Withdraw Your Hand

I woke this morning with a line of one of my favorite poems running through my head.

“I'm needing a 'yes,' a go-ahead sign.
or even a 'no,' to which I'll resign."

I chuckled to myself, “Boy, what I wouldn’t give for a set of rocks right now."

During some of the earliest turning points in Israel’s history, the High Priest used gemstones called Urim and Thummim to determine God’s will in “yes” or “no” situations. While the nature and exact usage of these stones aren’t altogether clear… and at first sight the practice appears to be nothing more than hocus-pocus, I really fancy the whole notion.

The rendition of this “system” in 1 Samuel 14:19 is priceless. As the commotion began to rise around them, Saul requested for the priest to “withdraw his hand.” In essence they were taking the decision out of their own grasp and turning it over to God.

Physically letting go of something concrete seems a lot easier then emotionally letting go of an abstraction. The surrender process is different. In case one, I can recognize when I am picking the “thing” back up. In case two, the boundaries are not as clear. But maybe it is in this not knowing that faith rises.

The poem I mentioned earlier concludes this way:

“He seemed then to kneel and His eyes met with mine
and He tenderly said "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.

I could give all you seek and pleased you would be.
You'd have what you want, but you wouldn't know Me.
You'd not know the depth of My love for each saint.
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint.

You'd not learn to see through the clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there.
You'd not know the joy of resting in Me
when darkness and silence are all that you can see.

You'd never experience the fullness of love
when the peace of My Spirit descends like a dove.
You would know that I give and I save for a start
but you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

The glow of My comfort late into the night,
the faith that I give when you walk without sight.
The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask
form and infinite God who makes what you have last.

You'd never know should your pain quickly flees,
what it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.
Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,
but, oh, the loss, if you missed what I'm doing in you.

So, be silent, my child and in time you will see
that the greatest of gifts is to truly know me.
And though oft My answer seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still wait.”