Ties that bind

Isaiah 40:27-31 “Why do you say, Oh Jacob, and speak O Israel: “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my just claim is passed over by my God?” 28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall 31 But those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."
 

Hello MVAOG family, 

As you can probably tell, Isaiah is one of my favorite books. This particular portion of scripture entered into my young heart in the form of a song. That song is, “We will wait,” the sixth song on the album, “Lift Him Up” by Ron Kenoly of Hosanna Music. 

Here’s a link to the song if you are interested:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZikKK8WhZU

 

I was introduced to Ron Kenoly by my brother in law Scott Brant. We (Scott, Olivia, Angela and I) were driving to Tucson for something; I can’t remember if it was church related or a couples date. We were all newlyweds then and I had been saved a year and a few months. Anyway, Scott had the “Jesus is alive” album on tape and it was playing. I was immediately drawn to it, partly because Ron Kenoly’s voice reminded me of Lou Rawls. At any rate I became an immediate fan and scooped up the “Lift Him up” album as soon as it came out.

As I began to listen to the album on my CD player I would skip back and listen to the songs over and over again, trying to pick out the different parts in the choir (even though I had no Idea what they were) and try to isolate the different instruments. I was blown away by the music but what really captivated me was the message… a message of rejoicing, of an all glorious, all powerful God who loved me. 

At the time (1995) Ang and I had been married about 2 years and if my recollection is correct, we were going to find out in about 4 months that we were pregnant with our son Keinan. Still being a relatively new convert I had a lot of zeal but I also harbored a few… concerns. I knew where I came from, I knew what I was before Christ and I didn’t exactly grow up with a lot of confidence or surrounded by people who had confidence in me. In fact it was quite the opposite; I would hear through the family grapevine what amounted to people taking bets on when I would fail in life.

That doubt would then infect me, I would assimilate it, and it became a self doubt that would gnaw away, unseen, at my peace. Would I fail? Could I do this husband thing and not hurt anyone or destroy lives by being stupid or making a dumb decision? Could I endure? Could I be the husband and father I always wanted to be or would my fate be the same as those who went before me and even “prophesied” if you will, my eventual failure. 

Enter “We will wait” 

On that album and that particular song, Ron begins by saying: 

“The bible says in the book of Isaiah, (and I know many of you probably know this scripture by heart) they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not grow weary, they shall walk and not faint… our prayer tonight Lord is that you teach us how to wait upon you. Teach us how to soar upon the wind of your Spirit just like the eagle glides upon the wind… teach us how to wait Lord.” 

To a young convert that came from a background that I came from, one of neglect, dysfunction and with abandonment issues… wondering if I would go on to do what the old adage says, “hurt people, hurt people (eventually).” Those words and ensuing prayer struck a chord… 

“they that wait upon the Lord shall…” 

Not might, not maybe, not “stand a good chance” but “Shall”… 

It was like refreshing rains to a dry, sun-baked desert, a cool breeze on a hot summer day, wind to stalled out sails on a flat sea… it was relief - hope. 

 

Suffice to say, I needed to know what exactly “wait” meant because I wanted the promise of mounting up with wings as eagles, running and not growing weary and walking and not feinting.

What did wait entail? Was it just as it said… simply waiting? or was there something more? an “and”? 

I had just bought a Strong’s Concordance so I looked up “wait” and this is what I found: 

Strong's #6960: qavah (pronounced kaw-vaw')

a primitive root; to bind together (perhaps by twisting), i.e. collect; (figuratively) to expect:--gather (together), look, patiently, tarry, wait (for, on, upon). 

Now the patiently tarry and wait (for, on, upon) were self explanatory… it is hard for someone who feels strong and confident to just wait.  The portion of scripture warns that even youth will faint and the young, in all their boundless energy will grow weary… however it was the first part that threw me… “to bind together (perhaps by twisting) i.e collect” 

Furthermore, there seemed to be a plurality to these descriptions i.e. gather together, collect… in that it seemed to imply not only an individual responsibility but a group dynamic as well. 

