Rev. Peter C. de Vries, Ph.D. has served Old Union since November 1993.
To learn more about Rev. Dr. de Vries, go to FaceBook, Linked-In, or his blog.
FROM THE PASTOR
“Your path led through the sea,
your way through the mighty waters,
though your footprints were not seen.” (Psalm 77:19)
One of the things I enjoy about live theater, perhaps more than the actors themselves, is the stagecraft. (Maybe it’s because I was on stage crew in high school.) People work behind the scenes to pull off audience-pleasing effects. They dart out, dressed all in black, when the lights are darkened between scenes, to reset the stage. A good theatrical crew member is invisible, never seen or noticed by the people in the seats.
Similarly, movie production crews don’t want you to be able to tell the difference between live action and computer-generated images (or CGIs). If the dragon seems as real as the Hollywood superstar riding on its back, the animators have accomplished their goal. They don’t want people to realize that they’ve done anything at all.
Just like God.
The author of Psalm 77 describes his distress about feeling separated from the Lord. He remembers his “songs in the night” and joy that God had brought into his life. But now that joy is gone. Had God forgotten him? Had the Lord rejected and abandoned him in anger? Eventually he finds consolation by remembering “the deeds of the Lord,” and his miracles from long ago. Recalling God’s faithful actions in the past gives him the confidence in God’s continuing care and guidance that he needs to persevere. Even though he can not feel the Lord’s power in his life, he knows that it is real.
Psalm 77 offers an encouraging perspective for those times when God seems absent. When the psalmist considers God’s powerful actions in the past, he remembers how he parted the Red Sea to lead the Israelites out of captivity in Egypt. As the 19th verse puts it, God’s path led through the sea, even though his “footprints were not seen.”
As I read this verse, I recognize how God is invisibly at work during the times when he feels distant from me, and when his love seems as remote as a favorite song from long ago. God has not rejected me or abandoned me. He is not too busy keeping the universe spinning to remember little puny insignificant me. I am never puny or insignificant or forgotten in the eyes of God. And neither are you. He is working mighty deeds and powerful actions all around us, all the time. His blessings are present every moment of every day, and he pours his love upon us like the waters of Niagara Falls. God does great things, but his footprints are not always seen.
You may not see God’s footprints in your life. But he is acting in power to show his love and to change your life.
Peter
Old Union Presbyterian Church | 200 Union Church Road, Mars, PA 16046
724-538-8672 | OldUnionChurch@gmail.com
724-538-8672 | OldUnionChurch@gmail.com