You Prepare a Table..
I read a quote that has stuck with me. It says, “God does two things with tables: He turns them…and He prepares them.” In the uncertainty and unknown of the current season that all humanity is in with the COVID-19 virus, there is no better time for God to turn this table around…or to prepare a table in the presence of an enemy with the face of a disease.
All of humanity, Christian or not is not exempt from waiting. We’re all waiting- waiting to see what becomes of this virus, the economy, our jobs, our future plans. We’ve all become humble, because let’s face it- we’re making this up as we go. We’ve never faced anything like this before, but that’s the beautiful thing about the human experience. It’s the things that tear us apart that bring us together as one world.
I want to take some time to write about the concept of the table. If you’ve read my devotional, Heaven’s Kitchen, then you know that the table is the central idea of the book. It’s the place where we wait on God and where God waits on us…to sit, not stand. The table is where we learn to be still and know that He is God.
Here are 5 things that happen when we sit at God’s table. I hope you’re encouraged to wait upon Him in the face of uncertainty…
David sings in his most famous Psalm, “You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies.” You may not be familiar with the story but before King David was King Saul who lost his place as King because he didn’t obey when the Prophet Samuel told him to wait. Unlike David, Saul was impatient and took matters into his own hands when He saw his enemies coming. David knew that the Lord would fight his battles and to be at a table, you must be sitting. Put your hope in the Lord and wait upon Him.
“Come and have breakfast” were Jesus’ words to His disciples in John 21 after He was raised from the dead. They had been fishing, but hadn’t caught anything until Jesus told them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat. They hadn’t realized until after their nets were full that it was Jesus on the shore. In excitement, they dashed towards Him as He was preparing breakfast. What a beautiful picture to imagine- Jesus inviting us to eat with Him over a meal He prepared.
In Luke 22, Jesus sends Peter and John to prepare the Passover feast. Little do they know, it’s the Last Supper. Jesus reclines at the table in the upper room with the apostles and shares Holy Communion with them- the covenant of His blood shed and body broken for us. He alone knew what was to come and He was preparing His followers for just that.
Psalm 78 is the portion of Scripture that I started with when writing Heaven’s Kitchen. It reads, “Can God spread a table in the wilderness?” The Israelites were stubborn on their way into the Promised Land from Egypt. They saw God do many wonders yet they doubted if He could feed them. If God could split a mighty sea before you, how could He also not supply you with food? Manna, the food of angels, fell from Heaven and they were never in lack. They always had what they needed and much more.
2 Kings 25:27-30 shares a hidden golden nugget in scripture. While Israel was living in Babylonian exile, which lasted a total of 70 years, the king of Babylon released Jehoiachin, king of Judah after 37 years of exile. “He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honor higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king’s table. Day by day the king gave Jehoiachin a regular allowance as long as he lived.” We don’t know the reason Jehoiachin was released from prison but for me, it is a foreshadowing that in the middle of a hopeless season for God’s people, there was a glimmer of hope. They would be delivered out of the hands of their enemy and it started with an invitation to the table.
