The Same Yesterday, Today, and Forever!

March 15, 2009

God of our Fathers,

You are the same yesterday, today, and forever; the only true constant in the universe. You are the God who brought Your people safely out of Israel, making a mockery of Egypt and her false gods in the process. You are the God Who stayed the sun while Joshua thrashed the Amorites, and the God who gave David victory over Goliath. It was You who spoke to Elijah, not in the mighty wind or the earthquake, but in a still small voice that both convicted and encouraged him. And it was You who allowed Israel and Judah to be carried into captivity when they forgot all Your mighty acts. Yet Your perfect justice in no way denigrates Your perfect mercy, because You are the God who forgives and provides escape – as You did through Daniel and Zerubbabel and Nehemiah; and ultimately through Your Son Jesus, the penultimate way of escape. You sent Him to redeem us, and He fully accomplished that task. You sat Him down at Your right hand while His and our enemies are subdued, and You are inexorably accomplishing that task as well. Deliver us from the temptation to think of You as just “the one in the stories” or “the one who used to do miracles”. For You are the one who sets up kings and tears them down, the God who holds the world in the palm of His hand, and Who alone does wonderous things: yesterday, today, and forever!!

...We give thanks in all things, Father. Even when those “things” don’t turn out the way we would have chosen. But when that happens remind us that You are the God who rains bread, parts rivers, calms storms, confounds princes, and raises the very dead! Help us to spurn mere cognitive assent for true confidence in Your perfect will, even now as we lift our hearts and voices in the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples, saying…