A guest post by Naomi Marks

 How much time in this year of 2020 have you spent worrying about the ants in your yard, whether their tunnels were secure, whether they had enough food, whether flood might sweep in and ruin their homes? I’m guessing not even a moment. We live higher than that. The concerns of ants don’t touch us.

The cacophony of craziness in the world has reached a deafening pitch right now, similar to what I experienced on the Maid of the Mist at Niagara Falls. When you’re that close to the waterfall, you can’t even hear the person next to you. Go up in an airplane, however, and you don’t hear a thing.

The people of the earth, the devil, and the sin nature in all of us rises like a flood. Psalm 93 says “The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their roaring.” Isaiah 57:20 says “But the wicked are like the tossing sea; for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up mire and dirt.” God calls His church “afflicted one and storm-tossed” in Isaiah 54 and Psalm 18 tells us the torrents of destruction make the saints afraid. That rising tide would flood us all were it not for God’s promise and call to put us out of reach of the rushing water.

The Lord Himself sits “enthroned over the flood, as King forever” (Psalm 29). Psalm 93 assures us God is mightier than the thunders of many waters and the waves of the sea. He’s not worried what the news anchors say. He’s not worried what the president says or what anyone in America says, for that matter. Kings rage. He laughs. Man plots. He confuses. Pharaoh, that one who enslaved God’s people and refused to relent, is but a noise (Jeremiah 46:17).

So which view do you want today and this week? The lunatic raging of the evil world and our own sinful hearts or the peace of God, which can rule in your heart, the One who “stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples” (Psalm 65)? Let His strong arms put you high upon the rock, out of the reach of the screeching waters, out of earshot of the deafening noise. Listen to His voice, through His Word and Sacraments, call your pastor if you need to, and let your mind and body respond to the sweet and gentle voice saying, “Peace, be still.”

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. The Lord is hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our fortress.” (Psalm 46)

“See round Your ark the hungry billows curling:

See how Your foes their banners are unfurling

And with great spite their fiery darts are hurling,

O Lord, preserve us.

Lord, be our light when worldly darkness veils us;

Lord, be our shield when earthly armor fails us;

And in the day when hell itself assails us,

Grant us Your peace, Lord.

Peace in our hearts, where sinful thoughts are raging,

Peace in Your Church, our troubled souls assuaging,

Peace when the world its endless war is waging,

Peace in Your heaven.” (LSB 659)

Lord, lift me up and let me stand by faith on Heaven’s table land. . .

-----

It bears repeating....

That rising tide would flood us all were it not for God’s promise and call to put us out of reach of the rushing water.

Eyes up, friends. This is just another week of worldly cacophony. Our Lord and Father reigns above it all. May He sustain our spirits with glimpses of His work and reminders of His higher perspective.

His grip is our peace.

No Mere Idea

I am not equipped for this-- for this month of marches to the cemetery. I do not have the words to soothe my children when grief and fear strikes in the night. I cannot explain “why,” not to them, and not to myself. I can only hold them close, and it doesn’t seem like enough.

Yes, daddy is with one of the sad families again. Ask me your question. Wait, never mind, don’t ask, because I don't know. Let's crawl under blankets together instead.Life in this broken world often seems like a war of ideas. And circumstances conspire, and speak loud words into our hearts, and we hear “God is not good. He doesn't care. He's not in control.”

We fight back, of course. We soak up God's Word; we breathe in His grace and promises.

A child sings his memory verse: “The Lord your God is with you wherever you go,” and I wonder if the words will inoculate him from all the attacks on his faith. It feels a little bit like feeding him a salad and hoping that it will keep him healthy for the rest of his life.

Our efforts would be futile if this were a mere war of ideas. But Jesus is not an idea, He’s a person.

This is the only reason I dare hope for my children, for myself.

We dare not hope in our righteousness, because we have seen it fail time and again. We dare not hope in our circumstances, or our intelligence, because these things are as fragile as our health. I cannot even guarantee that my arms will be there to embrace them in the night when the fears strike. I am not enough.

But Jesus is not an idea, He is a Person, and He is enough. I cannot be their Jesus, but with the help of God I can point them to Him. I carried each of my children to their Baptismal waters, and there, God adopted them, and gave them new life with Him. He nurtures that life through His Word and in His church. Parents and children alike are invited to come and drink and live; to seek and find and be found.

Christianity is not an idea. Christ is a Person, a God-man who has died and risen and overcome death and the grave. The promise is for us and our children.

Let us take the hands of our friends and our children who suffer, and let us go to together to meet Him in His Word and Sacraments. Let us go together to Him, who binds up the brokenhearted, who heals our wounds, and who renews our hope.

Christ holy vine, Christ living tree
be praise for this blessed mystery
that word and water thus revive
and join us to your tree of life.

(LBS 595)

originally posted 10/2014