For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
from those whose walk is blameless.
- Psalm 84:11
Rosh HaShanah this year will begin tonight, at sundown.
According to the Hebrew calendar, this is the year 5775, ayin he. The fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet is written this way:
It stands for grace.
As I meditate on the significance of this day, I want to focus on a few simple thoughts.
Abba Father, in this new year, is ready to pour out His grace upon our lives. But an emptying is required.
Just as Abram was at the end of his hopes for the promised son to become a reality, God meets him, and inserts he at the middle of his name. And Abram receives a new name, Abraham.
With the change of name, he is given a change of identity, and calling.
This year, I say to Abba Father, I am ready to advance and to move forward. Another level of emptying is required for this to happen.
Dying to self... my own goals and dreams for self-fulfillment... that God's kingdom purposes for me may be given room.
I embrace Psalm 84... as a pilgrim going through the Valley of Baca, with a heart that is hungry for more of God, I will transform it into a place of nourishment and fertility.
My Abba Father is a sun and shield...
He bestows favor and honor...
No good thing does He withhold from those whose walk is blameless.
These two quotes speak powerfully to me this morning:
We too are called to withdraw at certain intervals
into deeper silence and aloneness with God...
to be alone with Him--
not with our books, thoughts, and memories,
but completely stripped ove everything--
to dwell lovingly in His presence,
silent, empty, expectant, and motionless.
We cannot find God in noise or agitation.
-Teresa of Calcutta
If you're brave enough to leave behind everything familiar and comforting,
which can be anything from your house to bitter, old resentments,
and set out on a truth-seeking journey,
either externally or internally,
and if you are willing to regard everything that happens to you
on that journey as a clue,
and if you can accept everyone you meet along the way
as a teacher,
and if you are prepared, most of all,
to face and forgive some very difficult realities about yourself,
then the truth will not be withheld from you.
-Elizabeth Gilbert
