WHEN WORDS FAIL

Psalm 36:5-12
5 Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the skies. 6 Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, Your justice like the great deep. O Lord, You preserve both man and beast. 7 How priceless is Your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of Your wings. 8 They feast on the abundance of Your house; You give them drink from Your river of delights. 9 For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light. 10 Continue Your love to those who know You, Your righteousness to the upright in heart. 11 May the foot of the proud not come against me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away. 12 See how the evildoers lie fallen--thrown down, not able to rise.

When I worked as assistant editor for Our Daily Bread, one of my tasks was to choose a Bible verse for the cover of each month's devotional. One afternoon, when nothing quite seemed to fit the photograph, I thought, Who really cares which verse I select?

About a week later, Kurt De Haan, the managing editor of ODB, handed me a letter. It was from a reader who had prayed for years for her son to give his life to Jesus. That son had come to visit her and "happened" to read the verse on the cover of her Our Daily Bread. The timeless truth and power of those few words suddenly broke through to him. He dropped to his knees and asked God to forgive him for his sins.

That incident happened 7 or 8 years ago. At the end of last summer, Kurt (that managing editor, who was also my running buddy), died while on his lunchtime run. In the days following that stunning event, I often sat in my office staring distractedly at the walls. My eyes fell on my ODB calendar. This verse was printed on it: "Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds" (Psalm 36:5 NKJV).

Those words, long familiar to me, were suddenly alive with meaning. A song by Third Day, based on that psalm, came to mind.

And I will lift my voice to worship You, my King;

And I will find my strength in the shadow of Your wing.

Days later I flipped the Our Daily Bread calendar to the next month. "Fear not, . . . you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you" (Isaiah 43:1-2 NKJV).

The book of Hebrews tells us "the Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword" (4:12). That awesome power convicts us, but it also provides unutterable comfort when our own words tend to ring hollow. --Tim Gustafson

DESTINATION POINTS

* Do I sometimes read God's Word too quickly to appreciate it?
* Has my time with God become an obligation? Or do I truly anticipate it?
* How does God use bad situations to make Himself more real to us?

LINKS:
The Official Third Day Site
http://www.thirdday.com

bottom line: Never underestimate the power of God's Word.

soul journey