boxing day

On December 26, also known as Boxing Day, we went to my grandfather-in-law's(is that accurate?) church in San Diego. We were late of course, perhaps for consistency sake, and walked into the service as they were wrapping up the singing. If I recall correctly, they were in a series that was going through Christ's genealogy. Very fitting, I thought, but then the pastor started in a direction that I thought was very interesting and somewhat intense considering the season.

He covered David and Bathsheba. A king committing adultery, impregnating the woman while her husband is at war, coming up with ways to make her husband think he it was his own, ordering that Uriah be in the front line then draw back so death is definite, the illegitimate child dies, David mourns for days then worships God, God sends Nathan to get David to essentially condemn himself. Heavy in the midst of lights, dessert, gifts and Charlie Brown. But he hit something that I've been thinking about.

He talked about un-confessed sin. He gave a recent example of how he had ordered a netbook for his wife. It arrived, but it wasn't exactly what he wanted. He did notice that the cable was substantially longer than the one he had for his computer and was compatible! He confessed being tempted to switch the cables out as he returned the unwanted computer for the one he wanted, thinking that a) they wouldn't notice and b) he deserved it for the inconvenience.

Now this may be a silly example, but it touched on a reality that plays out in both big and small ways. The truth is that it doesn't matter the size of the issue, wrong is wrong. What it pointed out for me is that a lot of times we don't trust God, that He is Just and will handle matters. I find that when I feel I am wronged, I want to take justice into my own hands by righting the situation for myself. Maybe I'm extra corrupt, but examples of this could be where you're upset that your boss makes you work overtime without compensation. So, what do you do? You might Facebook at work to get your time back, or you might buy yourself a coffee at the companies expense. Here you think, I've been wronged, so if I do a wrong in return, I'm justified. Well, you might rationalize it so it doesn't sound that negative, but its the same.

I think it is so easy to fall into these traps. When we've been wronged, we still need to be obedient and do what is right. It is so tempting and in a lot of situations its almost expected, but we are called to something better. The implications can be scary too because you are taking control and saying that you don't trust God to take care of you/situation or that He knows what is going on. In addition, you lower yourself to the "oppressor's" level and are consequently, one and the same.

A lot of times you can think you are doing the right thing and it may even seem morally sound. We have to pray as we act and trust that God will lead us so what is right.

I don't know if I just have a little bit of a vengeance streak in me or if others struggle with this type of thing. But I'm praying through the thoughts and learning to trust that God is ever present. I'm learning that so many times things seem "gray" and its hard to tell what is right and wrong when everything seems a little bit of both.

God, may we release everything to you. May Your Will be done, NOT mine!

unfinished

Well...it's been a VERY long time since I've been on here. We'll see about trying to start up again.
Wrote the beginnings of...something...want to jot it down on here before I lose it...

Breathe into these sails
mend the holes
made by the white flags
of surrender

seeds

Something I have been excited about doing and learning as I go is gardening. This spring we decided to tear up the old garden at the group home and start anew. We made it an outing for the day, going to Lowe's and picking out all sorts of vegetables, flowers and plants. The whole thing was meant to be a group effort, and yet I think people just liked the idea of picking out the plants without actually doing the work. This meant that me and one other resident did all the work after leaving for my time off and finding that they remained unplanted.

With everything planted I kept thinking of more places to plant, noticing little places on the side of the house where we could grow stuff. The possibilities are endless! I don't know if I'm doing stuff right, but I'm learning as I'm going and its fun. Its fun to watch the plants grow and feel that you have some part in it.

Yesterday, I dug up some earth on the side of the house that was being wasted. Last year it was an eye sore as weeds always sprouted up and then died there. I had been trying how to take care of that spot and make it more beautiful when I remembered that we had bok choi seeds. After turning the soil and hoeing it and smoothing it out, I began to plant. I couldn't help but remember the parable (nonbiblical) of the king that tested the people by giving them soil with seeds to take care of. He gave out pots to a group and said that they return after a certain passing of days. One boy watered and watered his to no avail, nothing would grow. He looked at his peers in wonder as their plants sprouted. When the time came, they all presented their plants to the king proudly, except the one boy who humbly presented his lowly pot that only contained soil. It turns out that this was a test of honesty, and all failed except the one boy.

