Have you ever felt you had lost control of the rein of your life? Listen to the words of our psalmist.
3 Lord God All-Powerful,
my King and my God,
sparrows find a home
near your altars;
swallows build nests there
to raise their young.4 You bless everyone
who lives in your house,
and they sing your praises.
5 You bless all who depend
on you for their strength
and all who deeply desire
to visit your temple (Psalm 84:3-5 CEV)
Losing the rein makes the journey a challenging adventure. Perhaps you have been lost far, far from home. The venture shipwrecked, your travels blown about by the winds and the seas.
There is a point when you are away when you just want to be home.
We recently took a trip to Italy and Greece that required a nine and a half hour plane ride home. The trip was fantastic, but the journey home seemed even longer because once we left the ground on a plane in Rome, we were ready for the journey to be over. We wanted to be home.
Longing for home
Psalm 84 is a psalm of longing – of wanting to be home. It is a psalm of wanting to be home in God’s house. It is a song of the sons of Korah – something that we will talk about a little more later in the study. Psalm 84 is one of four psalms in the third section of the Psalms (Psalm 84, 85, 87 and 88). There are seven psalms of Korah in the second section (Psalm 42, and 44-49).
We can assume that the psalmist was far away from the Tabernacle or Temple. Perhaps there was turmoil in his life, fleeing for safety, unsure of his next move. He envied the birds that had built their nests near the sacred home of God’s presence. At least they had a home near the presence of the Lord.
Perhaps the psalmist had a soft place in his heart “thinking about home” because he had spent so much time away from it. When it came to thinking about his God, the psalmist was burdened for a place for God to dwell among His people. There was a deep desire in his heart to be secure and comfortable, permanently in the presence of his God.
Away from God
Away from God, there is a longing for moments in God’s presence at the Tabernacle. The soul is literally withering on the vine, away from the nourishment found in the presence of God. For the one who follows God, there is something refreshing about worship in God’s house, in God’s presence. Everyone could find a place in God’s house – king or servant.
There is something refreshing about the comforts of home. It is easy to take home for granted. It becomes common place. We have been talking about finding an Autumn Refreshing from the Father. We explored the idea of the Autumn Rain in the midst of the heat of our desert. This week, let’s think about a different kind of Autumn Rein, the One who helps us find our way back home. How refreshing it is when we allow God’s word to be the rein in our lives.
Rein: Power under Control
The psalmist makes a very poignant comparison in these three short verses. He begins by pointing us to the one with power – the almighty God.
Most of us spend our lives either thinking we have control or trying to gain control of our lives. A recent article on the Psychology Today website by Diane Dreher, Ph.D. stresses that one of our basic human needs is a sense of control. The article says that this desire to have a choice, that our actions make a difference is known as the locus of control (LOC). The more internal our LOC, the more we believe our own efforts determine what happens in our lives. The more external our LOC, the more we believe that outside forces actually move and dictate our behaviors.
The research of psychologists links external LOC with poor mental and physical health issues. The person who has high external LOC tends toward passivity, anxiety, and depression. Conversely a person with high internal LOC tends to lean into happiness, health and a better ability to cope with life.
Calculating mistakes
I wonder if there is just a slight miscalculation in the findings. What if the negative feelings and poor health issues really come from the conflict of us trying to usurp control that we never actually had?
Think with me for just a moment. There are somethings that certainly are in our control. Getting a good night’s sleep, exercising, and eating healthy foods in sensible portions are all part of a healthy lifestyle and are within our control. But consider the myriad of things that are outside of your control. Natural catastrophes, poor or evil decisions of others, the choices and behaviors of our children, major health issues like cancer, the death of a loved one and the list can go on and on. Does our struggle really come from thinking that we can control the rein pf all these things?
Let the Father take care of your worries
Jesus teaches His disciples in the Sermon on the Mount about the dangers of being overwhelmed with concern about the things in this world.
25 I tell you not to worry about your life. Don’t worry about having something to eat, drink, or wear. Isn’t life more than food or clothing? 26 Look at the birds in the sky! They don’t plant or harvest. They don’t even store grain in barns. Yet your Father in heaven takes care of them. Aren’t you worth more than birds (Matthew 6:25-26 CEV)?
The apostle Peter’s first epistle carries the same advice: “God cares for you, so turn all your worries over to Him” (1 Peter 5:7 CEV).
