Healing Rays of Righteousness

Ray M. Geigley

This is a very troublesome question that we all struggle with at some point in our life’s journey. Last October, I was asked to share my understanding of the biblical response to this question in a weekend church retreat setting.  I do not pretend to have all the answers, but would like to share some reflections that have come to me during my many years of pastoral and chaplaincy ministries, and from my own journeying through several very significant and difficult “bad” experiences.  I plan to spread my thinking on this question over the next several weeks and hopefully build a more adequate biblical understanding that encourages your heart.

Read Genesis 1-3

For both Judaism and Christianity the understanding of this basic question comes from the Hebrew Scriptures, which we call the Old Testament.  It begins this way:  “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”  The story unfolds, describing the progression of creation, one event upon another.

Then human life is created.  First it is man, then as the Creator notes, it isn’t good for man to live alone, so he creates woman.  The two are given responsibility for overseeing the grand and beautiful world that God has created for their provision and enjoyment.

There are three important things to note in this beginning story of humankind and the wonderful perfect world they were placed in as partners and caretakers with God.

First, God alone created everything.  There is nothing other than God; there are no other gods, no other authority or power to which God is subservient.  All life came from his will and word alone.

Secondly, After creating the cosmos, God saw that it was good, and after creating humankind he pronounced his work as very good. There is no evil, no badness in all of this creation.

Thirdly, Human life is unique in that it bears the image of its Creator.  Though animal and plant life were also seen as good, only the human being was stamped with the likeness of the Creator.  This was God’s special work, the epitome of his desire to create a living creature with whom he could have an intimate relationship and be loved by.

From the beginning, it was God’s intent that in the harmony and balance of creation, human life would gladly and obediently carry out his will and concern as the supreme and sovereign Creator of all things.  In creating us humans he also empowered us with the ability and responsibility to participate with him as caretaker and stewards of all his good creation.

That’s the essence of the first two chapters of the biblical story of beginnings in Genesis.  But then the story takes a sad and ugly turn in chapter three.  Deception and disobedience are two earth-quaking events that pull shut the curtain on God’s “good” creation of all things.  Satan’s deception and mankind’s sin of disobedience brings “badness” and “death” into the human experience from that time forward.  The consequences were significant, immediate, and continuing:

1. Creation was cursed – both the serpent (v.14) and the ground (vv.17b-18).
2. Humans were driven out of the good garden into a life of sufferings; a life of shame, fear, blaming others, painful childbirth and difficulty in working for food to survive, ending in death.
3. Fellowship with God is broken.
4. Community with one another and with all creation is destroyed.

Living on this side of that cataclysmic break, it is hard to grasp the vastness of its consequence.  Humans entered into an entirely different way of life when they disobeyed God, losing their purity and intimacy with the divine. The devastation of that disobedience broke the harmony of creation and humanity, pitting one against the other, and changed the entire relationship of God to creation.

The resulting impact was global.  The man and woman were set at odds with one another and with creation. The principle of shared resources was turned upside down.  Resources became objects of greed and envy.  The powerful hoarded rather than shared.  Instead of care for the environment, abuse and pollution became accepted standards.

God’s human creation began to oppress others and their environment.  And God sent prophet after prophet to warn the people about their sin, and to invite them back into a relationship of forgiveness and love with himself, as was his intention in creating humans.

This is the world in which we live.  A world where bad things happen and keep on happening. Deception and disobedience not only opened the eyes of Adam and Eve but also the fountain of evil that spills over all the earth everywhere and every day.  Pain and suffering exists and we are continually seeking refuge and relief from it, all the while wondering what life would be like if sin had never been introduced into our world.

However, we are still left with the question, “Why do bad things happen to righteous, godly people?”  That will be our focus next week.  I hope you will prayerfully tune in.

Read Mark 6:45-52

Storms – we often experience them as sudden and unexpected events in our life, whether they be storms of nature, economic downturn, health crisis, or death of a loved one.  Storms can be very scary with their deepening darkness and increasing turbulence, causing us to feel helpless, hopeless, and terrified.  These raging, out-of-control storms often threaten our emotional and spiritual stability as well as our physical life.

I want to share with you one picture from Scripture that I believe illustrates what Jesus did, does, and always will do for his followers when afflicted and threatened by stormy events.