A few weeks ago, we talked about the parable of the talents in church. The pastor mentioned that someone had posed the question of what if the person that was given the least number of talents/currency was actually the most gifted of the servants and the master expected him to put his skills to use to make something of the little he was given? What a different perspective on the story!

I'm trying to piece together my thoughts from these two stories as it leads to questions for me. I'm thinking, how often do we almost feel pressured to have results or something to show in our lives or ministry? I think a lot, because we tend to like success or what we view as something that makes our work worthwhile. Its natural for us as humans. I recall missionaries sharing their difficulty in working in France and coming back and having very little to speak of as far as concrete success. People don't like to hear that. They had been missionaries in Africa and people loved hearing their stories of hundreds of people coming to faith. But, does God see all this the way we do? How often is he asking us to be faithful and honest with what he has given us? Does he see a different purpose for what he asks us to do? Are we ever guilty of sneaking in seeds in our soil when we freak out that nothing is growing? Maybe, he's trying to show us something different.

I fear that at times, when life is shaken up and our faith nears faltering that we look for something, anything to grab ahold of to show us that we are doing the right thing or to affirm us. We look in the wrong place. These false seeds are our idols; when we want to SEE and TOUCH something after being led by fire and cloud we build a golden calf.

So, though at times you seem to have little, have faith because you don't know what God has in mind and He can do much more through you than you can by planting your own seeds of success. We are accountable to Him in the end, so don't forge his seal of approval on your work.

potential project

Been sitting on this one for awhile, but I think I've decided that I will do some character sketches that tell the stories of the kids that I work with. I think that it would be a useful reflective tool, to help me remind myself why it is that I work with them. This job of working in a group home with teens that come from such difficult pasts can quickly get tiresome and frustrating because we get caught up in their behavior. It is a chance to take a step back and see that although they are annoying and cuss and yell at you that they are broken and have had messed up lives.

There is an issue with confidentiality that I am still mulling over. I am thinking that of course, their names will be changed and maybe some details as well. There could be some potential problems with doing this, but I don't know how it all works. (if you know anything on this, some advice?). They just have such interesting stories that they probably don't even think much about, but that we could learn from.

Brennan Manning on the prodigal

from the Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning page 189. On the prodigal son:

"I am moved that the father didn't cross-examine the boy, bully him, lecture him on ingratitude, or insist on any high motivation. He was so overjoyed at the sight of his son that he ignored all the canons of prudence and parental discretion and simply welcomed him home. The father took him back just as he was.

What a word of encouragement, consolation, and comfort! We don't have to sift our hearts and analyze our intentions before returning home. Abba just wants us to show up. We don't have to tarry at the tavern until purity of heart arrives. We don't have to be shredded with sorrow or crushed with contrition. We don't have to be perfect or even very good before God will accept us. We don't have to wallow in guilt, shame, remorse, and self-condemnation. Even if we still nurse a secret nostalgia for the far country, Abba still falls on our neck and kisses us."

Prodigal son is one of the most preached on topics but I think it is because we all identify with it in the different phases of our lives.

portrait

we try and paint
life as we see it
our self-portraits look like Picasso's--
distorted, twisted, mangled.
we couldn't ever capture
You on canvas, so
our brush strokes say--
fields of swaying gold,
kaleidescope sunrises,
untameable seas--
they are reflections
of the origin of beauty,
hidden signatures.
Yet,
our self-portraits are telling
of what we truly see
For,
if we are the image of the unseen
then my Picasso
is You.

a reflection on how we allow our imperfections and sin to weigh us down, to mar our self-image, to live in that darkness when that is not what God sees when he looks at us. he sees that we are hidden with Christ in glory, our wrongs are forgiven. we are redeemed, we are renewed. this comes in response to times where you feel as if you loathe yourself, as it is hard to see change or growth even as you strain for it and pray for it. yet, if we cannot look at ourselves in light of redemption then we are dishonoring our Creator, for we are in His image. we ultimately project ourselves on Him.

temple

This is your house
Made by man's hands
According to your blueprints
A faded picture
Of what is unseen

