 1 Timothy 2 literally and believe that women are responsible for everything bad in this world. To support their claim, they use verses like these and the ones which follow which indicate that a woman's place in church and society is to remain silent, have babies, dress modestly and do good deeds.
But this verse clearly states, "Adam was not the one deceived." This is entirely true. Way back in Genesis 2, the first command is given to the human race. "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." The human race at that stage consisted of just one person - Adam. Eve had not yet been created!
So Adam received his command directly from God and Eve received hers from Adam. When the devil came into the Garden of Eden, Eve clearly sins first however scripture never blames Eve for the fall of the human race, instead according to Romans 5.12 ("through one man sin entered the world"), the Bible places the blame squarely on the shoulders of one man - Adam.
Because he had been formed first, he had been given the original authority on earth, Eve had not. And with that authority came the responsibility. Adam had an authority which Eve didn't have. He had a responsibility Eve never did.
Yes Eve was deceived but the point is, Adam wasn't. He knew exactly what he was doing. Adam failed in a far more significant way than Eve did. He rebelled against a direct command from God!
Men are very quick these days to play the "head of the home" card in order to push through some self serving agenda but we need to remember that God is the one who has given us that authority, and with that authority comes responsibility. It is a pretty sobering thing to consider that one day we may be called to give an account before God of just what we did with that responsibility.
As painful as childbirth is (my wife tells me I have no idea), the Bible says that it is soon forgotten. Maybe women got the better end of the deal after all!
It's Amazing What You Find in the Attic! (1 Timothy 1)
1 Timothy 1.18 Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well [tniv]
Any serious comic book collector could tell you that the world's most expensive comic is DC's Action Comics #1, released in 1938. Written by Jerry Siegel and illustrated by Joe Shuster, this book contained the first 12-page glimpse of the now iconic superhero - Superman. Originally sold in newsstands for a mere 10 cents, in today's market a near mint copy of this comic is valued at $700,000 USD!
As a child I can remember my weekly trips to the local newsagent to pick up my copy of Superman's latest adventure. There were many a times spent with the flashlight under the covers reading late into the night. As the years went by my collection continued to grow and expand, taking in other comic titles as well. For Father's Day this year the family bought me a software package which catalogued comics. To my amazement I have well over 1000 comics!
There have been times over the years where I have been tempted to sell my comics but each time I come close, I get cold feet and decide that I can't part with them. So now my collection sits gathering dust in plastic sleeves in cardboard boxes. Every now and again, I'll pull them out, have a look through and reminisce about simpler times and recall childhood memories.
If we are not careful we can end up doing the same thing with prophetic words. We become collectors. God speaks to us through His Word or directly through someone else. As exciting as that is at the time, eventually it ends up forgotten, maybe stored in a journal, sitting on a book shelf somewhere, gathering dust.
But Paul is reminding Timothy that prophetic words serve more than just giving you a momentary buzz, they actually are meant to help us fight our present battles.
Prophetic words remind us that God has a plan for our lives, that He hasn't finished with us. Maybe some of the difficulties we are facing right now are because we have forgotten what God has said and we have allowed the circumstances of life to cause us to settle for a life we were never meant to have lived.
But God is greater! Dust off those prophetic words. Reread God's Word for my life. And allow Him to reignite the dreams and passion in our heart that once burned strong and to help us to stand and fight today's battle well.
Who knows, the answers for todays problems may be found in your attic!
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