Good morning, brothers and sisters.
Our verse for today comes from Acts 4:25, “[You], who by the mouth of our father David Your servant have said, ‘Why did the nations rage, and the people plot futile things?’”
Having just learned that Lady Macbeth is dead, and about to fight his final battle, Macbeth says, “Out, out, brief candle. Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon stage and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” Some of the most famous lines ever written by Shakespeare, their despair and futility seem to build with every syllable as Macbeth bemoans the transiency of life and ultimately mocks that very life which, in its brevity, has no meaning or purpose. Such hopelessness, whether realized or not, resides in the heart of everyone who goes about life without the peace of a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. In fact, that peace and assurance from the Savior is a primary indicator that one has been reborn into the family of God. Without it, there is fret and fury and a candle that’s burning too quickly, even for the one who has known religion for years. But if that despair can suffer the voice of God, W. Scott Lineberry writes, “The search for Jesus…means a serious personal life survey that ultimately forces the confrontation with the futility, anesthetics, and despair in their lives.”
Even followers of Jesus are not immune to the sense of vain pursuits and futile plots. Whenever there is resistance to the directings of God, purpose becomes elusive and fellowship evaporates. In fact, Charles Studd wrote, “Prayer is good, but when used as a substitute for obedience, it is naught but a blatant hypocrisy, a despicable Pharisaism.” You don’t need me to tell you that raging and plotting against God is the ultimate in pointless striving. But it is in the subtle doubts and the persistent worries where one might need to be reminded that rest and hope come only when we hope and rest in the Savior. Every stitch of your anxiety only shrinks the canvas on which God wishes to paint your delight. Do not invite the unrest of living outside of God’s good pleasure. Short or long, loud or quiet, life is for the living with the One who lived, died, and lives again to set you free.
As we seek Him today, find hope in your situation as you view it looking at Jesus.
Have a radiant weekend.
#4 Rich Holt
Dad of Ripken, Koy, TrishaJean, Samantha, Kakie Holiday and Raleigh
Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them.