I doubt
You could ever reside here
Darkness has crept in
Through a crack in the window
Now it lets itself in the front door
When you arrived unannounced
I locked you in the front chamber
To keep you safe, so you wouldn't see
That unruly hazard walks free through corridors unkempt
I wanted to corral them
To usher them out the backdoor

Instead, your temple has become
a white-washed sepulcher
A haven for thieves
a nesting ground for vipers
a market place of filth, filled
with seedy cellars of unspeakable acts
a carnival of deception and false light
indulgences for sale
merchants of mercy
prophets of profit,
"Give me your soul
and I'll mend your sole"
where we present presents for your presence

How did it get this way
I beg you
to reclaim this ground
To take back what is yours

I beg you
To kick down the door
Brandishing a whip
Wielding your sword, your truth
Overturn the tables
Tear down the altered altars
and the Asherah poles
Ransack this darkness lair
Drive out the whores, the mercenaries, the tax collectors
Clean out your Father's house
of those that fall to their knees to prey
Crush the idols to other deities
Drive out the blind guides
The brood of vipers
for they tithe their spices
And forget justice
Blood of the prophets is on their hands
Blood is on my hands

This is your house
Take back what is yours
This is your house


Reading about Jesus clearing out the temple and connecting that to the scripture says our bodies are temples was powerful. It brings out all sorts of unnoticed things when we see the parallels with what angered Jesus in the temple. I think about how if Jesus were to show up, how he would respond to what he saw in His Father's house. A whole bunch of emotions are stirred up, thinking about what I would do to clean up before he got here. Then, it is horrifying to realize that the Spirit already resides here. How many altars to Baal have been built, how many Asherah poles are there? How have I misunderstood grace and justice and thought salvation is for sale? Are there things I don't even know are wrong in there and won't ever know until Jesus sends them packing? How do we turn this into powerful prayer?

I have had this in my head for almost 2 years now and just haven't felt like it comes out right, but wanted to get it down and take it as a first draft (the concept in the mind is clear and yet the words...they don't come). Suggestions welcome.

my garden

this isn't mine, but it was given to me in a vision so clear.

i survey my garden; what i see is that the soil of my heart is filled and covered with a multitude of colors. i want to show Him how beautiful it is but i leave him standing there because my eyes are continually drawn to the weeds that weave their way between the fruits of my labor. sometimes they blend in, sometimes they are visibly choking the life from the other plants as they sprout faster and quicker and absorb all the light.

not wanting him to see it that way for it seems to root in neglect, i go to work. i grab the weeds that i can see and rip them from the soil. unfortunately, they are anchored well and so the roots remain. others i see, i get a solid grip at the base and remove the weed by its roots. i see however the visible damage on the roots, evidence that remnants remain locked in the dirt.

He walks over to me and i try to get him to wait longer, to stand back. he inquires, "do you need help?" i scoff, "no! i've got this! see...!" He takes the weeds and silently approaches my garden, much to my chagrin.

screams, pleads, and yells do no good.

to my horror he squats down and begins to dig in the soil. slowly, with care, the digs up around a weed. deeper and deeper he goes, using his hands, filling his fingernails with the mire.

"no! what are you doing? please, i beg you just let me do it. i wanted to present it perfect for you!"

i rush over to him, hating to see him soiling his hands, his perfect hands for me. i grab them and pull them from the work. i expect to see a prince's hands--soft and gentle as He is the Prince of Peace. instead, i feel rough, worn hands accustomed to hard labor. dirt stains between the callouses. the scars; memories of wounds, splinters, cuts, bruises. the scars. the scars.

what i saw was that we try to uproot our weeds because we want to present ourselves to Christ as He would want to see us. we don't want him to know that they are there, so we hide and wait and wait. we then show him strictly what we want him to see. what i see is that we try and give Jesus whatever it is that we have or are going through when we don't even know how deep some stuff is rooted and so we give it to him prematurely. we have to let him IN and SEE our hearts so he can walk us through it, work it out with us. i don't know about you but there is always this fear, of letting Him see our heart, i want to get the weeds and and show him the weeds that i've uprooted and once i'm clean, then he can see what i have. but this is imperfect and will never work, we will wear ourselves out this way.

need to just start up again

I never intended to take such an extended hiatus from writing on here. I am not sure what happened. I could blame a change of environment and adjusting to that. I don't know about other writers out there, but you find a place or setting that just works for you and you can only write in that space and time. I suppose I haven't found that yet here out of my own laziness.

