Psalm 90: 14, 17 “Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love….establish the work of our hands for us—yes, establish the work of our hands.”
My friend Frank liked to say everyone in the world is searching for two things: to know someone loves them and that their life has purpose. Moses would agree. In Psalm 90 he asks the Lord to show Israel his unfailing love and establish the work of their hands. He prayed for God’s mercy to show up in the midst of their human frailty. They were worthy of neither love nor a sense of purpose, but Moses asked. And God answered. He’s still answering.
It may be disguised in a number of ways, but I believe these two longings lie at the core of each of us. It’s the way God created us. He made us to be loved. He made us to have meaning. Once we realize it in our own lives, we can’t help but want everyone else to discover it for themselves. That was the case with my friend.
Frank lived what he preached. He would strike up conversations with complete strangers to communicate God’s love. He reached out to people others deemed unreachable. Nowhere was the work of Frank’s hands more “established” than in Nicaragua where he relayed his message to orphanages, schools and churches. He obeyed God’s call to the end. The massive stroke that recently took Frank’s life occurred while he was serving in Nicaragua. His mission of bringing love and hope to the poor, abandoned and seeking was completed.
Frank’s message that no one is unloved or worthless rings true in the heart of every believer. Those who think their failures disqualify them from receiving anything from God have an incomplete view of him. Of course they don’t deserve his love and purpose, but who does? Not me. Not you. But when we come to him with humble, repentant hearts, we find we can pray the same way Moses did— asking God to grant us what we were created for.
I don’t know where you might be right now. But I pray no matter what your circumstance, God will satisfy you today with his unfailing love and establish the work of your hands. Can you say, Amen?