It was in the early morning hours, during the fourth watch of the night, between three and six o’clock.  Suddenly the disciples are caught in the middle of the lake by a threatening storm over which they had no control.

After his miracle of feeding a large crowd of people with only 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish, “Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him” to the other side of the sea. After dismissing the crowd, Jesus “went up on a mountainside to pray.”

While the text doesn’t say this, I’m inclined to think that at least some, if not all,  of Jesus’ praying was for the disciples that he had earlier sent to journey across deep waters at night.  I can imagine Jesus kept his eye on the storm developing over the lake and the increasing difficulty his disciples were having in keeping their boat afloat.  The text does say that Jesus saw them “straining at the oars, because the wind was against them.”

 It was then that Jesus “went out to them, walking on the lake.”  Caught in a fierce storm while in the middle of a large sea during the night was frightening hard work to stay afloat.  And then to see a ghost walking across the stormy waves toward them was terrifying, possibly signaling their certain death by drowning.

In that moment of awful terror and hopelessness, Jesus identifies himself saying, “Take courage!  It is I.  Don’t be afraid.”  He then climbs into the boat with them, and the storm ceases, making the deep waters calm again.  Stunned with amazement, the disciples were speechless, having just experienced a truth about Jesus that we all need to learn and experience.

This is more than simply a story of what Jesus once did on a stormy night many years ago in far-off Palestine.  It is the story and truth of what he always does for his people when they are caught in life’s storms with contrary winds and in danger of being overwhelmed.

The truth about Jesus that this story confirms is that in all times of difficult and stormy life events, we do not struggle alone, for Jesus is watching and praying for us.   And when the storm becomes severe and terrifying, Jesus comes, walking across and on top of the raging storm in our life, and with his calm and strong voice bids us to “Take courage!  It is I.  Don’t be afraid.”

Yes, I have experienced it to be true.  In our most desperate moments Jesus comes to us in the midst of the storm.  He doesn’t begin by overruling the forces of nature or of evil that threaten us, but instead he comes, first calling us to look up, to see the reality of His presence and not be afraid.  Then he climbs into the situation with us and calms the raging sea of turmoil around us.

When it is the darkest, He comes.  When we are the weariest, He comes.  When the sea is so wide and our boat is so small and the storms of life are raging, He comes.  When we’re up a creek with no paddle, and even if we had a paddle our arms are too tired to hold it, He comes.  When it’s too dark to see, or worst yet, too dark to hope, Jesus comes.  He comes, and his presence quiets our fears and doubts.

Some of the most assuring words we can hear in the midst of any frightening, exhausting experience are the words of Jesus, “Take courage!  It is I.  Don’t be afraid.”  He comes to calm our greatest fears with a pledge of his unshakable, ever-loving, almighty presence, as recorded in Hebrews 13:5, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

His presence reassures us.  His presence is our comfort and strength.  The psalmist testifies, “Even though I walk through the valley of (shadowy, threatening) death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4).

O Lord Jesus, please come by here?  We need you now.  Some are weary from struggling, some are fearful, some have given up hope, many are crying.  O Lord, come by here.

Read Mark 10:46-52

As Jesus and his disciples, along with a large crowd, leave Jericho on their way to Jerusalem, there was a blind man, Bartimaeus, sitting by the roadside begging for money.  Hearing a noisy crowd approaching he asked what was happening.  Being told that it was Jesus of Nazarene, he cries out, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.”  Many in the crowd rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Unfortunately, Bartimaeus has two strikes against him — he is blind, and he is begging. During Jesus’ time and culture, that was a perfect prescription for being overlooked by society.  It’s difficult for me to imagine the pain of scorn and rejection, of being considered a worthless person in society that Bartimaeus daily suffered because of his blindness.

However, this blind man sees something that no one has yet seen or declared.  For the first time, Jesus of Nazareth is publicly called the “Son of David.”  In doing so, Bartimaeus makes a declaration of faith, conviction, and confidence that this Jesus can completely heal him, physically, socially, and spiritually.

In this miracle story, it is only the sightless man who sees Jesus clearly.  Only blind Bartimaeus correctly identifies Jesus as the long-awaited “Son of David” – the promised Messiah for the world.

