Have you ever felt like
your efforts are futile, of no consequence, so why bother anymore, like every
job you do you end up doing twice? Earlier this year my church, Shore Vineyard in S. Toms River, NJ spent many hours and many dollars refurbishing the building at 1 South Main Street
So what do God’s people do when the doubts
come? They worship:
“Then those who feared the Lord talked with
each other, and the Lord listened and
heard. A scroll of remembrance
was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name. ‘On the day
when I act,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘they
will be my treasured
possession. I will spare them, just as
a father has compassion and spares his son who serves
him. And you will again see the distinction
between the righteous and the
wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.’”
In this context of second guessing their
efforts and investment of time and resources, God’s people responded by getting
together and talking about God, how good he is, how trustworthy, rehearsing the
promises in his word. And God listened
in on their conversations! No wonder our
hearts burn within us when we get to talking about Jesus. He is right there listening, delighting in
his kids loving on him, calling us his treasure. He even gets a scribe angel to write up the
incident and maybe place a label on its edge so we can find it when we’re with
him in heaven. I see one scroll labeled
“SHORE HOUSE OF PRAYER Post Sandy 11/1/2012” where the sweet worship at an offsite location –
since our regular meeting place was flooded from Hurricane Sandy only 3 days
prior – left us weeping with joy.
I cannot imagine the number of scrolls of
remembrance the Father has already in glory, that we will get to read and
remember when we get there. I am hoping
some are “video scrolls” so we can make some heavenly popcorn with lots of
butter (no calorie counting in glory!) and replay those times in his presence
that delighted, still delight his heart.
