Skip to main content

Gibraltar

 

Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal. (Isaiah 26:4)

          Today’s passage comes from the Bible website I use. I decided to go with it because I struggle so much with the issue of trust. If you are of a certain age, the phrase the Rock eternal might being to mind a logo of an insurance company. It’s the Rock of Gibraltar. Now, if you’re like me, you may have thought Prudential chose this logo because it’s a huge rock and rocks are strong and steady. I learned this morning that’s not why.

          Toward the end of the Revolutionary War in America, Spain decided to “help” American independence by joining France in a war against England in Europe. The blunt truth of the matter was that they wanted to take some real estate away from the British who had occupied it. Helping the Americans, well, that was just another way to bloody King George’s nose. The siege began in 1779 and ended in 1783. The Spaniards didn’t do a great job because at least two shipments made it to the rock to resupply the British. Eventually, the French joined in the siege, but even together, they failed to capture the rock. It was the longest continuous siege in history, at least in terms of physical warfare. And I was today years old when I learned this.

          The analogy that Scripture suggests is that God is like Gibraltar. Throw everything you have at Him and you may as well have dumped it overboard. Those who build on that Rock aren’t free from attack. They are besieged, but not defeated. It’s not that survival is easy, it’s that the Rock makes it possible.

          Of course, it’s reasonable to ask what would have happened if the British had not trusted in Gibraltar. The most obvious answers are that they would have tried to flee to England (and possibly been captured or killed,) or they would have surrendered (with the same results.) It wouldn’t have mattered how much protection Gibraltar afforded if they had not trusted it.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Shepherd!

                 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep . (John 10:14) God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Genesis 3:14) The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths     for his name’s sake. Even though I walk     through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,     for you are with me; your rod and your staff,     they comfort me. (Psalm 23:1-4) For the Jews, it was politically incorrect to make claims about yourself as a teacher (or possibly as anything else.) Teachers were expected to take pride in the...
Post a Comment
Read more