Our psalmist’s hope and confidence in God is based on his and other people’s experiences of God.  That is what he drew upon as the grounds for his faith.  And so, it is worthwhile for us today to ponder for a moment, and consider our own experiences of God, and those that we might have garnered second hand, and see whether they might sustain us in our faith.  For myself, I have a wealth of experiences of knowing God’s protection, intervention, guidance, and help, but these may not be true of everyone, so it is well-worth checking this out for each of us.  And, should we feel that these are lacking, the Lord is always there and always willing to show Himself, help us and work in our lives.  We have only to ask, and try Him for ourselves.

The fact of Jesus’ temptation is one of the most reassuring things that I have ever heard of--to think that He endured all the various kinds of temptations that we face.  It means that He fully understands what it is like for us, and to think that He met those temptations, and resisted them, armed with no further resources than what we have, is greatly reassuring.  It truly depicts a God who understands, is there for us, and who can help us.

Today’s Scripture, the Book of Esther, which starts so gloomily in today’s passage, tells one of those epic stories that never fail to inspire generation after generation.  Indeed, that is what it does for the Jewish people as it recounts a time of rescue when their entire fate hung in the balance.  And, not only does it do that, but it reminds them, and us, how ‘bit players’, people who aren’t really the lead characters, can have a tremendous role in deciding how things turn out.  We may not thing that it matters what we do, but we, just like Esther, were destined ‘for a time like this’, and do have an impact.

I’m sure that Paul and Silas, by all ordinary human standards, should have felt helpless and hopeless.  After all, they had just been attacked by a mob ‘out for their blood’, and rather than be protected by the authorities, had been stripped, beaten and thrown into jail.  And not just any jail, or any part of the jail, but the deepest and more secure part, where they were their feet were then chained to a block of wood.  But here, at midnight no less, we hear of them singing praises to God.  I’m sure that their fellow inmates, their fellow prisoners, must have ‘wondered’ about them.  However, nevertheless, in this dismal and seemingly dead-end situation, God was able to intervene.  And so too, can He for each of us as well.

I’m not sure whether it’s a sign of getting older, but I often find that I’m less tolerant these days, more likely to be ‘bugged’ by certain things.  And so, here I find myself having to ask myself some serious questions, namely, What am I bugged about, and why?  And is it something that I really should be bugged about?  (In asking, and answering, these questions I might actually discover that there are other, more worthy things, that I should be bugged about instead).  Anyway, it is something worth exploring.

The way that our federal politics seems at present to be shaping up suggests that we may well be engulfed in an election before long--and certainly, if you live in Saskatchewan, its fall election is a ‘given’. And so what you get is a number of candidates and parties that are 'promising the moon' in order to get your support and vote--but, is that realistic? Can they actually fulfil those promises--or the hopes and trust that we place in them? Often they can’t--or don’t. Then the same thing goes for many products and services that we see advertised. None of them really measure up--but then, neither do we measure up either. We all fail when the going gets tough. That’s why depending on the Lord, and on Him alone, makes total sense.

I’m afraid that I am quite adverse to confrontation or dissension of any sort, especially given that I seldom see them dealt with in constructive or affirming ways.  Far too often they are dealt in nasty and totally adversarial ways--which, it seems, is exactly how the altercation between Paul and Barnabas was played out.  But, perhaps, there is one thing I hate even more, and that is being proven wrong.  And maybe this is what happened with Paul, whom history generally applauds as ‘the great one.’  But later in life, he does seem to ‘eat humble pie’ and acknowledge that John Mark has turned out okay.  Paul doesn’t quite admit that he was wrong, but close to it.  Anyway, in his acceptance of John Mark, he acknowledges that perhaps Barnabas was right all along in giving John Mark another chance.  I would hope that I, and all of us, can behave in like manner, both in giving each other, and everyone, another chance, and in admitting that perhaps we are wrong at times.

The ‘suffering servant songs’, as they have been so aptly named, are one of the most important--and, to some, puzzling passages in all of Scripture.  I say ‘puzzling’ because nowhere do they state who it is who is being spoken of.  However, for Christians it is no puzzle, because we see the life and ministry of Jesus perfectly described in them--years and years before any of it actually happened!  And so for us, it makes it all the more easy to believe and trust in Him, and hopefully, to love, follow and obey Him, which, of course, is the purpose of the ‘whole exercise.'

People at the time of Jesus were unsure of what to make of Jesus, and of that, they could hardly be blamed, for they did not have full or complete information about Him.  But we, today, do not have that excuse.  Apart from the Scriptures, which are wonderfully explicit about Jesus, if only we will read them, there are plenteous books that can assist us in this.  Years ago, Josh McDowell penned a book named Evidence That Demands a Verdict and more recently Lee Strobel has come up with The Case for Christ and The Case for Faith, which covers some of the same ground--and more.  And if the Resurrection is a striking point, Frank Morison, a seasoned lawyer and sceptic, wrote a book entitled, Who Moved the Stone?  And so, if we really do want to know for sure, there are plenty of ways to find out.

But then there is a subsidiary question: do we who purport to believe really live it out in our lives, live it out so that everyone around us, and see this up front, personal evidence for themselves, the evidence of what difference the presence of Jesus actually makes in someone’s life.  That too, is a critical factor in coming to belief as well.

The scene in Bethany, just outside of Jerusalem, following the death of His friend Lazarus, has to be one of the most moving scenes in all of Scripture, for Jesus is visibly moved by its sorrow and grief.  And that, even though He knew fully well what the outcome would be.  I believe that Jesus is likewise moved by our struggles and infirmities, even though, in like manner, He knows what will be the eventual result.  I like to think that He enters fully into our griefs, feels with us in them and is moved by them, which makes Him a Saviour like none other.  Thanks be to God.

I’m sure that most, if not all, of us would stand in the very same place as Martha and Mary. We might well believe great things of God in the abstract, that is, in theory, but not necessarily in practical things, in the here and now--things like the war in Ukraine or between Israel and Hamas, or the state of the church, or, more personal things like health or finances or relationships. Can we ever dare hope for divine intervention in such matters? Maybe we need to pray as the distraught father once prayed (see Mark 9:24): “Lord, I do have faith. Help me to have even more.”

Today’s meditation raises a very somber and searching question, namely, what do we do when God does not measure up to or live up to our expectations? Do we give up on Him, or, do we hang in there with Him and trust Him no matter what? In many ways, the latter choice makes total sense because His knowledge of what is best for us and the world, without any doubt at all, will always be far beyond and superior to ours, which means that He will always see a bigger and better picture than we do.