What we have in common with Walt Disney
November 17, 2024
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Life is hard and hectic.
Like you, circumstances are hectic. There aren’t enough hours in the day, I can’t prevent my friends and family from struggles, my schedule is uncertain, and I have no idea what the next hour will bring.
What calms me down?
This.
Lean back in your chair,
take a deep breath and focus on this truth.
This is our God!
The LORD merely spoke,
and the heavens were created.
He breathed the word,
and all the stars were born.
He assigned the sea its boundaries
and locked the oceans in vast reservoirs.
Let the whole world fear the LORD,
and let everyone stand in awe of him.
For when he spoke, the world began!
It appeared at his command.
The LORD frustrates the plans of the nations
and thwarts all their schemes.
But the LORD’s plans stand firm forever;
his intentions can never be shaken. (Psalm 33:6-11)
God is protecting us!
Someone asked me this week about how God can be good and still allow the world to be in the mess it is in. I flubbed my way through an answer with unpracticed words, but some of the answer is found in the last set of verses you just read:
The LORD frustrates the plans of the nations
and thwarts all their schemes.
But the LORD’s plans stand firm forever;
his intentions can never be shaken.
If God had allowed us humans to do whatever we wanted without any of His protective boundaries, we would have destroyed ourselves and God’s Story long ago.
We would have destroyed ourselves.
By the sixth chapter of Genesis, this is how well humankind did on our own: The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. (v. 5)
We would have destroyed God’s Story.
After telling us to multiply and fill the earth, we were clustering together by Genesis 11: …“Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” (v. 4)
On our own, the doors of earth’s history would have already closed.
None of us would be here today. And none of us would have a relationship with God. What the LORD has been doing all along is frustrating and thwarting the plans and schemes of the nations so His overarching story can play out perfectly and in full victory.
Today is happening.
Heaven’s doors are still thrown wide open! Everyone on the earth has another chance today to enter into personal relationship with the God who assigned the sea its boundaries and locked the oceans in vast reservoirs. I heard someone say this week that they wish the world would end soon and Jesus would return. I was instantly alarmed. In the privacy of my car I exclaimed, “No! Please don’t come back today! I still need this person, and this person, and this person in heaven! God heard the names of people I know and love.
God’s story for each of us is solid.
Like the verses proclaim, nothing about God’s overarching story can ever be shaken. Never has, and never will. The Lord’s plans stand firm forever, and the curtain won’t close on time until every person who has a desire to know God, gets to know God.
Not one will be left behind.
So today, in the tumult of personal, national and global concerns, we can lift our eyes to the LORD who
…merely spoke,
and the heavens were created.
He breathed the word,
and all the stars were born.
Rest with me, my friends. God’s got this.
Picture Explanation: Seas, oceans, and waters with boundaries. Stars photographed by my friend Dan Thompson at https://danandholly.com/.
Speaking of God’s overarching story:
If you are interested in being contacted to participate in a One Gritty Blink Bible study in 2023, click on the Oaks Ministries link below and contact me by email. There are plans for an evening online study April 4-May 9. There are also plans for a face-to-face study this summer starting June 7. Let’s focus on things that count for eternity!
© 2023 by Oaks Ministries. All rights reserved.
I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes growth.
1 Corinthians 3:6
11 Responses
Amazing to reflect on all that He’s done and all that He’s infinitely capable of doing, yet He still chooses to heal us, one heart at a time. Thank you Laurie.
You are welcome, my husband. Our trust is in this God, Creator of us and the world.
Amen, John!
Thanks for this post, Laurie! We are so foolish to worry, fret, jockey, arrange, and to distrust. How easy it is to look at the small picture before us rather than the huge story that is unfolding!
Thanks for the visual reminders of his power to save! He is good!
How easy it is to look at the small picture before us rather than the huge story that is unfolding!
Your words are so true. The enemy of our souls wants to suck us into this blip of time and make what happens in our lives disproportionately large, urgent and scary. It is our common battle to raise our eyes and focus on God, not our circumstances. I am right beside you in the fight.
Such good truths!!! Love to your family.
They have been holding me up!
My friend and I were just talking this week about what is going on in this world and how we are assured of God presence. That is where our focus needs to be. Your words are always so timely and a source of conformation. Thank you my friend. Have a blessed day.
I love it when the Spirit unites us with common thoughts, perspectives and conversations so we (as many) can be one. I also love hearing from you, friend.
Thank you for this post! I have a story front and center in my life right now. In my view it seems paramount! Thank you for reminding me not to let it overtake my view of the larger story God is writing. I am trying to keep my eyes focused on Jesus. And yes, it is a battle!
Oh yes, you are in the thick of it! Eyes up. Let’s keep fighting for the larger story.