You're invited to sit with the one who is mighty to save.
Imagine yourself sitting at the table in this painting.
What would your concerns be?
Mine would be that there are snakes and alligators under that lovely, white tablecloth, not to mention thousands of feasting mosquitos. And I'm thinking that river bed of mud, it probably would feel like it is going to swallow me whole.
At times, the places and experiences in life, which we have no choice but to sit in, feel impossible to endure and overcome. And, as if the present circumstances aren't bad enough, our imaginations run wild with potential future scenarios until fictitious fears are encircling like hungry reptiles.
But what if you could look away from all of that, just long enough to see where you're seated.
You are at a table with the one who is mighty to save. Now, the atmosphere is shifting. Something is different. I'm safe. I'm not alone. Are the surrounding fears and challenges vanishing? Well, we're still here living in a broken world, aren't we?
Those famous words from Psalm 23 may seem poetic and metaphorical; they may even seem like nothing more than a comfort blanket at times. But they aren't just poetic, empty sentences.
When you open the eyes of your heart to see that Heaven's Lifeguard is here to save you from drowning, something changes: it's you.
Despite all the present circumstances, you are keeping your eyes on him and only him, looking to him as if you are seated at a dinner table set on a muddy river bank with the Savior of the world because you are.
The word is, he prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies; an encounter, a personal experience, a relational moment, all while the world and its ways swirls on all around us.
He is not just far off in another galaxy absentminded and unconcerned watching me as I fearfully sit with the hard, scary stuff in life. His words are not a figurative safety blanket I hold just to make me feel better while I stand in knee deep alligator mud. And he isn't idly sitting and expecting me to deal with it all in my own strength and know-how. No. He is present, within me, empowering me to overcome, strengthening me to endure, anointing me to do what is impossible otherwise.
He is nearer than near…in all the hard stuff, the messy stuff, the unknown and the painful. No matter how minor or major.
(Ephesians 2:6, Matthew 11:28-30)
We look to the right and the left and see the ways of the world tempting us into believing that our circumstances are the most powerful force in our lives. But they are not. So we gotta shift our posture and our focus. Sit up straight and tall opening our minds and hearts to know who has invited us to sit at this table. We are invited to read the words of Zephaniah 3:17 and Psalm 23 and so many others, and believe what they say is true. To walk and talk like we know the words are true. And to live in the truth every day…in the wild.
Yes, we do sit amongst the wild darkness of this world, but we aren't obligated to give it a seat at this table. Fix your eyes on the King; the victorious Conquerer, who has personally invited you here, who delights in your company and speaks to you by name.
Purchase prints of this painting titled, “Prepared”. Follow link to the podcast episode for more study.