God blesses the ones who look to Him for their strength. Here are three ways that God uses the reins to mold and shape our lives.
Rein and Control our Speed
When most people think of slowing down a horse, they think in terms of “putting on the brakes.” Rather than pulling the rein straight back to stop the horse, shifting them from side to side can send a message to slow down the process of movement. Skiers use side-to-side movement to control downhill speed. The reins don’t have to completely stop progress. They can help control the speed, simply slowing down the progress.
Do you remember the bubble-gum style song by Simon and Garfunkel in the late sixties called “The 59th Street Bridge Song?” The words that began the song urged us to “Slow down, you move too fast. You got to make the morning last.” Life travels past us at warp speed and we try to make it move even faster.
There are a handful of verses from the old Living Bible that have made a profound impact on my life. I am not always impressed with the paraphrase’s choice of words, but occasionally they stick with me in a way that I cannot seem to escape. One of these verses comes from the pen of King Solomon in the Old Testament. I remember the first time I read it, I was taken aback.
In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon writes,
It is better to spend your time at funerals than at festivals. For you are going to die, and it is a good thing to think about it while there is still time (Ecclesiastes 7:2 Living Bible).
An effective rein
The verse isn’t mean to depress you, although many will see it as a harsh, pessimistic statement. Almost everything that we do practices a similar philosophy. Stephen Covey’s incredibly successful book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, singles out the truth of this verse in habit two. “Begin with the end in mind.”
The only way we do that is when we slow down, giving ourselves time to plan and prioritize our lives. Covey concludes the thought by saying “Your most important work is always ahead of you, never behind you.”
Cultivating patience
Here are a handful of reasons to cultivate patience in the fast-paced, frenzied bronco of a life that most of us are trying to break.
- We are wanting transformation, not information. Paul tells us to not be conformed to the world, but to be transformed by renewing our minds (Romans 12:1-2). Eugene Peterson, author of The Message, writes, “A disciple is a learner, but not in the academic setting of a schoolroom, rather at the work site of a craftsman.”
- Spiritual growth takes time. Jesus spent each day for three and a half years with His disciples. Moses spent forty years in the wilderness and desert. Paul spent years in the desert. Our microwave mentality does not allow for sufficient time to brew a seasoned disciple.
- Understanding God is a process. Most complex subjects take time to hear, process and learn. We don’t begin studying math by learning calculus. We don’t learn to play an instrument by going through Beethoven’s symphonies. Expect to spend some time building a relationship with God.
- Life changes. Heraclitus said, “The only thing that is constant is change.” The person that we are today – the needs that we have, the reasons that we reach to God – will be different tomorrow. The temptations of yesterday may not be blips on the radar of today. We must constantly seek God each day because in each day our needs are different.
- Eternity is before us. Are we living these moments in light of eternity? Peter writes, “The end of all things is near” (1 Peter 4:7). We will discuss more of this passage in just a bit. The truth is we have all time of eternity.
Paul encourages the Ephesian Christians to redeem the time (Ephesians 5:16 HCSB). Making the most of our time requires slowing life down enough to plan and chart the courses that we want to pursue. Time management experts tell us to start a successful day by setting aside a few moments to think about what needs to be accomplished during the day. Plans can then be made to achieve the goals.
Rein and Control our Direction
The psalmist paints an interesting picture in verse five. The NIV translates the passage, “Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.”
The Christian is a disciple, a pilgrim on a journey. The experience is portrayed as a journey rather than a destination. Characterized by movement, adventure and discovery, life is not a peek from a stationary observation deck.
The Message translates a passage from the eleventh chapter of Hebrews this way:
The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see.
I could go on and on, but I’ve run out of time. There are so many more—Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets. . . . Through acts of faith, they toppled kingdoms, made justice work, took the promises for themselves. They were protected from lions, fires, and sword thrusts, turned disadvantage to advantage, won battles, routed alien armies. Women received their loved ones back from the dead. There were those who, under torture, refused to give in and go free, preferring something better: resurrection. Others braved abuse and whips, and, yes, chains and dungeons. We have stories of those who were stoned, sawed in two, murdered in cold blood; stories of vagrants wandering the earth in animal skins, homeless, friendless, powerless—the world didn’t deserve them!—making their way as best they could on the cruel edges of the world (Hebrews 11:1-2; 32-38 MSG).
Using the Hebrews’ backdrop of Old Testament heroes of the faith, would you place together three interesting messages from the words of two prophets?
