Life Abroad @ Valor ~ "It is I Who Keep Steady"

 

"When the earth totters, . . . it is I who keep steady . . . Selah" (Psalm 75:3).  Do verses in Scripture sometimes just jump out and grab you? Stop you in your hurrying tracks and virtually demand that you pause and ponder them?  This one did to me this morning.  

I had just returned late last evening from a delightful visit over the Thanksgiving break with dear friends at Handong in Pohang.  I enjoyed wonderful times of table fellowship, worship and ministry as I was invited to share a message from God's Word with the precious believers who gather at Pohang International Community Church (PICC).

Travel around Korea is quite pleasant.  The highways are well-planned and always maintained to perfection, so driving across the pennisula is smooth and uneventful.  I was thankful to have been provided a vehicle again from Valor that made my trip a true joy -- no troubles, no accidents, no flat tires -- no tottering of the earth.

But even when all around us appears to any on-looker to be going smoothly there all too often are nagging, unsettled thoughts and concerns within.  Its been over three months now since my departure from my family.  Being half-way around the world on Thanksgiving Day when your family is gathered around a table with an empty chair has it's way of tugging at my heart strings.

Even the bright morning's dawn that greeted me today -- spectacular as it was -- could not overcome my deeper need for contancy. If I am honest with myself, I must admit that I find no true settled confidence within myself.  Am I truly serving, encouraging, strengthening the people around me here?  

While writing the final exam for my high school students' leadership course this morning, I composed a question based upon Robert Greenleaf's instructions on Servant Leadership.  He writes that the best question an aspiring leader can ask is: "Are the people I am seeking to serve and lead growing as persons and are they more likely to become servants of others?"

The answer to that question cannot be reduced to the content of a teacher's lecture. The formation of others as whole persons who are inclined to be servants of others only occurs through us as it did with Jesus and His disciples -- by His presence with them. Only His abiding presence grants us stability.  He keeps steady. He keeps us steady when our worlds are shaking and tottering both within and without.

My contemplation of Psalm 75:3 also brought to mind one of my favorite Jason Mraz songs that I hear as a prayer seeking Jesus as my Constant through it all ~

Every time I go home there's another cellphone tower
Construction getting louder, paving over yesterdays
You and I, we will try to find the side of it that's pretty
While our town becomes a city, we won't let it be erased
Empires rise, empires fall
Will you be my constant through it all?
I will hold your hand and watch the world spin idly around this life we're in
Oh yeah everything goes quiet when it's you I'm with
Oh yeah everything goes quiet when it's you I'm with
You, you, you
Every once in a while, you know I get these real bad headaches
Worried about the mistakes that I've made along the way
You and I, we can't hide from the fact that we need each other
How else will I recover when the fever comes again
Temperatures rise, temperatures fall
Will you be my constant through it all?
I will hold your hand and watch the world spin idly around this life we're in
Oh yeah everything goes quiet when it's you I'm with
Oh yeah everything goes quiet when it's you I'm with
You, you, you
There are no words, no words when I'm with you, you, you
Every time I hear music, they've added more stuff to it
Things are always moving into a futuristic place
Where you and I will try, we'll try to dance into tomorrow
But time will have to borrow, not a minute left to waste
Heartbeats rise, heartbeats fall
Will you be my constant through it all?
I will hold your hand and watch the world spin idly around this life we're in
Oh yeah everything goes quiet when it's you I'm with

listen 

Comments

  1. mark foshagerDecember 5, 2020 at 9:02 AM

    I receive this very good word, Cordell.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cordell P. SchultenDecember 15, 2020 at 6:40 PM

      Thank you dear brother! I so appreciate your mindfulnessa and prayer!

      Delete

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