Daily Devotional

I write this devotional on day five. It is the fifth day of our confinement, per the instructions for those who have COVID. Lynn and I both tested positive earlier this week. This COVID invasion happened just 5–6 days before my heart procedure was to take place in Santa Clara. I called Kaiser Fresno and talked with a nurse. Then I called Kaiser in Santa Clara, where my pacemaker procedure was to take place. The doctor had some hope we could still go on with the plan. But the anesthesiologist said, “No.”

After three months of waiting, the COVID shows up and upends all the plans! My date is now another two months down the road, in April. Was this God’s way? I think so. Why? I am not sure. Other things have occurred in our church—a man suddenly thrown into cancer treatment, and who even had to be resuscitated. Two sudden deaths, one younger, another older, a man and a woman. These all make my situation look pale in comparison.

But it all makes me wonder. Do I really want the work of God in my life, my family and in my church? I say, “Yes.” I have been praying that way. But what might it actually be like? Predictable? Definitely not. Always acceptable and pain-free? No. Sometimes a wonderfully full blessing that causes joy and celebration? Yes.

In Psalm 29 we are called to worship God—see His glory, His strength, and His wondrous name. But then it speaks of His voice. Do I want to hear it? Sometimes. Do you?

• It is upon the waters. He thunders.
• It is majestic. It is powerful.
• It breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
• It makes Lebanon skip like a calf.
• It hews our flames of fire.
• It shakes the wilderness.
• It makes the deer to calve.
• It strips the forest bare.

Do I want the God of the Scriptures? Do you? I know we do, or we would not still be around. When we ask Him to work, we get all of Psalm 29. The fire comes our way, but also the peace. The alternative is to have man—ourselves or others. Hosea wrote about God’s people being called back from exile.

I will not execute My fierce anger;
I will not destroy Ephraim again.
For I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst,
And I will not come in wrath.
They will walk after the Lord,
He will roar like a lion;
Indeed He will roar
And His sons will come trembling from the west.
They will come trembling like birds from Egypt
And like doves from the land of Assyria;
And I will settle them in their houses, declares the Lord.  
Hosea 11:9–11 (NASB)

He will not execute His anger. He is God, not man. They will walk after Him. But He will roar like a lion. His sons will come from the west, trembling like birds, like doves. He will settle them in their houses. There is only one Lord for us to seek. He is tremendously dangerous! He cleanses temples. His voice strips forests bare. But He gives His people peace, and strengthens them. He settles them in their houses, forever.

If we want a man as god, there are plenty of those, and we can suppose we can get what we want. But rather, let us know, press on to know the LORD (Hosea 6:3). Let’s ask Him to have His way in our lives, our family, our church, and even our community. Even the mixed bag of Psalm 29. How else will anything significant and eternal ever take place?

READ: Mark 10:17–31
SING: Gentle Shepherd, Wm. & Gloria Gaither.

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