Then the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.” Genesis 18:17-19.

I read that this morning in my devotional Hearing God by Dallas Willard. Abraham had been sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day when he saw three men. Can you imagine what that must have been like? I wondered what was Abraham thinking of just before he saw these men, who were the Lord and two of His angels. Abraham brought them water to wash their feet, food and drink to welcome them and then the Lord spoke to Abraham the words of the above Scripture. Scripture that was written by Moses who also wrote our psalm, Psalm 90. Two very different men fulfilling two very different purposes. Moses’ experiences were so different from those of Abraham. I needed to read the psalm twice because at first pass it seems so stark. And yet, it helped me to talk with God asking for His forgiveness for sins I have committed. How can I not? I don’t want to live with them anymore. Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations…Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God…v. 1-2. A spacious place – knowing Who God is. You turn people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.”…A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night…v. 3-4. I love that description – like a watch in the night. We are consumed by your anger and terrified by your indignation…You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence…All our days pass away under your wrath; we finish our years with a moan…If only we knew the power of your anger!…Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due…Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom…v. 7, 8, 9, 11, 12. Before we come to a place of needing God and knowing how great our need is; before we ask for His help, our fears narrow us down until we are bowed down by the weight of all that we know is wrong in this broken world of ours. And we cry out not able to understand things too big for us. And He is right there with us. He opens up our narrow world and brings us to the spacious place of His love for us where hope is possible. Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days…Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble…May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendor to their children…May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us – yes, establish the work of our hands…v. 14-17.

This world of ours is in so much turmoil and that turmoil narrows our hope. Just as we come to know our own lives are so fleeting in the sweep of time, so is the time of this, our broken world. Never forget…from everlasting to everlasting you are God. Our Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit, is here. He knows the troubles and afflictions we have suffered. I love how Henri Nouwen wrote: “”My God, my God, why have you deserted me?” (Psalms 22:1)…When Jesus spoke those words on the cross, total aloneness and full acceptance touched each other. In that moment of complete emptiness all was fulfilled. In that hour of darkness new light was seen. While death was witnessed, life was affirmed. Where God’s absence was most loudly expressed, God’s presence was most profoundly revealed. When God, through the humanity of Jesus, freely chose to share our own most painful experience of divine absence, God became most present to us. It is into this mystery that we enter when we pray.”

When we pray, we enter into the spacious place of God’s love. Never forget – Jesus spoke to Abraham. Jesus spoke to Moses. Jesus was with the three men in the fire who refused to bow down to idols, (Daniel 3). Jesus walked this earth with us then – and He walks with us in our own lives now, an ever-present help if we but ask. Ask. He’s here always. He longs to gather you to Him so you can know how close He is. We have so much to learn! Learn with Him guiding you to the spacious place of His love. With Him there is no darkness. How we need the light of His love!