First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all people.

I Timothy 2:1, ESV

 

Do you remember your first "real" prayer? While I had been brought up on bedtime and mealtime prayers, it wasn't until I was about six years old that I actually can remember having a selfless and meaningful prayer. Before that time, it was mainly just a litany of memorized prayers such as "Now I lay me down to sleep" and the like. I can even remember praying for myself at an earlier age for some childish wrong that I had done earlier that day (I had taken someone else's shiny rock and wanted to make sure that I was covered against theft) but an actual prayer that was sincere and on behalf of another person wouldn't actually come until a few years later.

 

We lived just outside of Seattle, and my two-year old sister had contracted a strange blood disease that had placed her in the hospital. My dad was on a business trip to Alaska, so mom left us two boys with some friends down the street while she stayed with my sister in the hospital. I can remember the frantic time before Nancy was hospitalized, with several doctor visits that day and then the anxious waiting by the phone for the call from the doctor's office with the results of the test. I had never seen my mom so worried, and that worry spilled over to a little boy whose previous concern had been mostly for himself.

 

It was that night at the neighbor's house that I lay awake on a pallet, on the floor and in the dark just thinking about my baby sister. I can remember praying quite sincerely that God take care of Nancy. While I don't remember any of the exact words, I can vividly remember the urgency. My sister was sick, my mom was worried more than I had ever seen her worry, and I was scared over the magnitude of a problem that clearly even mom couldn't handle. And if there was a problem too big for mom, it was pretty big.

 

And so, in desperation, I prayed a prayer that went beyond the mindless ones that were intoned at bedtime out of duty for my parents, and even way beyond the occasional "help me get out of this mess" prayers that are probably typical of every little boy who has ever lived. This prayer was actually said out of concern and love for someone other than me. And that prayer, combined with the thousands that must have been made by mom and dad and everyone else that we knew, was answered in a most beautiful way. Nancy did get to come home! And though it would be a few years before my little sister ever got back to normal (that is if you can call my little sister "normal") Nancy eventually was completely healed of whatever disease she had contracted.

 

And I was at least temporarily healed of that terrible malady that afflicts most six-year-old boys: The disease of selfishness!

 

Maybe this is why God inspired the Apostle Paul to urge us to pray for others. And not just those in our immediate family either, for part of that instruction was that these prayers be made for all people. And while it is obvious that the main part of this command is for the benefit of those we are praying for, there is also a side benefit that should not be overlooked: It is when we take those rare opportunities to actually focus on the needs and concerns of other people, that we actually become the type of people that God wants us to be. And when we acquire this unselfish characteristic, it has a way of making our problems seem so much smaller when we compare them to what other people are going through.

 

And it is when we start thinking about others that we actually become a person who is worth something. We become more valuable as a friend, and we become more valuable as a servant of God. And sometimes, even a six-year-old boy becomes more valuable as a brother!

 

These are the types of lessons we all need to learn. They will not only make us better people, but they will make us more focused upon the One whom we are here to serve in the first place. There is one more thing that praying for others will do: It will make us grateful! And a thankful person is a whole lot happier than a self-centered one who seems to think of little else than their own selfish needs. 

 

Are you praying for others? I suspect you are, and I know that if you are it has made your life so much better for having done so. 

How can I repay the LORD for all the good He has done for me?

Psalms 116:12

 

Have you ever thought just how good God is to us? I'm sure we all have up to a point, but to really plumb the depth of His great love would be impossible. So, today, we will just attempt to scratch the surface of His magnificent love for us.

 

When we rise from our comfortable beds in our warm houses, He further provides us with a variety of tasty food.

 

When our children are sick, He intervenes on our behalf - probably much more often than we know.

 

He has placed us in good families who love us.

 

He gives us work that is satisfying.

 

He soothes our fears and instills us with much-needed courage.

 

He has given us cautions against all things that would harm us and others.

 

When we ignore those cautions, He rescues us and forgives us, as often as we seek His help and forgiveness on His terms.

 

He sent His Son to die the death that we deserved.

 

He provides us with daily confidence when we are uncertain, and continual security when we are threatened.

 

He has given us His Word to guide our daily walk and to answer any questions we might have.

 

In short, He has been our Shepherd; He has kept us from lacking our daily needs; He has led us beside those quiet and peaceful waters when life has gotten too much for us to handle on our own; He has calmed our souls and restored them when we sought restoration. Further, He has led us to the very paths of righteousness. When we are in danger and even when we are nearing death, He has always and will always keep us from fearing any evil thing because He is with us. He has provided us with comfort and fed us when our enemies would have it otherwise. He has followed our lives with goodness and mercy. And if all that was not enough, He has provided us with a certainty of dwelling with Him forever if we will simply serve Him in the way He desires.

 

Because God has been so good to us, our cup overflows. How can we repay the LORD for all the good He has done for us? We can't! But we can try.

I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, or their children begging bread.

Psalms 37:25, ESV

 

One of the most comforting things about living for God and Christ is that They will never let us down - ever! This is the essence of what the psalmist was talking about when he revealed that he had lived a long life. I suspect this man had seen a lot of things over the span of his years. He had no doubt experienced a great deal of joy over his lifetime, but doubtlessly also had his share of sorrows and disappointments. If his experience was typical, he had probably been let down by friend and foe alike, and he was likely to have experienced a few betrayals from people whom he wouldn't have expected.

 

But the one thing he had never seen was God forsaking those who were living a good life before Him. What's more, this aged man had never even witnessed the children of godly men and women going hungry to the point that they had to beg for their daily bread. There is a lesson in all of this for us today, if we will but pay attention, and here is that lesson: God has never let us down! Furthermore, He never will as long as we are determined to live a righteous life before Him.