Phrases “like tarry” and “wait upon” were reminiscent of the upper room spoken of in the books of Acts, “and being assembled together, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; “for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 

However there was still, “bind together (perhaps by twisting)”... what did that mean, how did it relate to waiting and how did it lead to obtaining renewed strength? 

As I pondered the phrase a sermon came to mind. The preacher was talking about the Kingdom of God, more specifically when Jesus said, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:” Matt 13:47 

He said how the action of the net was in some ways living this life. Also that it could be interpreted as the act of evangelism and discipleship (gathered of every kind) and how sometimes the dynamics of that action can be stressful and cause rips, hence, the fishermen, at the end of the day “mending” their nets, that is, go over the nets, knot by knot, repairing and retying. 

He said the knots represented the relationships that are formed in the body of Christ and that we could not accomplish much by throwing our singular knot into the water, however, those same knots, in series could accomplish so much more and withstand the powerful stresses of the activity of fishing and that like those fishermen we need to take time to not only nurture those relationships but repair them if need be.

It began to dawn on me what “binding together (perhaps by twisting)” could mean… for what is a net but a series of knots tied together to make a whole and in that whole the singular strength of each knot increases exponentially. 

This was touched upon by Kristen Welch in her post, “Not alone” 

She said; 

“Pastor Frank’s sermon today reminded me of just how dangerous isolation can be. You need the perspective others can give you when it seems the deck is stacked against you --when you are frustrated, when you are tempted to entertain self-pity, worry, fear. God is with you, but so is your church family, your friends, your family."

Psalm 55 showed how David struggled in the same ways that we do. The answer is to turn to God, really turn to Him.
 

The answer is also to turn to those we have in our life who can lift us up. They help us replace the words coming out of our mouth with something much better than worry and despair. See how David invites others into a time of praise in the midst of his fears...” 

 

The ties that bind… that as we wait, tarry individually and or bind together collectively, in that, we will mount up with wings as eagles, run and not grow weary, walk and not faint… 

Does this mean we have to constantly be at each other’s houses and in each other’s lives 24/7?

Does this mean we always need to be gathered together?

I should hope not... However what I think it means, in the simplest of terms is that at the very least, watching you navigate life with the poise and Spirit of God manifest in your life, that I can draw hope and strength from which to carry on in the toils of my life and vice versa. 

That when I’ve come to my wits end, I can ask for your prayers on my behalf. That my experience, testimony, gifts and talents can be the very thing that God will use to bring breakthrough to you and you to me and our not only being open to that but when need be, seek it out. 

They that Qavah upon the Lord shall… 

Until next time, love and prayers, 


Ken 

New Beginnings

Isaiah 43: 14-19 “14 Thus saith the Lord, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: “For your sake I will send to Babylon, and bring them all down as fugitives-The Chaldeans, who rejoice in their ships. 15 I am the Lord, your Holy One, The Creator of Israel, your King.” 16 Thus saith the Lord, who makes a way in the sea and a path through the mighty waters, 17 Who brings forth the chariot and horse, The army and the power (They shall lie down together, they shall not rise; They are extinguished, they are quenched like a wick): 18 “Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. 19 Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

Hello Mountain View Family,

It is good to be able to communicate with you all from overseas here in this forum. What I mean by that is that it is good FOR ME (and I hope, in the end for you as well) that I am doing this. It stretches me to be used by God in (hopefully) ministering to you in some sort of way.

 

“New Beginnings”, it sounds so good, positive and promising, however has it ever occurred to us the  what the phrase “New Beginnings” means and implies? Think about it with me for a minute. No one whose life is in a great place ever says, “Man… could sure use a new beginning right about now…” or “Wow, life is GREAT right now… how about a new beginning…” 

No, usually when we utter the desire for a new beginning it’s within the context of a life that is either spiraling desperately out of control or a life and situations that seem to be in its death throes or in the lesser, not so desperate situations, a dead end job. That’s when we blearily say, “O Lord… can I get a do over… I could use a new beginning right about now…”

 

"New Beginnings" conjure up visions of hope, change, fresh starts and complete do overs. But what I’ve found is we rarely like to look to our situations, what we are seeking relief from for the answer or the “why”… only on hopes of deliverance.

