Maisie Kitty and I enjoy instrumental hymns playing softly in the background during morning chair time. They help keep me focused and her calm, usually. A few times in the last weeks I’ve been jarred from my Scripture study by “Easter songs.” What? It’s the middle of summer, Dear Reader, but charging into my Bible revelry was “Christ Arose!” A couple of days later, it was “Christ the Lord is Risen Today.” When “King All Glorious” poured forth last week, I wasn’t surprised, but intrigued by what God was wanting me to see and understand.
Perhaps I wasn’t the only one needing a resurrection reminder because recently the Sunday message was from the “I AM…” series: “The Resurrection and the Life.” My heart was already primed by God’s gentle morning music nudges for more insight into what He had in store for me.
Listening to Troy’s message on resurrection, Dear Reader, I was reminded of the Apostle Peter. With plenty of devotion and good intentions, he stumbled in and out of messes a lot. Maybe he had a mindset of, “Go big or go home.”
When I read the description of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet in the Gospel of John, it’s easy to empathize with Peter.
He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”
“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”
“Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”
Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.”
I wonder how many people are walking around with dreams or callings they believe are dead and buried. Maybe it’s the dream of a spouse and children, or a calling to complete a college degree. Perhaps it’s dreams of faraway travel, a call or longing for a career path that seems impossible.
Dreams, callings, longings, whatever you call them, come in all shapes and sizes, don’t they, Dear Reader? At times a bit confusing or frustrating, and sometimes they may seem to be, at the very least, comatose. Like Peter, we’re still functioning, but maybe there’s a little piece inside us that needs resurrecting.
The writer of Psalm 23 knew what it was like to have a dream or calling put on hold. After being anointed by Samuel to be the next king, David literally had to run for his life for a big part of the following fifteen years. After reading some of the angst c in other of David’s psalms, sometimes anger and frustration, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a few moments when he thought the dream of being king was DOA.
Nevertheless, some scholars believe the 23rd Psalm was written between his anointing and actually becoming king. When reading the psalm through that lens, it makes me think that by yielding to the Lord’s will, David was able to believe He would resurrect the anointed king in him.
The Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, to guide and to shield me], I shall not want.
He lets me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still and quiet waters.
He refreshes and restores my soul (life);He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. . .
Surely goodness and mercy and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life,
And I shall dwell forever [throughout all my days] in the house and in the presence of the Lord.
Here’s my takeaway from Easter songs, sermons, and psalms in the middle of summer: it doesn’t matter what the dream or long-forgotten calling is, if the Lord put it in you, He can (and most likely will) resurrect it at His appointed time. In the meantime, our jobs are to claim, asDavid did, God’s protection, provision, and promise until Resurrection Day arrives, no matter what season it’s in.
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