Psalm
74:1-23
Key Verses: 21-22a
"Don't disappoint those in need or make them turn from you, but help the poor and homeless to shout your praises. Do something, God! Defend yourself." CEV
It is easy to blame God with
others turn away from God. Why does God not do anything? Why did God allow them
to become disheartened? Why did God allow them to lose faith!
But what are we doing to be
the hands and the feet of God when this happens? What fault are the people God
when those among us do not experience the love of God in and among the people of
God. We are God’s witnesses. We are the way most of those around us experience
the love, the goodness, and the kindness of God. When we do not live out the
character in our lives, others will not experience the character of God in us.
Even worse, we prove to be false witnesses, and when they see us as the people
of God and experience that which is not of God in us and at our hands, they are
experiencing God falsely in us.
When the Church as the Body
of Christ acts in ways which are contradictory to the nature of Christ, we are not
only failing to be the body, but we are sharing lies about who Christ is to all
those who only know him and experience him in us and through us.
Why are people disappointed
in what God is doing? Why is God not
defending God’s self? Because those who are called to live out the character of
God in this world are failing to live in such a way, which speaks the truth, of
who God is.
Things to
Think on
In what ways
are you disappointed with God? Are you disappointed with God or are you really disappointed
with the people of God?
In what
ways could you better “defend” God in the things you do and say today?
How would
the Church need to be different, for the poor and the homeless to praise God because
of what the Church is doing?
How can
you help that happen in your life? In what you do and what you say?
A Prayer
for Today
Lord,
there are so many people disenchanted with you. And I know that they are really
disappointed in with your Church, and the things people who are speaking and
acting in your name are doing and saying. It is also easy to push the burden of
this false witness off on others; on those people over there. But reveal to me
in what ways I am a part of this problem. Show me how I can be better a truer witness
of who you are. Purify me, my words, my actions so that I can be a true witness
of who you are to those around me who are disenchanted with you and your
Church. Help me to live in such a way that all I do speaks truth about who you are.
Let do better and be better today. – Amen
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