So, How Long Is Forever?
I’ve recently finished writing a second installment of a
story based on the dramatic, faith-filled lives of Wayne’s grandparents,
Gabriel and Nanajan Shabaz. It is
entitled, “Gabriel in Gary”.
As I was finishing “Gabriel in
Gary” I enjoyed a precious reading of Psalm 136. As I read it aloud, which is often an
effective way of reading the psalms, I saw how it dove-tailed beautifully with “GIG.” So, here’s an introduction to the remarkable story
for your reading pleasure.
There are twenty-six verses in Psalm 136 and twenty-six times the phrase, “his steadfast love endures forever” is stated. I can’t personally vouch for “forever,” but having just gone through some very old family pictures I’ve been reminded of the testimonies of my grandparents and great-grandparents that would declare emphatically that the “steadfast love of the Lord endures.” So, I can say with great assurance that God’s steadfast love has endured at least since 1890.
Gratefully, the psalmist gives us
more substantiation for “forever.” After
giving thanks, always a good approach to the good God of gods and Lord of lords,
the writer draws attention to a few of God’s wondrous accomplishments—the
heavens, the earth, the sun, moon, and stars.
All wonders I admittedly take for granted.
Wayne and I have been taking our daily
walk after dark and I’m so impressed with the beauty of the night sky. We are in a place where there isn’t much
ambient light, so the stars and moon are really all you get, and they are
breath-taking. I was particularly aware
during the new phase of the moon how absolutely dark the sky and our street
were. It seemed an unusually long time (of
course it wasn’t) before that waxing crescent appeared. What a difference even
the smallest sliver of moon made! Until
it was missing, though, I didn’t realize how much I take the moon for
granted. I guess that is because it has
been there forever.
The sun, also, is an enduring wonder,
set so perfectly in the sky. Any minor
deviations in the positioning of the sun would make the earth uninhabitable.
Therefore, the sun is a tangible demonstration of not only forever, but
also of steadfast love.
The psalmist then recounts how God’s steadfast
love endured in his interaction and provision for Israel—the exodus from
Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, the care of the people through the long
years in the wilderness and the establishment of their own nation. Here I joined the psalmist in personalizing
God’s enduring steadfast love to my own life journey.
He brought me out of the bondage of
sin and daily keeps me from that captivity.
His steadfast love endures forever.
The many times where there did not
seem to be a positive solution to my dilemma and He made a way through and with
the most unexpected, improbable circumstances.
His
steadfast love endures forever.
When I thought I would be swallowed
up in my poor choices and bad decisions, He turned it all into a rich
experience, one to tell the next generation.
His
steadfast love endures forever.
Living through wilderness experiences
with the future unknown and the present bleak, He always provided what was
needed physically and emotionally.
His
steadfast love endures forever.
Aggressive enemies of fear,
disillusionment, disappointment, anxiety, and apostasy have had their distorted
tongues cut out and their teeth broken in the presence of God while I remained standing
and shouting:
His
steadfast love endures forever.
I aligned my own journey with what I
was reading in Psalm 136. But also, and
perhaps more notably, I thought of others who are currently butted up against a
Red Sea, traversing a wilderness, living in unanticipated consequences, or taunted
by the adversary of their soul.
That brings
us back to Gabriel & Nanajan. Their story is phenomenal, traumatic,
faith-filled, and dramatic enough to write itself and very applicable to
today’s challenges. With resounding
voices, Gabriel and Nanajan join the great cloud of witnesses declaring to us:
It is He who remembered us in our low estate, for his
steadfast love endures forever; and rescued us from our foes, for his steadfast
love endures forever; He who gives food to all flesh, for his steadfast love
endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love
endures forever.
Are you
ready to see how this truth was demonstrated so powerfully in and through Gabriel
& Nanajan Shabaz? Let me know and I’ll be honored to share a link to “Gabriel
in Gary” with you. If you also want “Nanajan” which gives
the backstory for “Gabriel in Gary” I’ll send that along as well.
