I want a God who will wipe out the enemies that keep crashing my party. A God who will conquer them, please. No more sorrow or suffering. No more anxiety or fear. Hosanna to the God who will clear them away, or act as a bouncer and keep them at bay.
But alas, I get a God who not only let’s them in, but sets a table in their very presence (Psalm 23). I’m not entirely on board with this. I question the wisdom of this. This God exasperates me sometimes.
Enemies can be defined as those things which cause restriction, that put us into a tight place. Suffering, distress, oppression. I don’t enjoy their company. Don’t want to do life with them. They are not my invited guests. Someone should keep them out, don’t you think?!
One day the sorrow and sighing will be no more. I know this. One day joy will overtake them. One day they will flee away. But that day is not yet here, that much is clear. This day, if we are to feast, a table must be spread in the midst of them.
I want the absence of the hard. God gives me the presence of Him. A God who is in the midst. A God who doesn’t wait to feast until all the beasts are gone. An audacious God who sets a table right there.
I wonder what might happen if I didn’t bar them either. The enemies, that is. If, instead of expending all my energy trying to swat them out like so many dratted flies, I gave up on making things perfect before the party could commence. What might happen if I, like God, allowed them to come to the table as well? To share in the feast? Might they be comforted or calmed by what happens there?
Or, here’s a radical thought, what if it’s not the enemies that are crashing our party, but God who is crashing theirs? Yessssss! Setting a table right there in the shadows and sorrow. Laying out his feast in the middle of those fearsome foes!
I want to do life in the absence of my enemies. But You, God, set a table in the presence of them. Perhaps you are the wise one after all.
Party Crashers: Our Little Life Words of the week.
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DEEPER DIVE
Ponder:
Who or what keeps crashing your party?
Practice:
If your “enemies” happen to throw a pity party, ask God to crash it - spreading a feast in the midst of your foes.
Play:
Our song of the week is Come to the Table written by Written By Mark Alan Schoolmeesters.
Pray:
Crash my party, God!
Love these precious words!
Your words were the first thing I read this morning, and oh my, they are so well said and timely for me. Thank you for this reminder of God's generous love--and my sometimes-selfish spirit.