For me, it is so reassuring to note that Jesus heard Bartimaeus’ urgent plea, stopped, and called Bartimaeus to come to him.  Bartimaeus makes a quick response, “throwing his coat aside” (used to catch coins), “jumped to his feet” (abandons his sitting position as a beggar), “and came to Jesus” (on his own, without help).  And with amazing love and compassion, Jesus responds to the ready faith of Bartimaeus with the question, “What do you want me to do for you?”

Bartimaeus is a beggar, so he could’ve asked for a bag of gold.  He’s got no status in the community, so he could’ve asked for the respect of others.  He’s unemployed, so he could’ve asked for a job.  He’s made mistakes in life, so he could’ve asked for forgiveness.

I understand Jesus’ question, “What do you want me to do for you?”  as being open-ended, non-directive – a blank check, just waiting to be filled in.  I really wonder how I would have responded, if I were blind Bartimaeus.  How would you have responded

Bartimaeus says, “Teacher, I want to see!”  It’s a simple, straightforward request, but one that is much harder to fulfill than a plea for a job or a bag of gold, or even a place of honor in the community.

Bartimaeus makes his request, trusting Jesus to be both infinitely powerful and endlessly merciful, willing and able to fulfill his request for healing.

“Go, your faith has healed you” says Jesus.  And immediately Bartimaeus could see and follows Jesus down the road toward Jerusalem.  Bartimaeus is spontaneously enthusiastic, and I believe, in all likelihood, he is one of the cheering crowd who surrounded Jesus as he enters Jerusalem, shouting “”Hosanna! …Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David.”

Just before this encounter, in verses 35-45, James and John had asked Jesus to do for them whatever they asked.  The difference between Jesus’ response to Bartimaeus’s request and the disciples’ request is the difference between faith and ambition.  Faith, as we see in Bartimaeus, asks for needs, whereas Ambition, as we see in James and John, begs for wants.

“What do you want me to do for you?” What would be your response? What are the deepest needs that you haven’t asked Jesus or anyone else to help you with?  Does the deep darkness of fear, rejection, or loneliness – or the blindness of guilt or unbelief keep you from experiencing the healing of forgiveness, joy, and peace that Jesus offers?  How might you take a leap of faith and against all negative voices, ask for healing of mind, body, and spirit, confidently believing that Jesus will give you all that you need and more?

Jesus tells Bartimaeus, “Go, your faith has healed you.” Faith is the catalyst for asking, and asking is the key to healing!  We may not receive precisely what we want, but we can be assured that Jesus is ready to supply our need.

This story, like many others from Scripture, reveals Jesus as the compassionate, all-loving, almighty healer.  Like Bartimaeus, let us together embrace Jesus as our powerful Messiah King, and follow him with courage and confidence, knowing that he is a most trustworthy Savior.

Read John 4:4-26 

The story begins with Jesus, a Jew, seated and resting by Jacob’s well near Sychar, the capital town in Samaria.  It is about noontime and a Samaritan woman comes alone to the well to draw water for herself.  Seeing the stranger and realizing that he was a Jewish man, she hesitated, wondering why he was there, because Jewish people usually avoided contact and conversation with Samaritans.

John says in verse 4, “Now he (Jesus) had to go through Samaria.”  Palestine is only 120 miles long from north to south.  But within that 120 miles there were in the time of Jesus three definite divisions of territory.  In the extreme north was Galilee — in the extreme south was Judea — and in between was Samaria.

The quickest route from Judea to Galilee was to go through Samaria.  But there was a centuries-old feud between the Jews and the Samaritans.   The Samaritans were descendants of those Jews who had not been deported into exile and had intermarried with the heathen colonist brought in from Babylonia by the Assyrian conquerors.  And so they were looked upon by the returning Jewish exiles as unclean half-breeds of Jewish blood.   The hatred and feuding between them deepened when the Samaritans’ offer to help rebuild the temple was refused.

So the Jews would cross the Jordan River in Judea, go up the eastern side of the river to avoid Samaria, then re-cross the Jordan north of Samaria and enter Galilee.  However, this alternative route took twice as long — another three days of travel.

Jesus chose to go through Samaria, I believe, because his primary reason for coming into the world was to love the world — all of it, not just some parts of it.  His coming was to break down barriers — all barriers, not just some of them.  And so, Jesus “had to go through Samaria” because he knew and understood the spiritual thirst and yearnings of the Samaritan people.