To illustrate this, look to the story of Jacob and the account of him wrestling with the angel. Jacob’s “chickens” so to speak, had come home to roost. The lies, deceit, the swindling were coming back around and he could no longer run from it. He could no longer avoid it; pretend it didn’t exist or distract and busy himself in the daily activities of life any longer. He had a situation that had tracked him down in the form of a very mad, very manly, strong brother who was less than happy with him.

As it would happen he ends up in a wrestling match with “a Man” until the breaking of day. A struggle, back and forth, all night with seemingly no positive progress, until “the Man” seeing that Jacob will not give in, touches his hip and says to him, “let me go.” 

Jacob rightly knew the answer to his problem lay in this “Man” and therefore would not let Him go unless the “Man” bless him. This prompted an interesting response from the “Man” to Jacob’s request of blessing, namely… ok, “what is your name?” 

There is so much in this that goes back to the observation I had, that in our desperation for deliverance we rarely look to that which we perceive is causing said discomfort for the answer to our problems. Namely, us… or more specifically, what God is trying to remove from us. 

The “Man” or more precisely, God, asking, “What is your name?”

God essentially says to Jacob, “You want deliverance? You want blessing? A new beginning? What is your name?” 

… What is your name? Why are you in this situation? Is there some character flaw or something that I (God) am trying to work out of you that have caused us to be here? Wrestling… 

An interesting thing happened. Jacob didn’t respond with an excuse, he didn’t respond with a laundry list of possible explanations… he responds, “My name is Jacob” that is to say, “I am my name-sake… I am a supplanter, a swindler… I have lived my life by my own resource and cunning and it is not enough, I need You.” 

It was only when Jacob realized and owned who he was could he then blessed to become who God wanted him to be and all of the spiritual and material blessings that naturally come with it, because as soon as Jacob comes clean and absolutely faces himself in 100% honesty, not trying to run from it could God change his name from “swindler, supplanter, deceiver,” to “Israel,” which means “one who has wrestled with God and man and overcome…” 

For clarity, the overcoming spoken of is not that of overcoming God and man but rather in the struggle he had come out on the other side an over comer… What does that mean? How many folks have you known that have gone through a trial but not come out good on the other side? They ended up bitter, back-slidden and have forsaken God? They burned up in the fire rather than be refined by it.

I included the scripture above because it is God’s promise to Israel to bring them out of bondage and into the land again. In the context of what had happened to Israel it was God saying there is hope for new things, “Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” 

An encouragement not to dwell on the former things (key word “dwell”) or inadvertently use them as a limiting factor on the new thing He was going to do. 

And lastly, a reminder of what it really is all about… Him. Our dethroning and His enthroning. Isa 43:21 “This people have I formed for myself; they shall declare my praise…” 

A complete and total trust and waiting on Him, which reminded me of something I wrote in my personal blog about 10 years ago en-route to Iraq the first time. 

http://kaeljae.blogspot.com/search/label/Who%20Am%20I.%3F

 

“This just hit me last night as I was falling asleep, it's not about us or what we can do, generate or accomplish, it's about what He has accomplished already for us on the cross or as Max Lucado puts it in the title of his book, what He has done, generated and accomplished "Six hours one Friday" (a very good read by the way). I oft would wonder if this is why God is so pleased at faith. Think on it, there is no merit to the one who decides on faith, no (strenuous) effort... but another thing can be said of the One to whom is the object of that faith, in other words faith completely removes us (the faithors) out of the equation and in a way dethrones us and enthrones God. Faith in HIS goodness, Faith in HIS righteousness, Faith in HIS faithfulness and my coming to terms with that…” 

I want to encourage you, with this… “We serve a God who in His love for us can never do enough for us and is not content to leave us where (in the state) He found us…” 

God is 100% for you. Let Him take you from where he found you on to new beginnings. 

Peace out for now, 

Ken