God's Powerful Words

Last week I shared with my preschoolers the story of God creating the world & man. One of the themes I wanted to emphasis in the story is God’s power. So I talked about how we can’t create things by talking. We talked about the things we have to do if we’d like a cake; buy the ingredients, mix them, bake it, etc, etc. We, then talked about how God didn’t have to do all those things when he created everything. God simply spoke and it came to be. Because I work at a preschool, I get to tell the same story everyday. That’s a real blessing b/c by the end of the week they’ve really got God’s story down.

Anyways, at the end of the Creation Story I’d ask them what they see on the flannel board (yes, people still use those). They would reply: “birds, dolphins, the sun, the moon, etc.” I would then ask, “Who made those things?” They usually all said “God” [occasionally I got a “Jesus” (though, that wouldn’t be wrong)].  Then I’d proceed to ask “HOW did God make those things?” At first it worried me, because I got a ton of blank stares, but by the end of the week they were all saying “he talked” (or again I occasionally got a “he speeaked”).  Then we’d talk about how God is powerful and strong and that we humans could never just make something by talking.

One particular day, I was especially amazed at one of the girls who really understood the story. We were talking about the class turtle, so of course I asked, “Who made all the turtles?” She said, “God did.” Again, I asked “HOW did he make the turtles?” And this was her answer “Of the power of his words.” I don’t think I ever particularly phrased it that way…but she totally got that God’s words are full of power. I could have cried! Praise God for little people to know God’s power! 

A people yet to be created

Another awesome verse from the psalms telling the coming generation:

Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord; that he looked down from his holy height; from heaven the Lord looked at the earth, to hear the groans of the prisoners, to set free those who were doomed to die, that they may declare in Zion the name of the Lord, and in Jerusalem his praise, when peoples gather together, and kingdoms, to worship the Lord. Psalm 102: 18-22

What a great verse! We tell the coming generation that a Holy God looked down from Heaven to save a sinning, broken people-helpless prisoners. We tell them that though He is Holy, He chose to save those that were doomed to die. We tell them that God did this, so that we might declare His name, give him praise and worship Him. The God who saved a doomed people wants our praise. How can they praise this God if they do not know? We must tell the coming generation.

Tell the Coming Generation

Lately reading the Old Testament has been so fun! There have been amazing pictures of Jesus and continuous themes of God being holy, good and gracious-not to mention his faithfulness. It’s equally exciting to read through scripture like the Psalms and see verses that command us to tell the coming generation of his glorious deeds. So since I’ve been lacking in posts lately, whenever I find one, I’ll share it here. Today is one of my favorites (that’s actually titled “Tell the Coming Generation) Psalm 78: 2-7:

I will open my mouth in a parable;

I will utter dark sayings from of old

Things that we have heard and known,

that our fathers have told us.

We will not hide them from their children,

but tell to the coming generation

the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,

and the wonders that he has done.

He established a testimony in Jacob

And appointed a law in Israel,

which he commanded our fathers

to teach their children,

that the next generation might know them,

the children yet unborn,

and arise and tell them to their children,

so that they should SET THEIR HOPE IN GOD

and NOT FORGET THE WORKS OF GOD

but KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS…

May we all have children in our life so that we can tell the coming generation of God’s glorious deeds, his might, and His wonders so that eventually they would put their hope in the glorious, mighty and wonderful God & keep his commandments…

Psalm 88 & Suffering

Out of the whole year, summer is when I get to spend the most time with my husband. That means instead of writing posts in the evenings I’ve been spending time with my hunny-bun. That doesn’t mean I haven’t had things that I’ve been wanting to write about though! Today I want to tell you guys just a bit about a book I just finished reading. OMG (and I don’t use that often) it was amazing! Suffering and the Sovereignty of God is the name of it (Piper & Taylor). Basically it answers these questions: Is God really in control when bad things happen? Is God still good and perfect when those things happen? To put it simply: Yes & Yes.


But not only is God in control and good and perfect he is there in the pain and suffering. Up until recently the biggest pain that I’ve had in my life had been the death of my grandpa in high school and a bad break-up a few years ago. You may be able to relate. It was God’s word-specifically the Psalms-that kept my head above water. I couldn’t get enough of them. They described exactly what I was feeling.

David Powlison discusses suffering, psalms, and God in a chapter entitled “Waiting for the Morning.” He uses Psalm 88 to talk about the depth of pain. In the psalm, one can see the writer is so full of troubles he feels near his death. His eyes even grow dim through sorrow. In his sorrows and pain he feels helpless. This chapter is pretty depressing b/c it doesn’t end with a “Yet you are the God of my salvation.” Nope, no joyful triumph here. It ends with the author describing how God has caused his friends not to just leave him but shun him-they are as darkness to him. Powlison goes on to say what is remarkable about this Psalm is that it seems right-on with pain. Are these not the things that grief and pain do to us? They are. But why is something so depressing in the bible? Well, in short it’s so that when we doubt that God is listening, we will see “that what we are feeling is normal.”

Let me leave with you with this excerpt from the chapter:

"God cares about us in the midst of pain. His goal isn’t just to get us out of the pain to joy; he also wants us to see that he is for us and with us in the pain. It is true that weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning (Ps. 30:5). The morning will dawn and God will remove every tear (Rev. 21:4), but God is not just concerned about the morning, the new day when you can shout for joy. He is with us even in the night when there is nothing but weeping, when the tears are so think that we can’t see. When we are in the deepest pit and darkness weighs on our souls and God feels so absent that we wonder if he is even real, this psalm reminds us that he is with us even then."