And why did this woman come to this well, located more than a mile outside of town, when there was a good well in town — and why did she come during the hottest time of the day?  I think this woman felt deeply hurt by the resentment and rejection from her own townspeople.  She knew she was an outcast because of her immoral lifestyle, and was most likely the daily gossip at the town well.   And so, to avoid the pain and embarrassment, she walked the greater distance in the heat of the day along to get her water supply.

As the woman comes closer to the well, Jesus lifts his head and looking at her, makes a simple, unexpected request of her — “Will you give me a drink?” (v.7).   In politely asking this Samaritan woman for a drink of water, Jesus cuts through centuries of suspicion and animosity, and treats her with respect and dignity as a human being.   He treats her with respect even though he knows the immorality and emptiness she tries to hide.

The woman can only respond with undisguised amazement, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman.  How can you ask me for a drink?”  She is well aware that any self-respecting Jew would never consider even touching the water jar of a Samaritan, and most would avoid being touched by even the shadow of a Samaritan.

But it is not long before the woman who has been asked for water is addressing the thirsty traveler as “Sir” and asking him for the water he offers.  Jesus offers this morally corrupt, Samaritan woman water that can quench her deepest spiritual soul-thirst, not just for a day, but forever.   He offers her water that is continuously fresh and abundant — “a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”  He offers this woman “living water” as “the gift from God” and it is hers for the asking.

All through Scripture, water is a rich symbol of varied spiritual meanings — but always of life.  The precious physical water, coming from well or river, bringing life and beauty to the barren desert land of Jesus, had become a symbol of that everlasting spiritual water which could quench and revive the parched, dying human spirit.  So the Psalmist cries out, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.”  (Psalm 42:1).

And the Apostle John records that on the last day of the annual Jewish Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus throws out an amazing invitation to all who hear him, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.  Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”  (John 7:37-39).  Then John explains, “By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.”

This is the invitation the Samaritan woman is hearing.  And it is the invitation Jesus still gives to all whose lives are empty, barren, and thirsty.  To all who feel unloved, abused, rejected, and lonely, Jesus offers, “living water — a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 

Are you drinking living water — the ultimate thirst quencher?  It can be yours for the asking. “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’  … Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.”  (Rev. 22:17). 

Read Romans 8:28-39

We are quick to classify significant events as either “tragic” or “triumphant” based on our very limited knowledge and insight.  However, we need to admit that such simplistic classifications do not and cannot fully describe nor explain the whys and wherefores of such events.

What is so visible to us in regards to our every experience or situation in life is, in fact, so small, so miniscule, in comparison to what God knows, sees, and purposes for us.  He sees and knows the big and eternal picture of the world in which we live.  And he knows every little detail about us because he created us and breathed life and purpose into our bodies.  And so it is only reasonable to believe that his perspective of any event or situation happening to us would be much different and more accurate than ours.

The Biblical story of Jesus, from the cradle in Bethlehem to the cross in Jerusalem, has dramatically revealed to us the amazing extreme of God’s everlasting love, and gloriously confirms that God is for us.  That story is summed up in these two verses from John’s gospel – “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”  (3:16-17).   

I will always remember one of my seminary professors, J.C. Wenger, frequently saying, “The yardstick of God’s love is Golgotha.”      

In these verses from Romans 8, the apostle, Paul, inspires our thinking and response by asking two questions.  His first question is this – “What then, shall we say in response to these things?  If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (vv. 31-32).   

Paul is emphatically trying to convince us that written on the underside of every experience in our life, both the good and bad, is the holy seal of assurance, “God is for you.”  Unfortunately, some have misunderstood verse 28 and being disappointed, have become confused and discouraged.  I think it is very important to note what this verse does not say as well as what it does say;

1. It does not say God causes everything that happens. He doesn’t.
2. It does not say that everything that happens is “good.” It isn’t.
3. It does not say that all things are working for the “good” in terms of health, wealth,and success.  They are not.
4. It does not say that everything is going to work out for “good” for all people.           The truth is that God can do some things for those walking with him that he cannot    do for those running away from him.

Verse 29 clearly identifies the “good” promised in this scripture as the ability “to be conformed to the image of his Son.”  To accomplish this, God uses all things, the good and the bad, the joys and the tears, the successes and the failures to shape us into the likeness of his Son, Jesus.  And most certainly, God does not waste any events or experiences in our life and world toward accomplishing his work of transforming us into the person he created us to become.