 

Have you ever noticed how skilled people in positions of authority are in making you feel unsettled? Our favorite news programs always have a "hook" to keep us coming back so that they can tell us what the other side is up to. Statements such as, "the liberals are in the process of bankrupting society" and leading questions such as, "Why do conservatives hate women" are common fare. The business channels tell us how we are on the brink of financial disaster if we don't invest in the stocks of corporations that just happen to be their sponsors. And our politicians are masters of getting us to trust in them because they know how to defeat the other side that is out to get us. When these talking heads finally break for commercial, it is usually some drug company that is revealing a deadly disease that until then we didn't even know we had, but if we will just ask our doctor to prescribe it, we can buy their remedy. 

 

We live in a world of fear and turmoil, the perceived problems of which often keep us up at night tossing and turning. But have you ever noticed how these problems, both real and imagined, are all caused by people who have let us down in the past? For example, half of the news is propaganda, most of the politicians are the source of our problems rather than the cure, and every drug that the pharmaceuticals recommend come with side effects that are typically far worse than the temporary relief that they promise. Even the "anti-depressants" list suicidal thoughts as one of the potential side effects of their drug that is designed to make us happy.

 

So, what is the solution? The writer of the 37th Psalm knew. He told us that God does not forsake the righteous. Micah knew, when he revealed in Micah 6:8 that God has shown us what is good. And Jesus knew when He revealed in the Sermon on the Mount that we could humbly request God to provide our daily bread. In that same famous sermon, he even told us that we do not have to worry about things that the world runs after like food and clothing and shelter, because God will supply us with ample opportunity to have these things if we will just seek His kingdom first.

 

The fact is that God has never let a righteous man or woman down a single time in the history of this earth - and He never will! It is true that bad things do happen to good people, but this is often a result of the sinful behavior of the unrighteous. And when bad things do happen, God will shelter us to help us get through these hard times. He does not bring unjust things upon us, but if we are walking in His way, He will see us through them.

 

So, how can we have such blessings? All we have to do is choose the one way that is time-tested to give us the happiest and most secure life available - God's way! And if we will do our best to live a righteous life, God will take care of the rest. It's a pretty good deal, when you think about it. 

 

 

Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all.           Ecclesiastes 9:11, ESV

 

The wicked earns deceptive wages, but one who sows righteousness gets a sure reward.       Proverbs 11:18, ESV

 

Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them...        Matthew 7:12, NKJV

 

We've all probably said the phrase, "It isn't fair" on many occasions in our lives. It usually comes as a result of being cheated out of something, but sometimes it is basically just because something happened to us that we did not want to happen. Perhaps it was some sort of financial disaster, possibly it was a cruel disease that came upon us or a loved one, or maybe an actual crime had been committed against us. Whatever the case, something happened that we feel we didn't deserve, and we conclude that life is not fair.

 

And to a certain extent, we are right, because there are things that happen to us that we simply didn't have coming. Everyone who has had a child with a serious illness, or who have had a random act of violence committed against them will understand this feeling that life is not always fair. And it isn't! Sometimes bad things do happen to good people for reasons that seem inexplicable to us. Solomon's statement in Ecclesiastes is quite true in that there are occasions that time and chance happen to all men. 

 

The caution for Christians is that we not blame God for these unfair situations. While it is true that God could "bubble-wrap" us from birth and intervene every time that something bad was about to happen, it is also true that He has decided not to. Part of the reason for this is that He has given men free-will, and that sometimes results in wicked men choosing to sin against the innocent. This is certainly not "fair" but it is not a result of some wrong that God has done against us - it is a consequence of sin that He has forbidden, and part of the reason that sin is sin is that it often results in the innocent suffering.

 

Perhaps the most difficult part of life is in the area of accidents or sudden, crushing health issues. For example, a mother might be taken from her small children and young husband due to a freak accident, or a child might contract cancer. These are things that are nobody's fault, but they do happen, and it is never fair when they do. Again, this is often the time that people will accuse God of some wrongdoing, but we need to be extremely cautious to resist that wicked thought. 

 

The fact is that God does not "owe" any of us an explanation for the things that happen to us in our lives that are most difficult to bear. I suppose part of the test of life are these very events that test our devotion: Will we be faithful to God during the bad times as well as the good? We continue to follow Christ to the best of our ability when events happen that do not seem fair? The fact is that these hard times are the very times when we need to be drawing closer to God to seek the help and comfort that only He can give. It is tragic when people instead push Him away and lose out on the comfort and the peace that only He can provide in such situations. It should also be noted that He does intervene on our behalf and many occasions. As a matter of fact, it is for these times of intervention that we pray. 

 

There is another thought, and it involves one of the most famous teachings that Jesus ever gave: It is to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. This is probably the greatest factor in achieving this "fair" life that we all want to have, for if we are truly living this commandment, we will not do evil and unfair things that cause pain to the lives of those around us.

 

And then there is the point that King Solomon made in Proverbs: While it is true that the wicked sometimes seem to "get away" with their unfair deeds and even seem to be rewarded for doing so, these are but temporary and deceptive wages. And while the righteous sometimes go through hard times, these times are indeed but momentary troubles. For the fact is that there will be a Judgment someday and that judgment will be entirely fair, for the faithful really will be given Heaven as a gift of grace, and the wicked who reject that grace really will be given the punishment that they deserve.

 

And nothing that we could possibly conceive if we were the ones in charge instead of God, could possibly be fairer than that!