Surely the Darkness Will Hide Me

Psalm 139:11-15 Children are often afraid of the dark. In this world evil things happen in the dark. We are insecure in our walking. Rocks, steps, and even walls can be dangerous to us when we can not see our way. A friend of ours walked into a glass door in the dark and broke his nose. Ouch! Sunsets are beautiful and remind me of the promise of the rainbow. It will only be a short time before it will be light again. For some though, sunsets trigger some pretty lonely worrisome thoughts when I believe God would have them realize they are symbols of a hope and a future and better things to come. Showing His splendor, His creativity, and His beauty He wants to inspire us to drink and partake of who He is. Changes in our lives can seem dark and even dangerous. Even in those times we can be reminded that wherever we go God encircles us and places His hand upon us. Darkness is not dark at all to Him. Children afraid of the dark can be reminded that nothing is hidden from God. Darkness or light makes no difference to God. He is able and willing to lead, guide and protect us because He is not limited by darkness. He actually fills the darkness with Himself. He wants to also fill troubled times with Himself, but He doesn't do so uninvited. We must live our lives in such a way that He knows we desire Him to be with us. I have four wonderful grandchildren and one on the way. Each of them developed in the darkness of the womb under the watchful eye of a loving heavenly Father. Someone once questioned why would God create man when he knew man would have a choice to reject Him. God wrote a whole book to tell us why. Because He wants us to fellowship with us. He wants to be with us - and He visits us in the dark times before we even know He is there to do so. The best way for me to come out of a dark time is to do what I am simply not motivated to do at those times. Radical worship because He is worthy. When I worship Him above my feelings and in spite of the circumstances it is an invitation. It is an invitation for Him to come down and scoop us up to a sheltered place to have a better perspective of the dark. Everything looks better in the morning.

PRAYERS FROM PSALM 139

The All Knowing – Ever-Present God _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Search me and know me Reveal any thoughts or ways that displease You. Have mercy on me. Show me what offends You. Now I repent of any of those things. With Your help I will stop doing them. Please surround me. Put your hand upon me. Anoint me with the knowledge of You. I ask for the awareness of Your Spirit. Remove any darkness in my life which maybe still hiding from the light of Your presence. I want to be aware of Your eyes upon me. Have mercy on me for the times I have refused You. Now I am searching for You. Give me another season to turn to You. Lead me into Your Kingdom purposes and Your ways for my life.

Wearing the Fringe

Numbers 15:38 Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue: 39 And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring: 40 That ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God. The Children of Israel were instructed to wear fringe on the hem of their garments. The fringe was to be worn in plain sight and the fringe would be seen several times each day. They may have been identified as ‘the ones who wore the fringe, you know, the Children of Israel’. The fringe was not a fashion statement. In fact it was more like a yellow caution sign along a highway. The fringe was to be a warning for each person who wore it. It was to be a constant reminder to do God’s commandments. God knows us so well. He knows our weaknesses. The fringe was not for God’s benefit. He didn’t need to brand or label the people who were His. God didn’t need to see the colored fringe in order to easily locate them whenever He looked down from heaven. Realistically, God doesn’t even need us to wear clothes. He doesn’t get embarrassed at our nakedness. He has no need to cover our nakedness. It is about what our sin does to us. Adam and Eve were embarrassed because of their sin. They reacted to the guilt of their sin by making clothes to cover themselves and hide from God. God hates sin. He cannot tolerate sin. He hates sin because He is holy. He hates sin because sin separates us from Him. Every generation was told to continue wearing the fringe on the borders of their garments. Every generation was to remember to do all of God’s commandments. What God required of them on the outside, their clothes, was only to be a sign to keep themselves for Him on the inside. Wearing the fringe would help them remember they were His children so they would not be whoring after other gods. The clothes represented holiness to themselves and to others. God still requires holiness, inside and out, but He provided a better way. He sent Jesus to pay for our sins, once and for all – on the cross. Now we can live holy lives. God, Holy Spirit, will come to live inside of us and help us resist what is unholy. With His Presence actually dwelling in us we can choose what is holy. We must make a choice to invite Him to live inside us. We must make choices to resist what is unholy and to live a holy life. We choose to live holy because we want to reflect Him who is holy. We choose to live holy so others can see Him. Similar to the same reason the Children of Israel wore fringe their clothes our clothes are just as important to our testimony. They help us make a statement to everyone who sees us about how we live for and love a holy God. What we wear can help to remind us that we are not our own. Scripture names those who have invited His presence to dwell in them the Bride of Christ. A bride in a white wedding dress is special. The color of the dress represents a purity she has reserved for her bridegroom. Once Christ has made us holy we are not our own. Scripture says the Bride, the church, will be given to Jesus Christ to dwell with Him forever in heaven. In the same way the fringe marked the Children of Israel, the wedding dress is the sign she is the bride of the wedding, and what we look like on the outside is the first impression or reflection of what is on the inside.