Known and Loved

"The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven" (Luke 10:17-20).

I remember days past when God worked in mighty ways—years on a west coast college campus, the Jesus Movement, a period of pastoral ministry—halcyon days when I "saw Satan fall like lightning from Heaven." 

My hours now are composed of trifles. I ask myself, "Do we old folks matter anymore?"

Indeed we do; we can rejoice in our present assignment, not for what we achieve, but because our "names are written in Heaven."  We are known and loved by our Heavenly Father. We can rest, secure and grateful, in His loving heart.  

And when I am quite old, and words are slow,

Like dying things that keep their holes for woe,

Thou, then as now, no less will be my life,

And I shall know it better than before,

Praying and trusting, hoping, claiming more.

I shall, with childness fresh, look up to Thee;

Thou, seeing Thy child with age encumbered sore,

Wilt round him bend Thine arm more carefully. —Author Unknown

David Roper

4.3.18

Finishing Strong

"That I may finish my race with joy" (Acts 20:33 NKJV).

One of my sports heroes is John Stephen Akhwari. He was the runner from Tanzania who finished dead last in the marathon at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. No last–place finisher ever finished quite so last.

Injured along the way—he collided with another runner, dislocating his knee and injuring his shoulder when he hit the ground—Akhawri pressed on and hobbled into the stadium over an hour after the last runner had crossed the finish line.

All the spectators were gone, the stadium was closed and crews were preparing for the closing ceremony when Akhwari gathered up the last of his strength and finished strong. To honor his effort one of the workers picked up a torn finishing tape and held it across the track so Akhwari could break it.

Asked why he continued to the end, Akhwari replied, “My country didn't send me 5000 miles to start the race. It sent me 5000 miles to finish.”

And so, on this my 85^th birthday, I pray that you and I may finish the race that is set before us and finish strong.

I must say, however, that my understanding of the phrase "finish strong" has changed with the years. I once thought (and wrote) that we should end our days like Caleb, who at age 85 hied himself up the mountain and slew the mighty Sons of Anak. Finishing strong meant finishing with vim, vigor and verve.

Perhaps that's God's will for a some, but for most of us acts of derring-do are far behind us. So I rather pray that you and I may finish our course full of joy. That’s one way to finish strong!

David Roper

3.30.18

The Waiting Place

Psalm 70

“Waiting for a train to go, or a bus to come, or a plane to go, or the mail to come, or the rain to go, or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow, or waiting around for a Yes or No, or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting.”—Dr. Seuss

In his book, Oh, the Places You’ll Go, children’s author, Dr. Seuss, describes a location called "The Waiting Place.” It sounds like the place most of us inhabit. David writes for all of us:

Make haste, O God, to deliver me!

O LORD, make haste to help me!—Psalm 70:1

Waiting is hard. Why must we live in this awkward circumstance, with this difficult person, with this embarrassing behavior, with this health issue that will not go away? "How come history takes such a long, long time when you're waiting for a miracle?" Bruce Cockburn asks. Why doesn't God come through?

Sometimes, the answer is, "Wait awhile."

Waiting is one of life's greatest teachers in that we learn the virtue of...well, waiting—waiting while God works in and for us. F.B. Meyers wrote, “So often we mistake God and interpret his delays as denials. What a chapter might be written of God’s delays. It is the mystery of educating human spirits to the finest temper of which they are capable.”

It's in waiting that we develop endurance, the ability to trust God's goodness, even when things aren't going our way (Psalm 70:5). Waiting is the time for soul–making, the time to develop the quieter virtues—humility, patience, endurance, and persistence in well-doing. These  virtues take the longest to learn, are the last to be learned and, it seems to me, can only be learned through waiting, the circumstance we’re most inclined to resist. “Waiting is never easy and haste is ever the sin of Adam,” Carlo Carretto said.

But waiting does not have to be dreary, tooth-clenched resignation. We can "rejoice and be glad" while we wait (Psalm 70:4). And we can wait in hope, knowing that God will deliver us in due time—in this world or in the next. God is never in a hurry, but He's always on time.

LORD! Show mercy and be merciless to my foe my flesh;

make straight my path ignore my whimpering self-pity;

starve my hunger until the sharp pain of raging need

becomes the dull ache of wanting now the feast that comes later.

LORD! Show mercy and give me hope to wait.

—Karen Debaghian

David

3.29.18