If

I think one of the most powerful things I am learning lately, in this time of quiet and reflection, is the power of the God’s word and the power of words in my life. In Precepts (a Bible study approach), we are taught to pay attention to the words, understand their meaning and apply appropriately to the time we are living and the context of the word itself. So, when I read the following passage, I need to understand a few things about the context of this passage. I also need to look to the words of Jesus, his disciples and carefully, work to understand.

Mark me. God does not change. God was setting up his relationship with his people. He was giving them guidelines to understand HIS faithfulness, their choices and the impact of both on their very lives. He was (and is) setting a part a people for his own. Israel. Let’s look at the passage.

“If you follow my statutes and faithfully observe my commands, I will give you rain at the right time, and the land will yield its produce, and the trees of the field will bear their fruit. Your threshing will continue until grape harvest, and the grape harvest will continue until sowing time; you will have plenty of food to eat and live securely in your land. I will give peace to the land, and you will lie down with nothing to frighten you. I will removed dangerous animals from the land, and no sword will pass through your land. you will pursue your enemies, and they will fall before you by the sword.

Leviticus 26:3-7 HCSB italics and bold mine

God was establishing relationship with Israel. Worship. Walk. Keep. Do. In return, his faithful care would be upon them all. Notice the IF. This is pivotal and also a point of reflection as the Israelites spent SO MUCH of the Old Testament not worshipping the one true God. Not walking with God. Not keeping his commandments. Not doing the faithful choice of obedience and love.

Look at all the blessings God would pour out upon them:

• Rain
• Produce, fruit
• Plenty of food
• Live securely
• PEACE
• Nothing to fear
• Enemies would fall

How many of these blessings do I try to manufacture on my own? If I work this many hours, then I can make sure to have food on my table. If I make this much money, I will live securely in my house. If I have good relationships with the people around me, I will have peace and live without fear. If my government has the strongest army, the best military, then I don’t have to fear any intrusion from (fill in the blank). If I. If I.

That paragraph was very hard to write. I sit down in a chair and never worry. I put all my groceries in a refrigerator, not thinking how it cools, just trusting it won’t fail. my God has been so much more faithful and deserves all my trust.

I worry about how this sounds and I remember I am processing my mind, my thoughts and working to write to bless the Lord first. So, with that in mind, I continue. I’ve begun praying every day for understanding of the Lord in my life. I acknowledge daily his lordship in my life. I say out loud, I trust YOU. Why. I want to move and set my thoughts on these facts. Not on what I see, but what I know to be true. I want to think, every time I sit in a chair, if I can trust an object with my weight, how much more can i trust the God of the universe with my life?

I can have peace. The Holy Spirit prompting me, moving me, and reminding me of truth.

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.

Refrain:
It is well with my soul,
It is well, it is well with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!—
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

But, Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!

And Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

It is well by Horacio Spafford