Paul says we know this because God is for us.  Pause and think about what you just read.  God is for us,  -not “may be” -not “has been” -not “was” -not “will be” — but “God is for us.”  Can it really be so?  Today, at this very hour, this very minute and every minute, he is for us.

Paul’s second question is this – “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”  Illustrating from his personal experience of hardships and sufferings, Paul lists those things that can cause us to question God’s love for us, and emphatically declares that none of these things can ever separate us from Christ’s love.

Rather than separating us from the love of Christ, Paul declares that the love of Christ makes us “more than conquerors” over all these difficulties and sufferings.  (v.37).  In other words, our sufferings do not defeat and separate us from the love of Christ, but rather the love of Christ defeats our sufferings and strengthens our bond of relationship to him.  Truly, we are the dearly loved, adopted children of God.

In verse 38 Paul answers his own two questions, with a powerful, all-inclusive declaration regarding the love of God for us – “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  This is Paul’s testimony of faith from his own life of many very difficult, life-threatening experiences.

I know that if all I had to go on was what is visible and tangible to me in difficult and tragic events, I would soon become discouraged, afraid, and without hope.  However, as a follower of Jesus Christ I can live joyously and hopeful, in spite of these circumstances, because I have confidence in the truth and promises of Romans 8:28-39.

God is present with us every moment or every day.  He has promised “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  He is by our side cheering us on, applauding our accomplishments.  He is there to pick us up when we stumble and fall, and he puts his arms around us to comfort us when we hurt and cry.  God is always for us, and in every situation of life working for our good.  Thanks be to God!

Read Mark 1:9-13

Because of unexpected and difficult circumstances or events that come into our life, we sometimes find ourselves in a scary wilderness of physical, emotional, and spiritual testings, where wild animals threaten to separate us from a trusting relationship with our Father God.

Jesus’ wilderness experience immediately followed his baptism with water and the powerful affirmation from heaven of who he was: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”  I believe this must have been a very reassuring moment of encouragement for Jesus as he begins his ministry.

But then Mark says that “At once the Spirit sent him out (compelled Jesus to go) into the wilderness, and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with wild animals, and angels attended (took care of) him.”

No one chooses to journey into difficult and troubling wilderness experiences.  Not even Jesus.  However, wilderness experiences are a part of being human in a world of evil.  Many different and unfortunate events may cause us much pain and suffering.  During these difficult times of uncertainty we may struggle with inner feelings of being forsaken and unloved.  Many would describe these times as being very desolate, lonely, agonizing, and scary.

The wild beasts of anxieties and fear crouch in the brush nearby, ready to pounce and strangle us emotionally and physically.  The wild creatures of various temptations slither around waiting for the opportunity to strike with their deadly poisons.  And the vultures of doubt and despair circle overhead, waiting to devour whatever hope we are still clinging to.

I think I can say with certainty that all difficult wilderness experiences have their wild animals.  They threaten us.  They challenge our Christian faith, our moral and spiritual values, and our belief and trust in a loving, caring Father God.

The good news is that our loving, caring Father God is present with us and strengthens us to confront and overcome the threats these wild animals of the wilderness throw at us.

Mark says, “He (Jesus) was with the wild animals.”  And then he says “and angels attended him.”  Both the Hebrew and Greek words translated as “angel” mean “messenger.”  And so these angels are God’s messengers of hope, providing encouragement and strength when he needed it most.

And so he is with us.  We are not alone in the wilderness.  God’s angels are there providing the strength and reassurance we need to remain confident of God’s ever-loving care and provision for us, and journey through the wilderness experience with increased faith and trust in him.

The apostle Paul wrote our of his own wilderness experience, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but now destroyed.” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9).

The writer of Hebrews teaches us that Jesus Christ is our great High Priest – a high priest who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses and who in every respect has be tested as we are, yet without sin.  He then says, “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16).

Jesus understands the wilderness and its wild beasts.  Jesus understands our loneliness and despair, because Jesus has already been there and in every way stressed and tested even as we are.  And he is with us in our wilderness journey, promising never to leave us nor forsake us.

Thanks be to God!

Read Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18

In concluding my blog last week, I stated that many persons struggle with low self-esteem and worthlessness, largely because they never heard nor experienced God’s dignifying affirmation through the human beings that work, play, and worship with them.  I should have also said that most, if not all, of us do experience feelings of low self-esteem at certain times in our lives.

