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Point of Reference

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Malachi 3:6

Once, in reply to a delegation of bank presidents who urged whether it was not time to give up all thought of the Union, President Abraham Lincoln told the following story:

"When I was a young man in Illinois I boarded for a time with the deacon of a Presbyterian church. One night I was aroused from my sleep by a rap at the door, and I heard the deacon's voice exclaiming, 'Arise Abraham! The Day of Judgment has come!' I sprang from my bed and rushed to my window, and saw stars falling in great showers; but, looking back of them in the heavens, I saw the grand old constellations, with which I was so well acquainted, fixed and true in their places. Gentlemen, the world did not come to an end then, nor will the Union now."

As Abraham Lincoln proves it is a good thing to be able to get your bearings in a world that is constantly turning and churning from some fixed points of reference. Life is forever in flux and therefore you and I need anchor points that will steady our faith and calm our nerves.

Reference point number one is the person of God. In a world that changes by the minute we can focus our faith on the immutable nature of God (Mal. 3:6). God does not atrophy or age (Psa. 102:24-27). His love for us is unchanging (Rom. 8:35-39). His mercies toward us are new every day (Lam. 3:22-23). As A. W. Tozer notes: "God cannot change for the better, for He is perfect and being perfect, He cannot change for the worse."

Reference point number two is the promise of God. In a world of broken promises and shattered dreams, we can focus our faith on the eternal word of God (Matt. 24:35). The psalmist tells us that God’s word is forever settled in heaven (Psa. 119:89). God's Word never ceases to be true, trustworthy or timely. It has been said that a man with a Bible could stay in a cave for a year and at the end of that time he could know (from his reading) what everybody else in the world was doing.

Reference point number three is the providence of God. In a world that is spinning out of control we can focus our faith on the unstoppable will of God (Eph. 1:11). Whatever man does, God does something with it, even that which does not conform to His moral will (Prov. 16:9; 19:21; 21:1, 30-31). God has His providential hand in the tiller of history. God's sovereignty is the Christian's North Star. Whatever is going on in this or your world always remember that God, His Word and His plan are still in their places!