Having God In The Tight Places
The Rev. Tony Lantz, Life Church, Emporia
Friday, December 5, 2008
Did you ever notice in the television family, “The Walton’s”, how the dad was always available? Or maybe in Little House on The Prairie, how Laura’s dad was always there for the tight squeezes? Contrast these situations that you’ve had where you were in a tight squeeze and you had no one to bail you out. Things have certainly changed since those days, maybe too much.
Years ago, Dr. Charlie Shedd held a contest called “One Neat Dad.” He asked contestants to send in letters recommending their dad for this great honor. Here are five of the top ten most appreciated qualities for “One Neat Dad.” 1. He takes time for me. 2. He listens to me. 3. He plays with me. 4. He invites me to go places with him. 5. He lets me help him. Sounds like a great dad, huh? Anyway you look at these top five qualities the issue of “time” is involved.
May I be so bold as to say that God always has time for you. Now before you jump to any conclusions about why I say this, may I preface this statement with the fact that we live in a pretty troubled world with lots of issues. Think just within the last ten years. We’ve had 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, the tsunamis, wars, the sub-prime mortgage crisis, the gas prices (although down right now), and the seemingly never-ending economic crisis. If you are like most people in Emporia, every single night the media invades your home bringing you, in real time, the newest phenomenon from every corner of the earth. As a result, I heard one psychiatrist say that all of this helplessness, stress, feelings of vulnerability and depression has led us to a “compassion fatigue.” And so many of us can only be left wondering; “What if I am next? What if my family is hit hard by this crunch or my family is the next to be slammed by the forces of nature?”
To those who may be fearful of heart, the Bible says a couple of things about God helping us when we’re in tight places. One is the fact that God wants to be, “a refuge and a strength, a very present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1) One translation puts it this way, “Abundantly available for help in tight places.” To me that’s great news! When you’re in a tight spot, God is abundantly available to you. What more do you need? He wants to take time for you.
Secondly, is the fact that God says “therefore we will not fear” (vs 2). You don’t need to panic, talk defeat or give in to despair. God the Father is aware. All you have to do is call on Him and He will help you. He wants to help you. He wants you to call on Him from your tight place. He always has time for you. He is more faithful than any father known to mankind. And He’s always available. Now that’s a quality that any child can appreciate in a father.
F “Sunday Sermon” is a forum for Emporia area ministers to share their sermons, thoughts and observations. This week’s sermon is from the Rev. Tony Lantz, lead pastor at Life Church in Emporia.