That’s why I recommend reading Psalm 139 frequently and listening closely to God speaking your name and telling you why and how he loves and cares for you every moment of every day.

This psalm is a prayer in which the psalmist, David, is astounded by how thoroughly and intimately the Lord knows him.  God’s presence with him at all times and in every circumstance is more than he can comprehend – but it gives him a grand sense of self-worth, inner security and comfort.

In this prayer, David declares the following dignity-filled truths about God’s relationship with us.

God knows me (v.1-4).  Yes, God is like a doctor giving us a physical exam; a psychiatrist exploring our inner selves; or an intimate friend who probes us until we reveal all.  As a result, God knows us thoroughly and completely – even our deepest and most secret thoughts and desires, both the good and bad.

He knows what we think about people.  He knows our motives as we engage in conversation with others. He knows the path we take through the day, each pause, and each detour.  When trouble comes, God knows!   When life is joyous and delightful, God knows!   There is nothing we do, say, or think that is hidden from God.

Although we might at times feel that God’s knowledge and involvement in our lives is a little too invasive, too uncomfortable, David finds it to be a joyous comfort and encouragement particularly during the difficult times in his life.

God surrounds me (v.5-6).  God not only knows our whereabouts and thoughts, He also protects us from harm.  Wherever we go, God is there surrounding us with protection, and abundantly providing for our needs.  Like a human father, God goes before us preparing our way and behind us guiding and encouraging us onward in our life journey.  He is always present in our personal moments with fatherly care and concern.

It is so mind-boggling for me to think that God would know me as He does, that God would be as involved in the specifics of my daily living as He is, that I say with David, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand.” (v.6). 

God created me (v.13-16).  David acknowledges that the God who knows him so intimately is also the God who wonderfully created and fashioned him in his mother’s womb and now lovingly cares for him.  He knows us the way a painter knows his picture, or a sculptor knows his statue.  He remembers each little detail of his work in shaping us into the special person we are – a unique image of himself.

This amazing truth really comforts and encourages me; because it affirms and reassures me we are not an accident of nature or evolution.  We are not a mistake in God’s great scheme of things.  There is a holy, grandiose reason and purpose created into each one us. Our life, our soul, our human self is filled with the very breath of Almighty God.  With David we say, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

God thinks about me (v.17-18).  Not only does God think about us as he is forming us in our mother’s womb, he also is thinking about us as we are being shaped and fashioned beyond the womb. Moment by moment, day after day, we are in his thoughts as he watches over us.  David says that his thoughts of us outnumber the sand itself – impossible to count.

As amazing as it is – as unlikely or even as impossible as it might seem – imagine this; you and me are known by and in relationship with the Holy, Almighty God, high and lifted up, who is completely beyond our understanding, our thinking – and yet comes down to care, provide and lead us individually as his treasured, unique, and special creation – his own beloved child.

David concludes is prayer of praise with, “When I awake, I am still with you.”   David takes comfort in being able to rely on God’s safekeeping – falling asleep in the presence of God and waking up in the presence of God.  And so can we.

In her book of meditations on the Psalms, “I’m Lonely, Lord – HOW LONG?” Marva J. Dawn concludes her meditation on this psalm with these words.  “Truly this picture of ourselves, marvelously designed, made with his tender care, should fill us with dignity and self-worth.  We don’t have to win God’s approval; we had it even before we were born.  We don’t have to prove our worth; he wove it together.  We don’t have to impress him with our goodness; he just wants to show us his.” (p.156).

 I wholeheartedly agree.  I leave you with this question to ponder, “What do you think God was thinking on the day you were created?  What beautiful and attractive things, what grand and perfect things, was God thinking and planning for you while He was putting you together in your mother’s womb – and what is he thinking about you even now as he continues to shape you by the experiences of the past week and year?

Read Jeremiah 1:4-8

 “Dignity” is defined as “inherent nobility and worth; the state or quality of being worthy of respect” in our dictionaries, but seems to have been far removed from our daily thought and practice.  When it comes to the practice of affirming and protecting the dignity of others, it seems our society has largely lost its heart and way.  We find it so easy and, sadly, popular to “trash” those we don’t like or with whom we disagree.  Political conversations have deteriorated into such sickening trash talking about opponents that any possibility of learning truthful facts about a person or situation is almost non-existent.  Unfortunately, this childish, prejudiced, and disrespectful name-calling has become the normal character of our American culture in both secular and religious arenas.

