Graphic: Martha G. Brady
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This past week, the words of this Benediction, “He is able to keep you from stumbling”, were brought home to me in a very concrete way. Ron briefly lost consciousness while dressing after his shower. and crashed to the floor, with his nose taking the brunt of the blow! I wish I had been able to keep him from stumbling. But I was in another room. God isn’t limited by any of my limitations. I’m so glad.
With anyone, the swelling and bruising of the face will be bad, but in someone who takes blood thinners, it is really a mess! It was surprising Ron didn’t have more than simply a broken nose. He was very fortunate.
Of course, we had an ER run, lots of waiting while there for results, and a 24 hour admission so they could follow through on the cause of his syncope. Just about 24 hours after we entered the ER, we left, thankful that he had no brain bleeding from the hit.
He is recovering well. Actually, that kind of thing takes some recovery for both of us. That massive surge of adrenaline is pretty draining afterward. I was glad we had no plans this weekend. The swelling is down and the purples are turning to reds, greens and magentas. He looks a bit like the Lone Ranger with a purple mask around his eyes instead of a black one!
He is able to keep you from stumbling
But back to my Benediction for today. It has taken on new meaning.
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling
and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy,
to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord,
be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority,
before all time and now and forever. Amen.Jude 1:24-25 ESV
I have been thinking about all the times over the years when God has kept me from stumbling spiritually and figuratively, falling on my face like my husband did, causing injury not only to myself, but to His reputation. It’s not that I have never failed Him. I have…plenty. But I know there have been many times He has kept me from stumbling too. He has protected me from blurting out things I shouldn’t, or brought kind things to my mind that were genuine and from Him.
Of course, there are many stumbles I have no idea about, that He has kept me from as He has been about the work of sanctifying me, preparing me for the day I will stand before Him.
We get a quick snapshot of how huge God is
What a picture we have here of this God. Yes, He is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But He is One God who is present with us. Somehow, we will be presented to God the Father through the perfect merits of Jesus Christ.
Our God is glorious, majestic, He has dominion and authority over everything. I suspect that being in His presence will absolutely take our breath away as well as be rather scary in a truly awe some way!
I imagine everything will be on such a grand scale beyond anything we can imagine, yet we will somehow have an intimate knowledge of Him too. I don’t think we will have the feeling of being lost in the crowd.
There is so much to think about in this benediction, isn’t there?
ChangePoint: Think about and jot down:
- The work God is doing in you as He keeps you from stumbling and presents you blameless to the Father. Write down what that would look like in your everyday life.
- Who this God is and what He is like? How does it affect the way you interact with Him?
