Psalm 60 – Disparity?

Psalm 60 – Disparity?
When you read the description of the Psalm at the beginning and realize that in this time…David was at the height of his victories….why does the Psalm read like he is getting his butt handed to him day after day?
One of the commentaries I read said that;
David saw himself as a small part of a grand scheme in which God caused the rise and fall of nations for His own purposes. Even David’s victories were seen as chastenings of a sort—costly reminders that the outcome of events does not depend on the strength or will of man, but upon the decree of God, the true King, who disposes all things according to His wisdom, justice, and mercy.
In other words, David is recognizing is that….even in times of victory, there is someone on the other side….who the favor of the Lord isn’t shining on….that the grace and mercy of the Lord is solely His to bestow to bring glory to Himself.
ANC finds itself in a time of favor…and we pray for that to continue. But we realize that there are church planters all over town, and the country for that matter, who have felt a calling by God to plant only to fail.
I really don’t have any clue as to why…..but what I do know…is that there is a season in the life of this church, where we are winning battles large and small. To God be the Glory!

Esther 2 – Wrong Place at the Right Time

Esther 2 – Wrong Place at the Right Time

A great subplot to the story of Esther and Mordecai was….why were Jews in Susa in the first place? Susa was a town in the Persian Empire (modern day Iran) When the Babylonian captivity ended years earlier….(probably 2-3 generations) the Jews were freed from captivity, to go home to Israel. Free to return to the place of their spiritual heritage yet some chose to stay. Why?

Probably some of the same reasons we would choose to stay. They had grown comfortable, they had climbed the corporate ladder (Mordecai was a Jew in the citadel…a government official), their family had attained status there. So you can’t really blame them…..but it’s like biting the hand that feeds you….God the author of life, giver of all good things, the deliverer of your very people……orchestrates a plan to free you from the bondage of slavery and tyranny, and deliver you to “The Promised Land”….yet they remained. They (those that remained) thumbed their nose at God….and basically said…”yeah, I know you have your plans…and they are good, but I’m fine where I am at.”

I think about addictions, how some people are given all the opportunity in the world to free themselves from the very thing that will kill them, yet when given the opportunity of rehab or support or accountability…they choose to remain an addict. ‘Giving the bird’ to family and friends that care about you…and don’t want to see you die.

So just so we know…Esther being “chosen” was really God’s hand in a mess. Xerxes was harvesting virgins to have sex with and dispose of….it just so happened that Esther found favor. This is why we pray for favor at ANC….because as jacked up as we make it sometimes….if we remain in God’s favor, he can choose to bring glory to himself through it. (Another practice of the Babylonian Empire was harvesting young men, and making them Eunuchs. Xerxes, it is written, would harvest up to 500 men and women per year.)

I know none of us has been plucked from our families to become servants in an evil empire….but we do become enslaved by our work, our hobbies, our dreams, addictions or agendas…and maybe we find ourselves far from God, or not exactly in a God-honoring position….. But it’s not unthinkable that God won’t choose to use us……and we may have been born, been in the position we are in, for such a time as this!