For that reason, I urgently invite us all to hear again God’s word to Jeremiah and reclaim the dignity with which God created and gave birth to each and every one of us.

God was about to send Jeremiah as a prophet into a culture that had lost all reverence for human life.  They were corrupting themselves with the most flagrant disregard for human dignity.  In calling Jeremiah to this unglamorous and frightening lifework as prophet to his own people, he said, “I formed you in the womb.” 

With our small and limited understandings we imagine our conception as only a biological event between our parents.  Yet God’s words to Jeremiah should cause us to rethink the deeper truths surrounding the origins and purposes of our birth into this world.

In pondering these words, we learn that you and I are created and formed with a divine glory which is infinitely more than just being biological children of humankind. The Psalmist acknowledges this glory when he praises God, saying “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Ps. 139:13-14)

But listen carefully as you reread God’s words to Jeremiah.  Our conception and birth is not our real beginning of existence, nor will our death be the end.  God said, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.”

Wow!  What a mind-boggling, heart-stirring thought for us to ponder.  Think about it.  Before the day and moment of our conception, God knew us.  God dignified us by thinking and calling us into existence.  God names you and me in his mind and dignifies each of us with a special purpose and plan.  It’s hard to imagine that even before our mothers lovingly cradled us in their arms, God wrapped his greater arms around us and whispered his uniquely designed purpose and plan into each of our soon-to-be created selves.

Again the Psalmist acknowledges this glorious truth in his praise to God, “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.  How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!” (Ps. 139:16-17)

Such awesome truth lifts our eyes to a loving God and brings healing to our discouraged and downcast spirits. This is good news indeed, but there is more.  If this is true and believe it is, then there follows another, possibly more difficult truth, which is equally important to accept and live out in our relationship with others.

The true reality is that what God did in bringing me and you into existence, he does for every other human being in our world.  It is important that we let this truth continually permeate the deepest recesses of our minds and hearts in all or our relationships and conversations.  For if we don’t, it becomes easy to not accept and dignify their God-given personhood.

In my years of ministry as pastor and chaplain, I’ve encountered many individuals who do not live up to the dignity God instilled in them at their birth.  And neither do they live up to God’s purpose, plan, and potential for them.  And I have also ministered to many who struggle with a low self-esteem and worthlessness, largely because they never heard nor experienced God’s dignifying affirmation through the human beings that work, play, and worship with them.  Do you hear me?

I sincerely believe we can change our churches, communities, and world by resolving to be more earnest in our efforts to dignify the personhood of all others in our conversations and actions regardless of their race, religion, politics, or nationality, even as our creator God does.

My name is Ray Geigley and I am enjoying retirement as pastor and chaplain.  I was ordained a Mennonite pastor in June 1966,  and pastored four different congregations until May 1993.  During this time I graduated from Goshen Biblical Seminary, Goshen, IN, and also completed Clinical Pastoral Education at Philhaven Hospital, Lebanon, PA.

In June, 1993, I began serving as a chaplain and Director of Pastoral Care at Menno Haven Retirement Community, Chambersburg, PA, until retirement in October 2013.  I also served on the Brook Land Board of Directors for 18 years, and as Board Chair for 9 of those years.  Brook Lane is a multi-site facility providing a continuum of both inpatient and outpatient mental health services, and various related educational and training opportunities for the community.

I graduated from Lancaster Mennonite School 1957, and married my classmate, Dorothy Shue, two years later.  We were blessed with 1 son and 3 daughters.  Our son died suddenly at age 23 with a heart attack while playing soccer.  This was a life crisis that dramatically changed our family and my relationship with God and significantly reshaped my pastoral ministry.

It is my hope and prayer that in writing this blog I may in some measure refresh and encourage my readers by sharing from my experiences as a father, pastor and chaplain, those understandings from biblical scriptures that I have found to be helpful in deepening my relationship with Jesus, “the sun of righteousness” – and which continue to lead and nourish me toward a daily healing of mind,  body, spirit, and enables me to sleep well and awake each morning, ready to “go  out and frolic like well-fed calves.”