Loosed from the Cords of Death

The children and I are now at the ECC Family Camp - in the delightful Phillip Island Adventure Resort. I went to bed early last night (9:30 pm) and woke up early this morning (3:30 am), exactly six hours almost to the second. I went out for a walk in the surrounding countryside, underneath an amazingly starry night sky, talking with the Lord. At 4:00 am, I called my parents by mobile phone, while standing in the darkness, knowing that they would be up praying at around that time. We had a great time of prayer and sharing. Later in the morning, I'll call Elena, who is at home (since she has to work these next few days), but for now I'll let her sleep.

It's difficult to express just how rich my time of fellowship with the Lord is. My daily posts are highly selective. If I truly recorded all that God is saying to me, and everything I am experiencing, it would take me all day just to write it down - which kind of defeats the purpose! In fact, in order to properly record my walk with the Lord in this fashion, I would probably have to have an MP3 recorder running almost non-stop - an "as it happens" kind of perpetual commentary.

But I'll share with you some snatches of what the Lord has been saying to me this morning.

First of all, standing under the starry sky, in the darkness of the morning, is in itself an incredible experience. Passages of scripture such as Psalm 8 and Psalm 19 came to mind. Although I didn't look the psalms up, I rehearsed them in my mind, once again amazed that the God who created the universe would be even slightly interested in me and the challenges I have to face. But Hebrews 4:15 says that the Lord is not "unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but [he] has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet without sin." Verse 16 then goes on to say:

"Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."

This is an amazing thought: Because the Creator himself came down to the earth, I have now been brought close to heaven! I walk with this continual "uplink" to the throne of God! To continue to use computer analogies, I'm "networked" with heaven, "connected" to his presence, and able to "download" his grace at any time of need!

Continuing this same theme, Hebrews 7:25 says:

"Therefore [Jesus] is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them."

Here I was standing, in an open field, with little artificial light around me, contemplating a universe far larger than my capacity to fully grasp, and yet the One who created it all is interceding for me! How can that not change my day? How can that not change the way I approach life?

While I was on the phone with my parents, my mother said: "Read 2 Samuel 22." She had been reading it the night before, and knew that it was a special psalm for me. And so, there on the hill, I read 2 Samuel 22 on the screen of my mobile phone (isn't technology wonderful?). And I encourage you to read it also. It's a long psalm, but the gist of it is this:

1. David sang this song "when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies..." (verse 1).

2. The Lord is "my rock, my fortress and my deliverer" (verses 2-3).

3. David had experienced a crisis so profoundly hopeless that he described it as: "Waves of death swirled about me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me" (verses 5-6).

4. Out of this experience of "the cords of death", David cried out to the Lord for help (verses 4,7).

5. The Lord answered, not from afar, but by personnally descending into David's crisis and rescuing him (verses 8-20). Summarised in verse 17: "He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters."

6. The Lord answered because David was in right standing with God (verses 21-28).

7. The Lord strengthened David in the midst of his "cords of death" experience, enabling him to overcome the circumstances (verses 29-30,33-46).

8. All this happened because God intervened (verses 31-32,47-51). Verse 31 summarises it: "As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him."

Are you experiencing the "cords of death" coiling around you? Then like me, I encourage you to follow David's example. As verse 7 says:

"You are my lamp, O LORD; the LORD turns my darkness into light. With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall."