Psalm 71

I just highlighted this verse in my Bible last night. I love that even though I've been using the same Bible for 10 years and have read the thing front to back several times, there are still new things that God wants to bring to my attention.

The Psalmist has so much confidence in God. Despite many troubles he proclaims that God will restore his life. He is able to see past his current circumstances and into the bigger picture.

And then, in verses 22-24 he goes on to tell all the ways he will praise God. He is praising God during the storm--not after--because he has a trusting anticipation that God will do what he has promised. He will restore. He will heal. And he doesn't change.

No matter what's around you or ahead of you God has the ability to restore it. In the meantime, he is still worthy of praise.

Find hope in that.

Lessons from Asaph

I love this passage because of the passage that precedes it. This Psalm is written by someone called Asaph. Now, I'm not too familiar with Asaph, but what I learn about him from verses 1-22 of this Psalm is that he had become jealous of the arrogant and wicked because he saw them prospering. He had become jealous of their carefree lifestyle and their monetary gain. He began doubting that he had kept his heart pure for a good purpose. 

But Asaph has a turning point in verse 17 where he enters the house of God and he sees those people's destinies. He sees that God is far from them and that they will eventually be destroyed and he realizes how senseless he was being in being jealous of them.

And then he proclaims verses 23-26; he had almost let go of his ideals and beliefs, but he realizes that no matter what, God will not leave him. He can't escape God's reach and call. Asaph understands that God is the best part of his life and that no matter what it looks like through the lens of other people or through circumstances, God is in control and is doing what's best for him. 

May we all stop looking around and start looking up. Circumstances will not always be what we want them to be; other people may be ahead of where we want to be, or getting what we've been wanting for ages. We might be jealous of others who aren't doing what we think is right but are gaining rewards for it. In those moments, may we not look to the blessings of others and compare them to our lives. Instead, we must look to God and realize that He will never leave us. There is nothing in Heaven or on Earth that is worth more than God and being close to Him is the only thing that matters (vs 28). 

Our nearness to God should cause us to rejoice, regardless of what we see in other people. 

Brokenhearted

All of us have been brokenhearted at one time or another. Chances are it was because of a relationship; either a friend, a family member, or spouse or dating relationship. Maybe there was turmoil. Maybe the relationship ended in a way that hurt. Maybe someone passed away. Or maybe it wasn't a relationship--maybe there was bad news--a health issue, financial burden, or something in the news. Heartbreak is unfortunately an effect of being human. 

In steps God:

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

Psalm 147:3

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Psalm 34:18

I love these two verses. I love that God can heal our broken hearts. I love that he cares about us so much that he choses to be near to us when we are broken. I tend to have no desire to be around people who are miserable; I don't have the patience or the compassion to help see them through whatever is going on. Sometimes, I even drive myself crazy with my own misery. But God, he is so different. He is close to us in our time of sorrow. 

And then, as if coming near to us weren't enough, he saves us. He binds up our wounds. He heals us. He takes our broken hearts, our messy lives, and he restores us.

Your external wounds? God can bind them up.

Your broken heart? God comes near, then provides healing.

Your crushed spirit? Restored. Saved. 

Take comfort, friends, in having a loving, compassionate God who cares so deeply for his children. 

The Deeds of the Lord

If you're not satisfied with your current situation, whatever that might be, a great way to regain perspective is to reflect on the good deeds of the Lord. This can be reading through verses that display his power and miracles, or it could be making a list of times God has been evident in your past. 

Remembering that God has all-powerful and sovereign in the past and your past can help you regain confidence that God will continue being all-powerful and sovereign in your current and future situations. 

Meditating on His works helps use to refocus and to keep our faith in God's sovereign plan.

God's Footprints

I love what the psalmist says about when God parted the red sea:

Your path led through the sea, your way through the mighty waters, though your footprints were not seen.

Psalm 77:19

God's footprints were not seen, even though he was leading the way through the mighty waters. This is important to remember in easy times and in challenging times.

As God starts providing blessings, its important to realize that even if you don't see His footprints, He is working in the background. Recognizing and acknowledging this is an easy way to bring glory to the Giver. When we are thankful for what God has done, we're more likely to continue noticing Him working. When we stop focusing on God, and think that we are receiving good things because we've done good, or because we inherently deserve good things, we lose sight of our God and become proud.

In times that are hard, we must trust in this verse and hold tight to the promise that God has a path for us even when we don't see His footprints. We must keep looking for Him and trying to understand His path as we're going through it. Can you imagine how much faith it took to walk through the parted Red Sea? With the water stories above you on both sides? Life is sometimes like that. But we must keep going and trust that when we come through, we will see that God has been working all along.

Praise God that He is with us in the good times and the bad. Pray for revelation to see His path and to follow His lead. 

Pilgrimage

Blessed are those whose strength is in you,

    whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.

As they pass through the Valley of Baka,

    they make it a place of springs;

    the autumn rains also cover it with pools.

 They go from strength to strength,

    till each appears before God in Zion.

Psalm 84:5-7

How desperately I needed to hear this tonight. I needed a reminder that my life and journey with God is not a sprint. So often, I ask God for something and expect it right away. We live in a culture where the pace is increasingly fast, where impulses are easily gratified, and where our satisfaction cannot be delayed or else it is diminished. 

