Simple Reminders

Lots of people are losing their jobs, their retirement nest eggs, and their nerve. Questions haunt us all about the future, about the economy, about the preservation of righteousness in a broken world. If you take your cues from talk radio, we're in deep trouble in almost ever sector of life, without clear solutions, and the biggest problem is that only the show hosts actually know anything. But, if you look around, you'll find reminders that God is still intimate in our world, in the news, in our lives.

When Job finished his journey from righteousness to self-righteousness, and began to call God out, God responded with some of the greatest questions of all time (check it out beginning in Job 38). "Where were you, Job, when I created the sun and stars, and told the light just where to begin and end?" "Where were you when I gave the young donkeys their lives, and their food, and ordered their way?" Okay, so these are just my paraphrases but you get the point: the reminders of God's perpetual presence in history and in our lives are all around us. And while the sun, and the stars, and the animals, and all the other divinely crafted pieces of nature are huge reminders, I also find immense joy in the simple reminders He sends my way, reminders that are always there in grand numbers but seem hidden behind the clouds of my own anxiety, concern, and doubt.

Today a good friend got a job, and a good one at that. After more than a year of consistent, diligent, and prayerful hunting, Phil landed a position that will feed his family, benefit society, and be the right kind of challenge for his skills and passions. Phil got a job, and God is real, and really involved in it all.

In two days, I'll pack up my wife and a few essentials and wind my way up to Sonoma on a 3-day quest for beauty, rest, and great gourmet. It'll be so good because God, in His mercy, has made our marriage so good. Three days of unhurried time together will be yet another reminder of God's love, care, and providential provision for us together. We found a marriage almost 32 years ago, and made it ours, while giving it to Him. And the fact that our marriage works so well remains one of the great reminders that God continues to surround us with His sovereignty, regardless of stockmarket loss, the price of gasoline, or the unemployment rate.

Phil found a job. Cherylyn loves me. Simple reminders that life, with all of its tragedy and uncertainty, is truly good, to those who love God, and have been called to share His purposes. Look around. Your simple reminders are there too.

Hope this helps,

David