Coffee With The Lord

PEOPLE CAN AND WILL DISAPPOINT YOU – even those we call “friends” can fail us. Paul said, “At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them.” He expected support, companionship, encouragement, and even testimony on his behalf … he stood alone, they all forsook him.

In one of his lowest moments – a time of extreme disappointment and loneliness… THE LORD WAS FAITHFUL!  He continued… “But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it.” Everything that people failed to provide the Lord supplied – where friends failed him, God fulfilled him!

AND MORE… GOD RESCUED HIM!! “The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into His heavenly kingdom! To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen!! (2 Timothy 4.16-18)

From feelings of abandonment to renewed confidence because of the faithfulness of God! Lord help me remember Paul’s testimony of Your faithfulness in my lowest moments and depend on You to replicate his experience in Your own way in my circumstances!

Andre Crouch, great contemporary Gospel singer, popularized a song with this title and message… “THROUGH IT ALL – THROUGH IT ALL! I learned to trust in Jesus – I learned to trust in God!”

This morning in my Bible reading during my time of “Coffee with the Lord” I read the lyrics of an even greater song, written by King David, with a message much like that of Andre Crouch’s song. It’s found in 2 Samuel 22 (cp. Psalm 18) in your Bible. I’m going to just give you a taste of it in this post… But believe me, the entire song – the entire chapter in your Bible – is worthy of reading, reflection, and response! Here’s the “taste” of it I was talking about…2 Samuel 22 (ESV)

“David spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul…

He said, “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my Savior… I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies!

“In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I called… He heard my voice, and my cry came to His ears.

“He sent from on high, He took me; He drew me out of many waters. He rescued me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support. He brought me out into a broad place; He rescued me, because He delighted in me.

“This God—His way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; He is a shield for all those who take refuge in him! For who is God, but the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God? This God is my strong refuge, He has made my way blameless! He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights. Your gentleness has made me great. You gave a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip! You equipped me with strength for the battle!

“The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation! … For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations, and sing praises to your name! (From 2 Samuel 22 – A song of David)

And from Andre Crouch (his testimony and song)…“THROUGH IT ALL – THROUGH IT ALL! I learned to trust in Jesus – I learned to trust in God!”

EVER HAVE SOMETHING IN GOD’S WORD THAT TROUBLED YOU – something that God has done or said, or Jesus declared, or an inspired Biblical writer penned that you found difficult to process? In fact, it might have almost been offensive to you, and to use a Biblical term, was a “stumbling block” to you. How can you process those things? I mean we believe, after all, that God is behind them all, don’t we?

There is a case of that happening in the ministry and message of Jesus that I believe can help us… (I read about it this morning in the Bible during my time of “coffee with the Lord)…

Jesus, after His miraculous feeding of the multitude (5000 + women and children) on 5 loaves and 2 fish) gave an extended teaching in which He declared Himself to be “the bread of life!” Then He went on to say, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever! And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh! … Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you! Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him… Whoever feeds on me, he will live because of me!” (From John 6:47-57 ESV)

Whew! That’s a tough one, eh? Do you see the problem – feel the tension they must have felt – when they heard Jesus declare those words? [Now there are good theological solutions and answers to Jesus’ words – in fact, we could spend a lot of time discussing and explaining them]. But do you sense the challenge the original hearers must have felt? In fact, Jesus’ disciples said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” Then the passage goes on to record, “After this many of Jesus’ disciples turned back and no longer walked with him!” Jesus even said to the twelve apostles, “Do you want to go away as well?”

But I think it is Peter who gives us some help in processing difficult things the Bible says that may be troubling and difficult to process… He said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the word of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God!” (John 6:68 ESV)

So, I jotted this in the margin of my Bible this morning… Peter gives us a proper response when there are things in God’s word that we don’t understand! May we in those instances simply trust the Lord and depend on Him to ultimately bring clarity and work things out in due time in keeping with His character and will!”