But these verses say that blessed are those whose hearts are on pilgrimage. Not whose hearts are sprinting, not whose hearts only see the short-term. Those who are in it for the long haul are blessed. The Valley of Baka translates to the Valley of Weeping. As we pass through the hard spots, we are refreshed. And we are able to go from strength to strength before we see God face to face. 

What comfort there is knowing that our relationship with God will continue to grow. We won't ever reach capacity, but we are given one revelation, one strength, one moment at a time along our journey. And the reward for us is God's blessing. Is there anything else we could desire more? 

Delayed blessings are God's way of perfecting us, building our strength along our pilgrimage.

Patience will pay off. We must have vision to see ahead and trust God's divine plan.

Wait

Everyone finds themselves in periods of waiting sometimes. Often, even. Chances are, everyone you meet is waiting for something: a new job, a new relationship, a new purchase, the next big thing.

I'm convinced that people are often so busy looking forward to the next thing, that we forget to enjoy the stage that we're at--even if that is a season of waiting. When you're 9, you want to be ten. Then you want to be 14 and get your driver's permit. Then 16 to get the full license. Then 17 so you can get into R rated movies. Then 18 and become a legal adult. Then 21. Then 25. Then you want to get married. Then you want kids. Then you want.....

The list could keep going.

And those are all good things to want and to wait for--or, to not want to wait for--but we have to understand that when we wait, we wait expectantly and we trust that God is getting ready to bless us in one way or another. Waiting mirrors hope and a trust that God works all things for our good. Even when we have to wait.

This should change our attitude of waiting. We should complain less because we know that God is working in the background in ways we cannot even fathom.

Since ancient times no one has heard,

    no ear has perceived,

no eye has seen any God besides you,

    who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.

-Isaiah 64:4

This verse says that God will act on behalf of those who wait for him. He honors our waiting and gives us the best. God is the one moving while we wait.

I waited patiently for the Lord;

    he turned to me and heard my cry.

-Psalm 40:1

Again, in this verse we see that God is the one moving. As we wait, He turns to us and hears us.

The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.

-Exodus 14:14

This is one of my favorite verses about waiting. Again, as we are still, God does the hard work for us. And would we really want it any other way? The waiting is hard, but there is growth in being still and waiting expectantly for God to take care of us in a far better way than we could ever take care of ourselves. Our relationship with God grows during this time as our hope and trust are put to the test. Our relationships with others can grow during this time too, as most people find themselves in a stage of waiting and can relate and encourage very easily.

When we are still, God is ever-working on our behalf. 

Protector

One of my friends was having a rough day recently, so of course I go to that first place I always go (Pinterest) to look for encouragement. I literally just searched the word "encouragement" into the search bar and scrolled through the results. Trust me when I say that I know this isn't the best tactic, but it works sometimes!

On about the third line, there was a verse I wasn't very familiar with, but it was definitely encouraging. It was Psalm 91:10-11:

no evil will conquer you;

    no plague will come near your home.

 For he will order his angels

    to protect you wherever you go.

I prayed this verse over her current situation and then texted it to her. This verse is just so comforting to me. God himself will protect us, send angels to protect us, and let no evil conquer us. If there's ever a picture of hope, isn't that it?

However, there's a condition. Doesn't it seem like there are always conditions? Lucky for us, God's conditions are always easy. Verse 9 says:

If you make the Lord your refuge,

    if you make the Most High your shelter...

The condition is this: that we run to God. We ask Him and trust Him for protection. We seek Him for refuge. The principle here is so easy, and yet sometimes seems so hard. We want to do it ourselves. We want to solve the problem. We want our friends or our family to solve the problem. We expect an instant answer. And yet rescue is as easy as seeking God first. 

In moments where I'm tempted to text my best friend for advice right away, or vent to a coworker about what's going on, Lord help me to just say a prayer first and ask his blessing over the situation.

Whatever you're facing today, evil cannot conquer your situation. Seek God and ask him for protection. And if you don't know how, just pray the entirety of Psalm 91 over your current circumstance. Give it to God first, and he will protect you.

Undivided Heart

The Laboratory of Neuro Imaging at USC (didn't see that one coming, did you?) says that the average human has around 70,00 thoughts per day. Seventy thousand. That's almost 3,000 per hour. Nearly 50 per minute. How do they know that? I have no idea, but hey, it's science, right?

Anyway, the point is this: God wants us to have an undivided heart. How are we supposed to do that when our brains are wired to go so fast? David prays for it in Psalm 86:11...a prayer is always a good start!

Give me an undivided heart. The undivided heart yields an accurate perception of God--both the fear of God and the praise of God. The undivided heart knows that God is a mighty king who always acts justly and at the same time knows and understands that God loves us. Putting those two ideas together doesn't come when your heart is divided. 

Having an undivided heart allows us to understand God's laws, commands, and promises. It also allows us to receive the rewards that come with following God whole-heartedly. And if we choose not to have an undivided heart for God, we bring the consequences on ourselves. That is a scary though.

I've started praying that God will keep my heart and mind focused on Him. I want to be undivided in my commitment to knowing and trusting Him. In the midst of my 70,000 thoughts per day, that gets hard. But it is possible. One step at a time. One choice at a time. Do I watch 30 minutes of mindless TV or turn on some worship music? Do I worry about something that hasn't (and probably won't) ever happen or do I stop and pray about it? Do I focus on all of the things I don't have yet in life, or rejoice in what I've been given? Do I fret about my circumstances or claim the promises of God over my life?

Undivided. One thought at a time.