Isaiah shows the way
The grand prophet Isaiah writes,
Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go” (Isaiah 48:7 ESV).
God will lead us in the way that we should go. Earlier in the same book, Isaiah has indicated that
And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left (Isaiah 30:21 ESV).
I am not sure how God does that. How does God whisper words behind us? Obviously it starts with God’s revealed Word in the Bible. The more that I know God’s Words the more likely it is that I will make the right applications to the choices that I make and the directions that I take.
The voices of God behind me may be the voices of other Christians who are offering guidance and encouragement. It may be words from the sermon on Sunday or the Christian broadcast on Tuesday’s program. Perhaps the voice may be our own conscience, especially if that voice has been molded and shaped by God’s Holy Spirit.
Don’t put it past God to use a voice outside of the faith. In times past God has used evil kings, heathen poets and psalm writers, and once God even put a voice inside a donkey.
Directions to Ninevah
Wander with me to one other Old Testament passage. This time it is from the reluctant prophet Jonah.
And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left (Jonah 4:11 ESV).
Unless Nineveh is filled with dyslexic people or those who have failed their biology quizzes, this passage of Scripture must be taken in a symbolic or figurative way. Let’s think for a moment about how it might relate in a figurative sense.
Did you ever feel that you were being pulled in two directions? Comedian Flip Wilson used to make rationalizations for bad behavior by saying, “The devil made me do it.” Authors and painters have often gleaned that we have an imaginary little devil on the left shoulder and a little imaginary angel on the right.
The right from the left
You might be intrigued to know that our common usage of the word “left” comes from the Latin word meaning “sinister.” When Jesus spoke of the separation of the sheep and goats, the goats went on the left.
Most of the time, when the Bible uses the word “left” to describe more than the physical, it refers to the things of this world – the material, the worldly, the things that are not spiritual in nature. On the other hand (I know, pun intended), the “right” is used to describe the things that are spiritual in nature and those who have become spiritually awake. These are the ones who have ears to hear.
The example screams to us.
and you shall kill the ram and take part of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron and on the tips of the right ears of his sons, and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the great toes of their right feet, and throw the rest of the blood against the sides of the altar (Exodus 29:20 ESV).
Notice how specific the instructions of this verse appear. The blood, while literally being put on the right appendages of these men, were actually helping us see that the sacrifice was for Aaron and his sons, representing an anointing of spiritual wisdom and understanding.
Rein and Control our Weaknesses
How does God nudge us to the right and try to keep us from the left? One of the ways that He does this is by helping us control our weaknesses by the use of His rein. Let’s return to Peter’s words from his first epistle, the fourth chapter.
Remember, Peter has warned us that the end is near – it is certainly at hand. Because that is a truth that you can count on,
therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 4:7-11 ESV).
In the middle of the passage, Peter tells us that we are using our gifts – which would include the indwelling presence of God’s Holy Spirit – as if we were stewards of the treasures with which God has entrusted us. Notice that we are actually stewards of God’s grace.
Weaknesses into strengths
Have you noticed there are instructions in many recipes which encourage the chef to “season to taste?” Use enough salt, use enough hot sauce to meet the desires of your taste. How much grace has God allotted to you to season your world? Season to taste.
If you want to make a difference in the world, notice that God is going to be working with you to change some of your weaknesses into strengths.
To begin with Peter instructs that self-controlled and sober-minded are goals. Would you consider those areas weak in your life? I certainly would. Self-control blossoms when God dictates the direction of life. There is debate about exactly what Peter means by the next phrase but he adds that it is “for the sake of your prayers.” Perhaps key to strengthening our weakness is including it in our prayer life. With God’s help, self-control molds our mission and ministry.
Doing the right thing
Doing the right thing in relationships with others seems to be a universal weakness. The secret to the activities with others is to let the love of God control your life (Colossians 3:16). Be careful when it comes to actions and behaviors. Even if we do the right thing, but grumble and complain about it or about the recipient of our behavior, we haven’t really turned our weakness around, have we?
Finally Peter says that when you speak, speak as one who is speaking the very words of God. Changes our communication a bit, doesn’t it? It is James that tells us that like the bit in the mouth of a horse, the tongue is a small feature but controls the entire power of the whole. Allow grace to lace your words.
Remember, when you allow God to have the reins of your life, you will find that the way He controls your life, directs your life, and strengthens your weakness provides you the refreshment of a cool autumn.