What has God ever done for us?
Every day we're reading or listening to part of the Bible together and sharing thoughts with you. Today it’s Bern Leckie:
What did I like about today’s passage?
Something I find a bit weird about the Old Testament is the way that people lived through incredible times of earth-shaking, sea-splitting, awe-inducing, life-changing miracles and then, just a short time later after a bit of discomfort, seemed to forget what God had done.
The writers clearly have a point to make, and I don’t think it’s just about history. I recognise that some days it feels like God has done everything, and other days nothing. Sometimes there seems to be so much to praise God for, we could rejoice for hours. Other times, even armed with a list of people’s stories, thankfulness and prayers, it feels hard to connect.
What I love in these Psalms is David’s determination to move from longing for God like something he does not have, like water in a desert, to satisfaction with the fulness of God’s nourishing presence. How does he do this? He remembers what God has done and chooses to praise God for as many things come to mind.
I’m struck by the range of things mentioned. The Spirit inspires the writer (or writers) with more than personal memories, but with a way of seeing the whole earth as full of the work of God and “filled with awe” as a result. How many of the natural occurrences like rain, crops and the look of the landscape do we still credit to God? How would it change our outlook and our feeling of connection with God if we did?
What did it show me about Father God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit?
God’s influence and involvement in our lives and world are more wide ranging than we might normally think about. This does not mean that it’s good to stop believing in physics as a way of explaining and forecasting the weather – lots of good things come when we grow our understanding of the world. But it’s still God’s world, his physics, and his glory when we choose to credit him and not rely on ourselves independently from God and his love for us.
What am I going to do differently as a result?
I want to keep expanding the range of things I credit and praise God for. I know it sounds archaic and even ridiculous to acknowledge God’s hand in things we can explain physically without having to believe in God. But I want this kind of connection with God, seeing and praising him in the natural world, not just limiting our recognition of him to “supernatural” things which we don’t know how to explain in other ways. I want to grow in boldness to credit God among people who don’t necessarily share my faith.
Who am I going to share this with?
In our multi-faith school community, we are just about to start bringing our children in and out of school again. I want to share thanks to God with them for what we are seeing, learning and hoping for in this unique and significant time.