I do have a lot of things and ideas that I wish to touch upon...it would be kind of crazy to try and tackle it all in this post. I think the purpose of this one is to start again.

I have missed writing. You get ideas and they float in your head for awhile, but unless you do something with them or write them down the more likely they are to get lost or overturned in our streams of consciousness. It is a chance to make concrete, to make visual nebulous and drifting thoughts. To mark your inspirations so that you can go back and look on them later and see where you have gone in relation to it. This is exactly what I have needed, but have avoided these last months. How I regret it.

So here's to starting again and making an effort on other things I've thought about but avoided.

I have had a couple of things on my mind as of late and I'm not sure if they go together or not, we'll see. First I want to start with something from Messy Spirituality by Mike Yaconelli. A very visual example that he gives in his book of how our spirituality is non-linear is he shows a chart of a line representing our growth in a scraggly rising and falling manner. It is inconsistent and, as the title of the book suggests, messy.

As I think about it, I like how true it is, but I have to admit that it is incredibly frustrating. I think we all desire to see change and progress as could be seen in the use of these trigger words in recent campaigns. If we don't, we become restless and wonder what we need to do or we become complacent and consumed by the lull of same-ity. We know that relationship with the Ultimate Being, studying the scriptures, and learning through each other are essentials to growth and sometimes we lock ourselves into systems that we promise ourselves guarantee more spirituality. We quarantine ourselves from sin, systematically trying to eliminate it and hoping that increased frequency of Christian-related activity will help grow us and quell our fleshly urges.

Neither supporting tendencies toward hyper-religiousness nor treading the trite bashing of it, I want to say that I understand why we trap ourselves into this. I see that I am attracted to the idea that when I do weight-training I can markedly see change in strength and endurance. With this in mind, it is a little disturbing when Yaconelli tells me that all my efforts won't guarantee me exponential growth. I'd like to think that I could put a huge spiritual deposit and make monthly contributions and that these will compound and...vaboom!

I am also thinking about how this is contrary to a certain theologian's ideas whose name escapes me. He said that we enter into multiple "crises" of faith and I believe that he thought that after the 3rd, we are capable of living a sinless (or at least nearly) life because we are so reliant upon God and the Spirit. Through the crises, we have drawn very close to God.

This sounds iffy to me, but I can appreciate the beautiful concept of a life that draws so heavily on the Spirit, that is aligned with God and constantly abiding.

Yet, I am drawn back to the idea of the messiness because it makes sense of our humanity. We have our ups and downs, our emotions make us human and they pull us in all different directions at once. How is it that we can be doing everything we can and go through the darkest of times and on the other side of things, how is that we can be a filthy prodigal and yet close to God? I guess what we need to see is that it is not what we are doing. And yes, our spiritual growth chart may fluctuate, but I believe that at the end of that chart is God, that if we are constantly moving in his direction we will find Him and it won't matter how high or low the line reads, because we've found Him.

qualified?

Do you love yourself?
Enough to accept the love of others?
I think that we try to impress God sometimes. Trying to earn his love, his favor, his blessing. This Christianity thing is so confusing—I wouldn’t have it any other way—and yet simple. What has kept me at times in rapt interest is how our faith is such a dialectic. God is immanent and yet transcendent; our faith does not need works and yet it is dead without it; the Kingdom of God is within us and yet it is coming. How are we ever to understand it?

On Easter Sunday a pastor used a visual demonstration for his message that showed how foolish we are sometimes. He got on the treadmill and continued to speed it up which represented all our actions and busyness trying to please God. If this really worked that would mean that we would be earning our salvation and we’d ultimately be bringing God down to us. Yet, as we could clearly see all his running wasn’t getting him anywhere. In my mind I like to take it a step further and picture us smaller, like hamsters who run and run in the little wheel as if they think they can reach a specific destination. This does not mean that we do nothing, we still must seek God. This is one of those confusing things.

