* It Wasn't Me

Who has ascended into heaven, or descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has bound the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son’s name, If you know? Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.

Proverbs 30:4-5 NKJV

Have you ever noticed how many people when asked a question that begins Who did… will respond with, It wasn’t me.  Often, it’s not even about anyone being in trouble or catching the blame. It’s just a simple quest for information - Who did whatever. Well, I got a new perspective on that today.

Have you ever had one of those days when nothing seems to go well? By mid-day, you’re asking yourself why you are where you are, doing what you’re doing because you don’t see how any of what you’re doing is working for anyone’s good. And doing this mundane, inane task can’t possibly have any eternal effect, etc…  That was my day today. And just when I was ready to be less than gracious about it – at just that precise moment, I received an e-mail anecdote about a woman who lost a contact lens.

You’ve probably read it before. The gist of the story was a lady, climbing a mountain, lost her contact lens and couldn’t find it on her clothes or on the ledge where she was. She felt scared because she was halfway up the mountain and her vision was then blurry, so she prayed for God to help her find it. She did not find it where she dropped it, but she made it to the top, and came all the way back down the mountain without the lens. The story goes that at the base of the mountain, a climber in a different group jokingly asked if anyone had lost a contact lens because they’d found a contact lens being carried by an ant. The tale continues with the statement that her father was a cartoonist. When she told him the incredible story of the ant, the prayer, and the contact lens, he drew a picture of an ant lugging that contact lens with the caption, Lord, I don't know why You want me to carry this thing. I can't eat it, and it's awfully heavy. But if this is what You want me to do, I'll carry it for You.

Now, no one has proven that particular story to be true, but most of us could tell something similar in principle that HAS happened in our own life. And that’s where I got the new perspective… When we come face to face with the wonder-working, amazing faithfulness of God, we have to say, It wasn’t me…

Do you know who Agur is? Do you know his father, Jakeh? Me, neither, before today. Stick with me, I’m going somewhere with this. You’ll remember that names were given because of their meaning back in the Old Testament – well, Jakeh means pious – devout, moral, dutiful. The ONLY mention of this devout, moral, dutiful man is that he was the father of Agur, and that is all that is known of him.

Agur means gatherer; or the collector – I have no idea what he gathered or collected, and neither does anyone else because nothing is known of him beyond what is recorded in Proverbs, chapter 30. However, Agur and Jakeh are not just mentioned in that chapter; Agur wrote Proverbs, chapter 30. The chapter is subtitled, The sayings of Agur, so maybe he just collected sayings and his form of riddles about things for which he didn’t know the answer.

I don’t want you to think he was having a tough day or questioning why he was where he was, doing what he was doing because he didn’t see how any of what he was doing was worth anything, but verse 2 reads, Surely I am more stupid than any man, and do not have the understanding of a man.

And here’s the wonder-working, amazing faithfulness of God. Agur and his devout father, Jakeh, have a place in the book of Proverbs which is generally understood to be the book of wisdom to live by, contained in the living Word of God.

Who has ascended into heaven, or descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has bound the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son’s name? It wasn’t me…

So today, when I was asking myself why, I realized, It wasn’t me…  Thank God.

Prayer:

Father,

Lots of times, I don't know why. I may not be able to see any good in it – I can’t eat it and it's awfully heavy. But, if You want me to, I will. Because when You looked for the perfect sacrifice to atone for my sin, it wasn’t me. And when the veil that separated us from You was stripped away, it wasn’t me who did it. But it was (and is) me who desperately needed a way to be cleansed from my sin. And it was (and is) me who was SO not worthy of Your mercy and Your grace. Father, if there is anything that can be done with these human hands to accomplish Your will, let it be me. In Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen