Daily Affirmations - Day 1 - A Word in Season: Speak Lord!
This week's Theme: A Word in Season
Day 1: Speak Lord!
The Lord came and stood there and called as He had before, “Samuel, Samuel!” Samuel said, “Speak, Lord. I am Your servant and I am listening” (1 Samuel 3:10 - NCV).
My friend and I recently recalled our years of new motherhood, when the task of parenting seemed often so monumental and overwhelming— when the joy and delight of a precious little life was often overshadowed by worry and anxiety, trepidation and self-doubt.
We touched on the angst, as well as the gamut of emotions of those early years of motherhood when poor, tired, "mother-brains" struggled to decode a whole new world of data and signals. I wryly recalled the tendencies towards strain and hypervigilance in the never-ending quest to distinguish the natural and harmless from the uncommon and alarming.
Eventually our conversation turned to "the experts"— the respected voices of our day in matters related to raising children. I shared with my friend some of the changes I had heard about in the later views and advice of a well-known expert.
On many levels, it is really not that unusual for experts to change or adjust their views as new data emerge, as science and technology evolve, or as social contracts shift and recalibrate. In many ways change may be helpful and necessary. But change could also point to past error, incorrect assessments or faulty premises. And sometimes change may even involve a shifting away from the sound to the unsound.
The limitations of human knowledge, and the complicated issues at work in human judgment and decision-making create many layers of complexity around "expertise." In today's world, this is often exploited to create chaos and confusion, distrust and deception, misinformation and manipulation.
So often these days, the struggle to evaluate and discern and process, plays out in even the most basic areas of life. Everyday decisions often carry previously unseen levels of complexity. It seems to be increasingly challenging to sift through the clutter and the noise. Where do we turn? Who can be trusted?
While the Scriptures cannot be considered— in a strict sense, a handbook— or a step-by-step "How to" manual for living, for decision-making, for child rearing, and for all our other day-to-day issues, it does provide insights, perspective, wisdom, and knowledge as a critical framework for processing all of life's questions. Nineteenth century Scottish writer and essayist John MacDuff writes:
"The Word of God is a vast repository and emporium of heavenly wisdom — free to all — suited for all — intended for all — offered to all. The Word of God is an inexhaustible mine — the deeper you dig, the richer the ore. It has a word in season for rich and poor; for young and old; for the wandering; for the doubting; for the sorrowing; for the believing; for the dying; for the perishing!
Reader, sit at the feet of Jesus in His Word, and with the docility of a little child, say, "Speak, Lord — for Your servant is listening!" Always approach it as if it met you with the living salutation, "I have a message from God for you!"
There are differences in every heart-chamber — but this key fits every door! Make it a faithful mirror, in which you see a reflection of yourself! The more faithfully it is held up, the more will the sense of your deficiency and defilement drive you to the atoning blood.
In all your difficulties — make it "your counselor." In all your perplexities — make it your interpreter and guide. In all your sorrows — make it your fountain of consolation. In all your temptations — make it your ultimate court of appeal. When venturing on debatable ground, let this deter you, "What does the Scripture say?" When assailed, let this protect and defend you, "It is written!"
Precious at all times, it is especially precious in "the cloudy and dark day." We may do without our lamp in the day; but where are we, without it — in the midnight tempestuous sea? "I would have perished in my affliction," says a sinking cast-away, "but Your Word has quickened me" (Psalm 119:92 - KJV).
For my part, I continue to respect many experts, and to value their knowledge and help in many areas of life. But with all my respect, I am still aware that human experts are fallible. So I look to the unchanging, infinite, infallible God. And especially in these days of shifting shadows, my prayer is "Let Your word dwell in me richly, O God" (see Colossians 3:16).
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