We need to be reminded of these things from time to time. We all know it and hear it in different presentations that speak to us at the right moment. I have just been thinking that we need to really love ourselves in order to accept God’s love for us. I have been thinking about how I go through phases where I feel God’s presence, love, or closeness more than others. Usually it is in the midst of struggle and feeling that he is my ultimate support. Or when serving him, you feel that he is especially near. Yet at the same time, does this make any sense? God loves us just the same. We are clothed in his grace, so that when he looks at us he sees Christ and all the ugliness that we feel is only real to us (Col 3).

Total depravity. The T in TULIP in Calvinism. Sin has devoured and destroyed the human nature and so everything in us is affected by it. Even though we are born of a new nature, the sinful has been buried and death died, it is easy to introspect and get our focus on the wrong things. This I think, causes us to harden our hearts. We feel guilt or embarrassed and do not want God to see us in our wretched state. In a sense, we look at our missteps and say that we haven’t read our Bible, prayed, attended Bible study and that’s why our faith is struggling or we aren’t hearing from God. We do not give God access to our hearts even though he can see them because we want to clean things up before we let him in the door. From Revelation 3:20 I have had this vision of preparing a room for Christ. When he knocks, I am surprised, although he has warned that he is coming and I have been preparing—I am not ready. Naturally, I want the place to be immaculate and so I keep him waiting outside. How long will he wait, how long will he knock?

Anyone that has read anything on here in the past might have noticed the heading “skulking in the dark searching for the light.” The idea behind that is, knowing, believing that the light exists but not being qualified to be in the light. This is the wrong mindset, because we are sons of light.

Let him in.
How long will he wait, how long will he knock?

in bloom

These buds, these blooms in blossom
delicate and ornate, clash
in a bold statement
to begin the march
clinging to a gossamer thread
of life, fighting to withstand
the mighty winds--unrelenting,
resisting the dance of seasons

These buds, these blooms in blossom
soft and silent
herald a message
brash and unabashed
more forceful than the tempest's harshest gales
when everything has lost its color
when your heart fears
it has stolen the blue from the sky
replacing beauty
with dour gray

These buds, these blooms in blossom
gentle and pastel
many fall unnoticed--a worthy risk
a tale of self-giving
foretelling, reminding
that these clouds shall be lifted.

--It's rainy, it's cold, it's windy, the sky is dark and it resembles anything but spring. And yet these budding trees, these first flowers puzzle me. They have the audacity to confront the weather with their tacit statements; is it to say "your time is up, go home" or give us hope when we wonder if spring will ever come? This season is an odd juxtaposition of violence and serenity. It is as if everything has been in winter slumber, the wind is simply an irascible response to being awakened from its hibernation.--

manna

The story of manna feeding the Israelites in the desert is one that everyone knows. I'm sure I have learned the lessons from it before, hearing in Sunday school and sermons preached on it. But in this time of learning to trust God it really shows how He only led them day by day, never giving more than they needed but just enough.

I picture myself in their situation where in Exodus 16 they are given specific rules for the weird little white flakes that appear on the ground in the morning and melt away by the end of the day. They are told to gather enough for each person but not to store any of it for the next day. How crazy is this? If you are in the barren desert, is it not instinct to collect all the food you can while you have the opportunity? Who knows when its going to stop or when you are going to come across food again? But, Moses became angry with those that disobeyed because by the following morning it stunk, had molded, and maggots were crawling around in it!

God led these people here with wondrous signs along the way. The plagues, the swallowing up of Pharaoh's army by the sea, the pillar of fire or cloud to guide them. The very manna itself is a miracle. Yet it strikes me that God keeps people on edge, hanging on by the skin of their teeth. Moment by moment, day by day, forcing them to give full trust to God because they can do nothing else.

We face decisions each day and do not usually take the time to consult God with them, usually just the ones where we aren't sure what to do. Can you imagine, trading places with the Israelites? I think about how hard it is to trust God now, asking him what he has in store for my future. It is good to think about the future, but what about each day? Are we taking the small steps of trust? Honestly, thinking like this makes me nervous. I don't particularly enjoy crazy spontaneity (planned spontaneity is cool though haha) or not knowing things ahead of time so the idea of trusting that God is going to leave manna with the morning dew each day is frightening. It does give me insight into what believing, trusting, putting absolute faith looks like. Just enough for each day. Don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own (Matt 6:34). This solidifies Jesus nifty little message about not fretting, bringing it to life showing how the Israelites lived. Crazy.

