05/11/2022
Birthdays are excellent times to look back on the lives we have lived thus far, and to take stock of what we have gathered to ourselves, the wonders we have seen, the blessings received, and the good moments we have experienced, but the richest memories are those that are branded into our thick hides, the ones that came from suffering, and God’s deliverance. Each time the Lord rescues us we find that our faith in Him has leapt forward, and each moment spent crying on the shoulder of Jesus brings us that much closer to Him. Only by weathering these trying times of tribulation do we find peace, abundance, and hope in tomorrow. Nowhere is God’s love, goodness, and grace more abundantly obvious than in those times when we need Him most.
“you let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.”
Psalm 66:12 ESV
Yesterday was my birthday, and what a splendid day it was. I spent time with family, friends, workmates, strangers, and some wonderful time breaking bread with one of the Lord’s more precious men, Pastor Fady Al Hagal. We were scheduled to meet for about an hour and a half, but whenever we are able to sit together we find that our allotted time is never enough. As I prayed in my truck before leaving the restaurant, and thanked God for the time He had just provided Fady and me, it dawned on me that if there is never enough time for the two of us to talk, then all of eternity will barely be enough when we sit with God, and Jesus, to truly get to know them. Eternity will be just long enough.
“And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”
John 17:3 ESV
Birthdays seem like waves that are mounting up, and preparing to crash upon the beach. They feel like moments when the memories all come rushing together in the shallows of our life, and we are allowed to see not only how immense they are, but the end of our earthly ocean, and the beginning of the land that lies ahead. They are intense times of reflection, grace, and hope; of looking at the accumulation of our faith, God’s many blessings, and all of life we have lived thus far as it prepares to crash once more upon the sand, and retreat back from whence it came. Birthdays are a rare moment in life when God shows us both the beginning and the end of our earthly existence, and then, in a rush of foam, sound, and awe, we get a glimpse of eternity with Him.
““I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.””
Revelation 1:8 ESV
Yesterday was the crest of yet another wave for me, and just the right mix of earthly life, divinity, and faith. It came together in another glorious moment of amazing love, and grace, that allowed me to share my faith and hope with not only my family, friends, enemies, and strangers, but with one of God’s chosen men… a man called to a special purpose, and to become a particularly tall wave with a clear vision of eternity. As we live out our lives do we awaken each day with God? Are we looking beyond the foam, the sand, and the crashing of our lives upon the beach? Are we looking ahead into eternity?
“I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.”
Psalm 139:14, 17-18 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for our birthdays which are more than just a celebration of the first day when you breathed life into us, but of every breath from that moment on, and all of life, faith, and eternity with you. Thank you for this one day each year in which our life is remembered, celebrated, and during which you show us, by our faith, the many blessings you have given us, and our eternal life to come with you. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who calls us to yourself, and gives us endless hope in Christ Jesus. Praised be your name for the crashing waves of our lives, and the rushing of the retreating water as it rushes back to you. We praise you for every opportunity we have to witness to one another, encourage your saints, and to be in the presence of those you have called to special purpose. Wash us clean of sin, and lift us up from death through the blood and resurrection of Jesus. Transform us from that sinful person we once were, into the image of Jesus, and let the crest of our earthly wave lift us high, and give us the same clear vision of eternity that He sees.
“I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man.”
Ecclesiastes 3:10-13 ESV
Rich Forbes