So you know how sometimes a certain verse just becomes so familiar to you that it becomes almost meaningless? Well, several weeks ago, a thought kind of began developing, but then I forgot about it until something in church this morning got my thought process going again and this afternoon I pursued the thought a bit farther, and decided that it was good enough to be shared. =)
The verse that goes with this thought is Isaiah 9:6. (Merry Christmas, everybody! lol.)
"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
This verse is such an amazing description of God. It shows that God truly does provide for us in every single area. He is all we need, because He is absolutely everything.
So several weeks ago, when every single aspect of my life just seemed exceptionally chaotic and unmanageable, the phrase "Prince of Peace" came to my mind. And all of a sudden, I looked at everything that I was freaking out about (I freak out a lot, in case you hadn't picked up on that yet), and felt guilty, because I say that I serve the Prince of Peace, and yet my life and heart were far from peaceful. In fact, I felt very... restless. And some types of restlessness are good (think Audrey Assad's song "Restless"), but what I was demonstrating in my life was definitely something negative. I was trying to be self-sufficient, and not one single aspect of my life showed that I believe that God has His hand over me and that I can rest underneath the protection of that hand. But God (Jesus) is the Prince of Peace. It's like He is a king (which He is) and there is a land called Peace, and that is where I am supposed to take up permanent residence. (And I shall have an awesome little cottage with one of those cool thatched roofs and a cool stone fence and a very green lawn... hey, this sounds like Ireland! =)). I realize that that is a lame analogy... but I'm pretty sure that means that as one of His followers, I should be doing way more trusting and a lot less freaking out.
Next we are going to talk about how He (Jesus/God- it's really hard to know exactly who I should be referring to... especially since they are technically the same...) is the Wonderful Counselor. What do counselors do? They listen. They listen and they address problems and they want the best for their patients. Their goal is to fix problems. However, before they can do that, the patient has to choose to come to them. (Unless, of course, the patient is declared clinically insane or something, and forced to attend counselling sessions. But I may have watched a few too many episodes of Private Practice.) The patient has to come to them and admit that they have a problem and that they cannot fix it on their own. It means that the patient must be completely honest, and trust that the counselor will not judge them or mock them or give up on them. Sometimes the patient has trouble admitting admitting the problem, whether it is because of shame or denial or the pain that they know will come from addressing the issue that they have buried deep inside them. God is the Wonderful Counselor. Sometimes He has to dig deep down into people's hearts to uncover the things that they have hidden for so long. And sometimes it hurts and is humiliating. But God is not the type to give up on or turn away from the "patients" who come to Him wanting to be healed. He listens and then renews. The price of all this? Complete and total surrender to Him. Costly, in our eyes... but completely worth it. No issue is too big for Him to deal with.
Because He is the Mighty God. All-powerful and all-knowing. In the Old Testament, He was the God who called His people to fight for Him and gave them the strength to conquer armies that seemed much bigger and stronger than theirs. In the New Testament, He called His people to passionately spread the Truth, and to defend what they knew to be true, even when it meant being looked down and physically hurt. Today, He expects the same thing from us. He is the God who separated the water in the Red Sea and opened the eyes of a blind man. He is the God who calmed stormy seas and the God who endured incredible pain on the cross. We are to fight for the truth and against things that oppose the truth. We can trust Him to protect us, because, well, He is the strongest.
Now, the whole "Mighty God" thing is a little bit intimidating, right?? I mean, that gives a mental image of God sitting there on his throne with fury in His eyes and a lightning bolt in His hand. Which is what makes the next thing so great! God is also the Everlasting Father! This tells us that God has a very gentle side. I mean, up until this point, God has been portrayed as a very powerful, wise being. But when you think about it, neither the "Wonderful Counselor" or the "Mighty God" or "Prince of Peace" image makes it seem as though God is someone we can approach and build a personal relationship with. Yes, you discuss problems with a counselor, but you do not usually develop a personal relationship with them. (Except that sometimes, that happens. Yeah... too much Private Practice). "Mighty God" doesn't sound very approachable. "Prince of Peace" doesn't either. But Everlasting Father???? This shows that God loves His children. That He wants them to come to Him when life just gets too hard to handle on their own. I mean, I go to my dad with all kinds of problems. Like "Dad, can you come kill this big bug?" and "Dad, I need some batteries" and "Dad, I am locked in my bedroom and cannot get out" and "Dad, I have no idea how to get to Gladys Cressman's house". So yeah... a dad is an awesome mixture of someone who should be completely gentle and approachable and yet strong and authoritative enough to gain the respect of his children. That is what God is to us. He listens to us, corrects us when we need some straightening out, and protects us when we just need to rest and renew our strength. (oooh...Psalm 28:7- "The Lord is my strength and my shield." Isn't that awesome??? God is our strength... He gives us the strength to fight when we need to, but He is also our shield. He protects us when we just can't go on any more. I love love love this thought. Because using strength (fighting) and hiding behind a shield (resting, protecting, defending) seem like complete opposites. And yet God recognizes that there is a time for each.) Also, did you all take note of the word "everlasting"?? It means that God will go on forever. =) He will never die. He will never abandon His family. He will never shirk His duties as a Father. He is permanent and stable.
So this is my conclusion....I believe in a God who is omniscient and omnipotent and caring enough to deal with the problems and messes that I get myself into and strong enough to carry me and help me fight and gentle enough for me to run to for protection and guidance when I'm exhausted and powerful enough to evidently cover every area of my life with His peace, if I allow Him to do so.
I believe in a God who has thoughtfully and intentionally made sure that every single one of my needs can be met only by Him.
And once I recognize that, I realize that there is no need for me to keep frantically racing around. I can rest in the security of knowing that He is near and that He is everything.
(Okay, I just realized that this entire post makes it sound as though I believe that God only exists to serve me. I would like everyone to know that I am fully aware that it is the other way around. =))
