WATCHWORD:
Because He has inclined His ear to me,
Therefore, I shall call upon Him as long as I live.
Psalm 116:2
Call upon Me in the day of trouble;
I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.”
Psalm 50:15
7 They said to all the people of Israel, “The land we traveled through and explored is a wonderful land! 8 And if the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us safely into that land and give it to us. It is a rich land flowing with milk and honey. 9 Do not rebel against the Lord, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless prey to us! They have no protection, but the Lord is with us! Don’t be afraid of them!”
Numbers 14:7-9
Meditation:
Utopia, Plan B
My daughter, Beth, sent me this quote from Oscar Wilde: “A map of the world that does not include Utopia is not worth even glancing at, for it leaves out the one country at which Humanity is always landing. And when Humanity lands there, it looks out, and seeing a better country, sets sail. Progress is the realization of utopias.”
The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable defines Utopia as “An imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect. The word was first used as the name of an imaginary island, governed on a perfect political and social system, in the book Utopia (1516) by Sir Thomas More. The name in modern Latin is literally ‘no-place’.”
What do you wish for? Utopia? Are you looking for the perfect? If you know of a person who is not satisfied with anything less than perfection, it probably means that he/she is unable to accept reality for what it is. Maybe they never feel a sense of satisfaction or joy, and nothing they do is ever enough, is ever perfect.
It has often been said that “we are our worst critic.” I believe that. I think that runs in my family, and probably yours, too. My granddaughter, a superb and accomplished cellist, now 17, has been known to criticize complimentary critics with the comment, “What do they know?” Probably a lot more than she knew at age 14, when she made that comment. Yes, we are critics of ourselves.
What happens when we fall short, which we often do? How do we handle that? Who do you rely upon when the bottom drops out? When the plans you made, did not meet your expectations? Disappointment? Yes.
I never did any sky-diving, but from friends who have, I know about “the reserve chute”, that orange ring that you pull (probably in panic) when your main chute does not deploy. Yikes! Do you have a reserve chute, you know, a Plan B, a fall back idea? On your smart phone do you have an ICE number, In Case of an Emergency number?
Since we don’t live in Utopia, that is ‘no-place’, and perfection is just out of reach, what is your Plan B? Is it like this: You are in an ambulance, on the way to the hospital. Then you activate Plan B – Dear God, Help!
Or, a better Plan. A Plan A. Heavenly Father, at the start of this plan, it is in your hands. I give it all to you. Then, should you be in that ambulance, and when you call on God, He’ll know you. What do you think? Maybe life with God, is Utopia. I think that is right. Amen.
Bulletin Board:
A few funnies, just for y’all – A child asked his father, “How were people born?” So his father said, “Adam and Eve made babies, then their babies became adults and made babies, and so on.” The child then went to his mother, asked her the same question and she told him, “We were monkeys then we evolved to become like we are now.” The child ran back to his father, told him what she said, “You lied to me, Daddy!” His father replied, “No, your mom was talking about her side of the family.”
Reaching the end of a job interview, the Human Resources Officer asks a young engineer fresh out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, “And what starting salary are you looking for?” The engineer replies, “In the region of $125,000 a year, depending on the benefits package.” The interviewer inquires, “Well, what would you say to a package of five weeks vacation, 14 paid holidays, full medical and dental, company matching retirement fund to 50% of salary, and a company car leased every two years, say, a red Corvette?” The engineer sits up straight and says, “Wow! Are you kidding?” The interviewer replies, “Yeah, but you started it.”
Closing Prayer:
Lord, I thank You that You are the God of the impossible. You can do anything. I want to trust in Your ability and not my own. Teach me to see difficulties in my life from Your perspective. Help me to focus on You and Your power. I want to be like Joshua and Caleb who believed in a good report and focused on You even in hard circumstances. My responsibility is to carefully read, trust, and obey Your Word. Today I bring before You this difficulty in my life. Help me not to fear but to trust You in this situation. I declare my faith in Your ability to fulfill Your promises to me. You will fight for me and win the battles in my life. You are mighty, powerful, righteous and true. I have nothing to fear with You on my side. I will be strong and courageous even in hard times. Amen
