We have just come out of Tisha B’Av on the Jewish calendar, a season that has held challenge, great pain, and extraordinary difficulty for the Jewish people throughout the centuries. I don’t know if it is just me, but somehow, it seems that oftentimes around this time of year, my pressures and stress and challenges are greater than usual. This year has certainly been no exception!

As I was thinking about the struggle of the Jewish people, even up to today, even while trying to cope with my own stresses and struggles, my heart was drawn to Psalm 139.

1 O LORD, you have searched me and you know me 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. 5 You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

There is this great line “you hem me in”. I used to take comfort in that line….the picture that I got in it was a young child being “tucked in” at bedtime. But actually, there is a completely different meaning to this word. Tsur, ("hem in" in Hebrew) means to bind, confine, besiege, put in bonds...

So wait a minute! Is the Bible saying that GOD does these things to us? Isn’t He the one who is supposed to deliver us? Heal us? Save us from trouble?

Isaiah 54 is this incredibly comforting passage, speaking of God’s protection and peace. But then, in the midst of it talks about God being the Creator (or Allow-er, depending on your theology, but the end result is the same thing!) of these challenging things…GOD creates the "destroyer to work havoc"...

Isaiah 54:16 "See, it is I who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its work. And it is I who have created the destroyer to work havoc; 17 no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me," declares the LORD.

I think that once we wrestle through the confusion of this, and begin to really see that whatever we are walking through is not about “that” or “them” or “this problem”…it is really about God, going deep in us, allowing (or even creating) the fire of painful circumstance to burn so that on the other side of it, we have been made into something new, something better, something more than we were before.

Life is hard. Pain goes deep. But God is good. And He loves us enough to not leave us who we were. He is Lord of the flood, Lord of the storm. He is Lord of everything you and I are going through right now. And if we will LET Him be Lord in it, He will work “all things” for our good. Even Tisha B’Av.

As you know, Eagles Wings has a strong commitment to the NYC region. Gary Frost is the recently appointed President of Concerts of Prayer Greater New York. This organization networks hundreds of churches in the greater NYC region for prayer and cooperation in touching NYC with the love of God.

So, today I join the Blogosphere.

Hmm….

I am excited to blog, honestly….I enjoy people, communicating, learning, growing. I hope blogging can be a part of that journey. I am blessed to be able to meet a lot of interesting people in a lot of interesting places and contexts, and I am glad to have an opportunity to share some of those experiences and people with you.

It is hard to know what “tone” to strike with the blog. Is it a casual diary of daily thoughts? Or a thought out, planned release of strategic, prepared information?

Am I shooting the breeze or “branding” myself?

Something tells me this will be more of the former…or I will never get any blogs written. I don’t have time to parse every sentence and thought. So – disclaimer – what I put out on the blog will not be “official” position / theology / politics, etc. I will revise and modify as we go along. I am thinking of it as a running conversation, and I hope you will too.

Some of this will be writing…but some will be video. I bought a little “Flip Camera” and am enjoying learning that.

And – I hope to keep these pretty short. I know you are really busy, and hope you can drop by for just a few minutes.

So – here we go! Thanks for stopping by…I will see you soon…drop me a message…follow me on Twitter…and I hope to hear from you or see you soon!

Robert