Psalm 130

Psalm 130:

"1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD; 2 O Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.

3 If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand?
4 But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared.

5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.
6 My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.

7 O Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with him is full redemption.
8 He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins."

This Psalm really reached me today. It is simple and beautiful--waiting, crying out, putting hope in God's redemption, love, and forgiveness. Even moreso, I felt I was able to identify with the comparitive metaphor about waiting for the Lord with that of a watchman. As a watchman, I know that feeling very well, dying for the sun to come up so the shift is done and I can go home. I just found it so interesting that I don't ever recall reading this Psalm before and yet an entry I wrote earlier ("Graveyard", two posts back) is similar in nature, comparing the reprieve of the morning with God's hope. Oh how the Psalmist says it so much simpler and more beautiful. Amazing how the Word keeps coming alive and can always reach us anew with things that touch us and push us forward. Praise God for his faithfulness!

exodus

My little revelation that identified my time of struggle and transition with the exodus of the Israelites was exciting, for a day. When I wrote that I somehow thought that this realization would give me some bearing which would give me direction and solid footing. I had felt so refreshed after feeling the scriptures hit home and had great hopes. I think that when we are shown these things we are met with equally difficult responses, either as testing or to prevent us from going the right way...I'm not sure. The reason being, the week that followed such optimism was in fact very dark. My moods were sour I was in a sort of torpor. I liken this to the way we go about setting New Year's resolutions--we aim high and when we're off target we crash and give up. I also wonder whether the enemy sent a dark cloud to limit my vision and discourage my soul. Either way, the first step was realizing where I am and then giving up trying to go it alone.

Something that has spoken to me is found where God battles through Moses for his people against Pharaoh in a demonstration of power and stubbornness. Before Moses ever encounters Pharaoh God tells him that He "will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt, he will not listen to you...And the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it." (Exodus 7:3-5) You can tell this isn't about convincing Pharaoh to release the covenant people but about God displaying his power--not just to the Israelites but to the Egyptians--as Pharaoh relents after each sign and then defaults on his promise. By the 4th sign--the gnats--Egypt's magicians issue a cryptic caveat: "This is the finger of God." (Ex 8:19) This phrase is huge! First that the magicians who were able to emulate the first few miracles are admitting to the power of God. Second that they are warning that this is just a finger, beware of even greater power!

This image is further delineated when Moses says later on, "the hand of the Lord will bring a terrible plague on your livestock..." (Ex. 9:3) God's purpose is repeated twice later on, first as a proclamation of power to all the earth (9:16) and as a tale to pass from generation to generation of how the LORD made real his dedication to them (10:1-2).

The fact that God fights for his people that he has bound himself to through covenant is beautiful. The thing is that it is difficult to understand how God works, why he allowed for them to become enslaved for so long and to let them suffer. Why he couldn't cut to the chase and be more forceful with his power.

Taking a look at Pharaoh and what he is left with is startling. In a sense he ravaged his own land out of his stubbornness by all the plagues and his people lost much of their valuables as the Israelites politely plundered their silver and gold.

Although it may be hermeneutically incorrect or at least inconsistent, a lot can be learned from this when you look at both sides of this piece of history. First, that God is persistent, fighting to win hearts when you look at what he did for freedom for his people. Second, that God is persistent, fighting to show himself even to the hardest of hearts. I feel that we can really identify with Pharaoh in this situation. For a time I've been struggling because I know God exists and he is there, I've seen his handiwork but I was struggling against the feeling of not feeling Him. It is a sort of battle within, because logically you know that God is doing things to get our attention and only sometimes we notice. When we do notice, we relent and say that we'll turn to him only to turn away at the slightest distraction. Just as Pharaoh did over and over again--promising to let God's people go only to renege.

I peeked ahead a page or two from where I am currently reading and saw underlined, "The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still." When you plug this back into the perspective of God pursuing Israel, defending them, and awing the current generation and many to come this is a beautiful, powerful promise and reminder. Taken another way, it is a statement that should allow you to slow down and reflect. Reflect upon what God is doing and not what you are doing, that he is fighting for us and wooing us and sometimes we just don't notice so we need to be still.